Every Sunday in Berlin is a pseudo-national holiday.  It’s true.  Berlin virtually shuts down around 3pm on Sundays so the entire population can commiserate with friends, family and countrymen.   Outdoor cafés and coffeehouses are jam packed with a wide array of lazy people enjoying each other’s company.  No one is in a hurry … including the servers.  If they had their druthers, customers would wait on themselves.  And some impatient customers actually do.

I wasn’t aware of Berlin’s “Sabbath Slowdown” until I experienced it firsthand.  We were doing some mindless sightseeing when I noticed the crowds were beginning to thin.  The sidewalks became devoid of people.  Even my friends began moving in slow motion.  I thought I was in the opening sequence of NBC’s upcoming new series “The Event”.  (Looks cheesy, yes?)

At the outdoor coffee shop I went to, Berliners (Berlineans?) were ordering everything from luxury lattés to champagne with strawberries.  The weird thing?  Very few people were talking to each other.  They were just watching the world go by.  I didn’t want to upset the delicate balance of nature, so I just sat there soaking it all in.

The break was a welcome respite.  I had spent the day playing Joe Tourist.  From Parliament to the Hard Rock Café, I traipsed around the city like a champ.  Heck, I even got to see the hotel where Michael Jackson held his baby out the window.  Yep, even THAT is a tourist destination too.  Go figure.

By 4pm, the world started turning on its axis again.  And the sightseeing resumed.  There’s a ridiculous amount to see and do in Berlin … uh, just not mid-afternoon on Sunday.