Troll!

It's all probably too late now anyway, but there is a reasonable attempt at translation software free at
http://babelfish.altavista.com/

It is pretty basic but may have helped you understand the German. Hope it worked out!

I think there is a lesson here for everyone. "Be prepared". Research where you are going before you go. This is particularly important if you are going to be in a country where you don't know the language.

Berlin's metro, VBB, has a website, vbbonline.de. I found it by entering "Berlin Verkehrsverbund" in a Google search. It has a version in English, and it explains there the various pass options. There is a day pass for the entire area for €6,00. There is also a three day pass which includes all the transport plus a 50% reduction in some admissions.It sells for 19,90, so it is only a deal if you plan on seeing some of the paid attractions.

Outside of the smaller language groups, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, etc, the German speaking people have the largest percentage of multilingualism (62%) and the largest percentage of English speakers (51%) in Europe, but it is not possible to cover every place that an English only speaker might ask a question. I am sure oobylicious thought he (she) asked for a three day pass, but I am also quite sure he didn't. The 3.00 on the tickets was obviously not 3.00 days. Perhaps there is also a 2.90 day pass? It indicated that the ticket was valid until 3 AM the following morning.

I am fairly fluent in German, but ignorant in other European languages, so, I only go to Germany.

I'm still trying to figure out the "3.00". It's certainly not "3 days", but it's also not "3 euro" (3,00) or 3 am (3:00). So what is it?

As Larryincolorado said, lots of lessons here. . . including that one should learn how numbers are written to express time and money values, as well as dates.

I agree with being prepared but would you have known whether or not this was truly a "fine" and where to pay it?

I saw in all S-bahns, buses, etc. in Berlin written that if they find you without a valid ticket, you will pay the double of the ticket value, but not less than 40 Euro.

Where we were in Berlin, we bought day tickets from Tourism office in Alexanderplatz, where they spoke English and gave us detailed explanations.

He probably paid €5,80 for a day ticket for the inner two zones. Had he been familiar with VBB's website before he went, he would have known that 1) that is the cost of a one day ticket, 2)the three day welcome card, which includes discounts to attractions as well as use of the transport, costs €19,90, and 3)there are no other 3 day tickets. He obviously did not pay for a three day ticket. He should have realized that, and he wouldn't have been fined.

He either misread 3:00 as 3.00, or, as Germans sometimes do, the time was written as 3.00. Day tickets are usually good until 3 AM the following day.

From the Bayern-Takt website, in reference to the Bayern Ticket, "Das Ticket gilt montags bis freitags in der Zeit von 9.00 bis 3.00 Uhr des Folgetages..."