On the road to Berlin

Traveling to Berlin

The morning began at 4 a.m., when we left our apartment in Valencia, located on Carrer de Industria, with an Uber to the airport. It turned out to be an uneventful ride in 83-degree weather.

As we did an online check-in, it was a quick walk to the airport security.  In most European airports, your boarding pass serves as your admission to security.  The lines at the Valencia airport are pretty spread out, so it was a reasonably smooth walk until my small green carry-on was selected for inspection. The security officer informed me that I had too many liquids that were not in separate plastic bags. I apologized profusely and asked if he would throw away my products. I smiled, “I am a woman; a little plastic bag just does not have enough space.” The security man grinned and said, “Here’s a plastic bag for the next time.” I responded, “ Thank you, but the rules differ in every airport we visit.” I replied.

Hours later, we unfortunately missed the transfer spot at Schiphol Amsterdam airport for our connecting flight to Berlin. Yet again, we went through security as we had to exit the security zone. In this place, my bag was not opened or commented on.
Again, different cities with different rules all exist on the same continent in Europe.

Walking to our hotel

Upon arriving in Berlin, the adventure of finding the correct train to the city and the hotel we needed was not as complex as we had imagined. After buying the ticket and validating it, we boarded the train, found seats, and 45 minutes later arrived in what was, in the past, East Berlin on a gray and drizzly day with a high temperature of 64.
FUC* ME!!!

I was freezing and had forgotten to pack my goose down coat. Luckily, the hotel I had booked was only a 5-minute walk from the station. Upon entering this independently owned hotel, the vibe that enveloped us was groovy music and a receptionist whose voice was in the same key as the music, making it impossible for us to hear one another.

Fortunately, our room was available for check-in even though it was only 1.30. The receptionist tried to upsell us a larger room, but I declined upon learning it would be an additional 50€ per night. We are here in Berlin to dance tango at the Berlin Milinguero Festival.

The Berlin Tango Festival Milonguero

After being accepted into this event, I searched for the hotel closest to the festival’s physical location, as we would be walking back at 1 or 2 a.m.

It’s Thursday, and there is a pre-festival in Milonga tonight, which we might go to. Hope the weather starts to warm up, or I will have to buy a jacket or a big shawl to stay warm.

After deciding that we were tired from the stressful travel day, we walked a short distance from our hotel to find a place to eat dinner. Afterwards, we decided to relax in the lobby with a beverage. This experience is similar to that of other hotels, where the sleeping rooms are smaller and the public space is intentionally designed for socializing, hanging out, and listening to the house DJ.

Our Groovy Hotel

This hotel is a short walk to the Bebop Club, where the Berlin Tango Milonguero is held. Walking takes us 15 minutes to cross the Spree River and walk alongside it until we reach the Bebop Club.

Upon entering the Club space via the red-carpeted stairs, there’s a line of tangueros paying their 15€ admission or picking up their pre-purchased red wristband.

After getting banded and chatting with the volunteer staff, it’s time to decide where we shall sit. Upon entering the room, one notices long, rectangular tables on both sides, accompanied by single folding chairs and sofas placed at opposite ends. We selected a wall with chairs and small tables near a corner of the room.

We changed our shoes and listened to music. We liked the sound and danced to Di Sarli. It was a nice start to the event for us.

Tango in the afternoon

We danced a few more tandas and then sat watching the flow of dancers on the floor. There are some open dancing embraces, but mostly closed ones. After all, it’s a milonguero event.  As usual, some listen to the music, dancing to the bandoneon or violin beats, while others dance to the beats in their heads. Some dancers are beautiful to observe as they dance, while others are painful to watch. But seeing everyone dancing makes me smile, because it’s tango!

We stayed until just about the end of the event. The music was good and we enjoyed ourselves. We met a few dancers from Spain, even a couple from Valencia who looked familiar. Small tango world, as we both danced at the same dance studio milonga in Valencia on Thursdays.

Finding food after Tango

We walked home in the pleasant evening air and were hungry; the food options available in Berlin at 11 pm were excellent. We settled on splitting a doner sandwich. It tasted fantastic as I hadn’t realized I was even hungry.

After finishing our food, we noticed that a few other tangerines had also found this place to eat. We then continued the walk to our hotel.

Berlin is a vibrant, free-spirited city where the streets are filled with a diverse mix of people, mostly under 40, who are often dressed in black. A wide range of clothing styles, from extensive body piercings to a blend of leather and lace. We saw a man dressed in an elegant corduroy suit with a banana in his jacket pocket. A variety of transparent black lace options for all genders. An abundance of Doc Marten boots. Men and women wearing black cat eyeliner. An edgy fashion show from the under-30 crowd with lots of ripped clothing and bare midriffs.

We were tucked into bed by midnight …a bit tired but happy.

Discovering Berlin

That afternoon, we had taken the hop-off, hop-on red bus for a city tour. I had never been to Berlin before and didn’t know that the city was as big as it is now. The tour lasted 3 hours. This city has undergone extensive new construction, as its past destruction was extensive during World War II. Everywhere you look, there is a large construction crane. In the downtown core, everything is new, except for a few remnants of the war, such as the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Victory Column. We acquired an idea of this city and its magnitude on the tour.

We were fortunate to be invited by two tango friends living in Berlin to visit their homes in different parts of the city. We took public transportation and purchased an all-day unlimited access pass. Transport in Berlin is quite expensive compared to other European cities. The price was 21€ for both of us. Visiting many neighborhoods off the tourist track is a great way to explore the city.

We were fed fresh, homemade food and had great conversations with each friend we visited. One friend was from Turkey, and the other was an American living part-time in Buenos Aires.  It was a marvelous day, punctuated by a visit to the Berlin Technical Museum in between.

We were worn out when we arrived at our hotel at midnight and fell asleep. That, Sunday morning, we will go to the Nue museum to see the work of Gerhard Richter.

More tango

Later that afternoon, we attended a milonga at the Berlin Tango Milonguero festival, where we met our friend from Buenos Aires.

I am finding that the afternoon milongas are always more fun for us as the dancers are looking to meet new people and enjoy the afternoon of dancing.

The evening milongas feature performances by Tango Maestros and often include a live orchestra’s performance as well.

Berlin was no different, as the orchestra was composed of former Argentinian musicians living in Europe. The name of the orchestra was the Sander Tango Orchestra. They were excellent but only played briefly as the time for the maestros’ performances limited their allotted time.
With the group of dancers tightly crunched up on the floor, seated and standing, they formed a small circle around the maestros, making it impossible for anyone further away to see the performance. We left!

The weather for Tango

Walking home, the weather was a bit chilly as rain was predicted for the following day.

Entering the hotel lobby was dark, and a man was cleaning up. He stopped and asked us if we had our key.  We responded Yes. This hotel, like many others, takes guest security very seriously, and access is available only with your key card.

We woke to a rainy, cold gray day. We puttered around the room and then went out for breakfast.

Berlin is expensive

As the hotel offered a buffet breakfast for 28€ per person, we found a small coffee shop where we could both have breakfast for 15€.

We found Berlin to be an expensive city for food, but with restaurants ranging from fast food to extravagant, it’s easy to discover something new to eat. There were Japanese, Korean BBQs, Chinese, Turkish, Italian, German fast and slow foods, and even a Canadian poutine place.

Most of our time was spent on trams learning the city and exploring on foot. People here ride bikes, both electric and traditional, and use rental scooters and numerous motorcycles. As the weather was wet, we chose to walk and take the trains and trams.

Returning to Valencia

After spending 6 days visiting this pretty crazy city, it was time to return to the heat of Valencia.

With an uneventful plane ride to Amsterdam and then a transfer to another plane, we arrived in Valencia at midnight, greeted by 89-degree weather.

We caught a cab and 25 minutes later arrived at our rented apartment.

It was great to return.

More information links:

https://www.visitberlin.de/en

https://www.michelbergerhotel.com/en

https://berlinfestivalmilonguero.com/

Extra photos from Berlin