Note to self: a full-caffeine espresso latte at 4 pm is not such a good idea . Next time, caffeine-free. Needless to say, my night contained less sleep then optimal. Catching a nap immediately after breakfast isn't the best way to conquer jet lag, but today it was necessary.
After my exhausting day yesterday, I had resolved to take it easy today . But morning again dawned beautifully sunny and 50-ish, so I couldn't resist another foray outside. But first, lunch.
Today I chose to pick up a doerner from a neighborhood imbiss. I chose this stand of the many in the neighborhood because it was close, I'd eaten there before, and it has a somewhat enclosed table. I was a little disappointed that they didn't sell the traditional lamb (not a favorite with Germans), but I settled for the chicken.
A doerner is the Turkish version of the (Greek) gyro, familiar from home, with a few customizations for the German culture. For example, I don't believe I've ever had cabbage on a gyro. Or curry. I don't think I told the vendor to put curry sauce on it, but given the rudimentary nature of my German, perhaps I did. At any rate, it wasn't the cold making my nose run. Until my taste buds burned off, it was quite tasty.
Remember that painted utility box yesterday? At lunch the real thing went past. It's not all that much larger than the utility box. A few minutes later, an even smaller truck went by, but it was too quick for a picture (the stop lights were against me that time).
Then it was time to put my new walking shoes to the test and to try finding a nearby park. I had been looking for it on my walk on Monday. Google maps swore the was green space, but all I could see was a building. To the far left was a sign that said Sport Park, but it gave no indication of how to get there.
P assured me there was indeed a park, and explained where to find the access to it. But seriously, does this look like access to a park?
Once beyond the building, the park was quite expansive. As on Monday, my goal was to find a sunny bench to sit and read/write and simply enjoy the beautiful day. Pathways seem to lead in nearly every direction, so I chose one and set off to find "my" bench.
(For my friends from Nia who might be reading... shortly after entering the park, I heard someone somewhere playing the Miriam Makeba song, but I didn't have the nerve to start dancing to it.)
Around the perimeter is a fitness trail paved in red clay. Against my better judgement, I couldn't resist trying to walk across this contraption. Thanks to the hand rails on either side, I surprised myself and was able to cross it. In fact it would probably be helpful to my joints and balance if I had something like this to play on at home.
In the center of the fitness loop there was a fairly steep hill. Along one side was a play area for children with a few benches for their parents.
The park was relatively empty, so I took the opportunity to take a couple of photos of my new jacket.
At the top of the hill there was an area that was almost a formal garden, in layout if not in vegetation, with benches arrayed along each side.
Sadly, several of the trees were infected with mistletoe. One clump was particularly large and looked like a huge nest.
Other than the air traffic from Tegel, it was quite peaceful at the top, with a lot of bird activity. Unfortunately there was no Sun on the benches . I could see blue sky and sunshine all around, but between the park and the Sun hung a stubborn cloud.
At the brink of the hill was what looked to be a starting gate for either sledding or skiing at the top of a banked and curving course.The photos don't do justice to how long and steep the hill is. The second photo was taken about half way down.
At the bottom of the hill on the far side from where I climbed up were at least 2 fenced (soccer) playing fields. There were more benches, but still no sun. While resting there I encountered a family from South Korea. The parents are here for a month visiting their daughter. The daughter spoke German, the parents a little English, and me... no Korean. But we managed to have a nice, albeit short, conversation. Without a doubt Berlin is an international city.
Following the path from there, I found a tennis area. The first court had seating built into the slope of the hill on both sides. I could see at least 2 more courts beyond.
Clearly, when they say "Sport Park", they mean exactly that.
I finally found "my" bench in a grassy area at the bottom of the ski/sled hill. It seems this was also a favorite dog playground. But German dogs are, for the most part, well trained and well socialized. Unfortunately, by this time the Sun was starting to get low and had little warmth left in it. After sitting a few minutes I decided to make my way home. But next time I'll know exactly where "my" bench is.
Leaving the park, I found an entrance near the street-side sign. It's a little closer to both the street P lives on and also to "my" bench, but faced with the stairway, I might continue to walk down to the "gang" entrance.
On the way home I stopped at the Moon and Star bakery to pick up a pastry for Kaffeetrinken. I chose a marzipan rolle, which is kind of like a jelly roll where marzipan cream replaces the jelly and the edges are coated with chocolate, and it was delicious.
Oh... and the shoes performed well. Unfortunately, the heel is a little bigger than I thought in the store, so I'm going to have to find some heel pads to make them a wee bit tighter so that they'll stay on better.
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