The Green Goblin Blog

There’s a U-Bahn station near my hotel at Wittenbergplatz which I can use to get to the S-Bahn railway at Zoologischer Garten, instead of walking directly up Budapesterstrasse. Looking at the map, it only saves me about 30 yards so it’s more for variety. So tonight I get off the S-Bahn and bump into the people who work with me on the BizTalk desk at TechEd. They are taking the underground too as their hotel is on the same line as mine. We are chatting on the train and it occurs to me that I am not concentrating on where I am going. As we pull out Wittenbergplatz, I realise that this was the one I needed to get off at. At the next stop, Nollendorfplatz, I make my farewells but they tell me this is their stop too. Not wanting to appear a confused idiot, I don’t mention my mistake and, while they are distracted by a noodle stand (which smelled gorgeous), I sneak back to the opposite platform to wait for the next train back to the station I’d missed. Ten minutes later I am at Wittenbergplatz and climb the stairs to the surface. I recall the morning trip where a woman took a photo of the building opposite (which doesn’t look so impressive at night) and the pedestrian crossing where I waited for the lights to change. I don’t recall the side road next to the crossing being there, though... Off I stroll down the road and soon start to wonder why it is taking so long to find Nurnbergerstrasse and my hotel. Maybe it is because I’m walking in the dark after a busy day? As I reach an Underground station, I check my map. It is Nollendorfplatz - the one where I left my colleagues buying noodles. I had managed to walk in the exact opposite direction and so it’s back up the stairs and on to the platform. Ten minutes later I am again at the stop I need. This time at the surface I am facing the right direction and the building that the woman had been photographing looks vastly more impressive. And there is no side road by the crossing. Before I know it, I am back at the hotel...

Labels: Berlin, TechEd