Our Arrival In Berlin

For those interested in the continuing saga of our Belize trip, I will resume it after we arrive home in California, again.  In the mean time, the following is the beginning of our trip to Berlin in June.

Evelyn and I walked out of the Berlin-Tegel-International Airport on May 29 at about 8:30 in the morning.  We had just completed the flight from New Jersey to Berlin, which had taken almost exactly eight hours.  That was after a two hour hold-over in the New Jersey airport, a five hour flight from San Francisco, where we had just barely enough time to make it to our connection, from our flight from Sacramento on a turbo-prop plane that held about 30 people.

Tegeler Airport S-Bahn fast food car

Our first sight was a train car, from the Berliner S-Bahn (City Train) system, that had been converted to a fast food restaurant.  We had just spent the last 24 hours traveling and were starting out our arrival in Berlin with the whole day ahead of us.  We would certainly be tired enough after spending this full day taking care of the incidentals needed for a month's stay in Berlin.  \

Evelyn's mother was going to turn ninety on the 17th of June, and we wanted to make sure we were there to celebrate it with her.  In all likelihood, it would be the last time we would see her and even more likely the last birthday we would be able to celebrate with her.

We continued on toward the escalator that would take us to the lower level where all the car rental companies were located.  We had reserved a car with Budget, which, in this case, was the same counter as Avis.  We got a black four door Peugeot, which was about the size of a Chevy Aveo, perhaps a little bigger or smaller.  A stick shift is standard for small rental cars, in Europe.

From the airport, we had about a forty minute drive to our Condo in the southernmost part of Berlin.  After Evelyn's father passed away in 1998, it became pretty apparent that we would be having to visit Berlin more regularly to help take care of issues with her mother.  Her mother had developed colon cancer, which was discovered about four months after his passing.  We actually didn't think she would be able to survive her cancer, especially because they had some problems that led to a sepsis condition in her abdomen.  She was kept in a drug induced coma for almost five months.  Evelyn went to Germany twice that year.  Once while her mother was in a coma and again later in the year after she was back out.  In 2003, we decided it was more cost effective for us to purchase a very small, studio condo (it is really more like just an efficiency unit), so we could always have something available when we went there.

half liter bottles of beer for $.59 (Euro .47)

It took only about an hour for the two of us to vacuum, clean, dust, and make the bed, and clean the shower.  There are advantages to having a small apartment.  We then took the time to drive to the nearest grocery store to pick up some things.  I have to mention this, because some of the prices were almost shockingly low.  We are astonished every year when we get to Germany.  For instance, the beer is amazingly cheap.  One-half liter bottles for $.59; 2 lbs bananas for $1.30, 2 1/2 lbs multigrain bread for $1.00, etc.  The prices are low enough to make living in Germany at least as far as food prices are concerned,  much more cost effective than in California.

There actually appear to be ways one can eat out and still stay within a pretty low budget.  There are government office buildings that have cafeterias for the employees.  We have found one can get a nice meal in those kinds of places for anywhere between $3.75 and $6.00.  Most of the department stores have restaurants which serve a wide variety of foods.  Usually, after about 4:30 in the afternoon, they will reduce the prices on the food by 50%, just to make sure the food gets sold rather than thrown out.  Again, finding a nice meal in those situations usually ends up under $5.00.  Finally, there are restaurants that specialize in certain types of foods, usually traditional German fare, and they serve excellent meals for under $6.00.  When combining such prices with the cost of a typical continental breakfast of quality, multigrain rolls and an almost infinite variety of sausage or cold cuts, the average day can cost under ten to twelve dollars per person.

Just today, Evelyn and I found a place that is really a butcher shop that doubles as a restaurant.  I had a huge "Rinder Rollade" (Beef roll), red cabbage, and potatoes with gravy (as much as even my usually large appetite could handle), for under $7.25.  Evelyn had a cabbage roll stuffed with ground beef, mashed potatoes, and gravy (almost more than she could eat) for around $6.00.  Those are prices we can't even find in California (excluding, of course, McDonalds or Burger King).

Rents are also comparably low.  A comfortable one or two bedroom apartment can be found in most areas of Berlin, for under $600 per month.  Of course, if one wants to have the luxury of driving around in a car, the $7.00 or more cost of gasoline can rob you of much of your savings.  Fortunately, we have been able to rent cars that get upwards of 40 to 45 miles per gallon.  That makes the high cost of gas a little more palatable.  We were fortunate, as well, in finding an unbelievable deal on our studio Condo, nine years ago.  Our only costs for our lodging in Berlin is our homeowner's dues, electricity, and property taxes.  For the whole year, that amounts to somewhere around $1,800.  If we were to stay longer periods of time in Berlin, that would amount to only about $150 per month.  Not bad.

As I mentioned, our main reason for the trip, this year, was to spend Evelyn's mother's 90th birthday with her.  We were shocked, on our second day in Berlin, when we went to see her mother.  She had lost so much weight, we were not even sure she would be able to walk.  She could, but not very well.  We realized we would not be able to take her around Berlin to see and do things together like we used to.  She is extremely hard of hearing (nearly deaf) and even when she could make out what we were saying, she often didn't comprehend the meaning.  We were happy she remembered both of our names, although she asked us why we never got married.  Since she was at our wedding, 35 years ago, that made it clear her mind was not what it used to be.

We have been in Berlin for about two weeks now.  I will give an update in the next few days.