Ben in Berlin - 30th of May - 2nd of June, 2026

A poorly daughter...

Sophie woke me at 2:30am this morning, but I'd had such a bad night's sleep, I set my alarm for 3:00am and snoozed for half an hour. When we were all set to go, Sophie said she felt terrible and had had a bad night's sleep as well. Not an ideal start to our break in Berlin!

We left at 3:30am, and Jeeves took us onto the A5 to Dunstable, as a large section of the M1 was closed. It felt very strange taking such a different route, and as we drove, the sky became lighter and lighter. After this diversion, the journey was largely uneventful, except for one confusing section of the M25, which must have just reopened minutes before we reached it. This sent Jeeves into a tailspin, and he kept repeating, "Adhere to the route!" in a weird robotic voice, until we turned him off!

We arrived at Maple Parking in good time and took our seats on a bus bound for Terminal 5. We cleared security easily (without any grumbles from me) and decided to have breakfast at Giraffe. We both chose porridge with fruit and coffee. The food and coffee revived Sophie, who said she felt better, but she was still stuffed up, sneezing and coughing, bless her! She was able to comment to me quietly about the girl at the next table who was sitting with huge curlers in her hair and obviously making a YouTube video of a trip to New York... It was funny when she was asked for ID after ordering a Hugo Spritz!

After breakfast, we made our way straight to the gate and had our cabin bags taken away and put in the hold as the plane was full. We had checked in online and chosen middle and window seats, and Sophie was hoping that the seat next to her would be empty.

We had to board a bus to get to the plane, and soon we were taking our seats. Amazingly, despite the plane being "full", Sophie had an empty seat next to her! Bonus! We had a very pleasant flight indeed; Sophie enjoyed an Aperol Spritz, and I chose a "Trip" drink, meant to induce calm. It sent me off to sleep!

I loved looking out of the window at the clouds and glimpsing the land (and sea) below!

Lunch by the river

We were dreading the EES system, but we used the machines easily, and then queued to go through passport control again. I have no idea why we have to do this, as our fingerprints were taken again, and our passports stamped! I honestly thought that once you go through this rigmarole, it lasts up to three years, and you don't have to go through it all again. Obviously not!

We had decided to take the S-Bahn to Jannowitzbrücke station (a couple of stops before Alexanderplatz) and order an Uber to take us to the hotel. We descended to the station platform and jumped straight onto the S9 to Spandau. We had bought 24-hour tickets and made sure we had validated them before boarding the train. Minutes after the train left the station, we were asked for our tickets. Two guys sitting opposite, who had been on our plane, were told off for not validating their tickets, but the ticket collector's wrath was reserved for a mother and son pair who had not bought a ticket at all! A huge argument ensued with the mother almost screaming at the ticket collector. The ticket collector would not give in, and at the next station, they all got off and carried on their argument on the platform!

A lovely couple boarded with a small dog, and I could see the woman was itching to talk. She asked us if this was our first trip to Berlin, and we had a great chat with them both until they disembarked at another station. Their dog was called Flo, and the woman had family in Birmingham who ran a pub. It was lovely to sit and chat, and another man also joined in, who was American. Only the two lads kept quiet!

It was warm and stuffy on the train, and it was great to leave it at Jannowitzbrücke station and hail an Uber. The driver arrived within minutes and took us the short distance to the hotel. Sophie hadn't wanted to go through all the ups and downs at Alexanderplatz and then take the U-Bahn to Märkisches Museum, and this was an ideal solution. 

Thankfully, our rooms were ready and up on the sixth floor. We were given two keys, which confused us slightly, but all was made clear when we entered the room. We had an entrance hall with a tiny kitchenette and two rooms on either side. We both had a bathroom, which was very convenient! My room overlooked the river, the Berliner Dom in the distance, and the blocks of flats.

We unpacked and then strolled over to the Nikolai Quarter for lunch. It was a gorgeous day with sunshine and blue skies. It felt a little weird walking over, as the last time we'd been in Berlin when it wasn't Spring or Summer was in 2013!

The roadworks were still in place on the main road we needed to cross to get to the Nikolai Quarter, but we were soon across and gazing at the views, which never fail to disappoint.

We walked along the river and chose Trattoria San Nicola for lunch. It was pleasantly busy, and the waitress was lovely. We took a table right by the river and watched all the pleasure boats pass by. We were hoping to take a boat ride on Tuesday morning before we went home.

We shared a pizza and a bowl of French fries for lunch, as well as a glass of rosé each. We had ordered a 500ml pichet, and we were delighted to see it was from Bédoin! It was heavenly to be sitting in one of our favourite cities, in the sunshine, with our four-day break ahead of us. The stress of travelling was over, and we could relax!

Sophie had been taking Lemsips for her cold, but after we'd eaten, she started to feel stuffed up again. We decided to return to the hotel for a much-needed nap before going out for dinner at Ephraim's tonight.

Return to Ephraim's

We walked back to the hotel and called into the supermarket on the way to buy milk and some snacks. Before going up to our rooms, we made sure that the bar in the Grosser Kurfurst opposite was open, as we both wanted to have a drink there and enjoy one of Chrizz's signature cocktails. Thankfully, the bar opened at 6:00pm, but the only method of payment was cash... That would rein us in!

It was then time for a nap and a freshen up before we crossed the street again. We hadn't chosen the Grosser Kurfurst as we weren't able to book an apartment or family room, but we were delighted by the Derag Living Hotel Berlin Mitte (formerly the Henriette). I was sure this hotel used to have a bar, but it now seemed to be part of the breakfast room.

The bar was empty, and we were able to sit in our favourite seat - the banquette right next to the bar. From here, we could watch Chrizz at work! Sophie chose one of Chrizz's own cocktails, called Be Fresh, while I indulged in a Black Russian. It was delicious!

Nobody else took advantage of the lovely bar while we were there, which was a shame. Chrizz has won loads of awards for his cocktails and is a fabulous bartender, albeit a little grumpy! As we still had an hour to go before our dinner booking at Ephraim's, we decided to try another drink each. This time I went for a summery cocktail, one of Chrizz's own, called Spring Fever, which was a longer drink and was gorgeous. It contained: Absolut Vanilla Vodka, red orange liqueur, passion fruit syrup, mandarin syrup, orange juice and passion fruit nectar!

Chrizz was a little bemused when Sophie asked him if he could make her a Negroni with cherry liqueur... However, he made it for her and made sure he tested it before handing her the glass! She pronounced it delicious! 

We paid the bill and left a tip, which pleased Chrizz and made our way back to the Nikolai Quarter. We decided to sit inside at Ephraim's and took a table in the beautiful front parlour.  We both chose the chicken with pineapple curry sauce served with rice and salad, and a 250ml pichet of white wine apiece. It felt very strange to be eating while it was still light outside! 

Our waiter had served us before and was lovely and friendly. The food was delicious, and we both found room for dessert - warm pancakes stuffed with blueberries for me, and the layered walnut cake for Sophie. My daughter was fascinated by a family that came to sit behind us, and was amazed at how surly and rude the daughter was!

We paid the bill and decided to have a nightcap at Zille-Destille, where we discovered Berliner Luft last December. On the way, we booked a table at Moon Exquisite for Monday night, and this was where we had enjoyed pre-dinner cocktails last Christmas. It's a South Asian Fusion restaurant, and the schnitzel caught our eye on the menu!

We walked to Stille-Destille and took a seat at an outside table. The Champions League Final between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain had just finished with the French side winning. It took a little while to attract the attention of the scatty waiter, but we weren't in any hurry! Nearby were four British lads who were working their way through large glasses of beer, and I was a little shocked to see one of them get up and make his way over to some bushes where he threw up... ugh! Amazingly, they all ordered another round of beers even though I think the staff were in the process of closing off the outside area. This bar is surrounded by apartments, and we had been told the outside area was closing at 10:00pm, presumably because of the local residents.  This was fine with us as we had just one Berliner Luft each, which was a perfect ending to our evening!

We walked back along the main street, and Sophie fell in love with BJ, a large black retriever who took a liking to her, and lay down at her feet so she could stroke his furry tummy! His owner came out, and we had a chat, which was lovely!

A deserted Nikolai Quarter

It was great to get back to our rooms and look forward to a good night's sleep!

Cuddles with Milo

It turned warm again, but thankfully, it hasn't been as hot as earlier in the week! Today has been fairly uneventful; at work, I manned the phones with Kathy, and we had to deal with more swimming problems. The time whizzed past, and apart from the swimming lesson niggles, it was a pleasant shift.

When I arrived home, Milo was in the garden again, and he ran off as soon as he saw me. I followed him down the drive, and he let me stroke him. This time, I messaged Lynn, who lives next door to his owners and let her know he's been drinking a lot and that we were a little worried about him. She messaged back to say his owners were away and that she was feeding him and their other cat, Ninja, who doesn't leave the house. This might explain why he's been visiting our garden. Then, Lynn said that Ninja doesn't let Milo drink from the water fountain, so that explained even more!

He was still about when Sophie arrived home, so she had mega cuddles with him!

Milo

I don't think our two cats were amused!

Sophie has a heavy cold and admitted to feeling awful. This doesn't bode well for our early morning tomorrow and our trip to Berlin! I packed before we had dinner: Tesco curries tonight, as we didn't want to have to cook a heavy meal. Tomorrow, we're up at about 2:30am!

Back to the heat!

I took today off as we have been quiet at work, and I had a lot of things to get done. Keith went shopping first thing while I tackled some household chores, such as washing bedding and getting it out to dry on the line in the sunshine. It was set to be hot again today, but hopefully the weather will cool down a bit tomorrow.

I spent the morning pootling about the house and trying to stay cool! As well as numerous washes, I sorted my clothes out for Berlin. The weather looks like a mixed bag with cooler, rainier conditions for Monday, but I think I'll get away with dresses this time! We just want it to stay dry for Sunday evening, when we have tickets to see Ben Howard at an outdoor concert.

Keith returned from shopping and helped out by ironing some of the clothes I needed. I went to see Mum in the afternoon, and had a pleasant chat with her for over an hour. Again, I haven't told her we're going to Berlin, as I think it would just upset her. 

Back home, I carried on with more housework and did my exercises to help my heel. I'm starting to worry it will never get better, and just hope it doesn't play up too much in Berlin!

Sophie came home from work and spent an hour trying to take out the links on a strap for her new Apple watch. She'd bought it from her friend Becky at a bargain price! It will be able to tell her accurately in Berlin how many steps we've walked every day!

Once that was done, we prepared a lovely supper of cold meats, salad and new potatoes and caught up with an episode of Panda, accompanied by a glass of rosé!

A welcome respite

I was awake at 4:22am this morning and went to check on Sophie after her inadvertent poisoning last night! She was fine and went straight back to sleep, even though I had only cracked open her door quietly, but it took me a little longer to go back to the land of Nod! I hadn't had a call from the care home, so I assumed that Mum hadn't gone to the hospital, as they would have let me know.

However, I was woken at 7:00am by one of the carers saying the ambulance had arrived late last night, and as Mum wasn't in pain, they hadn't admitted her. Phew! What a relief! I did wish they'd left telling me for another hour, though!

It was good to get up early and have a coffee with Keith in the kitchen. Sophie left for work at 8:00am, and I caught up with the blog. It was a lot cooler today, and there was a delicious breeze coming through the back door. It was lovely to feel more energetic!

I had an appointment at the Back and Body Clinic at 11:00am, and Keith was going to drop me off, see Glen in Moulton about a pre-holiday service for the VW and pop to Aldi to buy more water as we drank so much yesterday in the heat.

I wasn't seeing Gabriel today, and had a consultation with Ben, who was lovely. I did miss having Sophie with me, though, and hearing the banter between her and Gabriel! Ben talked about the tendon and made me do a couple of exercises to see what range of movement I had with my knees. He wanted to rule out any other problems that could affect the tendon. He then made me lie down and manipulated my hips, which he said were OK. 

I was made to turn over, and he applied one treatment of the shockwave therapy. It hurt as much as last week, but it was bearable. He then used a massager on the back of my left leg, which was very relaxing. He recommended I buy a heel lift for the trip to Berlin and said I could use Co-Codamol for the pain. Sophie had written out our itinerary on Monday, and we will make use of the excellent buses, trains and trams in Berlin, like we did in Vienna.

Keith was waiting for me, and we went to Riverside as I wanted to get the heel lift for my trainers. I texted Sophie to ask if she wanted to meet for lunch, and she agreed. I spent another small fortune in Boots, and we walked to Next to meet Sophie.

I was expecting the Costa in the shop to be heaving as it's half-term, but it was pleasantly quiet. I bought lunch, but Keith only wanted a pot of tea as he had the rest of yesterday's prawns to eat at home in a sandwich. Rather him than me! I only ate half of my meal last night because I was worried about Sophie, and because it was tasteless! We sat and chatted, and I told Sophie about my appointment, telling her I'd been thoroughly checked over!

After we'd eaten, we amused ourselves by sitting on all the sofas and chairs in Next, and I had a play with a rise-and-recliner seat. I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet! We said goodbye to Sophie and headed home. As I was hanging the washing on the line, Mooney appeared, and we had a major love-in. He is so sweet! He loved rolling around in the grass, one ear cocked for all the bird sounds about. We have baby Jackdaws in the house next to us, and I could hear the young squawking for food! I sat with Mooney for a little while and then went inside to catch up with some jobs. 

I spent a good hour preparing tonight's dinner, and I do wonder how the contestants on MasterChef manage to prepare and cook their dishes in the short time allowed. Do they have someone helping? I grated ginger (next time we're going to get a jar, it's so fiddly!), garlic, chopped up broccoli and spring onions, and cubed chicken breasts. I then made a sauce of honey, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. This was a recipe for Honey Glazed Chicken that sounded delicious, so I was hoping it would work out well (and I wouldn't end up poisoning any of my family!).

Sophie came home with a long list of things she needed to do, and I started on the dinner. I had to coat the chicken in cornflour, which made it lovely and crispy, cook the veg, and then amalgamate it all together and add the sauce. We ate it with deliciously sticky Jasmine rice and prawn crackers. The sauce wasn't as thick as I would have liked, but it was still lovely, and Sophie had enough for two lunches. I'll definitely cook it again, but maybe lessen the wet ingredients.

As Sophie was washing up, she spotted a strange cat in the garden! It was Milo, a big tabby who lives down the road, and he had come along to drink the water we'd put down for the birds! He drank and drank, which was slightly worrying as cats don't normally drink a lot. Gomez had made one of his rare appearances and stood stock still in the garden as he suddenly realised there was an intruder in his territory! Sophie picked Mooney up, who, when he eventually noticed Milo, let out a growl!

We went into the garden, and Milo ran out, which freaked out both of our cats. It set the tone for an unsettled night, when Gomez kept being spooked by people. Twice, Sophie had him in her arms to bring him in as it was cooler, and twice he struggled to get free and ran off.

We watched an episode of MasterChef after dinner, and there are now just four going into the finals next week. Sophie and I have made predictions as to who will win, and I think we're both sure it will be a close-run contest!

Nature's entertainment

I was back at work at the normal time of 8:00am this morning and managed to park opposite our office. Sara was back from her break, so it was great to catch up with her before I started work. Already, the office felt hot, and we had turned on all the fans and drawn the blinds again. Nicola called Sara and asked what the temperature was like, and when Sara said it was warm, she asked her to go and get some big fans that we use in the main sports hall. 

Unfortunately, all they did was move hot air around the office, and they were noisy, so not an ideal solution! With six of us in the office, it became hot and stuffy! I felt for Nicola as her old office was air-conditioned, and she was clearly suffering in the heat, as was Sara, who looked a little red in the face. One of the senior managers came in and made us laugh with his tales of shaving his chest and having his shoulders and back waxed in the summer to feel cooler, so that provided a little light relief! He was on the lookout for sweets or chocolate, but they would have melted in our office at the moment!

Unfortunately, I received a call from the care home at about 11:00am to say that Mum had fallen again and was complaining of pain in her hip. The staff had called for an ambulance, but it would be about ten hours... ten hours? I asked them to let me know the outcome and tried not to worry about my Mum going into hospital again. She had broken her hip last July, and I really didn't want her to go into the hospital again, especially at the moment. I spent my short lunch period researching private rehabilitation homes where she could go if she had to have an operation, but there weren't any, just nursing homes, similar to where she is now.

It was lovely to escape at 4:00pm and turn on the air-conditioning in the car! I returned home, where I stripped off all my clothes and took a long, cool shower. What bliss! It has been hotter today, and the temperature hovered around 35 °C on the way home. We were forecast to have thunderstorms in the evening, and we were hoping they would materialise. However, although the clouds built up and we heard the odd rumble of thunder, we didn't see any rain at all.

I called the care home, and they said that my Mum had managed to get herself up from her fall and had been walking around, so that seemed like cautious good news. The ambulance hadn't arrived yet, but they would let me know the outcome.

Sophie and I watched Masterchef again, and she was delighted to see one of her heroes attend a fabulous dinner. The contestants had to cook at the old Whitehall building for people connected to the Secret Service, and Gordon Corera was one of the guests. We are going to see him live in London in September when he appears with another of Sophie's heroes, David McCloskey! Gordon Corera was the BBC security correspondent, and it was great to see him indulge in the fantastic dinner cooked by the contestants. We particularly liked the Vesper-inspired dessert!

When the show was finished, we prepared our own dinner. Keith and I were having prawn salad while Sophie made do with fish finger sandwiches. When we sat down to eat, she took a bite and said that the fish fingers smelled and tasted strange... she persevered, but in the end, left them. She said they tasted weird. She pointed out the baking tray she'd cooked them on, and I realised that last night, I'd sprayed it with the Fairy no-soak cleaner and left it overnight. Nobody had washed it, and Sophie had put the fish fingers directly onto the pan... I was horrified! Sophie started to panic, so we had a good look at the bottle, but there were no dire warnings about ingesting it, only to avoid getting it into the eyes. She said she felt fine, and she could only have ingested a small amount of cleaner, but it worried me all night. Not really what we needed at the moment, with the worry about my Mum!

Keith and I half-heartedly watched Spring Watch after dinner, but I was more interested in the sky outside! Huge thunder clouds had built up, and with the setting sun were all different colours. They looked beautiful.

Sophie and I went outside to watch and noticed both sheet lightning and fork lightning sparking off amidst the clouds. It was a fantastic spectacle, and I could have watched for hours! It was noticeably cooler with a brisk wind.

The colour of the clouds ranged from pink and peach to light blue, light grey, a bluey grey and white. The sky was ever-changing, and the lightning was brilliant. A lovely end to a somewhat trying day!

A Bank Holiday record!

I was working today with Kathy, so Sophie dropped me off, and she managed to go through the barrier and drop me off by the entrance. It was already hot, and I was dreading how warm our office would be. It was very warm, so I turned on all the fans and lowered the blinds to stop the glare from the sun.

Kathy and I had a pleasant shift, and it was great to leave at 2:00pm and go home with Sophie. She brought me a bottle of water as I'd forgotten to pack one, and I was thirsty! I had even skipped my usual morning cup of coffee as it was so warm!

Back at home, we had a late lunch and sat chatting in the kitchen for a while before going upstairs and lying on the bed with the fan. I hate how the heat makes me feel, and we talked seriously about getting air-conditioning for the bedrooms and living room if this heat becomes the norm. The temperature was saying it was 33 °C on the way home, and our kitchen was about 29 °C. Today has set a record for the hottest May Bank Holiday! Phew!

Before dinner, we watched MasterChef, and the final is drawing near. I think we'll be able to catch it before we go to France on the 12th of June. Dinner was a simple "build-your-own" wrap with salad and crispy chicken, and then Keith and I watched the first episode of the new series of Panda, which was brilliant.

Going to bed was not pleasant as the upstairs of the house was stiflingly hot and oppressive. Imagine how great it would be if we had air-conditioning!

Out for lunch

Before it became too hot, I gave the kitchen a good clean, while Sophie hoovered upstairs. She then hoovered downstairs and cleaned the living room. We're a clean family with two cats that are more often out than in, so why does the house get so dirty? I wiped down all the surfaces in the kitchen, including the fronts of the cupboards, and gave my orchid and the cacti a good watering. The cacti need repotting, but the little family of four seem very happy altogether, so I'm hesitant to separate them!

We had booked a table at the pub for 2:00pm, so we made our way there a little earlier to have a drink. It wasn't as busy as I imagined, and many people were taking advantage of the beautiful weather by sitting in the garden. When we went to the bar, I was amazed to see Izzy serving, one of the children I'd looked after when I worked at the after-school club back in 2017-2018. She was nineteen! Blimey! She told me she was at university in Bristol, and I said I always knew she'd do well, as she was very intelligent when I looked after her, and she was in Year 6. It was great to see her again!

Sophie and I ordered a bottle of Provencal rosé to drink, while Keith chose a lager to quench his thirst. We sat and looked at the menu, and Sophie found it difficult to choose. She thought she wanted a roast, but opted for a burger in the end. Keith did go with a roast - the beef - while I chose the halloumi burger for a change. I am trying to cut down on meat, and it was the ideal chance to go veggie for today! Sophie and I shared halloumi fries to start, and the meal was delicious. We even found room for chocolate brownies for dessert! They were sublime!

We paid the bill and returned to the car to drive home. It was very warm now, but the weather forecast said it was due to get even hotter tomorrow, the Bank Holiday Monday! Phew! We lolled about for the rest of the afternoon, feeling sleepy after the wine and heavy meal. Keith had been itching to get home to watch Newcastle play, but he was asleep ten minutes after the game started!

In the evening, it was too hot to play Scrabble, so we enjoyed a documentary about the CIA instead. It was very interesting and was about the US departure from Afghanistan, and the way that the Americans were trying to get the people who had helped them out of the country. I said it was a shame that Afghanistan was now a no-go area, as it used to be on the hippie trail to India in the 60s, and I would love to have gone there. I can't ever see it being open to tourism again in my lifetime! This then made us discuss all the countries today that are on the FCDO no-go list, including Syria, Iran, Russia and Israel. Let's hope that one day, we're able to visit again!