Berlin's new Hauptbanhof is an impressive, airy and light-filled building, into which I arrived some seven minutes late, which defied predictions. Unfortunately it's also filled with the same shop chains found now everywhere in the world.
Thinking it was a terminus and that there was no hurry to get off what was essentially an hotel on rails which would need a lot of maid service to be habitable again, I was in no rush. It turns out it's not a terminus. I nearly didn't get off in time before it pulled off on its way elsewhere. The friendly attendant, horrified he'd missed me, propelled me out of the door at speed.
Daily S- and U-Bahn tickets are more expensive than I was expecting, but I negotiated the system uneventfully ... until the U2 line from Alexanderplatz ended prematurely a few stops short. From the replacement bus it was easy to see why: the line, which is on stilts all the way up Schönhauser Alee, is being overhauled, with heavy machinery and hoardings; they're upgrading the line and stations, I imagine, from DDR days to a more modern system.
The hotel, friendly as the last time I was here nearly four years ago, have told me I can check in several hours early, at 1230, so a little exploring has started with a coffee and a Danish nearby.
Thinking it was a terminus and that there was no hurry to get off what was essentially an hotel on rails which would need a lot of maid service to be habitable again, I was in no rush. It turns out it's not a terminus. I nearly didn't get off in time before it pulled off on its way elsewhere. The friendly attendant, horrified he'd missed me, propelled me out of the door at speed.
Daily S- and U-Bahn tickets are more expensive than I was expecting, but I negotiated the system uneventfully ... until the U2 line from Alexanderplatz ended prematurely a few stops short. From the replacement bus it was easy to see why: the line, which is on stilts all the way up Schönhauser Alee, is being overhauled, with heavy machinery and hoardings; they're upgrading the line and stations, I imagine, from DDR days to a more modern system.
The hotel, friendly as the last time I was here nearly four years ago, have told me I can check in several hours early, at 1230, so a little exploring has started with a coffee and a Danish nearby.
No comments:
Post a Comment