Fly to Berlin

Friday 5th August 2016

There was not a huge crowd at breakfast this morning at 6.30 am, as we tried to get something in our stomachs before our driver arrives to take us to the airport at 7am. He was there right on time, and it only took about 15 minutes to get to the airport from the hotel

Our last view in the Four Seasons before going to the airport in the morning light

We are flying to Berlin with TAP (Portugals Airline). The airport is chaotic, with lots of people travelling today for some reason, and directions to the check in area are not that obvious. However, despite the crowds, the process was pretty efficient and we were through security and inside in a reasonable time.

The flight took a little over 3 hours and we landed in Berlin just before 2 pm. Forty five minutes later we are at our Hotel. The Adina Hotel is well located near many of the sights of Berlin including the Cathedral and Museum Island.

Note the Australian Flag ! Adina is an Australian owned Hotel Group (Toga).

Checking in was easy and our room is very comfortable, with a small kitchen included. Once settled in, we went for a walk around the surrounding area. Just around the corner  is Hackescher Market, a bustling restaurant area.

By now we are hungry, after only a light breakfast and just a snack on the plane. It is 3.45pm when we sat down for a late lunch, not too concerned about healthy choices.

We didn't eat all of the chips !!! The Berlin style Currywurst was a bit different.

Now it was time to walk off our lunch, so we headed off in no particular direction, knowing we would see something important along the way.

It wasn't long before we stumbled over a Church that was quite imposing, and in reading the information on a plaque out the front, we learned it was visited by Marin Luther King where preached about racism and equality in this church in 1964, apparently having quite an impact. The visit from such a prominent American in the middle of the Cold War must have been quite an event. I am amazed the US Govt allowed him to go.

I an imagine that when East Germany was finally opened up to the World, all things American would be a novelty. This restaurant was huge. Checking on the internet is seems to be a chain of restaurants with others set up as American Diners !

Wandering around further we ended up at Museum Island, also very close to our hotel. A number of museums are clustered together in the one area on the river and near the Cathedral. We had a quick look around and will investigate further over the next few days.

The National Gallery

There are other museums devoted to special periods, this one seemed to focus on Egyptian History.

And of course there is the cathedral, which dominates the whole area.

This timely warning is on the pavement at the entrance to the Cathedral. It appears to be an issue in all of the places we have visited on our trip so far.

The Spree River runs alongside all of these attractions and a number of boats run sightseeing trips, so we approached one operator to get the details and may give it a go tomorrow if the weather is amenable. It looks like a good way to get an overview of the city.

Just in front of the National Gallery there is a wedding celebration going on, with cars stopped in the middle of a parking area and people dancing on the street whilst the bride looked on. It reminded me of a similar experience we had in Turkey a few years ago. Maybe it was a Turkish wedding.

It was time to head back in the direction of the hotel, so we crossed the river near the Cathedral across what appears to be a very old bridge with marble carvings of Roman battle scenes along it. There is huge construction site on the right hand side.

As we round the corner to the hotel we noticed that BBQing appears to be catching on in Berlin. Weber are putting in a major effort to capture the market.

Arriving back at the hotel, we stopped in the bar for a Gin & Tonic before heading up to our room for a rest.

By 7.30 pm, we were starting to think about dinner, so hit the streets again to look at the many options within  a short walk from our hotel. We walked past the Weber Grill Academy and to our great surprise, BBQ lessons were in full swing. There would have been at least 20 guys in there all dressed up in aprons being shown how to cook a steak.

Spoilt for choice, we wandered around for about 30 minutes before finally settling on a restaurant where we thought we could get a schnitzel, but it turned out to be a Vietnamese restaurant disguised as a German restaurant. Nevertheless, we found something to our liking, and had a reasonable meal at an affordable price.

It has been a long day, so it was back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. We stopped at a supermarket on the way and picked up a few breakfast items, as our room is well set up for self catering.