We arrived at Berlin Tegel Airport on time, however it took quite a while before we did get through customs and were able to receive our luggage. Klaudia was waiting for us. It turned out she had forgotten where she had her car parked, that is she knew where the parking area was but she wasn’t sure how she would be able to get there. She ventured into one of the old lifts of Tegel Airport and left us behind. All we could do was wait. In the end we made it to the car all right. With all our luggage!

Our arrival was on a Sunday. In Berlin nearly all shops are closed on  Sundays. Klaudia first of all took us to Peter’s sister’s place. Surprise, surprise,  she had a big bag full of goodies prepared for us. She had thought of everything that we would need for the first day in our apartment,  things like butter-milk,  bread,   cheese and wurst and fruit and tea-bags as well as milk  and butter.  Remember, the shops are closed on a Sunday, she said. Peter’s sister lives pretty close to the airport. However, we thought we might take off somewhat early so we’d be closer to where our apartment was. We had been told a woman would meet us in front of the apartment block at 2 pm. Perhaps there was a chance to meet her bit earlier so she could let us into our apartment? If not, we’d just stay in the surrounding park area, called ‘Tiergarten’ till it was time for the meeting.

Actually in the Tiergarten, not far from where our apartment block was, is the ‘English Garden’ with the English Tea-House. Klaudia was well acquainted with this place and led us there where  we had some lovely refreshments sitting in the outside garden area. It was  a beautiful balmy autumn day.  Before we went to the Tea House we found a nice picnic table where we  all dug into the stuff Peter’s sister had provided. I remember as cheese there was ‘Harzer Käse”, which I love and which is hard to get in Australia. Everything Ilse had packed, tasted wonderful!

The handover of the apartment at 2 o’clock went without a hinge. We straight away liked the place. It was tiny, just a studio apartment, with a small kitchen. But it seemed adequate for us as a holiday place. There were lifts which meant getting our luggage up to the second floor was no problem. Klaudia was helping us all the way. She was really great! She is a bit on the nervous side. (Who wouldn’t be a little bit stressed in a place like Berlin? Unless you’re on holidays , of course.) Once she’s a bit de-stressed, she’s a wonderful person to be with. And she said she wanted to make time for us to see us often while we were in Berlin. And she sure did keep her promise. She didn’t disappoint us in any way. We had some very good time with her. She kept talking a lot about Australia  and how she’d love to go there once more.