Joining you on your journey. October in Berlin is glorious.

I only just read the first installment and have to say this is great. Catching up now...

Stay strong, Dukey. About buying and hearing bad notes.

I like your trip reports Dukey.
Who is in your profile picture?
What method of travel do you recommend beyween Heathrow and downtown London?

I always, always, enjoy your trip reports, Dukey. Thanks for writing them.

I want to know more about that profile pic. too!

Thanks for all the comments including the one about my profile picture which I will assume was a compliment.

BRIEFLY, since opera happenings are NOT exactly great news for most people and that includes myself: we took the U-bahn over to the theatre from the hotel and the trip only takes a few minutes so we got there waaaaaay ahead of time. Decided to walk around the neighborhood a bit which is kinda moderne-dreary in terms of the buildings. This includes a technical university high-rise, various apartment buildings with retail on the ground floor, a bank or two, etc. Being Sunday pretty much everything was closed.

Went to the theatre for the 4 PM performance. There is no "dress code' although a goodly number of men in coats and ties and women in dressy attire. Plenty of the usual sport(s) coat and denim trousers on some of the other men; the usual mix of gay men so-called "opera queens" (some butch; some not so much). Everybody behaved and following the rules; outer wear checked (we didn't because we didn't want to wait in the retrieval line afterward) and people enjoying pre-theatre drinks and <B>pretzels</B>.

As I said earlier the performance was sold out.

Orchestra was really up to the Wagner music task and it sounded great. The set consisted of a huge angel lying on his stomach with the wings rising up; this was on a revolve and served as the ONLY setting so that means it was a boat, the lovers bower, etc., etc.

Peter Seiffert the German tenor and Waltraud Meier the German mezzo sang the title roles. The music seemed loud in the third row and how these two managed to sing over all of that was amazing. Despite the fact that the opera was sung in German there were surtitles.

Perhaps it was the fact that it was Wagner, in Berlin, sung by two well-known German Wagnerians but at the end the entire audience was on its feet clapping wildly and carrying on, demanding curtain call after curtain call. This in contrast to the previous night's wonderful Puccini; perhaps if she <B>had</B> jumped off that parapet...

This was an experience and I am not a big Wagner fan except for Lohengrin but that's because I'm a romantic sentamentalist.

Walked back to the U-Bahn stop to find the trains not running so what to do? We walked to the next stop (Zoo) and in the dark. In some cities I suppose people would say we were crazy to do this and it isn't as if the city is crime-free but we never give these things any second thoghts.

At Zoo we finally figured out that the U-2 was not running at all and rather than taking a bunch of other lines to get back to the hotel we simply caught a cab which cost about 10 Euro.

Overcast and damp again today but certainly not freezing cold. We are trying to decide what to do today; not a lot seems compelling since we have visited so many times in the past. Stay tuned and I will review above and answer any questions.

Love those down jackets. Great pillows if you have a lousy hotel one. My husband wants a Berlin trip. Good report.

Since a lot of the museums are closed on Monday we decided to do the KaDeWe late this morning. Bought tickets at the machines and U'd over which didn't take long.

No Christmas decorations up in the store but the decorations work and the Christmas Market "hut" set-ups continue around Potsdamer Platz. Illuminated icicles along with snowflakes were being placed via cherry picker as we made our way out of the hotel. Water and electric lines being connected to the first "huts" although there are a couple of these buildings that are the size of HOUSES!

Made a bee-line up the escalator to the Men's Department. Wonderful stuff and some stuff I don't usually see at home like Eton shirts and even though I usually buy Faconnable or Pink (and these days I'm more likely to be in some t-shirt and shorts given our South Florida weather and informality) it is nice to see some imagination in clothing.

I resisted the shoes and that was hard because the prices of some of the exotics were good even with the exchange rate.

The store has wonderful things in the gift department and lots of people were buying Halloween costumes for themselves as well as the children. I am wondering what things will be like in Venice this coming Friday evening.

Weather today changed quickly as the skies cleared and the sun came out for walk-around activities. Trees are turning or have turned although plenty of greenery left here and there. Tiergarten stroll a perfect mid-day activity.

In the Arkaden shopping mall across from the rear of the hotel there is an exhibit centered on 25 years after the Berlin Wall. Some great and iconic photos including JFK making his "I am a Berliner" speech as well as the East German soldier leaping across the barbed wire to freedom along with another of an unfortunate East German citizen left to bleed to death in "no man's land."

The last of the watchtowers is just a couple of blocks from the Potsdamer Platz and can be visited. Berlin looked pretty bleak back when the wall went up and almost as bleak in some portions when it came back down. There don't seem to be quite as many construction cranes around as there were a couple years ago but overall it seems some areas are all steel and glass.

We enjoyed a walk around the vicinity of the U-Nolendorf to view some of the surviving architecture; some of these apartment buildings with the scroll work, corbels, semi-gargoyles, etc., are interesting to view.

We returned to the area this evening for a meal at More on Motzstrasse. We had not made reservations and fortunately there were a couple of tables open when we arrived at 6 PM; by the time we left they were turning folks away.

Great basic food beautifully presented; au gratin potatoes and steak after delicious pumpkin soup hit the spot and the warm apple strudel with vanilla sauce made for a great ending.

Lots of folks eating in outside venues with the provided lap robes in place. Nicely relaxed day and perhaps the Museum of European Culture or the Photography Museum (or both) on our last day tomorrow.

i wondered if you'd make it to the KaDeWe - sounds like another place you didn't buy anything. No wonder our economies aren't growing at the speed they should if not even tourists are buying stuff. Don't you realise that it's your duty as a tourist to support us?

oh well, perhaps you're waiting til Venice. God knows the italians need the tourist $ even more than we and the germans do!

It was easy to visualize, Dukey, and the dinner sounded wonderful.

I'm guessing you may find a pair of shoes for sale in Italy

I love looking at shoes in Germany. Wait till Italy. I kept taking pictures of Ferragamo's window displays. They were so beautiful. Prada makes the most comfy shoes though.
You have my favorite things singing in my head now, warm apple strudel.

FIRST of all, thank you for all your kind comments. I am very ashamed to admit that today when i thought we were going to one of the museums we have ended up doing absolutely NOTHING at all. I won't go into details and bore you. It seems a waste and perhaps I can persuade the Husbear to get out of his den mode for a while.

A couple of kinda-related notes here. We recently ditched AT+T after using them for many years for cellphone service. We opted not to use the wired "land line" in the condo and only have our two cellphones and computer connections.

We went with T-Mobile which gives us unlimited texting and data while in Europe as well as cheaper phone rates than we had with AT+T. We rarely ever make actual phone calls when in Europe and never changed out SIM cards. Our phone/plan also switches us to web-based calling if a connection is available.

I liked being able to finally use my phone-loaded maps to get around without having to pay huge charges and the texting has been of great help when we needed to contact the house/pet sitter.

Do not mean this to be any sort of advertisement and I obviously have no financial interest in any cellphone plans or companies.

Tomorrow we fly to Venice and yes I will undoubtedly be looking at attire but will not go out of my way to do so. We haven't been to Venice in over 20 years so we are excited about that.

Enjoyed reading your thoughts on the Hyatt. We are spending a few nights there in December. Have you eaten at Vox? How was it?

Dukey:

Did you have a chance to go to the Ham Yard Hotel?

By the way, I have never had a problem with DCC with Firmdale.

Enjoying this report, Dukey. We've only been to Berlin once, about 10 years ago, but we sure hope to get back one day. Looking forward to your impressions of Venice.

I managed to rouse Mr. Excitement out of the bed after lunchtime yesterday and we took a longer stroll again through the Tiergarten and eventually made our way to the Brandenburg Gate. This remains one of the big visitor attractions and there were plenty of tour coaches parked nearby and many folks milling around taking pictures, etc. The thing is iconic for sure.

There are plans, BTW, for the city to "re-create" a length of the wall nearby next week using colored balloons; this is, I assume, part of the "25 Years After" goings-on and I am sorry we will miss it.

"Construction" continues on the Potsdamer Platz Christmas Market "village" with a couple more of the "huts" in place and last night the snow-making machine at the toboggan run was going full tilt to have it ready for rides.

We were way less than experimental in terms of food last night. We had thought of going to the Zsa Zsa Burger place near Nolendorf Platz since it continues to get rave reviews and sometimes you just want a burger and fries. Unfortunately, we arrived there before dark and before it was open so we walked over to the KaDeWe and went up to the buffet on the 7th floor so w3e could eat while gazing out of the huge "fanlight" window as the city lights were coming on.

We have does this sort of thing in other European department stores including London as well as Madrid and Paris and doing so reminds me of when I was very young and you could do it in bigger stores in the US. In particular, going into the "Crystal Room" at Wanamaker's in Philadelphia with my grandmother is a fond memory. She shopped, she had lunch, and then shopped some more and I was dragged along.

The KaDeWe offers all sorts of food but the stuff is pricey at best. Euro 4.50 for a large glass of soft drink and so forth. But the dessert selection alone is worth the visit not to mention the vast packaged and freshly=vended stuff on the floor below. And there were a lot of people shopping and eating last evening, too.

This morning we ate breakfast in the hotel, checked out, and took a cab back to Tegel and the ride took no more than 20 minutes. I had checked in on line with Air Berlin which opens internet check-ins 30 hours in advance. Bag drop and security was fast and once again there were no identification requirements as long as you have a boarding pass and no shoes off through security.

Announcements for flights are made in both German and English but as I have found on other places, some of those "announcements" are hard to understand either due to noise or poor diction or both. Tegel is a busy airport and the actual plane boarding was interesting.

Passengers were asked to board by group letter number printed on the boarding pass but everybody simply lined up and boarded since no groups (A, B, etc.) were ever called! The aircraft was an A-320 in a so-called "high density" configuration, i.e., six-across seating from front to rear. Most people checked their luggage (as did we) and hardly anyone had anything in the overhead bins. No jetways; you board at either the front or the rear (your choice) by walking to a set of mobile stairs.

My point is that without much direction and no group stuff the plane (which was full) was completely boarded in less than 10 minutes and at least 15 minutes prior to departure time and we LEFT immediately.

I was amused by the pictures and spread on Florida in the in-flight magazine: "It's Paradise, Man." Well, for some of us it is.

Smooth flight with great views of the Dolomites. Seat pitch? Think sardine.

We had booked a private boat transfer from the airport and were met promptly after bag claim, driven the short way to the dock and off we went. Remember the Venetians were very successful at several things over the years ad among these was stealing things from other countries and making money.

Once the taxi was underway and there was no escape we got the "sales pitch" from the "driver" about the possibility of approaching the hotel by going down the length of the Grand Canal for an additional Euro 30. I assume this is their way of getting additional cash since the ride itself was prepaid.

I declined so we went through what can only be called the "back canals" of Venice once we actually reached the city and this guy was a real master of navigation; how he got us through some of the tight spots and around the corners was remarkable. He got his tip and it was worth it IMO.

I had kinda "bounced around" hotel-wise when I was making reservations some months ago and had thought we would try the Luna Baglioni for a couple reasons. It is about as close to San Marco (which is where we like to be) as you can get and we have had very good luck with other Baglioni properties in the past.

However, a couple of weeks ago I got sort-of "deal" for a room in the Gritti Palace (off-season helps, believe me) and decided to do that.

We have stayed nearby in the past but never here. Upon arrival we were told we had been given an upgrade. Since we are not in the Starwood loyalty program I am assuming they couldn't sell the room but thought they might sell the one we had reserved. Anyway, the gesture was appreciated.

It was appreciated even more once we got to the room! We are in the "Peggy Guggenheim Suite" which fronts on the Grand Canal with windows that open and one of those small step-out balconies. The suite itself is over the top; separate living room and bedroom; a powder room for guests; huge bathroom with separate tub and shower and two pedestal sinks and marble <B>for days</B>. Fabric-covered walls, massive woodwork, parquet floors, Hermes scarves mounted and framed on the walls along with pictures of La Guggenheim (who hung out just across the canal) and her stuff.

Oh, and did I mention the orientals on the floors? Husbear got very "Queen Elizabeth" at one point and was waving from the window at all the more regular people forced to take the vaporetti down the canal!

"Keep waving, Stud. When the Visa bill comes you can wave at that, too!"

The room was ready obviously (are there any sweeter words when you travel than those?????) and we took a walk from the hotel over to San Marco. And that walk can be difficult because of all the retail along the way as the "merchants of Venice" continue their winning ways. Beautiful glass, of course, fabric stores with luxurious threads, clothing, clothing, clothing and a whole bunch of men selling knock-off purses and such in the street.

San Marco was not crowded but plenty of folks enjoying the views. Quadri and Florian were already open and the long-time "battle of the bands" was underway. Waiters in white dinner jackets, children racing around, pigeons everywhere, and not a cloud in the sky. We will undoubtedly return this evening when many visitors have left because IMO just at dusk, the place is truly magic.

Had lunch back at the hotel overlooking the water. Great fresh vegetables in the salads and perfectly grilled (and real) sea bass. I fobade him to wave any anybody...so embarrassing!

More later.

Dukey, I'd be waving non stop if I ever stayed at the Gritti. In my dreams...

Dukey -
You're living the SPG members' dream!

Thanks for the eating in big department store memories, Dukey. And, we were in DeGaulle when one of the staff said, “If you’re going to Washington, D.C., get on this plane.” It was much easier than any other loading we’d ever done!

Your hotel upgrade is amazing!