Berlin trip report (warning : it's going to be long !)
May 5th, 2005 | 06:49 AM
#1
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Joined: Jul 2004
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Berlin trip report (warning : it's going to be long !)
A few introductory notes
----------------------------
This trip was organised as a Friends of Scottish Opera package, therefore some of the arrangements were made for us. However, most of the time DH and I did our own thing and just saw the rest of the group at the operas. We usually travel independently and this trip rather confirmed that we prefer it that way !
Our main interests in addition to attending an opera in each of the 3 houses were seeing contemporary art and architecture plus the must-see historic sights. Normally we would have got tickets for the Philharmonic too; but their only performance while we were there was an extremely expensive gala concert, so we didn't bother.
Also keen on our food & drink, although we were on a budget this time so only went to fairly modest establishments - generally €40-60 for dinner for 2, with drinks. Each day we had a large breakfast at the hotel, a late lunch (3-4pm) & a late dinner (c.9-9.30pm, or 11-11.30pm on the 2 nights we went to operas finishing at 10.30pm). There was absolutely no problem eating at these hours.
Almost without exception we found everyone very friendly, kind and helpful, with people even going out of their way to help us ignorant foreigners when we looked confused.
Our trip was 23rd-30th April and the weather forecast was for it to be unseasonably chilly, but we had a couple of warmer days plus one rainy day. I found all the buildings (museums, theatres, restaurants, the hotel room, everything) to be very hot : therefore if you're going there in cold weather, I'd recommend a winter coat over a thin short sleeved t shirt or similar, so you can dump your coat & not swelter indoors.
We stayed in Mitte, in the former East Berlin, liked it very much and found it very convenient for most of what we wanted to do. Admittedly we didn't see that much of the former West Berlin but what we did see seemed for the most part less attractive - either modern, characterless buildings like high rise office blocks, or high street shops & fast food stalls which could have been anywhere - we thought the Ku-damm area around the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche in particular to be reminiscent of London's Leicester Square. The former East seemed to have better old-style buildings (whether original or reconstructed) and better contemporary buildings (such as the Frank Gehry DZ Bank).
We used the U-bahn quite a bit and found it very easy to use. On a couple of occasions when we had to make unscheduled changes due to engineering works, people who'd evidently heard us talking in English very kindly told us what to do. The stops could be quite far apart and were not always convenient for where we wanted to go, however. On a future trip I'd try to get hold of a bus map as I think buses may sometimes have been more convenient. We caught one bus which happened to be going our way which saved us a long walk back to the U-bahn station. On the first evening we bought single U-bahn tickets at €2 each (this is a flat fare which takes you as far as you're likely to want to go, except maybe to Potsdam). Subsequently we bought 72-hour passes (the 'City Tour Card', c.€19 each) which we found very convenient, and which we used on the bus too. The pass also gives discounts on some attractions but we only used it for that once, at the Berliner Dom. We may not have saved money but buying the passes seemed easier than buying individual tickets all the time. We bought both the single tickets (with cash) & the 72-hour passes (using a debit card) from a machine in a U-bahn station, which was quite easy to use and had an English option. Single tickets need validating (stamping) at a machine next to the ticket machine, before you use them.
Anywhere, to be continued with the blow by blow account...
----------------------------
This trip was organised as a Friends of Scottish Opera package, therefore some of the arrangements were made for us. However, most of the time DH and I did our own thing and just saw the rest of the group at the operas. We usually travel independently and this trip rather confirmed that we prefer it that way !
Our main interests in addition to attending an opera in each of the 3 houses were seeing contemporary art and architecture plus the must-see historic sights. Normally we would have got tickets for the Philharmonic too; but their only performance while we were there was an extremely expensive gala concert, so we didn't bother.
Also keen on our food & drink, although we were on a budget this time so only went to fairly modest establishments - generally €40-60 for dinner for 2, with drinks. Each day we had a large breakfast at the hotel, a late lunch (3-4pm) & a late dinner (c.9-9.30pm, or 11-11.30pm on the 2 nights we went to operas finishing at 10.30pm). There was absolutely no problem eating at these hours.
Almost without exception we found everyone very friendly, kind and helpful, with people even going out of their way to help us ignorant foreigners when we looked confused.
Our trip was 23rd-30th April and the weather forecast was for it to be unseasonably chilly, but we had a couple of warmer days plus one rainy day. I found all the buildings (museums, theatres, restaurants, the hotel room, everything) to be very hot : therefore if you're going there in cold weather, I'd recommend a winter coat over a thin short sleeved t shirt or similar, so you can dump your coat & not swelter indoors.
We stayed in Mitte, in the former East Berlin, liked it very much and found it very convenient for most of what we wanted to do. Admittedly we didn't see that much of the former West Berlin but what we did see seemed for the most part less attractive - either modern, characterless buildings like high rise office blocks, or high street shops & fast food stalls which could have been anywhere - we thought the Ku-damm area around the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche in particular to be reminiscent of London's Leicester Square. The former East seemed to have better old-style buildings (whether original or reconstructed) and better contemporary buildings (such as the Frank Gehry DZ Bank).
We used the U-bahn quite a bit and found it very easy to use. On a couple of occasions when we had to make unscheduled changes due to engineering works, people who'd evidently heard us talking in English very kindly told us what to do. The stops could be quite far apart and were not always convenient for where we wanted to go, however. On a future trip I'd try to get hold of a bus map as I think buses may sometimes have been more convenient. We caught one bus which happened to be going our way which saved us a long walk back to the U-bahn station. On the first evening we bought single U-bahn tickets at €2 each (this is a flat fare which takes you as far as you're likely to want to go, except maybe to Potsdam). Subsequently we bought 72-hour passes (the 'City Tour Card', c.€19 each) which we found very convenient, and which we used on the bus too. The pass also gives discounts on some attractions but we only used it for that once, at the Berliner Dom. We may not have saved money but buying the passes seemed easier than buying individual tickets all the time. We bought both the single tickets (with cash) & the 72-hour passes (using a debit card) from a machine in a U-bahn station, which was quite easy to use and had an English option. Single tickets need validating (stamping) at a machine next to the ticket machine, before you use them.
Anywhere, to be continued with the blow by blow account...
May 5th, 2005 | 07:08 AM
#2
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Joined: Jul 2004
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Day 1 (Monday 25th April)
-------------------------------
(Mistake already - it was the 25th-30th April !)
Arrived Tegel airport (from Edinburgh via Heathrow) & had rather a long wait while our fellow travellers get themselves organised and on to the coach provided. Would have been quicker (and only €2) to get the regular TXL bus which stops at the corner of Unter den Linden and Friedrichstrasse, where our hotel the Maritim ProArte was.
Hotel large, corporate-style, could have been anywhere. Superior room only average in size & decor, and the airconditioning was pretty feeble. We thought we'd use the pool but never got time even to see what it looked like ! However, breakfast was excellent, and during our stay we decided that the hotel location was great and very convenient for walking to most places we wanted to go. Would consider staying there again (although not in summer), depending on price.
Dinner with our fellow travellers was included on the first night, at Aigner (previously recommended on this board by tom42). Unfortunately we had a set menu so can't really comment on the normal menu & prices. We had marinated salmon (nice), venison (overcooked) & apple strudel (which I didn't have but heard it was nice). Very atmospheric wood-panelled dining rooms.
After dinner my DH & I had a couple of beers at the bar, then went to Bar Newton as recommended by hsv. (For this and all the other advice, many thanks hsv !) Had too many excellent martinis (c.€10 each I think...). Got back to the hotel the wrong side of 2
(Maybe I shouldn't be thanking hsv for this !)
-------------------------------
(Mistake already - it was the 25th-30th April !)
Arrived Tegel airport (from Edinburgh via Heathrow) & had rather a long wait while our fellow travellers get themselves organised and on to the coach provided. Would have been quicker (and only €2) to get the regular TXL bus which stops at the corner of Unter den Linden and Friedrichstrasse, where our hotel the Maritim ProArte was.
Hotel large, corporate-style, could have been anywhere. Superior room only average in size & decor, and the airconditioning was pretty feeble. We thought we'd use the pool but never got time even to see what it looked like ! However, breakfast was excellent, and during our stay we decided that the hotel location was great and very convenient for walking to most places we wanted to go. Would consider staying there again (although not in summer), depending on price.
Dinner with our fellow travellers was included on the first night, at Aigner (previously recommended on this board by tom42). Unfortunately we had a set menu so can't really comment on the normal menu & prices. We had marinated salmon (nice), venison (overcooked) & apple strudel (which I didn't have but heard it was nice). Very atmospheric wood-panelled dining rooms.
After dinner my DH & I had a couple of beers at the bar, then went to Bar Newton as recommended by hsv. (For this and all the other advice, many thanks hsv !) Had too many excellent martinis (c.€10 each I think...). Got back to the hotel the wrong side of 2
(Maybe I shouldn't be thanking hsv for this !)
May 5th, 2005 | 01:08 PM
#3
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,801
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caroline,
enjoying your trip report so far. I do hope you did have a good time - even though the Martinis were too many and rather on the costly side. Newton Bar is certainly for the more affluent crowd and sometimes is a bit much for me- but I do like its location.
Should some of my comments have been helpful, I'd certainly feel privileged.
Looking forward to further details-
all the best
hsv
enjoying your trip report so far. I do hope you did have a good time - even though the Martinis were too many and rather on the costly side. Newton Bar is certainly for the more affluent crowd and sometimes is a bit much for me- but I do like its location.
Should some of my comments have been helpful, I'd certainly feel privileged.
Looking forward to further details-
all the best
hsv
May 6th, 2005 | 03:22 AM
#5
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Posts: 6,282
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Day 2 (Tuesday 26th April)
-------------------------------
For initial orientation we went on the included tour round the major sights in a coach. This was quite frustrating as we couldn't take photographs. One very interesting sight which we didn't get an opportunity to revisit was the 'East Side Gallery' - a stretch of the Wall painted by many artists. I'd like to revisit it on foot another time.
Following the coach tour we stopped at the Jewish Museum where we had a guided tour. Our guide was an historian and very learned, but it was very dry and we didn't get the opportunity fully to appreciate the architecture of the building, which was our main interest. We would like to go back in order fully to experience it. The garden was very interesting.
Then back on the coach to go for lunch at the Reichstag rooftop restaurant. Having a restaurant reservation enables you to bypass the lengendarily long queues, as you use the disabled entrance. Although when we arrived, c.1.30pm, the normal queue wasn't very long. And we still had to queue to get the lift back down. Lunch was again a set menu included in our package so I can't comment on the normal menu & prices, but what we had was nice - cauliflower soup; fried chicken with asparagus, radish, wholemeal taglatelle & lemon gravy; red berries with vanilla sauce (this seemed to be a common dessert). Walked round the open air roof portion, around & up the dome (which was quite hot - it was a sunny day) & viewed the exhibition on the building's history. Queued for lift down & walked back to hotel via the river, as it was now time to get ready for an early start at the opera.
After a wash & change, walked to the Komische Oper for the 6.30pm performance of 'The Love for Three Oranges', which was good. The audience spanned a much bigger age range than is usual at the opera at home - lots of young people & even a few small children (fairly well-behaved).
Women's clothing varied from smart jeans to dresses. Most men in jackets but not all. No black tie. This was basically the mode of dress at all three opera houses, with perhaps some of the Deutsche Oper audience a little more formal - some men in suits & some women in sparkly short dresses. (I mention the dress styles since it seems this is something people often ask about.)
Not very nice Sekt in the bar, but (here & the other opera houses) nice looking canapes, for eating beforehand or ordering with interval drinks. Eating pretzels (the big bready type) also seemed to be a big thing.
Had we not been warned we would have been baffled by the seat numbering. We were in row 3, I think, but both had seat 21... 21 left and 21 right, which were next to each other ! Each row is numbered upwards from 1 at each end, so it's important to check whether you need to go in the right hand or the left hand entrance (especially since there was no centre aisle in any of the areas we sat - being in the very centre of a long row not good if you're at all claustrophobic).
After the opera we walked to the area of Nikolaiviertel which was to become our favourite area for dinner. We ate that night at Berlin's oldest restaurant (est. 1621), Zur Letzten Instanz, Waisenstrasse 14-16 : we had phoned to book (for 9pm) before going out to the opera, but it evidently wasn't necessary, at least that night at that time. It is actually more of a pub with food than a restaurant; but as our guidebook said, there is considerable crossover in Berlin between pubs/bars/cafes/restaurants, with many places serving all functions all day. We were aiming to eat typical German food, and this was a great introduction. DH had 'Grillhaxe', a quite large joint of pork with crackling, potato dumplings and red cabbage. I had calves' liver Berlin-style (onions, apple & gravy) with mashed potato. It was all lovely. Very hearty portions ! We made a mistake by ordering a not very nice bottle of wine (Sylvaner), but made up for it afterwards by trying the very nice dark lager. Service very friendly (although in fact we found this everywhere).
Got the U-bahn home - they run until between 12 & 1 Mon-Thur & most run all night Fri & Sat !
Already exhausted & it's only day 2...
-------------------------------
For initial orientation we went on the included tour round the major sights in a coach. This was quite frustrating as we couldn't take photographs. One very interesting sight which we didn't get an opportunity to revisit was the 'East Side Gallery' - a stretch of the Wall painted by many artists. I'd like to revisit it on foot another time.
Following the coach tour we stopped at the Jewish Museum where we had a guided tour. Our guide was an historian and very learned, but it was very dry and we didn't get the opportunity fully to appreciate the architecture of the building, which was our main interest. We would like to go back in order fully to experience it. The garden was very interesting.
Then back on the coach to go for lunch at the Reichstag rooftop restaurant. Having a restaurant reservation enables you to bypass the lengendarily long queues, as you use the disabled entrance. Although when we arrived, c.1.30pm, the normal queue wasn't very long. And we still had to queue to get the lift back down. Lunch was again a set menu included in our package so I can't comment on the normal menu & prices, but what we had was nice - cauliflower soup; fried chicken with asparagus, radish, wholemeal taglatelle & lemon gravy; red berries with vanilla sauce (this seemed to be a common dessert). Walked round the open air roof portion, around & up the dome (which was quite hot - it was a sunny day) & viewed the exhibition on the building's history. Queued for lift down & walked back to hotel via the river, as it was now time to get ready for an early start at the opera.
After a wash & change, walked to the Komische Oper for the 6.30pm performance of 'The Love for Three Oranges', which was good. The audience spanned a much bigger age range than is usual at the opera at home - lots of young people & even a few small children (fairly well-behaved).
Women's clothing varied from smart jeans to dresses. Most men in jackets but not all. No black tie. This was basically the mode of dress at all three opera houses, with perhaps some of the Deutsche Oper audience a little more formal - some men in suits & some women in sparkly short dresses. (I mention the dress styles since it seems this is something people often ask about.)
Not very nice Sekt in the bar, but (here & the other opera houses) nice looking canapes, for eating beforehand or ordering with interval drinks. Eating pretzels (the big bready type) also seemed to be a big thing.
Had we not been warned we would have been baffled by the seat numbering. We were in row 3, I think, but both had seat 21... 21 left and 21 right, which were next to each other ! Each row is numbered upwards from 1 at each end, so it's important to check whether you need to go in the right hand or the left hand entrance (especially since there was no centre aisle in any of the areas we sat - being in the very centre of a long row not good if you're at all claustrophobic).
After the opera we walked to the area of Nikolaiviertel which was to become our favourite area for dinner. We ate that night at Berlin's oldest restaurant (est. 1621), Zur Letzten Instanz, Waisenstrasse 14-16 : we had phoned to book (for 9pm) before going out to the opera, but it evidently wasn't necessary, at least that night at that time. It is actually more of a pub with food than a restaurant; but as our guidebook said, there is considerable crossover in Berlin between pubs/bars/cafes/restaurants, with many places serving all functions all day. We were aiming to eat typical German food, and this was a great introduction. DH had 'Grillhaxe', a quite large joint of pork with crackling, potato dumplings and red cabbage. I had calves' liver Berlin-style (onions, apple & gravy) with mashed potato. It was all lovely. Very hearty portions ! We made a mistake by ordering a not very nice bottle of wine (Sylvaner), but made up for it afterwards by trying the very nice dark lager. Service very friendly (although in fact we found this everywhere).
Got the U-bahn home - they run until between 12 & 1 Mon-Thur & most run all night Fri & Sat !
Already exhausted & it's only day 2...
May 9th, 2005 | 01:59 AM
#7
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Joined: Jul 2004
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Day 3 (Wednesday 27th April)
------------------------------------
We decided not to go on the included full-day visit to Potsdam and did not regret this, since we did not have enough time to see what we wanted to see in the city anyway.
We had thought instead to start the day with an open-top bus tour, to help orient ourselves further & to take photographs. However, this was the one day it rained quite a lot, so we walked to Museum Island instead.
On our way we bought the 72 hour City Tour Cards from our local U-bahn station.
First to the Pergamonmuseum. Since we didn't think we had enough time to tour the whole of all 3 museums which comprise the Pergamonmuseum, we decided just to do the audioguide tour of the 'Big 3' attractions in the Collection of Classical Antiquities - the Pergamon Altar, the Market Gate of Miletus and the Babylonian Processional Street - all quite breathtaking. The audioguide - with a choice of options and languages - was included in the admission price.
We then went to the Alte (Old) Nationalgalerie. The contents here did not interest us so much but we took the lift to the top floor, viewed the Caspar David Friedrichs (not his best I think) and walked back down, just to get a look inside. We thought that this was included in our Pergamonmuseum tickets but then decided we weren't so sure, but didn't get challenged.
Then to the Altes Museum where the temporary exhibition didn't much interest us, so we didn't actually buy tickets but just went in to admire the inside of the rotunda (rather like a painted version of the Pantheon in Rome) & have a drink (rotunda & cafe not requiring tickets).
(As an aside, once out of the airport we never saw any shops selling water - in fact we didn't see many shops at all, except on our visit to the Ku'damm - so took every opportunity to have a drink at museums etc.)
Then to the Berliner Dom. Inside not as large as you'd think from outside, and (to my mind) pretty hideous Victorian decor, but the crypt with the tombs of the Hohenzollerns was quite interesting and rather moving. We were too lazy to climb the dome.
3.30pm by now, so decided it was time for lunch. This was our one definitely non-German meal - we went to Die Zwolf Apostel (12 Apostles), Georgenstrasse 2 (there is also a branch in Charlottenburg). Pizza, pasta & other things, with the USP being a pizza named after each apostle ! DH had a Pizza Judas (hot sausage, peppers & chillies) & I had a Bartolomeo (spinach & Gorgonzola), both with a Berliner Pilsener. Both vg & quite thin & crispy. Between 11am & 4pm each day there are vg special offers, including all pizzas at €5.95 (usually c. €10/11), a special meal of the day & cut price beer, water & some other soft drink.
Then back to the east end of Unter den Linden in order to walk back west as far as Friedrichstrasse, seeing the sights en route. For us these comprised the I.M. Pei extension to the Deutsches Historisches Museum (round the back and we only looked at the outside), the Neue Wache (New Guardhouse) and its very moving memorial to the victims of war & tyranny (we came back here at night when it's lit up & you can look in through the grille), the outside of the Staatsoper, Bebelplatz, St Hedwig's Cathedral (which we couldn't enter as a service was in progress) and the Guggenheim. This was when we discovered that the Guggenheim was closed between shows and would only re-open on Saturday, the day we were leaving.
By now it was again time to go back to the hotel to change for the opera. Not such an early start tonight (7.30pm); but we needed to get to the Deutsche Oper which was 5km away although conveniently has its own U-bahn station. If you go there, allow plenty of time to find your seats (and the bars !) - we found it very confusing. We saw Cav & Pag, in very interesting stagings - Cav was produced by David Pountney, only premiered the weekend before and its staging & design tied in cleverly with that of Pag which was a few years old. Very good again.
The performance finished c.10.30pm & we had a bit of a panic with 2 unscheduled train changes en route to the restaurant we'd booked (again by phone just before going out) for 11pm, Reinhard's, Poststrasse 28 (again in Nikolaiviertel). When we had to get off the train for the 2nd time & it was announced that the next train would be another 13 minutes we gave up, exited & got a cab. This was the only time we got a cab (apart from after Bar Newton on the Monday, which I don't actually remember doing...
). It was very cheap - c.€2.80 I think - but then we weren't going very far.
Got to the restaurant c.11.20pm but they were very gracious, even though there were hardly any other customers there by then. We were asked if we'd like a glass of prosecco (sic) to start with, which surprised us a bit, but it sounded welcome so we took it & it was OK but not great. Decided to simplify things for the kitchen by both ordering the steak with special sauce & chips : the steak was cooked rare as we'd requested & it was all very tasty & welcome, but I did suspect the special sauce might have come out of a bottle - it was just a little too well emulsified. Had glasses of a red wine (Trollinger) which wasn't very good, then walked home.
------------------------------------
We decided not to go on the included full-day visit to Potsdam and did not regret this, since we did not have enough time to see what we wanted to see in the city anyway.
We had thought instead to start the day with an open-top bus tour, to help orient ourselves further & to take photographs. However, this was the one day it rained quite a lot, so we walked to Museum Island instead.
On our way we bought the 72 hour City Tour Cards from our local U-bahn station.
First to the Pergamonmuseum. Since we didn't think we had enough time to tour the whole of all 3 museums which comprise the Pergamonmuseum, we decided just to do the audioguide tour of the 'Big 3' attractions in the Collection of Classical Antiquities - the Pergamon Altar, the Market Gate of Miletus and the Babylonian Processional Street - all quite breathtaking. The audioguide - with a choice of options and languages - was included in the admission price.
We then went to the Alte (Old) Nationalgalerie. The contents here did not interest us so much but we took the lift to the top floor, viewed the Caspar David Friedrichs (not his best I think) and walked back down, just to get a look inside. We thought that this was included in our Pergamonmuseum tickets but then decided we weren't so sure, but didn't get challenged.
Then to the Altes Museum where the temporary exhibition didn't much interest us, so we didn't actually buy tickets but just went in to admire the inside of the rotunda (rather like a painted version of the Pantheon in Rome) & have a drink (rotunda & cafe not requiring tickets).
(As an aside, once out of the airport we never saw any shops selling water - in fact we didn't see many shops at all, except on our visit to the Ku'damm - so took every opportunity to have a drink at museums etc.)
Then to the Berliner Dom. Inside not as large as you'd think from outside, and (to my mind) pretty hideous Victorian decor, but the crypt with the tombs of the Hohenzollerns was quite interesting and rather moving. We were too lazy to climb the dome.
3.30pm by now, so decided it was time for lunch. This was our one definitely non-German meal - we went to Die Zwolf Apostel (12 Apostles), Georgenstrasse 2 (there is also a branch in Charlottenburg). Pizza, pasta & other things, with the USP being a pizza named after each apostle ! DH had a Pizza Judas (hot sausage, peppers & chillies) & I had a Bartolomeo (spinach & Gorgonzola), both with a Berliner Pilsener. Both vg & quite thin & crispy. Between 11am & 4pm each day there are vg special offers, including all pizzas at €5.95 (usually c. €10/11), a special meal of the day & cut price beer, water & some other soft drink.
Then back to the east end of Unter den Linden in order to walk back west as far as Friedrichstrasse, seeing the sights en route. For us these comprised the I.M. Pei extension to the Deutsches Historisches Museum (round the back and we only looked at the outside), the Neue Wache (New Guardhouse) and its very moving memorial to the victims of war & tyranny (we came back here at night when it's lit up & you can look in through the grille), the outside of the Staatsoper, Bebelplatz, St Hedwig's Cathedral (which we couldn't enter as a service was in progress) and the Guggenheim. This was when we discovered that the Guggenheim was closed between shows and would only re-open on Saturday, the day we were leaving.
By now it was again time to go back to the hotel to change for the opera. Not such an early start tonight (7.30pm); but we needed to get to the Deutsche Oper which was 5km away although conveniently has its own U-bahn station. If you go there, allow plenty of time to find your seats (and the bars !) - we found it very confusing. We saw Cav & Pag, in very interesting stagings - Cav was produced by David Pountney, only premiered the weekend before and its staging & design tied in cleverly with that of Pag which was a few years old. Very good again.
The performance finished c.10.30pm & we had a bit of a panic with 2 unscheduled train changes en route to the restaurant we'd booked (again by phone just before going out) for 11pm, Reinhard's, Poststrasse 28 (again in Nikolaiviertel). When we had to get off the train for the 2nd time & it was announced that the next train would be another 13 minutes we gave up, exited & got a cab. This was the only time we got a cab (apart from after Bar Newton on the Monday, which I don't actually remember doing...
). It was very cheap - c.€2.80 I think - but then we weren't going very far. Got to the restaurant c.11.20pm but they were very gracious, even though there were hardly any other customers there by then. We were asked if we'd like a glass of prosecco (sic) to start with, which surprised us a bit, but it sounded welcome so we took it & it was OK but not great. Decided to simplify things for the kitchen by both ordering the steak with special sauce & chips : the steak was cooked rare as we'd requested & it was all very tasty & welcome, but I did suspect the special sauce might have come out of a bottle - it was just a little too well emulsified. Had glasses of a red wine (Trollinger) which wasn't very good, then walked home.
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May 10th, 2005 | 07:05 AM
#8
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Joined: Jul 2004
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Day 4 (Thursday 28th April)
---------------------------------
Today was all a bit disorganised and not very well planned - tried to fit in too many things which weren't close together, & didn't pay enough attention to detail.
We started the day by walking west along Unter den Linden to the Brandenburg Gate, which wasn't as big as I'd expected. We thought maybe it would have looked more imposing lit up at night, but didn't get the chance to see it again.
Looked at various new buildings in the vicinity - several embassies including the British one, which was quite interesting outside & we quite wished we'd booked a tour of the interior. And most notably, the DZ (formerly DG) Bank, on Pariser Platz, by Frank Gehry. Initially not so striking outside but go inside the lobby area & look through into the atrium - wow ! We subsequently passed by the back of the building - lucky people, who will live in those apartments ! We later realised we should have been able to see the titanium roof from the top of the Reichstag, but missed it.
It was then time to make our way to the Staatsoper for the guided tour which was included in our package. This was very interesting and our guide later turned up singing a small but named role in 'Tannhauser' that evening ! We got to stand on the stage while it was being set up for the performance.
We then made our way to Gendarmenmarkt to start the open top bus tour. On the way we checked out Lutter und Wegner on Charlottenstrasse (also as recommended by hsv), where we thought we'd have dinner after the opera that night. This is a bar, bistro & restaurant run by one of Berlin's oldest wine vintners, and apparently where Sekt was invented. It's a big place, spread over several rooms, so we decided we probably didn't need to book.
Then made a big mistake by getting on the first 'open top' bus which turned up. There seem to be at least 3 different companies running these; all of the buses have a plastic top which can be rolled open or closed to suit the weather, but we didn't realise until it was too late that the one we'd got on (a yellow one) wasn't a proper open top bus, but had full height windows all the way round (over 5' tall) , so it was almost impossible to take photographs. The cover was closed on this bus. We were also supposed to get a discount for showing our City Tour Cards but not with this company, apparently. We didn't initially worry too much about the roof & windows situation, though, as we were planning to get off at Alexanderplatz.
Our initial idea had been to look round Alexanderplatz itself & maybe go up the TV tower, but I was by now concerned that we were running out of time. The bus seemed to stop quite far from the TV tower & the square itself, which seemed to have a lot of rather ugly modern buildings clustered round it.
So we walked to the U-bahn station (still not near the square or TV tower) to get the train to Kottbusser Tor for a kebab lunch at Hasir, Adalbertstrasse 10. Not normally my sort of thing (I don't like lamb, for one thing), but DH was quite excited by this description in a guidebook : "All hail the mother church of the doner kebab ! You thought the Turks had been chewing on this tasty sandwich-like item for ages ? Sorry, it was invented in Germany in 1971 by Mehmet Aygun, who eventually opened this highly successful chain of Turkish restaurants." However, he said he'd had better kebabs in the UK. (He had a doner kebab & I had a grilled chicken/salad/flatbread combo, which was OK. Both had beer.) Very cheap, anyway !
Then the U-bahn back to Alexanderplatz & walk back to bus stop, to do the rest of the open top bus tour.
Unfortunately the first bus to turn up was another yellow one. Maybe we should have waited to see what came next, but I was still worrying over the time (another early opera coming up) & was also beginning to doubt whether a ticket for one bus company covered the others too - I still don't know. So we took the yellow one. The cover was down again & while the weather had been changeable earlier it was now sunny & quite warm, & inside the covered top deck was very hot and stuffy. So we eventually asked the driver if he'd open the top & he obliged, which was nice. Not much to say about the rest of the tour, except that the bus generally didn't stop for long enough to take photographs, even if tall DH was able to get a view over the top of the windows, so it was all a bit of a dead loss really. The one part we saw which we hadn't seen before, and which looked quite nice, was around Schloss Charlottenburg; but we didn't have time to get off anywhere.
Eventually disembarked on Unter den Linden & went back to the hotel with half an hour to get ready before setting off to the opera again !
Tonight was 'Tannhauser' at the Staatsoper (6pm start), and very good indeed. Again quite an exciting staging, and excellent singing.
Came out at c.10.30pm & walked to Lutter und Wegner for dinner. Couldn't work out which was supposed to be the bistro & which the restaurant, but it didn't seem to matter. We were brought the full menu which included an extensive list of wines by the glass, the full wine list & a special asparagus season menu. I wasn't feeling enormously hungry so I just had the asparagus & boiled potatoes with hollandaise sauce, with a side order of air dried ham - lovely. DH ordered the speciality dish of Austrian marinated pot-roast beef & red cabbage, but actually received the Wiener Schnitzel with potatoes & apples which was next to it on the menu. Still, he enjoyed it, & we were given a glass each of very nice Sekt to compensate. Also tried several Rieslings by the glass - all good. The place is quite atmospheric with wooden panelling and wine stacked up on all sides and we really liked it : the one fly in the ointment was the presence of a group of loud, obnoxious English people in the same room - expat financial services workers, I'd guess. It quite took me back to London in the 80s - loud braces & everything. I hope we looked suitably embarrassed on their behalf.
Then a gentle stroll home after quite an undemanding evening, by the standards of the week so far !
---------------------------------
Today was all a bit disorganised and not very well planned - tried to fit in too many things which weren't close together, & didn't pay enough attention to detail.
We started the day by walking west along Unter den Linden to the Brandenburg Gate, which wasn't as big as I'd expected. We thought maybe it would have looked more imposing lit up at night, but didn't get the chance to see it again.
Looked at various new buildings in the vicinity - several embassies including the British one, which was quite interesting outside & we quite wished we'd booked a tour of the interior. And most notably, the DZ (formerly DG) Bank, on Pariser Platz, by Frank Gehry. Initially not so striking outside but go inside the lobby area & look through into the atrium - wow ! We subsequently passed by the back of the building - lucky people, who will live in those apartments ! We later realised we should have been able to see the titanium roof from the top of the Reichstag, but missed it.
It was then time to make our way to the Staatsoper for the guided tour which was included in our package. This was very interesting and our guide later turned up singing a small but named role in 'Tannhauser' that evening ! We got to stand on the stage while it was being set up for the performance.
We then made our way to Gendarmenmarkt to start the open top bus tour. On the way we checked out Lutter und Wegner on Charlottenstrasse (also as recommended by hsv), where we thought we'd have dinner after the opera that night. This is a bar, bistro & restaurant run by one of Berlin's oldest wine vintners, and apparently where Sekt was invented. It's a big place, spread over several rooms, so we decided we probably didn't need to book.
Then made a big mistake by getting on the first 'open top' bus which turned up. There seem to be at least 3 different companies running these; all of the buses have a plastic top which can be rolled open or closed to suit the weather, but we didn't realise until it was too late that the one we'd got on (a yellow one) wasn't a proper open top bus, but had full height windows all the way round (over 5' tall) , so it was almost impossible to take photographs. The cover was closed on this bus. We were also supposed to get a discount for showing our City Tour Cards but not with this company, apparently. We didn't initially worry too much about the roof & windows situation, though, as we were planning to get off at Alexanderplatz.
Our initial idea had been to look round Alexanderplatz itself & maybe go up the TV tower, but I was by now concerned that we were running out of time. The bus seemed to stop quite far from the TV tower & the square itself, which seemed to have a lot of rather ugly modern buildings clustered round it.
So we walked to the U-bahn station (still not near the square or TV tower) to get the train to Kottbusser Tor for a kebab lunch at Hasir, Adalbertstrasse 10. Not normally my sort of thing (I don't like lamb, for one thing), but DH was quite excited by this description in a guidebook : "All hail the mother church of the doner kebab ! You thought the Turks had been chewing on this tasty sandwich-like item for ages ? Sorry, it was invented in Germany in 1971 by Mehmet Aygun, who eventually opened this highly successful chain of Turkish restaurants."
However, he said he'd had better kebabs in the UK. (He had a doner kebab & I had a grilled chicken/salad/flatbread combo, which was OK. Both had beer.) Very cheap, anyway !Then the U-bahn back to Alexanderplatz & walk back to bus stop, to do the rest of the open top bus tour.
Unfortunately the first bus to turn up was another yellow one. Maybe we should have waited to see what came next, but I was still worrying over the time (another early opera coming up) & was also beginning to doubt whether a ticket for one bus company covered the others too - I still don't know. So we took the yellow one. The cover was down again & while the weather had been changeable earlier it was now sunny & quite warm, & inside the covered top deck was very hot and stuffy. So we eventually asked the driver if he'd open the top & he obliged, which was nice. Not much to say about the rest of the tour, except that the bus generally didn't stop for long enough to take photographs, even if tall DH was able to get a view over the top of the windows, so it was all a bit of a dead loss really. The one part we saw which we hadn't seen before, and which looked quite nice, was around Schloss Charlottenburg; but we didn't have time to get off anywhere.
Eventually disembarked on Unter den Linden & went back to the hotel with half an hour to get ready before setting off to the opera again !
Tonight was 'Tannhauser' at the Staatsoper (6pm start), and very good indeed. Again quite an exciting staging, and excellent singing.
Came out at c.10.30pm & walked to Lutter und Wegner for dinner. Couldn't work out which was supposed to be the bistro & which the restaurant, but it didn't seem to matter. We were brought the full menu which included an extensive list of wines by the glass, the full wine list & a special asparagus season menu. I wasn't feeling enormously hungry so I just had the asparagus & boiled potatoes with hollandaise sauce, with a side order of air dried ham - lovely. DH ordered the speciality dish of Austrian marinated pot-roast beef & red cabbage, but actually received the Wiener Schnitzel with potatoes & apples which was next to it on the menu. Still, he enjoyed it, & we were given a glass each of very nice Sekt to compensate. Also tried several Rieslings by the glass - all good. The place is quite atmospheric with wooden panelling and wine stacked up on all sides and we really liked it : the one fly in the ointment was the presence of a group of loud, obnoxious English people in the same room - expat financial services workers, I'd guess. It quite took me back to London in the 80s - loud braces & everything. I hope we looked suitably embarrassed on their behalf.
Then a gentle stroll home after quite an undemanding evening, by the standards of the week so far !
May 11th, 2005 | 08:06 AM
#10
Original Poster
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,282
Likes: 0
Thanks chtiet ! Although we have had good German wine at home (we particularly like Dr Loosen riesling), we were disappointed with most of the wine we had there & found it best to stick to beer where possible. Admittedly we were eating in quite inexpensive places so maybe that was why.
May 11th, 2005 | 08:17 AM
#11
Original Poster
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,282
Likes: 0
Day 5 (Friday 29th April)
-----------------------------
Our last full day so I was up early checking what was left on the 'to do' list & planning an itinerary. No performance tonight so that took the pressure off a bit.
I had to decide whether to prioritise the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum fur Gegenwart or the Neue Nationgalerie : I decided to prioritise the former and was very glad I did.
The Hamburger Bahnhof didn't seem to be very near a U-bahn station so we walked. We had a longer walk than anticipated since the route I'd planned alongside the river was closed off for building works (I think a riverside promenade is under construction) & we ended up bumbling through a university campus, but we got there in the end.
The main hall was being rehung but the galleries containing the Flick collection of contemporary art were open and we found lots to excite us. Highlights for me were the Bruce Naumann and Pipilotti Rist cellars. We spent about 3 hours here - no time to explore upstairs or the wings which contain an archive of all Joseph Beuys' videoed performances, amongst other things. Then a refreshing beer before setting off again.
We were lucky to avoid the long walk back to our local U-bahn station by coming across a nearby bus stop which served a bus route going to Charlottenburg, which was our next port of call.
We alighted on Hardenbergstrasse and walked to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche via a couple of interesting-sounding modern buildings mentioned in our guidebook, Nicholas Grimshaw's Ludwig-Erhard-Haus and the Paul Kleihues' Kant-Dreieck on Fasanenstrasse.
The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche was quite interesting but the exhibition area in the remains of the old church was unpleasantly crowded and it was overcast at this point, so I found the interior of the modern church with its blue glass walls gloomy and oppressive.
As mentioned at the top, I didn't care much for this area either - very crowded with tourists, largely young backpackers, and fast food stalls.
It was about 3.30pm by this time so we were ready for something to eat, however; so bodyswerved the currywurst stalls & walked to KaDeWe, apparently the largest department store in continental Europe. We just went straight up to the food hall on the 6th floor : this is absolutely massive (Selfridge's doesn't compare !) and contains many places to eat. After a thorough circuit we decided we had to have a sausage in a bun, since we hadn't had this yet. So we bought Rostbratwurst (with bread roll & sweet mustard), potato salad plus weissbiers & sat on stools at a table to eat & drink - very welcome.
Now about 4.30pm & we were still hoping to squeeze in a visit, which would of necessity be a flying one, to the Neue Nationgalerie (architect Mies van der Rohe) which closed at 6pm. Got the U-bahn to Potsdamer Platz from where it was about a 15-20 minute walk (but maybe we went the wrong way). The exhibition marked something like 40 years of the gallery and to us wasn't very exciting, although we liked the sand installations in the entrance hall (no info on who by) & admittedly we didn't have enough time to appreciate it all properly. But glad we'd given more time to the Hamburger Bahnhof.
After the gallery closed we wandered around the rest of the Kulturforum then struck lucky again with a bus back to our home area. Phew ! Time for a bit of a lie down for once.
For dinner I'd agonised over two choices, the well-known Gugelhof or Zur Rippe, Poststrasse 17, back in our favourite Nikolaiviertel area. I eventually decided on Zur Rippe for 2 reasons. The first reason was just that Gugelhof was more effort to get to. The second and more compelling reason was that we had not yet tried Eisbein, pig's knuckle or trotter which is *the* Berlin speciality. It sounded a bit daunting to have a whole portion of this, in case we didn't like it; but we'd read that Zur Rippe did a combination platter of Kasseler, Ribbchen und Eisbein (cured pork, ribs & pig's knuckle) which seemed a low-risk way to try it ! Unfortunately this was not on the menu, in the event. But we loved this place ! Quite similar to Zur Letzten Instanz which we visited on day 2, in that it was more of a pub with food. But extremely charming and old-fashioned, and very friendly. This time I had the Grillhaxe with mashed potato and green cabbage, as I'd envied DH's the other night : this was lovely and the crackling was superb. DH had the eponymous ribs with sauerkraut & very much enjoyed it (the ribs tasted smoked). The beers were also excellent - we tried the dark lager, Veltins pils and Maisel's Weisse to finish. I think this was our favourite place and we didn't want to leave ! We didn't book, just turned up about 9pm & got a table; although it's quite small & there were only ever 1 or 2 tables free at a time. Then strolled home.
-----------------------------
Our last full day so I was up early checking what was left on the 'to do' list & planning an itinerary. No performance tonight so that took the pressure off a bit.
I had to decide whether to prioritise the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum fur Gegenwart or the Neue Nationgalerie : I decided to prioritise the former and was very glad I did.
The Hamburger Bahnhof didn't seem to be very near a U-bahn station so we walked. We had a longer walk than anticipated since the route I'd planned alongside the river was closed off for building works (I think a riverside promenade is under construction) & we ended up bumbling through a university campus, but we got there in the end.
The main hall was being rehung but the galleries containing the Flick collection of contemporary art were open and we found lots to excite us. Highlights for me were the Bruce Naumann and Pipilotti Rist cellars. We spent about 3 hours here - no time to explore upstairs or the wings which contain an archive of all Joseph Beuys' videoed performances, amongst other things. Then a refreshing beer before setting off again.
We were lucky to avoid the long walk back to our local U-bahn station by coming across a nearby bus stop which served a bus route going to Charlottenburg, which was our next port of call.
We alighted on Hardenbergstrasse and walked to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche via a couple of interesting-sounding modern buildings mentioned in our guidebook, Nicholas Grimshaw's Ludwig-Erhard-Haus and the Paul Kleihues' Kant-Dreieck on Fasanenstrasse.
The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche was quite interesting but the exhibition area in the remains of the old church was unpleasantly crowded and it was overcast at this point, so I found the interior of the modern church with its blue glass walls gloomy and oppressive.
As mentioned at the top, I didn't care much for this area either - very crowded with tourists, largely young backpackers, and fast food stalls.
It was about 3.30pm by this time so we were ready for something to eat, however; so bodyswerved the currywurst stalls & walked to KaDeWe, apparently the largest department store in continental Europe. We just went straight up to the food hall on the 6th floor : this is absolutely massive (Selfridge's doesn't compare !) and contains many places to eat. After a thorough circuit we decided we had to have a sausage in a bun, since we hadn't had this yet. So we bought Rostbratwurst (with bread roll & sweet mustard), potato salad plus weissbiers & sat on stools at a table to eat & drink - very welcome.
Now about 4.30pm & we were still hoping to squeeze in a visit, which would of necessity be a flying one, to the Neue Nationgalerie (architect Mies van der Rohe) which closed at 6pm. Got the U-bahn to Potsdamer Platz from where it was about a 15-20 minute walk (but maybe we went the wrong way). The exhibition marked something like 40 years of the gallery and to us wasn't very exciting, although we liked the sand installations in the entrance hall (no info on who by) & admittedly we didn't have enough time to appreciate it all properly. But glad we'd given more time to the Hamburger Bahnhof.
After the gallery closed we wandered around the rest of the Kulturforum then struck lucky again with a bus back to our home area. Phew ! Time for a bit of a lie down for once.
For dinner I'd agonised over two choices, the well-known Gugelhof or Zur Rippe, Poststrasse 17, back in our favourite Nikolaiviertel area. I eventually decided on Zur Rippe for 2 reasons. The first reason was just that Gugelhof was more effort to get to. The second and more compelling reason was that we had not yet tried Eisbein, pig's knuckle or trotter which is *the* Berlin speciality. It sounded a bit daunting to have a whole portion of this, in case we didn't like it; but we'd read that Zur Rippe did a combination platter of Kasseler, Ribbchen und Eisbein (cured pork, ribs & pig's knuckle) which seemed a low-risk way to try it ! Unfortunately this was not on the menu, in the event. But we loved this place ! Quite similar to Zur Letzten Instanz which we visited on day 2, in that it was more of a pub with food. But extremely charming and old-fashioned, and very friendly. This time I had the Grillhaxe with mashed potato and green cabbage, as I'd envied DH's the other night : this was lovely and the crackling was superb. DH had the eponymous ribs with sauerkraut & very much enjoyed it (the ribs tasted smoked). The beers were also excellent - we tried the dark lager, Veltins pils and Maisel's Weisse to finish. I think this was our favourite place and we didn't want to leave ! We didn't book, just turned up about 9pm & got a table; although it's quite small & there were only ever 1 or 2 tables free at a time. Then strolled home.
May 12th, 2005 | 08:52 AM
#13
Original Poster
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,282
Likes: 0
Day 6 (Saturday 30th April)
-------------------------------
Our last morning. After finding out about the Sammlung Hoffmann from another poster on this board, I'd changed our flight home from 12.30 to 4.30pm, and booked places on an English language tour at 11am. This was one of the highlights of our trip, so thank you very much, michelleNYC ! We booked by e-mail to [email protected].
After packing, checkout & breakfast at the hotel, we walked there through the sights of the Scheunenviertel area, including the Neue Synagogue. This was a charming area with many buildings grouped around cobbled courtyards. I believe there are many private galleries and artist spaces in the area but we didn't have time to visit any - I would go back to spend longer there on any future trip. The Missing House on Grosse Hamburger Strasse is an interesting and moving artwork by Christian Boltanski.
Then to the Sammlung Hoffmann. I can't put it better than Michelle did, so here's a link to her trip report - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34541911. Apparently we would normally have met Frau Hoffmann at the end but she was on a trip herself. A completely new collection of works is hung every September and is exhibited until the following June - a good reason to go back every year !
After our visit which lasted an hour and three quarters, we just had time to walk back to the Guggenheim, whose new exhibition had only opened to the public that day, and to squeeze in a flying visit. I'd previously seen other posters on this board advise that the gallery only comprises one room and a handful of works, and is not worth a visit. This was very much not the case when we visited. The exhibition marked 25 years of the Deutsche Bank Collection and comprised over 300 works. The artist and architect Zaha Hadid had created an amazing installation including partitions and tunnels through the main space, thus vastly increasing the wall space. The installation continued out into the atrium and a couple more rooms, usually used by the bank, had been given over to a wrap-around video installation by Bill Viola. We thought it was all great - it's a shame we didn't have longer but a least we got a quick look.
Then unfortunately it was time to collect our luggage from the hotel & catch the €2 TXL bus from Unter den Linden to Tegel airport.
Hint - don't do what we did & go through security to departures straight after checking in. You go straight into your gate - each is self contained and ours at least had no facilities. So we got them to let us out again & went to the rooftop cafe where we sat outside on the terrace and had a last sausage with pretzel & mustard plus of course beer.
Conclusion
-------------
We had a brilliant time and can't wait to go back. Admittedly I've been to Paris quite a few times, but now I'd rather go back to Berlin than to Paris.
Thanks very much to anyone who has made it this far !
-------------------------------
Our last morning. After finding out about the Sammlung Hoffmann from another poster on this board, I'd changed our flight home from 12.30 to 4.30pm, and booked places on an English language tour at 11am. This was one of the highlights of our trip, so thank you very much, michelleNYC ! We booked by e-mail to [email protected].
After packing, checkout & breakfast at the hotel, we walked there through the sights of the Scheunenviertel area, including the Neue Synagogue. This was a charming area with many buildings grouped around cobbled courtyards. I believe there are many private galleries and artist spaces in the area but we didn't have time to visit any - I would go back to spend longer there on any future trip. The Missing House on Grosse Hamburger Strasse is an interesting and moving artwork by Christian Boltanski.
Then to the Sammlung Hoffmann. I can't put it better than Michelle did, so here's a link to her trip report - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34541911. Apparently we would normally have met Frau Hoffmann at the end but she was on a trip herself. A completely new collection of works is hung every September and is exhibited until the following June - a good reason to go back every year !
After our visit which lasted an hour and three quarters, we just had time to walk back to the Guggenheim, whose new exhibition had only opened to the public that day, and to squeeze in a flying visit. I'd previously seen other posters on this board advise that the gallery only comprises one room and a handful of works, and is not worth a visit. This was very much not the case when we visited. The exhibition marked 25 years of the Deutsche Bank Collection and comprised over 300 works. The artist and architect Zaha Hadid had created an amazing installation including partitions and tunnels through the main space, thus vastly increasing the wall space. The installation continued out into the atrium and a couple more rooms, usually used by the bank, had been given over to a wrap-around video installation by Bill Viola. We thought it was all great - it's a shame we didn't have longer but a least we got a quick look.
Then unfortunately it was time to collect our luggage from the hotel & catch the €2 TXL bus from Unter den Linden to Tegel airport.
Hint - don't do what we did & go through security to departures straight after checking in. You go straight into your gate - each is self contained and ours at least had no facilities. So we got them to let us out again & went to the rooftop cafe where we sat outside on the terrace and had a last sausage with pretzel & mustard plus of course beer.
Conclusion
-------------
We had a brilliant time and can't wait to go back. Admittedly I've been to Paris quite a few times, but now I'd rather go back to Berlin than to Paris.
Thanks very much to anyone who has made it this far !
May 18th, 2005 | 07:49 AM
#14
Original Poster
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,282
Likes: 0
I'm taking the liberty of topping this in the hope it might be of use/interest to someone else, since it doesn't show up when searching on "Berlin". I wrote to the Fodor's editors about this & they said it is due to the indexing problem.
Aug 23rd, 2006 | 10:18 AM
#20
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 722
Likes: 0
caroline_edinburgh--we just returned from Berlin and thought I would share my trip report. Thanks for sharing all your insight before we left!
Here is a link to my report (although I hesitate because yours is much better...!)
http://tinyurl.com/zbkke
Here is a link to my report (although I hesitate because yours is much better...!)
http://tinyurl.com/zbkke
