I just returned last night from a week in Switzerland (gulp . . . being a budget traveler, had quite the shock, pricewise!), so am late reading your wonderful report.

Your reports are so much better than any guidebook, and I copy each of them for future travels.

Thank you so much for posting and for posting so entertainingly.

Sandy (in Denton)

yk,
I rented from Habitat twice , both 2 bd. apt.:

Via in L'Eixample
and Princesa 1 in El Born
I visited Barcelona 3 times in the last three years. The first time, we stayed in a private home in a residential part of the city Les Corts which was a nice way to see the areas of Barcelona usually not on the tourist map.
I just love the city . We are going to Spain in April and will ,most likely, go to Barcelona again.

Your reports are always so good and informative.
I did not have the energy ( after Prague and Dresden) to see all the museums you have seen.... hope to go to Berlin again some time in the future .

YK
I didn't say I USED it. I just look at it. I absolutely love it. (Yes, I'm wierd.) Love your report and admire your stamina. Oh, to be young. I envy all of the trips and memories you have ahead of you. CJ

Wow, you went through those museums and it's only lunch time?!

danon, thanks for the info. I didn't realize you rented 2BRs, which is probably too much room & too pricey for me.

sandy_b, thanks for reading this! I hope you enjoyed your trip to Switzerland. Thank you again for all the assistance you've offered me!

MFifi, I think we saw those 3 in 3 hours. Bröhan Museum doesn't have audioguide; and not very much English displays. Since the top floor is closed, and I'm not interested in the painting galleries, we really only have to see 1.5 floors of that museum.

We didn't use audioguides for the other 2 museums; so we went through them rather quickly. Honestly, by Day 7, we are museum-ed out. I try to make sure the first museum of each day is the one that matters most to me; as I have the most energy and attention in the morning.

CarolJean, nothing wrong with looking at Ampelmann sponge and not using it. :)

Ingo, there was a Giacometti exhibit in Dallas (@ Nasher Sculpture Center) a few years ago and we absolutely loved it.

Great report as usual, yk - thank you much. I really never had much interest in Germany but those museums sound great. For Klee, you should go to the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern - I took a trip there about 4 years ago.

yk,
Habitat has a number of one bdms .in the same areas of Barcelona ( even the same buildings)

<b>Day 7 Continued
Modern to Contemporary Art
October 3 (Saturday) - German Unification Day

Hamburger Bahnhof</b>
http://www.hamburgerbahnhof.de/text.php?id=94&lang=en

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4597.jpg

Hambruger Bahnhof is the museum for Contemporary Art. It picks up from where Neue Nationalgalerie drops off.

Unfortunately, we only have one hour there. The space is huge and one can easily spend hours there.

Therefore we spent our hour in:
1) East Gallery - Works by Anselm Kiefer, Rauschenburg, Cy Twombly, and Warhol
2) West Wing - full of works by Joseph Beuys

This shows one of the Beuys gallery with Dan Flavin's light installation: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4599.jpg

<b>Sammlung Hoffmann</b>
http://www.sammlung-hoffmann.de/inde...te/sammlung/en

I found out about this private collection through 111op's & caroline_edinburgh's Berlin trip reports. One has to email in advance to reserve a spot, as it is only open once a week on Saturday. English tours are available. Tour lasts 90 minutes and costs 8 euro.

Erika Hoffmann changes the artwork once a year during the summer. Each year she has a different theme.

We were the only 2 people who showed up for the 4pm tour. There were a few others who had signed up but didn't come. This year's theme, in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the Fall of Berlin Wall, has to do with Germany & Berlin's recent history.

Our guide who grew up in East Germany, added her own personal point of view too. While we don't know most of these artists (mostly German), it was fascinating to see works done as a reaction to contemporary history.

If you are going to Berlin this year or early next year, I highly recommend coming here for a visit.

BTW, we got to meet & speak with Mrs. Hoffmann during our tour!

<b>Ending our trip with a blast!</b>
After a brief rest and change of clothes back at the apartment, we set off for our final destination on this trip - the <b>Reichstag</b>!
http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/visits/kupp.html

I made a dinner reservation for this evening about 2 months ago. I chose tonight simply because it would be our last night in Berlin, and I thought that would be a lovely way to end the trip (and celebrate our wedding anniversary). In addition, I had no desire to wait in line to get into Reichstag. With a restaurant reservation, one can use the handicapped entrance and bypass the line.

Of course, when I made the reservation, I had NO IDEA that today is German Reunification Day, which of course is a BIG DEAL in Berlin, esp around Reichstag & Brandenburg Gate!

Because of traffic and crowds, we were 10 minutes late for our 8pm reservation, but we didn't have trouble with the guards at the handicapped entrance (they have a list of names who have reservations).

DH decided to go for the 4-course dinner for 68euro. One can choose any dishes from any courses for that. He had scallop tartare topped with 3 types of caviar as starter; then ravioli with chanterelle mushrooms as "primi"; veal coated with mustard sauce as "secondi"; and finally dessert (which I can't remember what it was).

I ordered a la carte: carrot-ginger soup to start, followed by black cod (I think).

Here's the dinner menu PDF in German only: http://www.feinkost-kaefer.de/filead...a_la_carte.pdf

We received chef's <i>amuse bouche</i> before our meal. We must be getting old, because neither DH nor I can remember what it was (I didn't write anything of the food down, GASP!).

We were offered a plate of petits fours at the end of our meal.

Our bill was 119 euro. I asked the server about tip and he said it was included. We added another 6 euro tip (not sure if that was okay, too little, or too much?)

Our dinner took 2.5 hours. Service was slow initially when the restaurant was completely full.

Reichstag is open until 12 MN, but last entrance is 10pm. Therefore, by the time we were done with dinner and ready to visit the dome at 10:30pm, the crowd was thinning quickly.

There is a huge outdoor concert going on right at Brandenburg Gate. From the rooftop of Reichstag, we see a sea of people and we could hear the music loud and clear. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4622.jpg

We then made our way into the dome and up the spiral ramp. By now, there were no more than 2 dozen people left in the building. It was GREAT! I love looking down at the mirror funnel into the Parliament chamber below.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4614.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4619.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4623.jpg

At the top of the spiral ramp is a landing with a large circular bench. The bench is shaped in a way that one can lie down on it and look up at the sky. The top of the dome is open to air, so we basically were lying on our backs and watching the dark sky. It was just <i>magical</i>. It reminds me a bit of James Turrell's skyscapes. It was a perfect ending to our trip.

We happened to leave Reichstag right when the concert ended, so we walked along Unter den Linden with thousands of Berliners, most of them very happy and quite drunk.

--------------------------------------------
If you want to visit Reichstag but without spending the $$$ at the restaurant, I think you should consider arriving around 9:30pm or so. The fact that so few people remain past 10:30 or 11pm makes the visit much more pleasant!

<B>Day 8
Home - 15 hours and 5 meals later...</b>

Don't ask me why, but I decided to book us on a 7:15am flight out of Tegel Airport. I think I had 2 options when I was booking flights, either this early one which would get us on the morning flight out of London to Boston; or a late morning flight from Tegel that connects with the afternoon flight out of London to Boston.

We didn't go to bed until 1 am the night before; and our alarm was set for 4am. Initially, I was going to pre-order a taxi for us. But feeling quite frugal, I thought we could just use public transit (€2,80pp). I used the BVG Journey Planner to double-check the train and bus schedules.

We were able to leave our apartment key on the dining table and close the door behind us. The manager-lady had no desire to check the apt with us that early in the AM.

We left the apt just before 5am and walked over to Schonhauser Allee S-Bahn station. I expected the entire place to be deserted, and was a bit worried about safety.

OMG, how wrong was I! There were TONS of people out and about at 5am on this Sunday morning. Even the wurst/gyro stand was open for business. DH remarked that there were more people out right now than the Sunday afternoon when we arrived a week earlier.

The S-Bahn train arrived on schedule. Almost every seat was taken. We got off at the Beusselstrasse Station to change for the TXL bus. There were about 8-10 people waiting at the bus stop. This was 5:30am!!! When the TXL bus came, the bus was almost full. I could not believe so many people are out and about in the wee hours in the morning!

At Tegel Airport, we stopped at the BA Lounge for breakfast. Tegel is similar to Vienna's airport: each 1-2 gates have its own security and immigration check. Therefore, the BA Lounge is located OUTSIDE security.

The Lounge is small, with very mediocre food for breakfast. We didn't stay for long.

On our short flight to Heathrow, we were served a breakfast sandwich.

At Heathrow, we had to do the reverse T5->T3 transfer. This took about 40 minutes. Now that the new BA Terrace Lounge has opened in T3, that's where we went, instead of the AA Lounge which is undergoing renovations.

The BA Terrace Lounge is <u>very nice</u>. It's huge, light and airy, and lots of good food. Naturally, we ate our third breakfast there. :)

I booked flights with the <i>shortest</i> connection time possible, so sadly it was time to leave the Terrace Lounge. It is so nice that I really wish we had more time to hang out there!

I swooped through the duty free shop to pick up some skin care products (still much cheaper than US, thanks to the weak £), then headed to our AA flight home.

On our flight, we were served an edible (in fact, quite tasty) lunch; followed by the usual cheese pizza (I passed) right before arrival.

Our plane touched down at Logan at 1pm ET. With no line at immigration on this Sunday afternoon, and with no checked luggage to collect, we were out on the curb by 1:15pm!

As soon as we stepped out, we saw the courtesy shuttle for our parking lot. We were home in no time.

I checked my notes and apparently we met Mrs. Hoffmann also. I guess she really makes a point of meeting her guests.

Out of curiosity, do you remember any of the German artists in Sammlung Hoffmann? I remember a c. 1960s German kinetic art piece from an artist whose name escapes me at the moment, but most of the artwork when I visited was not German.

I guess even if she had a Gerhard Richter or a Neo Rauch, she was probably not going to put it on view. The most famous name when I was there was Frank Stella, and it was late colorful Stella rather than the early prized Stellas.

However her art was well presented and thought provoking -- so much so that even before I looked at the notes, I could remember some of the stuff I saw there. The most interesting piece at that time was work by Marijke van Warmerdam, who was contracted to deliver an ice ball to Mrs. Hoffmann every Saturday.

As I mentioned to you, I also used public transportation early in the morning for the airport with no trouble. Berlin is the only city in Europe I can think of that rivals NYC with smooth 24h public transportation. In fact, I guess it's really the city I can think of that can rival NYC in this area.

<b>Thoughts on Berlin</b>

Here are my random thoughts about this city:

1) It's huge, too huge in fact. Even with great public transit, it still takes 20-30 minutes to get from Point A to Point B

2) It only took DH a few hours in Berlin before he commented on the Graffiti

3) I do not find Berlin pretty. It's nothing like Paris, or Vienna, or even London. In fact, I cannot think of any specific spot that is particularly scenic.

4) What attracts me to this city is not scenic spots. It is the HISTORY. You can feel it everywhere in the city.

5) I find the people in Berlin quite cheerful and friendly. We did not encounter one rude person on our trip.

6) In terms of prices, I find Berlin on par with other major European cities.

-------------
I didn't plan this trip to Berlin just because this is the 20th anniversary of the Fall of Berlin Wall. It just so happened. Obviously, there are lots of events and celebrations this month and next month.

If you're interested in this 20th anniversary, check your local German embassy to see if there are any events being held in your city.

Yesterday, we went to the premiere screening of a new documentary titled <i>Writing on the Wall: Remembering the Berlin Wall</i> by John J. Michalczyk, a professor at Boston College. http://www.mfa.org/calendar/event.as...ate=10/11/2009

It is a nice documentary, hopefully it will be widely distributed. The documentary interviewed plenty of people, including former mayor of West Berlin, former German ambassador to Great Britain and Nato, a former pilot for the Berlin Airlift, Edwina Sandys (granddaughter of Churchill), and many local Berliners. Keep your eyes out for this film!

We definitely saw 2 works by Richter. The other German artists I really don't remember, as I don't recognize their names. Many of them are from Dusseldorf. But even looking at this list: http://www.sammlung-hoffmann.de/inde.../kuenstler/en/ doesn't ring a bell for me.

We also saw 2 works by a Japanese female artist (who has been living in Berlin for severa years), 2 works by Fang Lijun, a video installation by a Korean woman, another video by Israeli artist Yael Bartana, an entire wall stacked with tin cookie cans by a French artist (each can is filled with the artist's own memorabilia)...

And then there are a couple works by Judd, and a pile of posters by Gonzalez-Torres.

Was the French artist Boltanski? He's pretty famous.

I think that we might have had Gonzalez-Torres also, and also Christopher Wool.

I think the kinetic art piece I saw could have been by Heinz Mack (mentioned in the ZERO group on the web page -- actually all the names there are familiar to me).

Thanks!

Wow yk, great report! I think you may have convinced me what my winter Europe trip will be! Thank you!

<i>Was the French artist Boltanski? He's pretty famous.</i>

Probably. I don't recall the name, but googling his works seems to fit with the installation we saw. There is another piece of work by him as well - it was a bundle of white cloth with some newspaper clippings hidden within. However, no one is allowed to touch the cloth to see what the newspaper clippings were about. Does that sound like Boltanski?

I told DH that we are probably the least educated people (in contemporary art) to visit Sammlung Hoffmann. :)

Hi amyb! You may want to reconsider going to Berlin in winter! I know you aren't afriad of the cold, but it really will be very cold and grey there; and short daylight hours. Wait, doesn't that sound just like where we live? :)) But in all seriousness, I think one of my cousins went to Berlin a few winters ago and they were stuck there because of ice/snow storm. No trains nor planes were running.

hi yk

You may want to reconsider going to Berlin in winter! I know you aren't afriad of the cold, but it really will be very cold and grey there; and short daylight hours.>>

and in the summer [we went at the beginning of august a few years ago] it's REALLY hot. we spent a lot of time in the air-conditioned museums and walkin around by the canals in the late evening.

a good place to visit in spring/autumn.

'In terms of prices, I find Berlin on par with other major European cities.''

As far as hotels go , one gets MUCH better accommodation in Berlin for much less than Paris or London.
My very nice, big room at Melia in the center of the city was less than 90 euros in July.
A very small, unattractive room in the center of 6th last July in Paris was 150 euros.
But, Paris is Paris...

and in the summer [we went at the beginning of august a few years ago] it's REALLY hot."

I was in Berlin at the end of July and it was cool with some rain ..it warmed up the last couple of days at the very end of the months.
The weather is a mystery almost anywhere..

sorry.. month.

What an informative report. You are so methodical!