Berlin & Rijeka

Jeff’s Victorious Outing to the Croatian Open Les mer

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13. juli 2022
Berlin & Rijeka Reisende
Prologue
13. juli 2022, Forente stater ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Like many other people my age, I grew up fearing nuclear annihilation, communism, and a host of other perceived existential threats. Of the many theatres in which the Cold War played out, no other city fueled my imagination as much as Berlin did. My imagination was further colored by an eclectic mix of films such as Cabaret, Atomic Blonde, The Bourne Supremacy, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, as well as Marillion’s somewhat melodramatic track Berlin. More recently, I've been fascinated by how Germany seems to be looking forward without denying its past, and how Merkel, with her understated leadership style, seems to have steered Germany into becoming a beacon of liberal democracy as the United States moved in the other direction under Trump.

My main goal of this summer trip was to accompany Jeff as he competes in the World Masters Diving Championship in Rijeka, Croatia. Rijeka isn’t exactly an international hub, and only a small handful of leisure-focused airlines operate seasonal flights there. Looking at my options for intermediate stops, one stood out: Berlin! I gleefully booked our flights to Berlin hoping to connect with the city that shaped so much of my world view as a teenager and young adult.Les mer
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Honolulu to Los Angeles
13. juli 2022, Forente stater ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
American Airlines AA1480 | HNL/LAX
First Class
N400NA | Airbus A321NEO
ATD/0721 | ATA/1553
Lounge: Sakura Lounge

We stopped by the Sakura lounge for a quick breakfast before heading to the gate.
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Los Angeles To London Heathrow
13. juli 2022, Forente stater ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
American Airlines AA134 | LAX/LHR
Business Class
N723AN | Boeing 777-300ER
ATD/2110 | ATA/1513+1
Lounge: Admirals Club Flagship Lounge

This flight was delayed and so we misconnected to Berlin. AA was unable to rebook us on the next flight from Heathrow to Berlin so we had an involuntary overnight stay in London. The lounge staff attempted but were unable to book a layover hotel for us.

The reason for the delay was because at least one of the cockpit crew was flying in from DFW, and flights from DFW were delayed due to bad weather.Les mer
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Involuntary Layover at Heathrow
14. juli 2022, England ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
When we arrived at Heathrow, we went to the American Airlines service counter. The agent there checked us in for the next day’s flight and told us that the Ibis Hotel at Bath Rd was “expecting” us, and she hand wrote our names on a sheet of paper. She then told us to ask for directions to the hotel bud at the information counter.

What the agent didn’t tell us was that we had to pay our own way - both for transport (£20 for the Hotel Hoppa bus) and accommodation (£189). We had a rude shock when we arrived at the hotel and we were told that American “holds” the rooms but there is no arrangement for them to pay the hotel directly.

AA only reimbursed us in miles when we wrote to them asking for reimbursement. Fortunately we purchased travel insurance and we received cash reimbursement later.Les mer
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Harlington
14. juli 2022, England ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Our involuntary layover was at the Ibis Hotel near Harlington Village immediately north of Heathrow. From the hotel, we walked up the High Street, ate dinner at a pub called The White Hart, and then explored the village church and its graveyard. The pub had a nice outdoor garden.

Despite the short layover, I enjoyed reconnecting with England, and experiencing the little things that make England tick.

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London Heathrow to Berlin
15. juli 2022, England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
British Airways BA990 | LHR/BER
Economy Class
G-EUPO | Airbus A319-100
ATD/0742 | ATA/1039
Lounge: Galleries Lounge North

We took the first Hotel Hoppa shuttle to T5, and ate a quick breakfast at the lounge before boarding via a remote gate.Les mer
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Arrival in Berlin
15. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Our arrival at Berlin was inauspicious. The machine dispensing train tickets wouldn’t accept credit cards and would only accept €5 and €10 bills. Jeff had to get change. We then went to the machines on the other side of the stairs and those accepted cards.

After purchasing the €9 monthly pass, we made our way to Alexanderplatz station. Hackescher Markt, which is the station next to Hotel Zoe by Amano, was closed, and so we had a bit of a trek through the unseasonably cold streets of Alexanderplatz to our hotel. Hotel Zoe by Amano turned out to be a real gem for the price we paid. It was centrally located, it had a cool vibe, and we had a rooftop lounge with great views of the city!

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Checkpoint Charlie
15. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
After a quick freshening up, we made our way on foot to nearly Simon James Park, crossed over the Spree River, walked past the museums and Humboldt University, and then over to Checkpoint Charlie. Our first impression of Checkpoint Charlie wasn't great - the hut itself was preserved, but it was surrounded by fast food joints and souvenir shops. A long line of tourists waited to have their pictures taken. Some of them made gun gestures with their hands while posing for photos. Overall, the vibe was similar to Time Square. I was a tad disappointed that the checkpoint wasn't more respectfully preserved.

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Kreuzberger Himmel
15. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Our next stop was lunch. I wanted to patronize one of the restaurants operated by refugees, and I had previously researched Kreuzberger Himmel, a restaurant serving Syrian food that was associated with the Be An Angel group which helps refugees integrate. The restaurant itself was just opening at 2pm, and there were only a handful of other patrons. The food was good, but I've never been a major fan of Middle Eastern cuisine. I suspect the restaurant gets livelier in the evenings.

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Brandenburg Gate & Jewish Memorial
15. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
After lunch, we returned to the subway and headed to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This is a large square with over 2,000 grey concrete blocks of varying sizes and heights. The ground between the blocks sloped in unpredictable ways. The main point of this memorial is to disorient. Groups of visitors who explore the memorial would get split up and they would rarely come out in the same place, an experience that mirrored what happened to Jewish families in World War II. It was a thought provoking experience that was marred a little by people sitting on the blocks - that just didn't seem respectful.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/memorial-to…

Sandwiched between the Memorial and the Brandenburg Gate is the US Embassy. As with other US embassies the world over, this embassy is an imposing structure presumably meant to communicate the US' (self-perceived?) stature in the world order. This embassy, in particular, stood out for me because it is situated in a prime location right next to two potent symbols of Germany's past. I was stoked to see the Pride flag flying underneath the US flag at the embassy. I recalled that under the Trump administration, US embassies were ordered to not fly the Pride flag during Pride month.

Our next stop was the Brandenburg Gate, built in the late 18th century to commemorate Prussian victory over an uprising. The scene here was lively. On our return here after visiting Tiergarten, we saw a large panda (there was probably a person inside it) dancing to an electric violin played by a woman behind them.

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Tiergarten & Victory Column
15. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Looking west from the Brandenburg Gate, we spotted the Victory Column, and we decided to walk through the Tiergarten towards it. Our main connection to the Victory Column is Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, yet another film that colored my perception of Berlin. Along the way, the first sight we encountered was the Memorial to Persecuted Homosexuals Under Nazism, which is a monolith-like block with a viewing window that showed a looped video of struggles, persecutions, and triumphs of the LGBTQ community. Other sights we saw en route and back included a playground (Jeff climbed the rope structure), a war memorial to Russians killed in Berlin in World War II, various statues, and a circle of stones Jeff nicknamed "Germanhenge".
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/memorial-to…
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/berlin-vict…

After Tiergarten, we made our way back to our hotel on foot

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Hackescher Markt
15. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Our late afternoon and evening explorations brought us first to Simon James Park: There were lots of people sat out in the park facing the River Spree. At first, we thought there may be an outdoor concert, but we learned from internet research that more and more Berliners are hanging out in parks as a cheaper alternative as prices of practically everything have risen thanks to Covid and the invasion of war in Ukraine.

After visiting the park, we made a quick stop at our hotel to freshen up and enjoy the views from the rooftop.

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Haus Schwarzenberg & Monster Kabinett
15. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
After a quick stop at our hotel to freshen up, we headed out again to the nearby Haus Schwarzenber Street Art Alley which is a narrow alley filled with murals. Our main goal, however, was to see if we could visit Monster Kabinett located inside the alley. We had just missed the last scheduled show of the day, but we were told to return at 9.40pm as they were putting on an additional show then. With 90 minutes to spare, we took the opportunity to visit the David Hasselhoff Museum (see next footprint)
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/haus-schwar…

Back at Monster Kabinett, a delightfully unhinged (and impressively bilingual) man named Pilo guided us into a basement and put up a show featuring avant garde, yet home-made crafty steampunk mechanical monsters. Words fail me as I try to describe the creatures we encountered. There was Mr Four Eyes, Orangina, a massive spider, and a pop-corn eating robot with an exploding head.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/monster-kab…

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David Hasselhoff Museum
15. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
As we had about 90 minutes before Monster Kabinett, we headed to the Circus Hostel, which houses the quirky David Hasselhoff Museum in its basement. David Hasselhoff is hugely popular in Germany, and this tiny shrine housed memorabilia from Knight Rider and Baywatch, as well as memorabilia of his relationship with Germany. It was a fun little diversion.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/david-hasse…

On our way back to Monster Kabinett, we ate at a cute little vegan burger joint where I had a really good schnitzel-like patty.

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Thai Park
16. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
We woke up pretty late on Saturday, just in time to make our way to Thai Park via subway for an early lunch. When researching things to do in Berlin, I googled to find out if there is a Chinatown in Berlin as I like to see how Asian immigrants live. To my surprise, I discovered that there isn't a Chinatown in Berlin - maybe it is testament to how well integration take place? Regardless, what I did find were several articles about how the Thai community congregated in Preussian Park on weekends to share food, and how locals started asking the Thais to sell food to them. The authorities tried to regulate the stalls. If you know Thailand like I do, you know how futile that is.

At Preussian Park, Jeff and I wandered around for a bit before deciding on appetizers. Jeff opted for tofu satay while I went to a woman Jeff labeled "Thai Eartha Kitt" for haw mok (steamed fish curry in a small banana leaf cup) and thawd man pla (fried fish cakes). Thai Eartha Kitt missed a beat when I spoke to her in Thai; I guess she expected me to speak in German. I found out she was from Bangkok, while her fellow stallholder was from Rayong. The wannabe journalist in me wanted to find out more about their journeys to Berlin and how they have integrated. Thai Eartha Kitt's steamed fish curry was good but her fried fish cake missed the mark. Next up, I salivated at bamee moo dang (egg noodles with barbequed pork). I'm not much of a meat eater, and during my most recent trip to Bangkok I resisted eating this treat even though it was everywhere on the streets of Bangkok. This time round, I really wanted to eat this dish and it really hit the mark - the broth was spot on. Jeff ate vegetarian pad thai. After this, it was dessert time - we had kluei khaek (banana fritters) and khao niao ma muang (mango with sticky rice), and then we topped it off with ice cream and coffee.

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Kant Kino
16. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
My next sightseeing objective was near Thai Park. Simple Minds' Empires and Dance album is my all time favorite album, and I associate this album with the beginning of my wanderlust during a school trip to New Zealand that changed my perspective on life. One of the tracks on that album is Kant Kino, a short, bizarre instrumental with random noises and melodies thrown together. Well, Kant Kino is actually the name of a cinema in Berlin which used to host small concerts in the 1980s. I knew all I would see is a facade but I didn't care; this was a pilgrimage I had to make! We walked about 2km to the cinema, took photos, then went to a nearby outdoor mall for bubble tea.

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East Side Gallery
16. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
In 1989, while serving in the military, I watched in disbelief as the Berlin Wall came down, and the world order as we knew it changed forever. The East Side Gallery houses remnants of the Berlin Wall. Many new murals have been painted on the wall. Most of them promote peace, although some also commemorate the horrors associated with the wall. The one standout piece, though, was Mein Gott, hilf mir, diese tödliche Liebe zu überleben (My God, Help Me Survive This Deadly Love), a famous 1990 mural based on an actual photograph of Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in a fraternal kiss on the lips that was apparently common among communist leaders. Rather serendipitously, I photographed this mural just as two men kissed in front of it. The irony was not lost on me; many social conservatives today must be reciting variations of "My God, help me survive this deadly love" with marriage equality and rising LGBTQ visibility.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/vestiges-be…

The other standout in the area was a guitarist known as The Neigh-Kid Horse who was clad only in underwear (his jeans were bunched around his ankles) and a horse head mask who was there to entertain and confuse the crowds.

Near the East Side Gallery was the Oberbaumbrucke - the bridge made famous by Run Lola Run, which is yet another Berlin-based film.

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Alexanderplatz
16. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
After East Side Gallery, we made our way back to the area around our hotel and we walked along the River Spree and enjoyed people watching. We attempted to visit the DDR Museum but the ticket seller was involved in a conversation with his coworker and he ignored the people lined up for tickets. We turned around and left. Next up, we made our way up to Alexanderplatz, and then made our way back to our hotel. We enjoyed various monuments along the way.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/aquadom-at-…

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Berlin to Rijeka
17. juli 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
After a leisurely breakfast at a Vietnamese-run eatery in Alexanderplatz, we made our way by train to BER.

At the security checkpoint, the airport broadcasts entertaining videos telling passengers how to prepare to go through security. One of the video segments even featured a furry. At security, airport police were called to investigate poppers in a passenger’s handcarry bag. They looked puzzled and they even sniffed the poppers. We listened in amusement as they asked the passenger what he used them for and if he liked them. They eventually allowed him to bring them in the cabin.

Jeff's age group rival Rokas was on the same flight. Jeff had to check in his bag for €50. For the return to BER, we went online and prebooked a checked bag for €20.

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Eurowings EW8968 | BER/RJK
Economy Class
D-ABNU | Airbus A320-200
ATD/1510 | ATA/1638Les mer
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Arrival in Rijeka
17. juli 2022, Kroatia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Rijeka is about 18km west of the airport, and our accommodation (and the pool) was another 6km west from the city center. We were planning on taking the local bus, but we lucked out as Rokas had rented a car. We scored a ride with him. As soon as we checked in to our rented apartment, we walked a short distance to a beach shack for a lunch as we were both famished.

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Kantrida
17. juli 2022, Kroatia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Our apartment was a short walk from the pool.

I came to Croatia expecting to encounter language barriers everywhere, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of people we encountered were bilingual. We felt very welcome and everyone was so nice to us. We especially enjoyed our five meals at the Bistro Na Kantridi, which was such a friendly place. As an added bonus, they played great 80s music. The beach shack near the pool was also very friendly and welcoming.

After dinner, we would walk along the beachfront. Croatians hang out late at their beaches!

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Rijeka
18. juli 2022, Kroatia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Our apartment was about 6km from Rijeka itself. We each bought a one week bus pass for HRK 96, which was a good deal since we would only need to take four round trips to break even.

We took several day trips to the city center to eat and explore. Rijeka is a port town, and parts of the city were somewhat gritty, but it had a lived in charm. The city center itself wasn’t large, but it had a lot of walking streets with outdoor cafes. It is a pleasant city, with a number of traffic free streets and lots of open air cafes. I was surprised to not see evidence of overt poverty, which, sadly, is a common sight nowadays in the United States. Additional research revealed that Croatia's Gini Coefficient is a respectable 0.29.

For whatever reason, Jeff thought that the birds in Rijeka were especially insouciant. This quickly became a running gag where we would try try to spot any birds we thought were particularly insouciant.

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Park Angiolina, Opatija
19. juli 2022, Kroatia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
About 9km west of our accommodation is the town of Opatija. In contrast to working class and somewhat gritty Rijeka, Opatija is pretty, curated, and glitzy. Most holidaymakers stay there because it has nicer beaches. To be honest, I like Rijeka more; it just seems more real.

At Opatija, we started off by walking around Park Angiolino. Here are some shots of the park.

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Salvador Dali Exhibit
19. juli 2022, Kroatia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
While walking around Park Angiolina, we encountered a gem - an exhibit on Salvador Dali focusing on some of his literary- and science-related work, such as drawings based on Dante's Divine Comedy, and it consisted of lithographs, copperplate engravings, and other graphic works on loan from a private collector. There were plenty of disturbing pieces that explored the psychosexual aspects of life. This was a great find! I had seen billboards for this exhibit before we headed out to Opatija, but because the dates were written in non-US style (i.e., DD/MM instead of MM/DD), I thought that the exhibit was over.

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Opatija
19. juli 2022, Kroatia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
The rest of our day trip was spent wandering around Opatija. We encountered a sign that said "American Garden" (per Google Translate) and we followed the signs up a hill. We found the small garden; it had nothing American about it. Oddly, there was an Italian flag in it.
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