Berlin Road Trip

Day 5 - Wednesday 31 July

Keith and I awoke early and put Sophie in our room so she could have a bit of a lie-in. The workmen were busy building so we had a cup of coffee and watched Berlin wake up. Keith made a lovely breakfast of boiled eggs and toast and then we woke Sophie up with the promise of buying her something to eat at one of the numerous food stalls in the Underground, all of which serve a variety of different cuisines.

Our first stop today was the East Side Gallery where, for the first time, we could go behind the wall. Technically now, we would have been in West Berlin. The graffiti was widespread...

Yaam was the beach bar just around the corner from here

We wandered down to the river and saw a Beach bar called Yaam on the right but we didn't venture in.  Keith has been intent on finding the second best beach bar in the world here in Berlin but after seeing this place he decided it might be a good idea to leave it! They are widespread but I have to admit that a lot of them look a bit scruffy!

We had a stroll down the remnants of the wall looking at all the art and the scribbled messages from all over the world and then returned to the Ostbahnhof to take the underground to the Stasi Museum.

We'd visited the headquarters of the Stasi some years back but things had improved a great deal with lots more exhibits and English translations. The offices hadn't changed at all so there was lots of brown about - brown carpets and brown furniture - so it was a bit like stepping back to the 70s! We had a good look at the exhibitions but all three of us were flagging by now and when we sat down to watch a video I nearly fell asleep!

We made the decision to get the train back to Alexanderplatz and then go to Friedrichstrasse as there were lots of riverside restaurants nearby. However, we somehow ended up on a train to the Brandenburg Gate so we had a quick look (loads of tourists about) and walked the short distance to the river.

We found a lovely cafe right on the Spree and sat with a beer and a delicious lunch, watching the many tour boats go by. Behind us was the Reichstag and the Government buildings and there were several television companies based nearby including RTL.

Rather than get the train back to the hotel we walked back along the river which was lovely. By now it was very warm but there were still a few ominous looking clouds about. We passed Museum Island and the Berliner Dom and had an ice-cream overlooking the river.

We mused about eating at one of the nearby restaurants tonight, but Keith's foot was playing up so we decided to eat at the hotel, much to Sophie's dismay. Before getting ready we had a snooze and I started the task of packing and trying to streamline all our luggage a bit!

After a couple of drinks in the hotel bar we decided to eat at nearby Shazan, an Indian restaurant based in our hotel twin across the road. We had a chance to sit outside but chose a table inside, which was a bit of a mistake as it became increasingly hot as the evening wore on! It was refreshing to have a bit of a change for dinner and I chose king prawns for my main course as an alternative to all the meat we'd been eating! The food was good but it did feel a bit strange eating an Indian meal in Berlin!

After our meal Keith bought two small bottles of sparkling wine from the machine in the lobby, rather than go back to the bar, and we returned to the room for an early night before the long journey home tomorrow!

Berlin Road Trip

Day 4 - Tuesday 30 July

Well, we all had a much better night's sleep as the room was a lot cooler but I woke up looking like I'd gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson! My eyes were very puffy indeed and I can only hope that it's because of the heat!

We had breakfast in our room again and then went off to the Berliner Dom which is, in my opinion anyway, the most beautiful church in the world. We paid 14 euros to have a look around (we'd visited before) and I lit two candles at the altar.

Downstairs, the crypt is wonderfully eerie with lots and lots of sarcophagi of dead kings and queens of Germany and Berlin. The most heartbreaking ones are of the babies and little children who did not survive very long, including one, behind an iron gate, of a nameless baby that was born and died on the same day. The crypt, with its white walls, marble floors and rows of ornate coffins, is one of my favourite places in Berlin, especially as one sarcophagus has split open, reminding me of something out of Dracula!

We called in for a quick coffee and ice-cream before taking a boat trip along the river for an hour. We've done this before and it was a very pleasant way of passing an hour as the weather was so lovely. From the river we walked up to Alexanderplatz and went into the Galeria department store. I'd promised Sophie some Mac lipstick to replace one she'd lost, but I ended up buying her two as she'd been so good while we were away in the North-east the other weekend.

Lunch was currywurst in a nearby cafe and then we went back into the Galeria to buy some beer, wine and chocolates. Keith found the beer he enjoyed yesterday while I treated myself to two bottles of German red Dornfelder.

Back at the hotel we found that our room still had not been cleaned! Keith and I left Sophie while we walked to a nearby supermarket to buy some eggs and milk for breakfast in the room. On the way we were caught in the most violent thunderstorm so we had to shelter until it passed. Of course, we hadn't thought to bring our new umbrellas with us! A German man kept talking to us but as neither of us understood a word of what he was saying, it was a bit embarrassing! He must have thought we were very rude!

In the small Netto supermarket we bought milk, bread and butter and some goodies but the one thing we went in for, the eggs, were nowhere to be seen. In the end I had to ask a member of staff in my very bad German where they were!

It was still raining on the way back to the hotel but at least the maid was in our room and changing the beds. At last!

We spent a very relaxing couple of hours lounging about our freshly cleaned room. I lay down on the bed and covered my eyes with teabags (from our cups of tea) and my eyes did look a bit better afterwards. As soon as I get home I'm going to book a beauty treatment with Virgin!

I'd suggested eating at the hotel tonight as they have tables set out by the canal, but I was overruled. We did have a few drinks in the bar though and got into lively conversation with a woman from Hannover who loves Berlin as much as I do. She was looking for an apartment to rent and was a bit of a Bohemian type. She said she'd been to University in Berlin in the 70s when it was a wild place...I'm sure it was! We also chatted with a man from Toronto who was doing a European tour so that was great. We always seem to meet interesting people in the hotel bar!

Dinner tonight was at Reinhard's with the most hilarious waiter we've ever had in Berlin. He was very camp (think of a character in 'Allo, 'Allo) and we were looked after very well. Sophie chose a potato and sausage soup again while Keith and I shared a salad, then Sophie had a Berlin meatball, Keith went for spare ribs and I had a trio of meats. I think that when I get home I'm going to go vegetarian for a little while to combat all this carnivorous food!

We waddled back to the hotel to find the German woman and the Canadian man still in residence! I enjoyed a glass of sparkling water (I'd had three cocktails and two glasses of wine during the evening so enough was enough!) while Sophie had a non-alcoholic cocktail and Keith indulged in a glass of Bushmills.

Our room was still pretty cool so another good night's sleep was anticipated!

It was another long day!

Berlin Road Trip

Day 3 - Monday 29 July

We awoke (after a bad night's sleep) to grey skies and wet streets but none of us heard thunder in the night so we must have just had a shower. Mikey called me and sent me a text last night and I think he's missing us a lot. It made me feel horrible knowing he was missing us, but it might do him some good and make him appreciate life with us!

We were awake very early as our windows were open and the building work opposite started at just after 7am. Keith and I moved my car from the street opposite the hotel to an underground car park a short distance up the road. I have no intention of driving around Berlin any more so it felt great to leave her all cosy and warm, especially if we have hailstorms like the ones we've seen on German TV!

After breakfast of cereals in our room we went to the nearby train station to buy our rail tickets for the day and headed off to Alexanderplatz. We wanted to take Sophie to see the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park and as usual, we'd forgotten how to get there! We made exactly the same mistake as last time, heading off to the Ostbahnhof rather than taking the U5 line from Alexanderplatz. However, we found our way eventually despite the heat and humidity and walked the short distance to the park along the river where lots of tour boats were moored.

It started to rain when we walked towards the memorial so we didn't stay for long. Keith and I had seen it all before and Sophie took lots of photos but didn't seem interested in reading any of the information signs. We strolled back to the river and treated our daughter to a crepe filled with bananas and nutella. It was raining quite heavily now and was definitely cooler!

Back at the station we decided to ride the S-Bahn all the way to Pankow and then get our local U2 line to Potsdamer Platz where we would have some lunch and then do a bit of shopping. We went to the House of 100 beers and chose the half chicken which was delicious and very filling. Keith tried a new beer that he loved...

Only 7.9%!!!

By now the drizzle had turned to torrential rain so we were very glad we'd decided to stop and have lunch! We ran into the shopping centre where Sophie made a beeline for H&M. I chatted to Mum on the phone and then we headed up to an electrical store on the top floor to see if they had any fans for sale. However, like the UK, there were none to be had, only some very expensive air-conditioning units for about 400 euros!

Feeling a bit weary now we took the train back to our local underground and while Sophie returned to the room, Keith and I strolled along the canal to a small bar for a drink. The sun had come out and we sat with a couple of beers soaking up the much drier warmth and listening to two British men on the next table chatting about their lives as international DJs...Hmmm!

Back in the room we discovered that our beds hadn't been made and the small pile of damp towels we'd left on the floor to be changed were still there... Keith and I marched down to Reception to find out why the room hadn't been serviced to be told the apartment was only cleaned every other day! This was perhaps our seventh or eighth visit to this hotel and we'd never experienced this before, and we'd had several types of rooms over the years.

I also asked if they had any fans but we were told there were none available. A member of the housekeeping staff did come and change our towels but we were not very happy at all. I think this may be our last visit to this hotel, to be honest, as the service levels seem to be dropping every time we visit. It used to be fabulous with loads of toiletries in the bathroom but everything seems to be cut back now, which is a shame.

We sweated it out in the room until 6pm and then went for a quick drink in the bar. Even Chrizz, the barman, seemed very lacklustre, leaving another girl to mix my cocktail (Campari, Elderflower syrup and Prosecco). Outside it didn't seem quite so hot but the sky was looking very ominous! We had a drink in Otello bar and then decided to walk over to Alexanderplatz to have dinner in the TV Tower.

There is so much building work going on in Berlin at the moment and the area around the Nikolai Quarter and Alexanderplatz was full of cranes and lorries. They are extending part of the U5 underground line which won't be finished until 2019 so this whole area is a real eyesore. There were crowds of people waiting to buy tickets at the TV Tower so we decided to head back to the Nikolai Quarter and have dinner at one of the many restaurants there.

We found a busy little place which specialised in German cooking and had a lovely meal (well, Soph and I did, Keith wasn't too happy with his!). We started with a shared salad for Keith and I while Sophie went for potato and sausage soup. Sophie then had pork schnitzel, I had strips of turkey served on rice with a Bearnaise sauce and Keith went for roast pork which he did not enjoy at all. His came with a potato dumpling - one was more than enough!

 

Keith's roast pork and potato dumpling

During the dinner the rain started to come down very heavily, sending some people who were eating without any cover fleeing for the inside of the restaurant. We waited a little while to leave but there were no signs of it letting up so we had to make a dash for it. Luckily, a nearby shop was selling umbrellas, so we bought two and sloshed our way back to the hotel in relative dryness!

We had one last drink before bed and I really hoped for a much better night's sleep!

It's been a long day!

Berlin Road Trip

Day 2 - Sunday 27 July  Five countries in one day

We were up early and queuing for the ferry by 6.45am. It was still pleasantly cool which made a change from the heat we've been experiencing over the last couple of days!

By 7.15am we were boarded and queuing for breakfast, along with every other passenger on board! However, the wait was worth it because the full English was delicious and plentiful - in fact it kept us going all day! After eating our fill we wandered about and did a bit of shopping before taking up residence on some seats next to the large windows which gave us a lovely view as we came into Calais. There were a big crowd of German students congregated there as well so although it was a bit noisy and rowdy, there was a great atmosphere.

After what seemed like a very short crossing we were back in the car and waiting for the off. I was a bit nervous about the journey but we had Gladys who proved to be invaluable. We sped through France and then spent a fair amount of time in Belgium before crossing into the Netherlands. Here, although we were only in the country for a very short time, we managed to spend over 50 euros when we filled up with diesel.

The weather was pleasantly warm and sunny and the temperature wasn't too high at all! Before long we had entered our fifth country of the day and the gentle relaxed pace on the motorway changed to a very high speed journey indeed. On certain sections of the German Autobahn there are no speed limits and the drivers turn into crazed idiots. I have never, in all my years of driving abroad and in the US, seen speed like it to be honest. To venture out into the outside lane to overtake was like entering the lions den as, despite the road behind me being clear, a car would suddenly loom up wanting me to get out of the way. And I'm not talking about big Audis, Mercedes or BMWs, either. Just normal family cars would zoom past at well over 100 miles an hour and I shuddered to think what would happen if someone pulled out without realising they were there.

It meant that super concentration was needed with both of us looking over our shoulder to make sure there was nothing coming up fast. I have to admit to succumbing to this urgency as well as at one point I realised I was doing 100mph myself, in the slow lane! And I wasn't gaining on anyone either!

It was with a huge sense of relief that we finally made it to Berlin and the relative calm of the autobahn around the city. Gladys directed us to our hotel without a single problem and I was extremely relieved when we parked my little car in a street opposite the hotel.

To our amazement the temperature was 35c and our room on the 7th floor was uncomfortably hot. There didn't seem to be any air-conditioning and unpacking and getting ready to go out was a sweaty, sticky experience.

We walked the short distance to the Nikolai Quarter and had dinner at Reinhard's. It was much quieter than I'd imagined with not one person sitting inside the restaurant at all. We had a lovely dinner but the heat was unbearable and even the waiters looked hot and bothered!

Berlin Road Trip

Day 1 - Saturday 26 July

We were all up early this morning and at 9am Keith took my not-so-little boy down to Gibraltar Barracks to set off on his Army Camp adventure. I do hope he'll be OK...He's never been away for a whole week before, not even on a school trip, so I'm sure he'll be in my thoughts all the time while we're away.

I finished packing, hoovered again and showered and then it was time for the off. We just about managed to get all our luggage into the Audi and it certainly felt heavy to drive!

Unfortunately we had a bad journey down to Dartford. There were several hold-ups on the M1 and then we found out that two junctions had been closed on the M25, sending all the traffic bound for Gatwick around our side of the motorway!

Jams on the M25

I'm just so glad that we weren't catching a flight from Gatwick today!

We arrived in Dover at around 2pm, dumped the cases in our room at the Premier Inn  and took a stroll along the promenade. There was some sort of Regatta going on and the weather was stunning. It was lovely to stop and gaze out over the sea and see the ferries coming and going.

Our home for tonight

We went to a shopping centre that we'd visited some years back and Keith treated himself to a new pair of sandals...what is it about buying shoes when we're away?! We also, to our amazement, saw a seal in the marina! Of course, by time I'd reached for my phone to take a picture it had disappeared under water!

We took a leisurely stroll back to the hotel, watching a P&O Ferry manoeuvre its way into the port, and then Keith and I had a quick drink in the hotel bar, overlooking the sea. It was very warm and pleasant sitting there and I think most people that were around were destined for the continent tomorrow.

After showers and fresh clothes we drove to the village of St Margaret at Cliffe and down a steep winding road to the sea where we had a drink at The Coastguard pub. As we were waiting to be served a man rushed in to say that a young girl was getting into difficulties in a boat out at sea. We sat outside and watched the coastguard arrive and perform a rescue! We dread to think what would have happened if the people watching had done nothing!

From The Coastguard we drove back into the village and had two drinks at The Red Lion, which was empty when we arrived. It was a sweet little pub so it was a real shame that there was nobody in. A couple of people did venture in after us, including a man wearing a heavy wool coat and sporting a long white beard!

He was wearing a woolly coat as the mother of all thunderstorms was raging outside! The rain was torrential (the road had turned into a river) and when we decided to leave the blue sky had turned black. The drive back to Dover was not a pleasant one! Even with the windscreen wipers on full blast, the rain was so heavy I could barely see. Of course, our parking space at the front of the hotel had gone so we parked at the back and ran full pelt into the dry!

After a pleasant meal and a few more drinks it was definitely time for bed!

Bunking off!

Luckily we ended the week on a quiet note as the warm and sunny weather returned and we were very quiet at work. I managed to slope off early to go home and pack our own clothes for the forthcoming Berlin Road Trip and to clean the car inside and hoover the house.

It was uncomfortably hot and I was more than ready to go out for a drink with Keith in the evening! We went to The Queen's Arms in Orlingbury again but I felt warm and yukky for the whole time we were there so it wasn't the most pleasant of evenings.

Sophie was at yet another party so at 11pm all of us went to fetch her from a house in Overstone. As it was dark and the street was very badly lit, we couldn't find the house so it was a stroke of luck that she was sitting on a bench with some of her friends waiting for us!

Tomorrow can't come soon enough!

Things get a little fraught...

We were busier today as the morning was damp and grey. By the afternoon, though, the sun had come out and it was uncomfortably hot again. I'd swapped cars with Keith this morning and had forgotten to bring my office key so when I returned from having my eyebrows shaped at the Virgin beauty salon I couldn't get into the office as Mum and Dad had gone home for the day.

Sophie threw a wobbler as her bag was in the office so I said I'd go home, get the keys and come back. Grrr! At home, Keith volunteered to drive back while I started packing Mikey's things for Army Camp...wonderful!

To say things became a little fraught is an understatement! Mikey insisted that he didn't need a suitcase but there was no way he was going to get all his stuff into the rucksack he'd borrowed. His boots and sleeping bag took up most of the room! Keith arrived back home and started freaking out about what we'd done and then became very stressed when Mikey said he didn't need a suitcase, even though it blatantly stated on his kit list that he had to have one!

To calm things down, I suggested we call on Mikey's commanding officer who lives a couple of doors away. He was happy to help and said that a suitcase was definitely needed! He needed enough clothes and his full uniform to last the whole week so we returned home, finished packing and then went and had a well-deserved drink in the garden! Phew...thank goodness that's over!