A quiet New Year's Eve.

I was awake this morning at about 8.30am and putting the first of many washes into the washing machine. I sorted all the laundry into piles, emptied the case and tidied up. It doesn't take long to get back to normal!

I spent the day doing masses of laundry and writing the blog, which was great as it was a way of reliving the last four days. Outside it was grey and dismal for the last day of 2022. Sophie went to Rushden Lakes with her new man and they went shopping and had lunch. Sophie wasn't really keen on going and she texted me to say it was hectically busy and they just about managed to get a parking space! Not my idea of fun, either!

I had a lovely, long hot bath in the afternoon, and then Sophie arrived home so we had a good chat about her day. She hadn't enjoyed it at all, and would far rather have stayed at home after all the busyness of the last week!

We played Scrabble in the evening and decided to have a Chinese takeaway. The original plan had been for me and Keith to have a prawn cocktail and trifle, but Sophie hadn't had a lot of lunch and was hungry! We ordered, and had two great games with a glass of wine, followed by a few more of Prosecco!

We all managed to stay up until midnight and watched Travel Man: 96 Hours in Rio with Joe Lycett and Stephen Mangan. As soon as we'd seen the fireworks and wished each other a happy 2023, it was time for bed!

Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year!

Let's hope 2023 is a great year for all of us!

The highlights of 2022.

As usual, I do a sum-up every year of the best days. We've had some excellent days this year, and our regular trips to London have been extremely enjoyable! We managed to get away and travel, but it was a shame that our trip to France in April was cancelled because of covid. Sophie is hoping to have a much better birthday in 2023 as the last three years have been a little disappointing!

As well as the good days, we had a very sad day when our little Monty-cat passed away in December at the ripe old age of 16. He was much loved and had a wonderful life, and we miss him dearly.

How does 2022 compare? For me, it was a good year and I enjoyed going to London, Oxford, Cambridge, Winchester and the trips abroad. I just can't believe how quickly the year has flown by! I'm not into making resolutions, but as always I want to live each day to the fullest (if I can) and make the most of every opportunity. I'm looking forward to more travel and days out in 2023!

So, what days made it to the list? Here they are:

Sunday, January 16 - a day out to Waddesdon and the Winter Light Trail. It felt like being in France!

Wednesday, March 23 - a trip to London and a fabulous lunch!

Wednesday, April 20 - another trip to London, the British Museum and Cote Brasserie for lunch!

Wednesday, 4 May - London again with gorgeous cocktails at The Hansom

Saturday, May 21 - a day out in Oxford, the Ashmolean and a posh lunch!

Saturday, May 28 - a day at Waddesdon and a wine-tasting thrown in for good measure!

Saturday 25 June - A trip to Chichester, lunch at the Giggling Squid and a great drama!

Monday, 15 August - our 30th Wedding Anniversary and a lovely lunch.

Thursday, 29 September - a visit to the Salvador Dali museum in Figueres and tapas for lunch.

Wednesday 5 October - a trip to the gorgeous town of Pals and a fabulous lunch.

Wednesday 16 November - a day out to Cambridge and a lovely lunch.

Wednesday 28 December - Berlin - the Reichstag, lunch in Hackescher Markt, and many, many cocktails!

Cheers!

Photos, courtesy of Sophie

 Some more photos of Berlin, taken by Sophie:

Staircase in Mutter Hoppe

Sophie at the Georg Braeu

Spreeblick restaurant

Starter of meatballs and pickled vegetables

Sophie's pork loin with cheesy mushroom sauce

One of the brand new U Bahn stations

"Bathroom" tiles of Alexanderplatz station

Alexanderplatz

Walking to Hackescher Markt

A promising-looking restaurant! Maybe next time!

Hackescher Markt

Kurfurstendamn street and saucy advert!

Dining room, Literaturhaus

Bookshop, Literaturhaus

Christmas decorations, Gendarmenmarkt

Beer, Gendarmenmarkt

Hot chocolate, Olympic Stadium

Lunch at Zum Nussbaum

Return to Berlin 27-30 December 2022

The train takes the strain.

We were having breakfast at 8.30am again but it was still busy! We saw the French women and they looked a little worse for wear this morning!

Our flight wasn't until 9.30pm this evening so we had a full day to enjoy. We were determined not to just wander aimlessly about so we'd decided on a plan last night to make the most of our time. We still had our train tickets from yesterday, validated at 11am, so we decided to take the train all the way to the Olympic stadium and spend a few hours there. 

We already knew that there was construction work on the line further up, so we took the U2 to Zoologischer Garten and then changed onto the S Bahn to Olympia Stadion. It took us a while to find the entrance to the S Bahn platform, but we managed it in the end and took a train that was headed, ultimately, for Spandau. The train was a bit worse for wear and scruffy, but it did an excellent job of getting us to the very quiet station. I should think, that when Hertha Berlin play here, it's rammed with people!

We emerged from the station and walked to the stadium. It was a beautiful day and the sky was blue. What a bonus!

Sophie recreating a pose from 2016!

Although it wasn't as cold as the last time we visited, we still enjoyed a hot chocolate in the stadium restaurant before having a walk around.

It was very quiet with only a few people visiting, and Keith bought himself a Hertha Berlin hat in the Fan Shop. We walked around the entire stadium, gazing at the two pools with a shiver! The real problem today was finding a loo for women as they all seemed to be closed!

We stayed for about an hour and a half and then returned to the station. It was empty and we had a horrible feeling that no trains were running back to the city. We wanted to board a train to Alexanderplatz and we eventually found the right platform and a train arriving in about five minutes. The single train fare back was 3 euros each. 

Although the wearing of masks was still supposed to be mandatory, it was a bit hit-and-miss. Some people didn't, and I have to confess that we didn't most of the time, as we had got out of the habit of wearing face coverings. However, we weren't challenged and as I said earlier, no one ever asked to see our tickets! The train going back was busy as it passed through Berlin's main station, Hauptbahnhof and then Alexanderplatz, where you can get a train to the airport.

A cosy lunchtime treat.

From Alexanderplatz, we walked towards the Nikolai quarter and I suggested a lovely pub called Zum Nussbaum. I'd always wanted to try it, and when we went in the barman said there was a five-minute wait for a table. The pub was surrounded by scaffolding, which was a shame, as it's a lovely "old" building (rebuilt after the Second World War) and this affected our views of the surrounding area, plunging the old pub into premature gloom!

We took our seats and had a look at the menu. Sophie and I chose the fried sausage with potatoes, while Keith ate his with bread. We all drank delicious dark beers.

We had a very pleasant lunch, and the atmosphere was wonderful, The room we were in had dark panelling and old pictures on the walls. At night, I should think it's lovely and cosy. I would love to go back, and in the summer they have a Biergarten where you can sit outside.

After we'd eaten, we wandered about the Nikolai quarter and had a look in a beautiful shop specialising in wooden Christmas decorations and lace. I picked out a gorgeous lace panel for the table at Christmas, and Sophie chose a little lace decoration for the tree and a lace hanging for her room. The woman who owned the shop was wonderful, and we chatted about our new King Charles.

It was almost 4pm by now so we headed back to the hotel, paid our bill and collected our luggage. Sophie called up an Uber as they were quoting 52 euros to get to the airport, which we thought was reasonable. He arrived within minutes and that was it! Goodbye to the hotel!

Homeward bound.

Our Uber driver was a strange fellow. He didn't want Keith sitting in the front with him, so all three of us were squeezed into the back. All the time, he kept up a running conversation with someone on the phone, muttering away nonstop! He drove carefully, though, and kept to the speed limit on the autobahn!

The new airport was certainly a huge improvement from the old one, and we were able to check in our suitcase far earlier than we'd expected. We made it through security without mishap and decided to go into the Templehof Lounge for a little luxury. The lounge was miles away, but it was worth it. It was my treat and cost 45 euros each, money well spent in my opinion, as we were there for about four hours. 

We sat by an enormous window overlooking the "apron" and watched the planes come and go. There were lots of food and drink available - beers, wines, and all manner of spirits including Japanese whiskey, soft drinks and hot drinks. There was a hot meal available - meatballs with gnocchi-type pasta, salad, cold meats, soup, cookies and sweets. There were huge pretzels and everything was stocked up continuously by the staff. 

We sat and read quietly for a while with a drink (I had a non-alcoholic beer) and then we moved to another part of the lounge to have something to eat. It gradually became busier, but it was never a problem and there was always room. It was blissfully quiet! At the old airport, there were never any seats and EasyJet had its own departure terminal which was always busy with people. What an improvement! We couldn't get over it!

At about 7.30pm our gate was shown but we didn't leave the lounge until about 8pm, and that proved to be too early. When you leave the lounge you can go straight through to passport control, and then the gates are after this. We left, had our passports stamped, and our gate was a two-minute walk away! Sophie was not happy as she said we could have stayed longer (I agreed) but as we'd never been to this new airport before, I wasn't sure how long it would take us to get to the gate.

Keith took himself off to Duty-Free and bought a bottle of Dornfelder red wine and some chocolates for my Mum. He said he was completely out of euros but later found a 20-euro note! We boarded the plane at about 9pm and once in my seat I fell asleep again, and slept for the whole of the flight!

Arriving at Luton was not pleasant. There weren't enough buses to take all the passengers from the flights that had landed, so we had to wait for about fifteen minutes. Then we had to queue up for a while to get through our own immigration desks, with some of them being manned by the army because of the strikes by officials. Of course, the machine didn't want to know when I put my passport into it so it had to be manually checked. Typical!

In baggage reclaim, it was a total scrum and there were loads of cases sitting waiting in corners of the large hall... I have no idea why unless they had been unloaded and the passengers were held up? We scooted through customs and were soon out and joining another scrum of people waiting for buses and coaches. We missed one Airparks bus and had to wait about twenty minutes for the next one. Next to us was a coach bound for London Victoria, and an argument erupted between a woman and the driver. I felt sorry for people who had to endure a journey into London at 11pm at night. Horrible!

Our bus driver was clearly a maniac who had been let out of the asylum, and at one point he nearly hit a car, braking suddenly so we all fell forward! As we neared the car park all of the interior lights went out, plunging us into darkness, which was quite disconcerting!

Back at the dark and very wet car park we found the car, loaded it up and gingerly drove out. I was expecting to pay another sum of money as I'd foolishly booked a space only until 11pm and it was now almost midnight. However, the barrier went up and we were on our way!

The drive home was dark but uneventful, and we arrived at almost 1am. We were all shattered but I had a mug of hot chocolate (stolen from our room) and Keith had a cup of tea. The house was freezing cold and felt strangely empty without our little Monty-cat.

We dumped the case in the living room and went to bed! It was so great to be back in our bed!

Return to Berlin 27-30 December 2022

 A little culture...

One of my favourite authors is Douglas Kennedy, and he recommended a bookshop and café called Literaturhaus which is near Kurfurstendamm, the main shopping street of Berlin. We decided to visit this morning and use the train ticket from yesterday to get there. We'd validated it at about 10am so we had until then to use it.

Breakfast was slightly better this morning as we were downstairs at 8.30am and it was a lot quieter. After we'd eaten and I'd drunk many coffees, we made our way to the underground and took the U2 line to Zoologischer Garten. From here we could walk to the Literaturhaus on Fasanenstrasse and have a coffee (and cake, I hoped!).

We could see the bombed Kaiser Wilhelm church in the distance and a Christmas market gathered around it - this was the one, sadly, that was targeted by a terrorist attack when we visited in December 2016. This area was busy with people and it was a pleasant walk to the main shopping street. We passed several beautiful shops and saw the other Rheinhard's, a sister restaurant to the one in the Nikolai quarter, on the corner. We'd looked at the menu here but it was tremendously expensive and we would have needed to take a taxi or Uber to get there, adding to the cost.

We found the Literaturhaus, once a private residence, and went in. The bookshop was in the basement and the café on the first floor.

The place was already busy with people having breakfast and drinking coffee. We love how some of the entrance doors in Berlin have heavy curtains behind them, presumably to stop icy draughts from coming into the building. Today certainly wasn't icy, and we were delighted to see blue sky and sunshine.

We were asked if we had a reservation - we hadn't made one - but the young lady serving quickly found us a table in an imposing room with huge paintings on the wall. As we'd had breakfast already, we weren't interested in a meal but we ordered coffee and a muffin. Keith was feeling a bit queasy (too many whiskies last night?) so he stuck to bottled water, which we all welcomed! I made the classic mistake of ordering an Americano coffee without milk, but it was delicious nonetheless! The muffins were also lovely and still warm. Yum!

I wasn't expecting to see Douglas Kennedy (he visits and sits and writes, apparently) but the café was full of learned types who looked as if they were heavily into culture and all things intelligent. The two women on the next table were very demanding of our lovely waitress who put up with their imperious questions superbly, and we gave her a good tip to thank her for her service.

It was lovely to sit and relax in the beautiful surroundings and after we'd paid the bill we went to the bookshop. There were no titles by Douglas Kennedy (do they know he visits, I wonder?) but Keith bought a book to read as he had forgotten the one he was reading at home.

Reluctantly, we left and walked back to an underground station we'd passed, but which was on a different line. We bought another 24-hour ticket and took the train to Wittenburgplatz, a beautiful old station opposite KaDeWe.

Firmly in West Berlin!

We were now firmly in West Berlin and we decided to visit Berlin's equivalent of Harrods, KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westerns). Sophie wanted to treat herself to a couple of Mac lipsticks and also wanted to get her new man a present. We went right up to the sixth floor first to find somewhere Keith could sit while we shopped. Up another escalator was the Wintergarten and we found a quiet area for Keith to relax for a while.

KaDeWe was exceptionally busy and very, very hot. I felt uncomfortable even in the top I was wearing without my winter coat! We went down to the toy department and Sophie bought Lego figures for her beau, before we ventured all the way down to the ground floor and the cosmetics department. Here, it was even busier as people clamoured around the make-up stands. One family were dominating the Mac stand and the son bought make-up for his mum which cost over 200 euros! Blimey!

Sophie chose her lipsticks, she paid for them and then we made our way back up to Keith. I was going to get some chocolates for my Mum, but the temperature of the building was so uncomfortable I couldn't face trawling around in the heat! If they had lowered it by about five degrees they could have saved money and made it more comfortable!

Keith was reading his new book and looked relaxed, so we used the nearby facilities and then left, as the area we were sitting in was attached to a bar and the drinks prices were exorbitant!

Lovely bar, with prices to match!

We took the U2 line again to Stadtmitte, as we wanted to visit the Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt. When we emerged from the station, we hadn't a clue as to how to get to the market and the whole of the area was undergoing construction work. After wandering around for a while, we learned that because of the work going on, the Christmas market was located in Babelmarkt instead, which was only a short walk away.

The Gendarmenmarkt market seemed to be a lot posher than the one situated near the Neptune fountain, and all the stalls had white pointed roofs. We fancied a drink so we dived into a large tent and found a table in a crowded area. They only did platters of meat and cheese or cakes, so we ordered beers and decided to eat currywurst at one of the many stalls outside.

The beer was very welcome, and before we'd finished our drinks, Sophie and I went to have a look at the stalls inside the tent. There were lots of different things for sale but sadly no rings for Sophie. Some of the prices were very high, and the stalls were a lot different to the other market we'd visited.

Give us the grub!

We made our way back to Keith, finished our beers and went off in search of food. Lots of people were drinking Gluhwein and eating sausages in buns, but we wanted currywurst... and we found it! Another huge tent was warm and crowded with people eating and drinking. Keith sat down at a long bench and Sophie and I ordered currywurst with fried potatoes. Delicious!

There was a lovely atmosphere in the tent and behind us was a big spit holding pork knuckles. The choice of food was astounding... as long as you like pork!

After we'd eaten we wandered around and looked at the stalls.

Lovely Christmas decorations

Berliner bear

Sophie bought two beautiful decorations - a gorgeous Christmas tree and a crescent-shaped moon for her room.

For our Scandi tree

From Gendarmenmarkt we decided to walk back to the hotel, passing the Humboldt Forum on the way. We walked up Unter Den Linden amongst crowds of tourists and noticed a bus stop with transport going to Alexanderplatz, so we decided to take the bus and ease the work for our feet! We didn't have long to wait and soon boarded a bus for two stops, getting off at the Neptune fountain market so Sophie could have another look for a ring. Nobody asked us to show our tickets and nobody, over the course of four days, ever asked us to produce proof we'd paid!

It was even busier than Tuesday and after a circuit with no luck on the jewellery front, we decided to call it a day. We walked back through the Nikolai quarter and tried in vain to book a table at Mutter Hoppe (no) and Zur Gerichtslaube (no). We attempted to book a table at the KaffeeStube restaurant and we were ignored by the horrible chef who, when eventually deigning to notice us, said the kitchen closed at 8pm. He was so rude that we told him to forget it and booked Ephraim's instead.

Back at the hotel, it was definitely time for a nap, but Keith and I were woken by loud firecrackers being let off. Well, we think they were firecrackers but they could have been gunshots! This continued to happen for the rest of the late afternoon and evening, so the residents of Berlin were evidently getting ready for New Year's Eve!

Homely dining.

After showering and getting ready for dinner, we went down to the bar and I enjoyed a couple of Negronis. Sophie had a Moscow Mule and then a special Chrizz invention - Herbalicious. All the drinks were delicious but Keith stuck with his trusty beer!

We enjoyed our cocktails and then walked the short distance to Ephraim's, just over the other side of the busy road and right next to the river. We had eaten here once before, ages ago, and it's like dining in someone's house. It was very cosy and inviting and I remembered, as we were perusing the menu, that they don't accept any form of card payment, just cash... this caused us a little alarm as we had about 170 euros in cash on us - perfectly sufficient for the meal, but we wanted to have some leftover for tomorrow, and we knew we'd have to put any drinks after dinner on our room.

We were seated in what looked like an old-fashioned living room with net curtains at the windows and lovely Christmas decorations. A table in front of us was set for ten, with some of the seats being squishy sofas. It's definitely a quirky place!

One of my favourite dark beers - Kostritzer

We skipped starters, Keith and Sophie drank beer while I had my first glass of wine of the holiday, a carafe of Riesling. Sophie and I chose the pork loin with mushroom sauce and potatoes, while Keith opted for the beef roulade. The food was lovely and very filling, so we were glad we'd skipped the starters! 

The party of ten arrived, a group of French women, some of whom we'd seen in the hotel bar earlier. We were fascinated by them and their connection? University friends? Work colleagues? We'll never know! As we hadn't eaten too many sweet things we opted for dessert tonight - apple strudel for me, blueberry and chocolate pancakes for Sophie, and a marzipan confection for Keith.

The meal had been lovely and the staff very friendly and efficient. We paid the bill (about 80 euros) and had a slow walk back across the road to the hotel. We took our places at the bar but this time I struck to a gorgeous Chrizz mocktail called Buttermilk Fresh, while Sophie had a White Russian and then a Brandy Alexander. Keith, not wishing to have whisky because of our long day tomorrow, had a glass of wine, which I finished for him!

Creamy and delicious!

Tomorrow, we're homeward bound and it's going to be a long day!

Return to Berlin 27-30 December 2022

A date with the Reichstag

Keith and I, although awake at about 6.30am, slept in until 8.30am, so we had a scramble to get showered and dressed ready for breakfast at 9am!

It was definitely the most popular time for breakfast as the small dining area was rammed with people shortly after we arrived and found a table. We decided then and there to come down a bit earlier in future! We had coffee, bread, hams and cheeses, hard-boiled eggs and fruit with yoghurt. I was a bit miffed to note that if you wanted scrambled or fried eggs, or omelettes, you had to pay an extra 4.50 euros! To be honest I thought that 18 euros was a lot to pay for what was on offer!

We had an appointment at the Reichstag for 11.30am, so we ventured down to the underground, bought a 24-hour ticket for the public transport (including buses and trams) and took the U2 line to Potsdamer Platz. From here we walked over to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. This area is very popular with tourists, and we joined the throngs heading past the Tiergarten. It would have been wonderful to have seen this huge park covered in snow, but temperatures today were quite mild.

We had about twenty minutes before our allotted time so we headed for a café for a drink. It was a busy place and we noticed some of the guards from the nearby government buildings having something to eat there. As Sophie and I queued for the hot drink machines, one of the chefs dropped a whole tray of escalopes... they went everywhere and flopped about like bready fish! It must have been so embarrassing for the poor man as it happened right where everyone was queuing! A little while later we noticed a huge gorilla of a man dressed in the guard uniform tucking into an escalope! Little did he know!

We sat and enjoyed our coffees and then made our way over to the security buildings. As we were waiting, another Engish couple said we had to go over to another building and fill in a form to get in. As we had pre-booked, this proved unnecessary, but we did need ID and I was glad we'd all got our driving licences with us! We had to go through airport-like security and the staff were very stern indeed, barking instructions at us and not smiling at all, even though we tried to be friendly. 

We had to wait for a lift to take us up to the Dome and we chatted with the friendly English couple who told us what they'd been up to whilst in Berlin, which included a visit to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, something we've never done. 

Once up at the Dome and outside terrace, we wandered about and gazed at the lovely views. It started to rain so we went back into the Dome and walked up the ramp to the top.

We could see lots of cranes dotted about so there is still a lot of building work going on in Berlin. It's amazing when you think the whole city was flattened during the Second World War and now it's been rebuilt so that you would never know. The whole of the Nikolai quarter has been restored so it looks like it's been there forever!

It was lovely to wander about and gaze at the views, and luckily, the rain stopped. We made our way back down, Sophie bought a postcard and we took the lift to the ground floor, trying to get the stern-faced lift attendant to smile, with no success. He was determined to look miserable!

Whilst we were walking about, we'd discussed what we were going to do next, but most of all we wanted to make use of the train tickets we'd bought. We decided to walk the short distance to the Bundestag, the underground station that serves all the government buildings.

From Bundestag, we would join the new extension to the U5 line up to Alexanderplatz, which was a much more direct route and would have proved impossible before. We jumped on a train and saw how lovely and new the added stations were - Museum Insel and Rotes Rathaus.

Back to Spain...

We had agreed on going to Hackescher Markt for lunch and hoped to take a tram, but there were a lot of roadworks going on and the line we needed wasn't running, which was very annoying. The Christmas market around The Galleria department store was being dismantled, and the whole area was teeming with people. We walked to Hackescher Markt and wandered through the maze of inter-connecting courtyards looking for somewhere to have lunch, before venturing into a cosy Tapas restaurant and bar called Yo Soy.

We were seated in the window, so perfect for watching the world go by outside. With beers ordered and some dishes for lunch - Padron peppers, Spanish omelette, and a dish of potatoes and sausages - we relaxed and chatted about the morning. 

The restaurant was lovely and very cosy and friendly. We spent a happy hour eating delicious food and drinking cold beers. Perfect! The bill came to 50 euros and we tipped the waiter 10 euros, and he then brought back three shot glasses of liqueurs for us, which was a lovely touch! He insisted on taking selfies with us, imploring me to "make him famous"!

One of the things that Sophie wanted to do most was to go back to a very quirky bar we'd found on our last trip. Mike had been with Abbie on his visit, as I'd managed to find the name of the place, and I'd sent him details of the website for directions. We'd stumbled upon it back in 2016, and to say it was an interesting experience would be a huge understatement!

It was a minute's walk away, at the very end of an alleyway that was packed with people looking at the art and graffiti.

This, to me, is the edgy side of Berlin that we all love, and the bar - Eschschloraque - is about as edgy as you can get! You are not allowed to take any photos, they only take cash, and it was so dark inside that we could barely see the drinks menu! They don't do food so it was a good job we'd found the tapas restaurant first!

We found a table by the window and Sophie ordered a Moscow Mule, while I chose a Whisky Sour. Keith stuck to beer. The only woman behind the bar seemed a bit put out by our choices, but she did make a very good cocktail! Obviously, I have no photos (it was too dark anyway) but it was amusing to see some people walk in, take a look at the surroundings and then make a rapid exit!

To try and describe the place - the walls were painted a deep crimson/purple but were in a state of disrepair with a lot of the paint chipped or peeling, the bar was to the left as you walk in, and had three panels of aquatic scenes, with weird shaped things inside, like floating aliens... There were strange sculptures everywhere and seats dotted about in alcoves, but until someone moved, you would never know they were there, it was so dark! Plus, people were smoking inside, something I thought was banned?

There was a woman seated at the bar who was obviously a regular, and I felt that our presence was tolerated as long as we behaved. Incredibly, a group of young people came in, took a photo of a sculpture and then walked back out again! Some other people also came in to use the loo, and I think the woman behind the bar was used to it. She seemed to be a real character, a bit grumpy and aloof, but she seemed very good at her job and never stopped the whole time we were there. We had two more cocktails and it felt quite weird to be sitting in this edgy place on a Wednesday afternoon!

We had our drinks and left, joining the crowds of people in the courtyard. As we were now outside, I took a photo!

After our lunch and drinks, we didn't fancy the long walk back so we ordered an Uber to take us to the hotel. The car was already waiting for us on the main street and took us back for just 7 euros. It was total bliss!

Cocktails by Chrizz!

Back in our rooms, we relaxed and then got ready for dinner. We'd decided to stay at the hotel tonight and eat at the restaurant after a couple of drinks at the bar. We were delighted to find Chrizz in residence and Sophie and I ordered Manhattans, while Keith contented himself with a beer.

Annoyingly, another couple were in "our seat" a padded bench to the left of the bar. It was great to watch Chrizz at work, making our cocktails!

Sophie and Cosmopolitan

My Negroni

We were glad when the couple moved so we could reclaim our seats! This, for me, is my happy place and we were so glad to see the bar open, as the last couple of times we've stayed at the hotel it's been closed. It had only just re-opened after Christmas, and we all got the feeling that Chrizz runs this place on his own as there were no other staff present. He only takes cash or you can charge the drinks to your room.

After our Manhattans (in my opinion, Sophie makes a better one) we moved on to a Negroni and a Cosmopolitan, both of which were delicious. It was wonderful to watch Chrizz making drinks for various other people, and all of his equipment was laid out with military precision. We showed him a photo of Sophie drinking a mocktail he'd made for her back in 2008, and he was delighted. After this, he seemed to smile at us a lot more and be very friendly!

After our cocktails and beers, we moved to Cana restaurant next door. We'd booked a table earlier but they seemed unaware of our reservation. They cleared a table for us and we had a look at the menu which was Arabic cuisine. Sophie and I shared halloumi cheese sticks and falafel for a starter, while Keith opted for little pastries (they looked like miniature cornish pasties) filled with minced lamb and pine nuts. As we'd been having cocktails, Sophie and I shared a bottle of sparkling water, rather than mix alcohol!

I had a lovely view over the river, to an Italian restaurant situated at the bottom of a block of flats. When Keith and I first visited this was a German pub and they did very good hearty meals, which included potato dumplings and lots of pork!

For our main courses, Keith had lamb while Sophie and I had chicken kebabs. The food was fine but it did feel a bit strange eating this kind of cuisine in Berlin! Once we'd eaten we went back to the bar, and as we hadn't had dessert, I introduced Sophie to a White Russian... she fell in love!

My new amour - a White Russian

Keith had a couple of malt whiskies, so we all had a great evening, and in the end, Sophie and I indulged in three creamy cocktails! They were so delicious! Because of the food we'd eaten, the cocktails didn't have any effect at all, which was a good thing, but the effect on our wallets was a different matter altogether!