I spent March 4th napping and writing blog posts – it was all I could manage. Mentally tired even after a night of dozing, physically congested, stiff and sore. It was not a good day.

Every recent movie scene of Berlin seems includes a shot of the Berlin TV tower. Though it was built in East Berlin during the Cold War, the tower has come to symbolize a united Berlin. It had been a stop on the Hop On-Hop Off bus tour. My first thought was to just see the observation deck, then the website showed me that I could have lunch on a revolving platform looking out over Berlin. I booked a lunch reservation for the restaurant in the Berlin TV tower for the 5th. I still needed dinner on the 4th and was hoping for food from the hotel bar. But I learned a couple things: the kitchen was closed for some reason and asking for a gin martini meant that I was served a Martini Bianco (https://www.martini.com/products/martini-bianco/) in a martini glass with a cube of ice. I don’t think gin was involved at all.
I needed to leave my hotel, get some fresh air and food with, hopefully, a cocktail. Fortunately, the Food Factory not too distant from the Berlin Hauptbahnhof and the hotel. Basically, it’s a restaurant startup incubator. There are biotech incubators in Boston, SF etc where companies with a concept can try to prove that their concept is worth investor funding in a space with shared overhead costs. This seemed similar but with restaurants. I could have burgers, sandwiches, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, coffee, cocktails etc all in one location but not like a mall food court. This was very good quality food but slightly better polished presentation than than mall food. The Vietnamese chicken and rice noodle dish I ordered was a large portion, fresh, delicious and cheap! I did have a “dry” Espresso martini for a sort of dessert before heading back to the hotel. The idea was to stay awake long enough to make it to 11 pm.