Berlin, Germany

We traveled by train from Niederjosback to Berlin on January 4th. We were so exited about going to Berlin that we left the house a couple hours early. Of course if you know Lane, he always wants to get there very early so he knows where he is going and then he is comfortable. We had an enjoyable breakfast at the Frankfurt train station before we left on the ICE train for Berlin. While we have been in Germany, we have seen little or no sun. Of course the day that we left Frankfurt, the sun was shining and we were not around enjoy it! However, we excited about seeing Berlin.

The train ride was very good. For awhile, Lane and I had an entire car to ourselves. When we arrived in Berlin I thought I knew where we were going. I had written down the directions and had drawn the map that was online. Both of these were from the hotel web site. Of course, when we started out, I used the map and of course we went the wrong way from the train station. So we went back to the train station and followed the written directions. To our amazement, that was also wrong. We made it back to the train station and asked the information desk. The funny thing is that Lane heard something different than I heard. So, we went the way that I understood we should go and of course that was also wrong. By now we only had one more way to go, Lane’s way, and we made it to the hotel. However, the hotel’s web site said that it is 500 meters from the train station, it was quite a bit farther than that.

When I made the hotel reservation, there were good reviews on Trip Advisor. However, someone posted that it is a bare bones hotel. They were so right! There was one 10″X12″ picture and a 13″ TV on the wall. There was no clock, telephone, shampoo, wash clothes, or hand lotion. It did have two lamps, two chairs, and a table! It also had hand towels, bath towels, and soap. At least we didn’t have to share a bathroom!!!

When we arrived in Berlin, the weather was very cold. The wind was blowing and it was raining. We needed to taste test the brats and ice cream on our first night in Berlin. By time we got to the hotel, we were rather cold and wet. The bare bones hotel did provide a free drink in their bar at 5:00 PM. So we were curious what type of drink the hotel offered after seeing the room. To our surprise, it was beer, wine, orange juice, or water. Of course I had to try the beer while Lane tested the juice! We went back to the room and were in bed before 7:00 PM. It was nice crawling into a warm bed! Of course, we were up very early the next morning!

The next day we had scheduled a 3.5 hour walking tour. We were to meet at the Brandenburg tor, which was supposed to be by the hotel. When we asked the hotel about the Brandenburg tor, we found out that it was a 25 minute walk from the hotel. With the rain in conjunction with the cold wind and an expected walk of more than 4 hours, we changed our minds. However, we did find that there was a City Sightseeing Tour Bus (hop on – hop off) that has 20 stops for 20 Euros. That was an easy decision for a couple of older people!!! We really enjoyed the tour and stayed fairly warm and dry. We did get off at Check Point Charley so I could get a picture of Lane! The tour was 2.5 hours and we rode it around the city twice. I had to get pictures from both sides of the bus. Of course, it rained off and on all day long, so I did not get pictures of everything. Raindrops do have a way of messing up the photos.

Berlin is a good place to stop. There is so much to see. I now wished that I had planned more time there AND made sure we stopped in the summer and not the winter.