Berlin to Dresden

When I came back from the last blog post Karen said "We forgot something." "What?" I said. "Tonight is the long night of shopping." I had spotted this event on a website while planning the trip, and in a moment of foolishness I told Karen about it. "Lange Nacht des Shoppings" happens twice a year on Kurfurstendamm (street) when they change the clocks. (Germany's clocks change a week before they do in the U.S., I think, so - if I'm right - for this week we're 10 hours ahead.) On those nights they have a big shopping event on that main street with live music, food and craft booths, and all the stores stay open until midnight or later.

But I didn't need to worry. She was already in bed. I mentioned this fact. "You're not ready to go." "Yes I am!" she cried, flinging back the covers. She was fully dressed. "How about if we just go to KaDeWe?" "OK," I said, "but I want to see the Kaiser Wilhelm church too." "Deal."

So we got back on the U2 train at 9:30 p.m. and went clear down to Kurfurstendamm. We had to change trains once and it was well after 10:00 when we came up from the station to the street. Across the street from the station we saw the KaDeWe store - the largest department store in Europe, they say. KaDeWe is short for Kaufhaus Des Westens, literally translated "Purchasing house of the West". West Berlin, that is. You pronounce it Kah Day Vay.

The night was cold and foggy - you couldn't see the tops of the buildings - but the streets were jammed with people. We stepped into KaDeWe and there was a pop band singing American hits from the 70s (mas que nada?) The sign said No Cameras but everyone was shooting pictures, so Karen took some movies. You'll all enjoy them, I'm sure. I asked "What do you want to buy here?" and she said "A Thermos, so I can pack coffee in my backpack". OK, so we went up to the 4th floor where they have housewares of every description. This is a very upmarket store, more like Harrod's than Target. We found our thermos - a very nice one - and have been using since then.

Then we went up to the 6th floor which is where they have food. Lots and lots of food. And several whole departments on that floor are devoted exclusively to chocolate. So we "kaufed" some chocolate. Then we went down to the street and walked over two or three blocks to the Kaiser Wilhelm church. It was one of the main churches of Berlin, and it was bombed out in WWII. They left the ruined shell as a memorial, just like the English did with Coventry Cathedral. An artist in each city (Berlin and Coventry) fashioned a cross from iron found in the ruins of the church, and after the war the two churches traded crosses as a measure of peace. Each displays the other's cross today. But the Berlin church was closed at midnight, so we walked around, peeked in the windows, and went home. We got home at around 1:00 pm, set our clocks forward an hour, and went to sleep!

That was my diary entry for late Saturday. I can't post any more right now, but will try and get a couple of pictures up with this. We are now in Dresden, it's Monday night, and we like Dresden a lot. But Internet connections are hard to come by. So I'm not sure when I'll post again, but I'll do it as soon as I can.

The picture is from Dresden; it is part of the Zwinger palace.