Going Underground

Multiple layers on, we ventured out into the cold, crisp Berlin air, ready for another day of sightseeing. Rob and I had been to Berlin 8 years ago and had already taken in a lot of from the dark and sobering history of Berlin's past. This time we were here to enjoy the present.

We did a lot of walking along with stopping off in cafés at regular intervals to defrost. We stumbled across Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel exhibition in one of the city's underground stations and I'm so glad we did, it was quite something. As much as I think Lagerfeld is a conceited and irritating bloke, you can't deny his immense talent. The exhibition focused on The Little Black Jacket, deconstructed and reconstructed on over 100 celebrity and beautiful bodies. Poker-faced staff looked beautiful in their black suits while security looked menacing in theirs. It was warm and dark, the space was filled with the gorgeous scent of L'air de Collete, the sound system quietly piped out sounds of the underground as the images leapt from the walls, screaming 'Look at me!'. Just brilliant.

We then went onto visit the Reichstag and its glass dome which was quite futuristic and impressive but too cold to hang around in, especially since we'd waited in a queue for an hour just to get in and were about to lose fingers and toes to frostbite. The glass of the dome was also partly covered with snow so the views of the city were somewhat restricted.

Frozen and hungry we decided against traditional German fare and instead opted for the pizza/pasta option in a rather nice Italian in the arches underneath the railway lines, with trains rumbling by overhead. Then more walking, more Christmas markets and a little wine stop on the way back to the hotel. A fitting end to a busy day.