Day 3 - abandoned airports, warming up and operatic experiences

We woke to the alarm this morning and had a slow start. We walked to Potsdamer Platz (the main shopping area near us) and went to a bakery for breakfast and coffee. Coffee is very important to us and every cup we’ve had has been delicious.

We headed to the river this morning as we had a spare hour or so before our next scheduled activity.

It’s been grey, with light rain and decidedly colder today. We had had an idea of a boat trip on the River Spree and even though the weather wasn’t on our side, time was so we decided to go for it. We boarded a sightseeing boat and within 10 minutes, us and 40 teenagers on a school trip set sail. We sat on the open top deck, the only crazy ones and listened to the recorded guide tell us the points of interest along the way. We passed Museum Island (where the main museums are situated) and some government buildings.

A pleasant, if a little cold, way to spend an hour. We then boarded the train to Templehof Flughafen. This is a disused airport. We had a tour booked for 1:30 and met our guide, a young Dutch man that studied German history. The airport is no longer in use, but was originally built in 1939 by the Nazis. It was almost finished when the war began and then work slowed down as the workers went to war. It’s a pretty impressive place. The original main hall and entrance were very foreboding but were modified after the war to be a little more welcoming. It was wonderful to be taken around the runway, the main hall and the staff areas.

After the war was over, the US forces took over part of the airport and continued to use it as a base until the 1990s.

It was a passenger airport until 2008 when the new Berlin airport was opened. It’s beautifully preserved in areas and falling down in others! In high demand from film makers, unsurprisingly, It’s owned by the State of Berlin and I can imagine very expensive to maintain.

After two hours the tour was over and we hopped back onto the train to the Liquidrom.

After the success of the Hammam baths in Spain last year we decided to find something similar in Berlin. We found this, but quickly realised that Berliners and Spaniards are very different. The Germans think nothing of being naked. I don’t mean that they walk around the streets like it, but give them a sauna and off come the clothes.

We were quite nervous but read the rules and some pools required a costume - Phew. We got changed and went into the silent pool. It was oh so warm, and it had salt in, so you could float around - as you put your head back you could hear soft music under the water. We spent an hour here and then rushed back to the hotel to get changed.

We had walked past the opera house on our first night here and happened to look at what was playing. Aida was on the schedule and they still had tickets so we booked two for tonight!

What a wonderful experience. We had looked at the story and we did need the surtitles (luckily in English as well as German) but it was a breathtaking experience. The costumes were entirely modern (the King of Egypt wore a tracksuit and fur coat) and there was a good level of humour. The voices were phenomenal.

We hadn’t had time for dinner and a bretzel in the interval was never going to be enough, so after the show we went to an Italian restaurant for a glass of wine and something to eat. Andrew had a plate of cheese with bread and olives and I had a chocolate mousse.

The rain was quite heavy on the walk back to the hotel, so it was nice to get into a warm room.