noe847

Last year my younger daughter Jen went with us to London for her final high school spring break (early March). The weather was quite cold and rainy but we had a fabulous time and loved London. Jen, (just turned 19) is now a freshman in college. In trying to choose a destination for this year’s trip, we considered Spain/Barcelona (would be warmer!) but Berlin really caught her imagination. Jen has been studying German for 6 years and this semester she is taking a course about Berlin. She was excited to visit some of the places that she is learning about in school and to practice her German language skills (and to laugh at mine!)

We decided to go for Berlin despite the likely March weather in Northern Germany. As it turned out, we had brilliant sunshine and cloudless blue skies for the entire 8 days, with highs reaching the low-to-mid-60’s. Perfect sightseeing weather!

There are lots of detailed trip reports about London, Rome, and Paris. Not so many about Berlin. This report is taken from my travel journal, and I post it in the hopes that it might help people who are considering/planning a trip to this fascinating city. I will begin with general planning info, navigating/transportation, and then the blow-by-blow details of the trip.

WillTravel

Great - I'm looking forward to hearing more!

noe847

Thanks, WillTravel!

<u><i>Planning and Preparation </i></u>

My husband couldn’t join us, so it would just be a mother/daughter trip. We would have 8 days/nights available in Germany. I was torn: should we spend all of our 8 days in Berlin, add one other destination in Germany, or even two? I gave half a minute’s thought to flying to Krakow for a few days (I'm DYING to get there.)

Jen’s preference was to limit our moving around and to use most of our time to experience Berlin itself. I could see the appeal of this approach (similar to how we toured London last year) and planned accordingly, adding just one side trip to Dresden for 2 nights (1 full day).

I’d been pretty tied up the past several months, and then I found myself simultaneously preparing for two trips in March (I went to London/Cardiff with my older daughter for her spring break in early March.) There was certainly no time for exhaustive preparation! I did enough research so that I could [1] make decent hotel choices for each trip, and [2] arrange for critical tickets/reservations in advance. Thanks to a Fodorite tip, I made lunch reservations at the Reichstag restaurant. I tried to get tickets for Dresden’s Historic Green Vault (another Fodorite tip), but all the pre-purchase slots were booked solid months ahead. I would have to wait until we were in Dresden to queue for the limited tickets made available each morning for time slots that day.

I printed PalQ/PalenQ’s Berlin Journal to take with me. http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34660080
From Amazon I ordered a slim book called <i>Berlin Made Easy; The Best Sights &amp; Walks of Berlin</i>. I already had a Germany guidebook (although it was old and that would prove a bit of a problem later in the trip. Lesson learned: invest in the newest edition of the guidebook.) For the next trip, I might add another Berlin guidebook.

noe847

<i><u>Navigation and Transportation</u></i>

I learned that my favorite map company, Red Maps, would be publishing a brand new city map of Berlin in March 2007. Would it be ready for my trip? The company puts out an amazing product; I swear by their London map, which I’ve used for 3 visits now. The Red Map folks did a fantastic job in getting the new Berlin map to me immediately after it was printed; it arrived the day before our departure! It is a small company – you call (212 255-4645) and they send your map with an invoice, which you pay by check. I’ve also seen their maps at our local Barnes &amp; Noble.

I cannot say enough good things about the Berlin Red Map: it is durable, extremely legible, covers almost everywhere we went, shows all major sights and sites, and has the U-bahn, S-bahn, tram and major bus routes clearly overlaid on the streets. Going from walking on the streets to hopping on one of the transportation modes is a seamless process with the Red Map. Color coded dots indicate the exact locations of U-bahn and S-bahn stations. The best part is that each of the transit lines can be traced easily to its end or where it leaves the map, and there is a label of what that terminating point is. This is important for Berlin as you have to know which stop is at the end of the line in the direction you are traveling (knowing that you are heading north or west on a line is not enough.) This map made that quick and painless, and really saved us a few times when we arrived at the station just as a train was pulling in. We had a few other Berlin maps, but this was head and shoulders above the rest. Our hotel gave us a paper map that we used for the once or twice we ventured off the edge of the Red Map’s coverage.

We had pre-paid two Berlin Welcome Cards when I booked one of the plane tickets on Expedia. What the Welcome Card includes is a 3 day transit pass and a coupon book for various sites and services. I had no idea when I bought it whether it was a good deal or not. Just hadn’t done the research. Given what I know now, I wouldn’t get this card again. The coupons were not useful for us, so we actually lost a bit of money. The 72 hour Welcome Card was 21euros, and three daily ABC transit cards would be 18.90euros. The AB passes were a bit cheaper. For most locations in central Berlin an AB card will work fine, but for longer trips, such as a day trip to Potsdam, you will need zones ABC. It’s also cool that you can use your ABC transit card for the buses and trams in Potsdam as well.

The way it works is that we validated the ticket at the time of first use (machines on every platform of S-bahn or U-bahn trains, as well as on each bus and tram.) Then we could just hop on any train, bus, or tram. There are no turnstiles, and you never have to really pull out the pass except when boarding a bus. It seems as though it would be so easy to cheat, but I read in one of my guidebooks that there are stiff fines if caught riding without a ticket. At any rate we had no interest in testing the system and made sure that we had valid passes at all times.

We found out that we could buy several days of daily transit passes in advance. As we began each day of travel, we validated the pass at the metro stop or on the bus. Couldn’t be easier. Additionally, the daily passes can be bought at any U-bahn or S-bahn station, but the Welcome Card only at certain offices. We had a list of places where we could collect our prepaid Welcome Cards. My intention was to pick them up at the airport location, which seemed to be the easiest and most convenient option.

My daughter brought her lap top computer. We signed on for a week’s internet service through our hotel in Berlin. It was not cheap, but we enjoyed the access. We used the computer to keep up with email and to do some on site research (mainly restaurants and weather). Luckily, we could connect to the same network at our Dresden hotel.

JoeTro

Thanks for the great info so far, Noe. Bookmarking as I am visiting Berlin the week after next.

When you have a chance Noe, would you mind looking at my Berlin itinerary thoughts? I'm posting it now.

rialtogrl

I was in Berlin the last two weeks of March as well. I also had a copy of &quot;Berlin Made Easy; The Best Sights &amp; Walks of Berlin&quot; but it was my least favorite guidebook - did you find it useful?

I absolutely loved Berlin so I am looking forward to reading the rest of your report!

noe847

joetro, I will check out your itinerary, and will no doubt be envious at the museums you plan to visit. Jen is not a museum person at all, so that wasn't the focus of our trip.

rialtogrl: What was your favorite guidebook? I am going back in the Sept. and will want more reading material. We did find that book helpful, and it was small enough that I carried it with us every day. I think I got some restaurant suggestions, as well as information about the two markets that we visited.

JoeTro

Thanks, Noe.

I don't really think I became a museum person until late high school and then it really picked up when I studied abroad in college and travelled on my own. I discovered I love museums, which I didn't when I was younger and either with my parents or on school trips.

rialtogrl

Noe, I had the DK Berlin, the Insider's Guide to Berlin, the Hedonist's Guide to Berlin, Lonely Planet, and that other book.

I think I liked the Insider's Guide best, it is not inexpensive but it is a great book with lots of details.

I got some GREAT restaurant and bar tips from the Hedonist guide. It's a good book to find neat hangouts.

If you are going back for a period of time you might think about renting an apartment, I had a very nice one. I blogged during my trip and would be happy to send you the link if you want.

noe847

thanks, Rialtogrl, for the book recommendations. I'd be interested in the link to your blog. An apartment might work, but I'll be with my husband who is a hotel-and-restaurant kind of guy. Will have to think about that.

I'm working on the next installment of the trip report (travel day and first day in Berlin), but it will be a little while until I can get it posted, as I want to post the photo link along with it. I'm hoping to organize (and prune!) the photos this evening.

rialtogrl

Noe, just google poptarticus, and click on the March entries (or put Berlin in the search box.)

Looking forward to reading more about YOUR trip!

noe847

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noe847

The site seems to be acting up a bit, at least when I preview my post. I'm afraid that it will double post this next bit, and have some errors that I have since corrected, but here goes:

<i><u>Friday March 23/Saturday March 24</u></i>

<i>Some</i> day, <i>some</i> trip, I will be able to travel AND get sleep the night before. I will not leave details for the last minute. At least that’s the story I tell myself! This, however, was not that day nor that trip. I was up most of the night taking care of details for the trip and for the life that I was leaving behind – for another 10 days.

We flew Delta from Atlanta to New York JFK and from there to Berlin. I had no interest in missing a connection at the front end of the trip, so we flew out of Atlanta in the morning, arriving at JFK with several hours to wait for our Berlin flight. JFK is a total zoo. Our gate changed at least once while we waited (this can mean a very long walk to a whole different part of the airport. International and domestic flights leave from the same gates. I don’t know if this is true for all airlines, but it is for Delta) After killing time, buying pizza and bagels, and killing more time, we finally boarded our plane. Jen was bored, but hey, I’d rather take boredom than running frantically for a connection.

We had great seats – we were in the exit row that reclined. Our flight left pretty much on time and was fairly uneventful. We didn’t like the movies (and for me they were the same choices as my London flight two weeks earlier; I didn’t like them then either) but we managed to amuse ourselves. Jen found the “party peanuts” snack to be hilarious.
There was a German couple in front of us. They spent much of the plane ride kissing and cuddling. Because they were so tall (really, really tall) we actually couldn’t avoid seeing them over the top of their headrests. We made up stories about them: in our version they had just gotten married and had taken their honeymoon to Florida. After all this fun we were tired out and we each got a few hours of sleep.

I made a mental note that I needed to pick up the Welcome Card/transit passes at the airport. (It will come as no surprise what happened to that mental note once I got to the airport.) I wasn’t planning to actually take public transportation to the hotel – didn’t want to navigate a new system in a new city while jetlagged with luggage - but it would be the most convenient place to collect the passes.

We landed 30 minutes early (at 6:45 am.) Wow, I loved the Berlin airport! Immigration/passport control (2 agents) was right after we exited the airplane. The baggage carousel was directly behind passport control, and the airport exit was just steps beyond that. No walking endless airport corridors here!

In my excitement about the airport I totally forgot about our transit passes. We stepped out our nearby exit door and saw a long line of cream colored Mercedes taxis. Our driver spoke no English, and apparently had not heard of our hotel (or was it my pronunciation?), but after looking at my confirmation printout he declared that it was “klar” and off we went. We arrived at our hotel, the <b>M&ouml;venpick</b>, in 10 or 15 minutes (20&euro. This was well before 8:00am!

The M&ouml;venpick is smart and modern. The hotel staff were welcoming. There was one smoking room available. We were both tempted to take it and get a few hours’ sleep, but in the end we passed since we both hate smoky hotel rooms. Instead we left our luggage with the front desk, and headed out to find some breakfast. Why is it that when we land in Europe we always want breakfast even though we’ve eaten breakfast on the plane and it’s the middle of the night body time?

Our hotel couldn’t recommend a breakfast place that would be open this early (other than the hotel restaurant) so we set out for a coffee shop that I had spotten on the taxi ride, near the Potsdamer Platz U-bahn station. It’s so interesting to see the reminders of Berlin’s past. Right across the street from the hotel are the bombed out ruins of the former <b>Anhalter Bahnhof</b>. Our walk took us past a bit of the <b>Berlin Wall</b>, now behind a wooden fence topped with barbed wire. A wall protecting the Wall! (I think it may have been a construction area.)

After about 8 minutes (probably a normal 10 minute walk, but Jen walks like a bat out of hades) we arrived at the <b>Balzac coffee shop</b>. This German coffee chain was an imitation Starbucks from head to toe. Coffee sizes, flavors, etc. Even the logo was vaguely reminiscent. We enjoyed our hot chocolate and breakfast pastry. We killed as much time as we could - waiting for it to get a bit later and a bit warmer - then headed out to explore Berlin. Our only official mission was to pick up the elusive Welcome Cards. Oh, and shop. Isn’t that always a mission with a teenaged daughter?

The day was clear, cold, and windy. We headed in the direction of the Brandenburger Tor. Although the S-bahn goes from our hotel or Potsdamer Platz to Brandenburg Gate, we didn’t have our transit passes. Also, it was great to be walking around Berlin’s streets in the sunshine. We walked past some sections of the Wall on display in Potsdamer Platz.

We were excited to get our first glimpse of the <b>Ampelmann</b>, the distinctive man in a hat who has been used since 1961 on the “walk” and “do not walk” signals in East Berlin. He is such a beloved character that he was retained on the crossing lights even after the city was reunited. (Ampelmann info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampelm%C3%A4nnchen Ampelmann picture (not mine): http://bron.imeem.com/photo/CXNr5rV2/tF8uRru1jEFO1/)
He has spread to parts of the former West Berlin and other parts of Germany. There’s even a female version in some places.

After a few minutes we reached the <b>Memorial to the Murdered European Jews</b>. This is a series of 2700 slabs of different heights separated by paths. We didn’t venture far into the memorial, but found it interesting: sober and stark and a bit desolate.

We saw a very long line of portable toilets (labelled “toi toi”!) Something big was going on in Berlin. Then we came to a bunch of tents that were being set up. We gathered that there was going to be a festival this weekend in honor of the 50th anniversary of the European Union (or at least its earliest beginnings.) We took a few steps further and wow! Face to face with the <b>Brandenburg Gate</b>, that famous monument that has seen so much of Berlin’s history. And our first look at <b>Unter den Linden</b> (the wide promenade that goes east/west and was part of the former East Berlin.) People were milling about. We took pictures, of course.

There is a TI center in one part of the Brandenburger Tor, but it was too early for it to be open. We decided to keep walking up to the Hauptbahnhof and pick up our transit passes there. It would be another 10-15 minute walk. A few yards later we came to a line of <b>memorial white crosses</b> along the sidewalk, each marked with picture/biography of a person who had lost their lives trying to escape from East Berlin (mostly by attempting to swim the River Spree.) One girl was shot just a few years before the fall of the Wall. She was 18 – Jen’s age. We found this was very powerful and moving.

Ahead of us was the <b>Reichstag</b>. We had made lunch reservations there for later in the week, but, seeing as it was a beautiful clear day we thought that if the line was short we would go ahead and walk the dome now. When we got around the building we saw that the line was out the door, down the steps and a good bit along the sidewalk. So on we went.

There are lots of very interesting modern buildings in this section of the city, government buildings maybe? We crossed the river Spree and soon reached the <b>Hauptbahnhof</b> (main train station.) I was interested to see this new building, since I had read about it on Fodor’s. I wasn’t bowled over by the outside appearance, how the rectangular parts relate to the curve of the station itself. The station is huge, and I loved being inside and having all that glass around me.

We found the tourist information center at the north entrance and picked up our Welcome Card transit passes and coupon booklet. Shopping adrenalin is a great way to combat jet lag, so we set off for KaDeWe, which bills itself as the largest deparment store in Europe. We validated our passes and hopped on the S-bahn to the Zoologischer Garten Bahnhof. The ride was above ground and it was interesting to see the city out the train windows. There were wandering musicians (mostly accordians) in the train cars, playing and hoping for donations. This was the only day we saw them on the trains.

When we exited the station we were right near the bombed-out remains of the <b>Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtnis-Kirche</b>. There are so many reminders throughout Berlin of the city’s history. At the same time, it’s amazing to see the number of construction cranes on the Berlin skyline. I think this tension between past and present is one thing that makes Berlin so fascinating.

We walked 3 or 4 blocks east on Tauensienstrasse (this is the eastern continuation of the famous Kudamm.) More accordian players. And curry wurst stands. We joined the stream of people entering <b>KaDeWe</b> and began exploring the store. http://www.kadewe-berlin.de/index2_engl.php Jen found some souvenirs. I was fascinated by the paper napkin department, which was huge and organized by color. There were hundreds of different designs. I picked out several packs to bring home – at least they are light and unbreakable! We specifically wanted to purchase some KaDeWe logo items, as the store was celebrating its 100th anniversary. We didn’t find any anniversary items, but did pick up a cloth KaDeWe shopping bag for a euro or so.

We continued our way up the various floors, ending on the sixth, the famous food hall. This is reputedly the largest department store food hall anywhere. We got to see a good bit of it as we tried to find the toilets! I bought some lovely paper mache easter eggs that were like the old German ones I had as a child.

No sense being in a food hall without indulging. We came to the cheese counter and sampled the featured cheese. It was strong but we both liked it enough to buy some. The jet lag was beginning to set in and we just weren’t up to the communication hurdle of trying to explore what the other cheeses were. Then to the bread counter. The final stop was the torte department. The case was filled with delectable choices. Jen got the Marly torte and I ordered the KaDeWe signature torte, which turned out to be a delicious mocha type flavor. We found a table and enjoyed our purchases. The bread mellowed the cheese pretty well and the torte was fantastic. We also brought some pastries to take with us.

At this point our energy and attention were flagging, so we decided to come back later in the week to buy some KaDeWe label food products to bring home for gifts and souvenirs. We rode the U-bahn from Wittenberg Platz to Potsdammer Platz and then walked back to the hotel. (By the end of our stay, we had learned more direct ways to take this trip – the M29 bus goes from Wittenberg Platz to Anhalter Bahnhof – right at our hotel.)

Our room was ready – medium size and quite attractive. The bathroom is a square space carved out of the larger once-rectangular room, leaving an L-shaped bedroom. The small part of the L is a seating area with TV: one decent chair and one really comfortable chair. In the bigger (and fatter) part of the L there’s a typical European bed- two twins right next to each other, with separate bedding for each person. This was perfect for us. The bathroom had one glass block wall, which let plenty of light in but provided adequate privacy. The bedroom’s windows faced an interior courtyard. Not a great view, but no street noise to worry about either.

We put our leftover cheese in the minibar fridge and jumped in the bed. It was a shame to sleep on such a beautiful day, but we were worn out and took a 1.5 hour nap. Waking up was SO hard to do, but I know from much experience, that it works best for us to have only a short nap. I finally managed to rouse Jen and we set out for dinner at <b>Zur Letzten Instanz</b>, which claims to be the oldest pub in Berlin (1621). The restaurant is considered to be part of the Nicolaiviertel, but the way we approached, we didn’t really see the most charming part of the neighborhood. We exited the U-bahn at Klosterstrasse and came upon another bombed out church. These ruins are stark reminders of the damage Berlin suffered in the war. The TV tower loomed large in the background.

The pub is a cheerful yellow and green building with a paneled cozy interior with lots of little rooms. The tables were fully booked for dinner, but since we were early they seated us as long as we promised to be gone by 8:00pm. That gave us a full 2 hours for dinner, so we agreed. Jen ordered the Berlin meatball with fried potatoes and green beans. I ordered the grillhaxe, a roasted joint of pork. It was delicious - so tender that the meat just fell of the bone. We were eager to try the Berliner Weisse beer – we each ordered it “mit Rot” – the red (raspberry) syrup is meant to counteract the sourness of this beer. It’s served in a wide glass with a straw. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_Weisse There wasn’t much syrup in ours, and the sour nature of the beer came through well. Halfway through dinner, another party sat at our table. I know that this is common in Germany, but I wished they hadn’t been chain smoking. Our total bill came to 30.60&euro;.

After dinner we went back to the hotel, where we watched some German TV. We watched “Unser Charly” which was a show featuring a chimpanzee that lived with a family. Charly (the chimpanzee) helped solve a big mystery/crime. We also saw a fascinating show about the fashion industry in Berlin in the 20th century and now.

Our impressions at the end of our first day: Berlin is very spread out, including lots of space between buildings. We only had a spotty conception of the city as a whole. But we were definitely intrigued!

[pictures at share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8DZsmzZuza_g]

rialtogrl

Great report Noe! I was also at Brandenburger Tor on that Saturday when they were setting up for the Europa Days party. I wish I would have gone for the actual party the next day. I don't like huge crowds but I heard it was a good time.

You certainly had a lot of energy that first day - I am impressed.

One more thing - the title of the book I really liked is the INSIGHT guide to Berlin, not the Insider's Guide. Doh!

Rachele21

Great report. I was in Berlin in 2005 and also found it fascinating. And we had the best time at KaDeWe too!

noe847

rialtogrl, I read your Berlin blog, and I was impressed with your stamina at the pubs/clubs. Sounds like tons of fun. We were much more low key - hanging out at the hotel and taking in the German TV was our evening staple.
Racehele21: Berlin is indeed fascinating, and we just scratched the surface.

noe847

<i><u>Sunday March 25</u></i>

Daylight savings time came to Europe during the night, and, combined with jet lag and sleep deprivation, we did not get an early start. I got out of bed at 11:00, and woke Jen up at 12:15. Meanwhile, it was another bright sunny day, which we were wasting in the hotel room. Well, Jen really needs her sleep, so I’ve learned that I can’t cut that too short.

The cheese we’d put in the minibar was beginning to smell very strongly, so we decided that we needed to throw it out. But not in our room. It would smell like something had died there. We crossed fingers that nobody would ride in the elevator with us (and that the elevator would air out quickly after we got off with the stinky cheese.) Where to ditch the cheese? We finally found a trash receptacle out of nose shot of the hotel guests and staff. Whew.

Our hotel rate did not include breakfast, and the breakfast cost per person was more than I wanted to pay. We had read about some good sounding cafes and picked the <b>Caf&eacute; Einstein</b>. It is on Kurfurstenstrasse, but we didn’t know which part. And when we were on the U-bahn I realized that I could not find the paper that I had written the address. So we just started at the beginning of the street (near Wittenberg Platz) and walked along looking at all the storefronts for “Einstein.” Around ½ mile later we found it, in a lovely old villa. The caf&eacute; was very busy but they were able to seat us. This was a quintessential German coffee shop: newspapers on big wooden rods, pastry case, elegant plasterwork and mirrors. There’s apparently also a branch at Unter den Linden.

They had all kinds of special breakfasts, but we kept it simple. Jen ordered the “Paris fruhstuck”- baguette, croissant, madeleine. I ordered “bacon and eggs” (had no problem pronouncing that!) fresh squeezed orange juice and a croissant. I split the bacon with Jen and scarfed up the fried eggs. For dessert we each ordered coffee with ice cream in it. This was seriously excellent food and an all around great place. Although we had done a lot of walking to find it, it wasn’t very far from a different U-bahn station. (Nollendorfplatz U-bahn. And, we learned later, our ‘local’ M29 bus stops about a block away.)

We were excited to check out <b>Trodelmarkt</b>, the flea market that is held on weekends near the Zoologischer Garten Bahnhof. We came down from the train platform and followed the many signs to the market. The market was great fun. We thought the quality was quite good, and we happily explored the various stalls specializing in old jewelry, postcards, clothing, hats, linens, flatware, silver, communist memorabilia, doorknobs, record albums, and junk.

My favorite was the button stall. Earlier this year I bought a beautiful velvet jacket that was missing several buttons. There was no way to match the buttons, so I needed a whole new set of buttons. I had been to several places at home and on the internet without success (very expensive and I couldn’t find anything I really liked.) This dealer had wonderful vintage buttons, at really good prices. I bought two different designs: 20 white and gold metal buttons from the 1950’s and 20 jet/rhinestone buttons from the 1920’s. Along with some hand carved horn buttons, I paid less than 15&euro;.

I also picked up a 1930’s wooden darning mushroom, two sterling napkin rings from around 1900 (I like to set my table with mismatched antique napkin rings), vintage earrings, and inexpensive pie servers. Jen bought some old banners from East Germany. We sifted though old black and white postcards, choosing some of Berlin and other places in Germany that we have visited. Jen was captivated by the postcards from about 100 years ago that were made from portrait photographs of young women. This market was a highlight of our Berlin visit.

By now it was late afternoon. We were going to the 6:00 pm Mass at St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, and I figured we’d just have enough time for a quick spin around the highlights at the Pergamonmuseum. We rode the S-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse Bahnhof and walked to Museuminsel from there. The road was lined with police vehicles and uniformed policemen, who were blocking traffic at all intersections. I think this was connected with the big EU anniversary celebrations.

The sun was shining down and the river and bridges were beautiful. <b>Museuminsel</b> is a pretty fascinating place, and on a return visit I’d love to explore more of it. As it was, we would have less than an hour for the big three at the <b>Pergamonmuseum</b>. We got the audio guide and set it up for the greatest hits. The strong sunshine made the museum quite warm inside.

First stop was the Pergamon Altar, a sort of transplanted Greek Temple with additional sculptural friezes of the Greek gods. Jen was tired and sat on one of the temple’s 40 steps while she listened to the audio guide’s description of the altar. I was wandering around the room as I listened. Then I accidentally hit the wrong button on the guide and killed the highlights audio. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get it back. I looked up and Jen was not on the stairs. Without the audio, I had no idea where the tour had gone next. I raced around the surrounding rooms, and finally located Jen. I had to content myself with manually hitting the audio guide’s buttons for each individual object, which meant that I never got the overall information and context.

The Gate of Ishtar/Bablylonian Processional Street was my favorite part of the museum. It was a striking blue and yellow tiled gate with images of animals and flowers covering the surfaces in a regular pattern. Some of it was original and some replica. It was impressively large, but what was even more amazing was that as installed it was much scaled down from the original huge proportions.

The Roman Market Gate of Miletus was covered in plastic and under reconstruction. Apparently at the time it was shipped and originally installed in the museum, the stones were hollowed out, and an iron framework was inserted. The ravages of the war left the building open to the elements and rainwater corroded the iron, weakening the structural support for the Gate. Restoration work is slated to take another few years.

We finished up and walked along Unter den Linden to Bebelplatz. <b>St. Hedwig Catholic church</b> is just behind the plaza. The church was apparently modeled on the Pantheon, and is a very unusual Catholic church. The interior was reconstructed in the 1960’s with lots of modern touches which go surprisingly well with the classicist interior space. We especially liked the vertical string of round globe lights that hung in front of each column. The church was filled with worshippers, and latecomers were even standing along the walls. I had forgotten to bring our muli-lingual Mass booklet, so we didn’t get as much out of the German service as I would have liked.

I still couldn’t find my little page of restaurant names and addresses, so we were hindered a bit in our search for a dinner spot. I remembered some of the names/descriptions, and that several of them were located around the nearby <b>Gendarmenmarkt</b>. The plaza was lovely in the early evening light, with the “twin” churches and the Konzerthaus. We found Aigner, and Lutter &amp; Wegner, both recommended for their German cuisine. They looked a bit upscale for our mood, however, and we settled on an Italian restaurant, <b>Malatesta</b>. It was comfortable, attractive, and we had wonderful service. We ordered salad (arugula, cherry tomatoes and shaved parmesan), pizza margherita, beer and water. While we waited for our food, we chatted with an American woman who had spent a long weekend in Berlin with her college-aged son who was studying for the semester in Paris. We compared sightseeing notes. When she left, she donned a full length fur. Definitely not in our league! At the table on our other side were three people speaking Italian. Our waitress mysteriously disappeared and we had a devil of a time getting our check and then paying (36&euro;.) 30 minutes and two credit card attempts later, we finally left. This will always be known to us as the restaurant that tried to take us hostage.

Across the street was <b>Fassbender &amp; Rauch</b>, the Berlin chocolatier, supposed to be the largest in Europe. Definitely on the list for later in the week.

At the hotel we saw news coverage on TV of the fireworks near the Brandenburg Gate and some pop music awards that were also happening in Berlin that evening. I guess we missed all the excitement!

Pictures at: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8DZsmzZuzbAA

Michael

The bicycle are not on the sidewalk (picture no. 6) but in a special bike lane. Note the different colorations of the pavement.

noe847

Yes, we knew they were special bike lanes, but they are physically located, very often, on what I'd call the &quot;sidewalk&quot; (up on the curb, adjacent to the walking part) as opposed to the street (lower pavement, adjacent to the driving lanes.) It's a great system, but we found it a <i>really</i> hard adjustment to remember to look for the bicycles there. It became a huge running joke with us - Jen was terrified that she would be run down. As it turned out, I was the one who went afoul of the bicycle lane and froze like a deer in the headlights at the oncoming cyclist.

kraav

I love the visual of getting rid of the stinky cheese! The buttons were quite a find. I hope you post pictures of them as well.