I was awake at 4.16am and went downstairs to find Sophie and Keith already up. Sophie had kept the cats in so I could have a cuddle, but they were itching to get outside, despite the early hour. I checked the route to Heathrow's Terminal 5 on my phone, and it said it would take us about an hour and a half to get there on the M1 and M25.
We were showered, dressed and ready to go by 5.45am, and had a great journey down to the airport. We took Olive for a change, and I was a little worried to see that the charge was going down quite rapidly, probably because we had the heated seats on! It was very cold!
We left the car at Purple Parking on the Bath Road and were soon on the bus and heading to the terminal. We had no idea how busy it was going to be today, but the airport looked bustling, so obviously a lot of people had chosen to fly on Christmas Day!
We had paid extra for Fast Track Security (I loathe the queues which snake up and down), so that was a bonus, but because we booked this with Heathrow and not BA, it wasn't showing on our boarding passes. However, a helpful lady sorted it out for us, but it still took us quite a while to get through, as we were searched thoroughly, and a security man took all of Sophie's items out of her case and seemed very interested in her boots for some reason. We also had another of our bags searched and our pack of Mallorca playing cards swabbed!
Once through, we headed for Giraffe for breakfast, and we were seated overlooking the apron, so we could see aircraft landing. It was another gorgeous day with blue skies and sunshine.
I enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee and a fruity porridge, while Keith and Sophie indulged in eggs and bacon. I just wanted the flight to be over and be in Berlin, but an hour and a half on the plane is much better than a ten-hour drive!
We had a short walk to our gate and noticed that the flight looked full. We were soon boarding, and we gave the male stewards a box of biscuits we'd bought for them. They were delighted and gave Sophie a handful of chocolates! I sat in the window seat for a change. It was great to look out of the window and see the countryside below, as there were no clouds the whole way to Berlin. Sophie had an Aperol Spritz, and I chose a small bottle of Prosecco to enjoy on the flight. I think I even nodded off at one point, and it was a pleasant flight with a friendly all-male crew.
Keith manages to upset the Americans...
However, the pleasant journey ended abruptly at Berlin's new Brandenburg airport. I hate the scrum to get off the plane, and by the time we'd collected our hand luggage and entered the terminal, there were long queues at passport control. There were ranks of new machines where you could process your passport, but none of these were working. We joined the end of the queue, but an airport official came over and directed us to another area of passport control. We headed off on a long trek with a crowd of other passengers and took our chances with one of the machines that were working in this part of the airport. Keith and Sophie were successful with having their fingerprints and photographs taken, but it didn't work with me, even though it said I could head to passport control. Because of this, we ended up being last again! This was worrying as we had a taxi booked through Booking.com to take us to our hotel, and he would only wait for about forty-five minutes. He had already messaged me to say he was waiting for us outside Burger King! Looking at the people ahead of us, I could see it taking longer than that to get through!
Keith was thoroughly fed up, and as we moved along the queue, he saw a shortcut leading directly to the passport desks. He was all for skipping the queue, but Sophie and I urged him not to. I said we'd be lynched if we did that! An American man had seen what we were intending to do and shot us evil looks. Keith was determined to bypass the queue, and I was tempted because I was worried about the taxi leaving. We beckoned to the American man and his companion to go through, but they ignored us, so we took the opportunity and went to the end of a short queue leading to a desk.
As usual, we had chosen the slowest queue, and the passenger who was being processed was subjected to a thorough questioning by the immigration officer. It was worse than US Immigration! I'm surprised he wasn't asked what colour underwear he was wearing. This led to us being delayed, and as the American man went through in the queue next to us, he said, "Serves you right for cutting in." OK, he had a point, but Keith isn't exactly a youngster anymore, and we were anxious about the taxi. It didn't do a lot for US-British relations, though, and where were the feelings of Christmas goodwill?
Luckily, we went through quickly, but I had my fingerprints scanned and a photo taken. By now, I was convinced our taxi driver had gone, and I messaged him to say we were on our way, but there was no reply. When we got to Burger King, he was nowhere to be seen, but amazingly, he had waited and had gone to get a coffee! We walked over to his taxi, he loaded our luggage into the boot, and we set off for our hotel.
Wintry Berlin
We had a good journey to the hotel - the Novotel Mitte - right on the busy four-lane highway near where we normally stay. We had originally booked the Wall Street Plaza, but they had cancelled our reservation, so we had chosen the Novotel instead. We had two rooms booked, both on the fifth floor, and close together, with views over the busy road and blocks of flats. Adjoining rooms would have been perfect, but it was better than being on separate floors!
Keith and I unpacked, and Sophie came to our room ready to face the wintry conditions outside. Although it was sunny, it was bitterly cold, and about -5 °C! Brrr! We donned our winter coats, hats, scarves and gloves and set off for our favourite place, the Nikolai Quarter.
We were pleased to see that the open-air cinema was taking place, with a stand for warming refreshments, such as Glühwein.
It was bustling with people looking at the shops and wandering about in the crisp air. We walked over to the Christmas market by the Rotes Rathaus, and Sophie and I headed for the Gluhwein outlet where we paid 20 euros for two glasses! There was a deposit of 10 euros for the glass, but we noticed it wasn't a new 2025 mug, but one from 2023! We already have several of these mugs, so we went back to get the 10 euros!
Next up was a currywurst stand, and Sophie and I shared a large sausage, covered in ketchup and curry powder, served with a bread roll. Mmmm! The market was very busy, with crowds of people milling about and more people waiting to take part in the skating rink in the centre. As we had had an early start and a long journey, we decided to head back to the Nikolai Quarter for a drink and to get warm!
We chose the Georg Brau pub and took high seats near the bar. One of the staff recommended their festive beer at 6.8%, so we ordered three tankards of that to enjoy. The beer was delicious! It was lovely to chat about the trip so far and remember other visits to the pub. We liked the beer so much that we ordered another round and felt quite merry when we decided to head back to the hotel!
Back at the hotel, we relaxed and found Sky News on the television. Our rooms were identical, with a bed, sofa, desk, chair and coffee/tea making facilities. My only gripe was the lack of clothes hangers (I borrowed a couple from Sophie). I also borrowed a pillow from her bed!
Difficult customers...
Sophie had booked a table at Ephraim's this evening, and plans to have a drink in the hotel were abandoned as the bar was closed tonight and tomorrow. We walked over to the Nikolai Quarter and stumbled upon a Vietnamese fusion restaurant where the staff were more than happy to serve us just a drink. Sophie and I ordered Negronis, while I suggested a Radler beer for Keith. This turned out to be a light shandy, so not really what he had in mind! You live and learn!
However, it was lovely inside the restaurant and a place we'll definitely look to eat in on future visits.
We walked the short distance to Ephraim's to find the place busy, with most diners enjoying dessert. One large party were finishing their meal, and the diners were paying for their food separately. The poor staff were trying to work out how much the individual bills were, and one man was proving to be particularly difficult! He kept arguing about what he had and hadn't ordered, so this was entertaining for us!
We were given menus, and I ordered a bottle of Riesling to share with Sophie, and Keith was happy to see the dark beer, Kostritzer, available. This is one of my favourite beers, and we drank this on our very first visit to Berlin in 2006.
We shared starters of crispy ravioli and lard served with bread and pickles. The pickles were cornichons and silverskin onions, which I love. We always used to have them at Christmas when I was growing up. For our main courses, Sophie and I chose schnitzel, while Keith opted for the lamb shank. The restaurant had emptied out by now, and only a few tables were remaining.
Sophie and I found room for dessert - a honey and walnut cake for my daughter, and the Ephraim's signature cake for me. Both were delicious. Keith's joke about a non-alcoholic Irish coffee backfired, as the waitress didn't understand... so he received nothing. It might stop him from making silly jokes with people who don't understand him!
We paid the bill, and only one other couple was eating, who had their dog with them. This set the tone for our restaurant visits, as it seemed a lot of people were dining early.
We had a slow walk back to the hotel, and then it was time for bed. It had been a long, but very enjoyable day!
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