Up at the crack of Sperlingsfurz in Berlin. The email told us removals van would arrive at eight. Previous schedules have said between eight and noon. I guess we have to assume eight.
We need to be there to watch over the load whilst the driver and John and his mate unload and carry the gear to the flat. I’m there to do the watching. THG is on duty as our resident German speaker to ward off any Berlin traffic wardens who might take umbrage to the van being parked in a restricted spot.
Sometime later we are hanging around the flat. The latest eta is ten past nine.
…
Called the removals firm a number of times to be told the driver had been parked up outside the appointed location for fifteen minutes. An area search ensued and eventually our John bumped into the driver who had taken the initiative to come and find us. Turned out that the address given was a building accessible from more than one direction. What we had considered to be the obvious place to wait was not necessarily the interpretation of the driver. Hey…
Stress levels subsided and all hands set to unloading what was really a relatively small amount of stuff compared to the size of the Luton van.
We are now back in da hotel for some relaxation and recovery time. Tis a beautiful yet cold day out.
Couple of observations about Berlin. This is a very new city for obvious reasons. Feels a little strange being at one of the world’s most famous capital cities but for all the architecture to be post WW2. Even in the young country known to the world as the US of A they have older buildings.
Observation number two is in regards of the fact that everyone is speaking English in the hotel. This is an American chain therefore attracting clientele from that part of the world but it nevertheless feels odd.
Nice and warm sitting in the hotel lobby. A long rectangular fireplace feature provides some relaxing distraction and the muzac is not intrusive. I imagine it could drive the staff crazy having to listen to inane tunes day in day out.
Lots of people hanging around with luggage. Either they have not yet been able to check in or have checked out and killing time before going to the airport. Our flight back on Wednesday is at 16.50 so I guess we will have to hang around a bit ourselves. We will need to leave here at around 2 – 2.30.