Berlin, Germany

May 2013 saw us have a cheeky little weekend away (4 days) here in Berlin.  This time we flew direct with British Airways A320 at 0720 in the morning.  If I haven’t mentioned before, we always fly on the first flight out and last flight back in order to get 4 full days of the city.  This does however, often involve extra cost in the form of airport hotels, but with so many websites that cater for these at knockdown prices, the cost is minimal.

Arrived at Tegel (TXL) airport, the favourite one of Berlin as it is only 15 minutes drive from anywhere in the centre of the city.  This should have closed 2 years ago and replaced with the new Berlin (BER) airport at Schonefeld, but a problem with the fire alarm have caused a 3 – 4 year delay.  There is no direct underground at TXL just buses and taxis in an abundance.  Taxi to the hotel was quick and cheap and most importantly, on a very fairly priced meter that issued receipts for the amount it cost, not some fictional figure thought up by the scoundrel taxi driver to rip you off.

We stayed at Savoy Hotel in the vicinity of Kurfurstendamm, Savignyplatz, Kantstrasse and Berlin Zoo  . The transport infrastructure is as you would expect it, German. Very clean, punctual plentiful and cheap.  There is so much to see and do in this city, we decided to return, at least 3 times, as you cannot do it justice in just 4 days.  We saw Berlin Wall, Potsdamer, Holocaust memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg gate ..... all the things you expect to see.

Food was like the transport, German, deep fried and containing pork or chicken.  There are plenty of family run restaurants around that do very good affordable tasty German specialities, Schnitzel, Pork Knuckle, Saur Kraut etc.  There was an Indian restaurant just down from Potsdamer before the Holocaust Memorial. Adise you give this a miss, the waiters are pestilence itself, trying to drag you in from the street then not giving you what you ordered.  Very bad experience, we ended up just walking off and leaving money for the beers we drank but not paying for the food that went straight back.

May saw the temperatures in the late teens reaching mid 20’s by the middle of the day, when, cover was needed and refreshment sought.  Cardigan and trouser were needed after 1900 as it got a trifle chilly.

The Hotel Savoy was exceptional, 1920’s decor and ambiance, the cinema over the road was playing The Great Gatsby, how apt!  With its own cigar bar, renowned throughout Berlin, as people kept walking in to buy cigars, and a great selection of Whiskies, many a night could be had in there.  Breakfast, however, was slapshod. Plenty of waiting staff, but no one doing anything. Therefore, we did what we love to do and ate locally.  Again, the age old problem of Egg on Toast reared its ugly head again, even Google Translate didn’t help. I ended up with bacon and cheese omelette with a bread roll in a basket. Think next time I will take a picture of it.

In summary: Go, do it and return to do the bits you missed or forgot to do! One of our favourite cities J