Bis Bald, Berlin [Berlin, Germany]
As we depart the amazing city of Berlin, I feel both ready and melancholic. In the last week, things finally clicked here: I gave directions to two different people, had a delicious Turkish kebab, shopped in Mauerpark market and got cramps from biking around the city for hours on end. Our social life also came alive. We connected with several friends of friends and wedding circuit connaissances, and hung out with some of our new board game buddies —including one couple who created this fantastic game, Jack’s Friends, which made for the perfect personalized gift for our Berlin hosts.
Our favorite and most unexpected discovery came courtesy of someone I can’t even remember. (So if you’re reading this, please make yourself known, and more importantly, thank you!) The spot: Tempelhof Flughafen. If you’re a history buff, you may have heard of this airport in relation to the Berlin Airlift. After serving as one of the city’s three main airports, Tempelhof was shut down in 2008. And though it now houses some extracurricular schools, Police departments and occasionally a refugee hub, it remains mostly empty awaiting renovation for further developments. But… its airfield is open to the public and it. is. incredible. A giant space of runway and grass in the fairly central Tempelhof-Shöneberg neighborhood, this spot is home to runners, dog-walkers, skateboarders, kite-fliers, toy-car-drivers, lovers… and of course, bike-riders like us.
It was hard to find actually — we arrived at the airport’s main entrance and asked a passerby for directions to enter the airport. Wrong wording on our part as the gentleman kindly asked us if we knew the airport was no longer a functional airport… Clearly he didn’t know about the open airfield, so we moved on, making our way via some old airport hangars and “no entry” signs before finally riding into this extraordinary expanse of joyous activity.
Stopping by Tempelhof was the last item on our list after a long day of riding through the city, East and West, with stops at Preussen Park’s Thai Market and Charlottenburg Palace, and we almost didn’t make it. I admit I was on the fence, unsure what to expect from an abandoned airport. But from the moment we ventured in, we knew this would be one of the most treasured memories we would make in Berlin.
The first eye-catching part were the kites. Dozens of them, floating beautifully in the setting sky. We almost mistook them for parachuters until we realized there were too many, too near each other for that to be possible. And while the airfield has hosted enough events and festivals that it can’t quite be considered a proper secret, it definitely feels like a hidden gem. Travel nuts that we are, Nat and I were completely smitten, riding full speed on the giant tarmacs… no hands!… taking mental snapshots of each special scene along the way: two friends sitting atop some elevated structures in the grass; a couple locking legs on a bench admiring the sunset; a skater holding onto a bike to gain speed. There was no shortage of unique, fun-loving moments to experience.
Our touristic exploration of Berlin concluded with a visit inside the Reichstag on German Unity Day. Just the fact that we could enter the German Parliament and walk around a glass dome sitting right above the Bundestag’s Plenary Hall (where sessions are also open to the public) is amazing. A testament, we were told, of the transparent nature of German politics. To be there so soon after the recent elections and on German Unity Day, no less, was very special.
As I sit here reminiscing about our last few days in Berlin, I acknowledge that while this may not be the city I want to set roots in, it is definitely one I leave with the desire to come back — for a weekend perhaps, or to visit new friends. Catch a cool exhibit or a show. Finally make it into Berghain. (Nah…)
So I say “bis bald, Berlin,” until soon! Thank you for being a place where I could practice my German, unexpectedly challenge my comfort zone, feel the weight of history at every turn and question the twists of the present.
Next stop: Vancouver, Canada. On we go!***
