Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Berlin

  • Berlin Trip : Mikkeller Berlin

    Berlin Trip : Mikkeller Berlin

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    I’m slowly working around all of the Mikkeller bars in the world (everyone has to have a hobby….), although I’m going to have to go to Copenhagen again and to Japan to tick a fair few off in one go.

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    The beer board and the list is also on Untappd. The service was prompt and immediate with a laid-back and comfortable atmosphere in the bar. It’s a relatively small venue, so I can imagine that it regularly gets full on weekend evenings. There are 24 keg lines here with most beer styles covered, as well as a wide spread of different ABVs.

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    The Burst from Mikkeller, it had an orange edge to the taste, all smooth and reassuring.

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    The Nutty by Nature, also brewed by Mikkeller. I thought that this was one of the better brown ales that I’ve had, very nutty but also smooth and creamy with something of a Twix taste to it.

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    And this was the most exciting of them all, the White-Out from 3 Sons Brewing Co of Dania Beach in Florida, although it’s a collab with Mikkeller. This is a proper Christmas beer, coconut, nutmeg, chocolate with a sweetness to it, and very smooth bearing in mind that it was 13.8%. I think it’s fair to say that this delicious beer with its delightful aroma would fall foul of the purity laws.

    The venue is very well reviewed and I can see why, this is some of the best beer that I think anyone is likely to get in Berlin. The prices aren’t cheap, but they’re also not unreasonable given how many of these beers have to be imported.

  • Berlin Trip : McRib Tradition…..

    Berlin Trip : McRib Tradition…..

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    For over a decade I have had a tradition of getting a McRib meal on my first day in Germany, as it’s one of the two countries in the world (the other is Luxembourg) where it’s on the permanent menu. Well, technically, the first couple of times I did this it wasn’t a tradition, it was just me being hungry but that’s a different matter. Anyway, here we are again in Berlin, the best thing on the McDonald’s menu. Incidentally, that spicy sauce that comes with the fries is surprisingly decadent.

    And yes, I need to get out more….

  • Berlin Trip : Murphy’s Irish Pub

    Berlin Trip : Murphy’s Irish Pub

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    Yes, yes, I know, it’s not authentically local, but its location by the River Spree was handy (since I was standing by the River Spree) and I needed a little rest. It was a little awkward at first as I had a wait of over four minutes for a team member to arrive. Four minutes doesn’t sound long, but it does when you’re in a pub that I’m not sure is actually open.

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    The surroundings were pleasant, but it didn’t feel like a busy lunchtime destination and they were serving food when I visited. The food looked like it was mainly Irish specialities and hearty meals, with the prices looking reasonable. It was just a little cold when I visited, so there was no-one seated outside, but there’s a handy area for when it is warm enough to sit and enjoy the weather.

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    The beer that I went for, it’s the König Ludwig Weissbier and it’s light and well behaved, like everything brewed to the purity laws….. Here’s to rebellion though on that score, but I’ll try not to go on about them too much.

    The service was friendly, the environment was clean and it was a comfortable place to sit for a while. I think that the atmosphere gets somewhat more lively in the evening though and there’s often live music, but I’m not built for all that frivolity. They also have a sister pub of the same name located near to Checkpoint Charlie.

  • Berlin Trip : Berlin Hauptbahnhof

    Berlin Trip : Berlin Hauptbahnhof

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    I’m not sure how I’ve managed to miss Berlin Hauptbahnhof on my previous trips to the city, but it’s one of the most architecturally impressive stations that I’ve seen. It’s not a new building either, this design is from when it reopened in May 2006, but it feels modern and current.

    The station was opened in 1871 as the terminus for the Berlin-Lehrte railway line, known as Lehrter Bahnhof it quickly grew into a major hub. Its grand architecture, designed in the French Neo-Renaissance style, earned it the nickname ‘palace among stations’ although it got a bit smashed up during the Second World War. Services came back to the railway station after the end of the war, but were suspended again in 1951 and bits of the station started to fall down. With the arrival of the Stadtbahn (city railway) in 1882, Lehrter Bahnhof became even more crucial to Berlin’s transport network.

    However, the station suffered significant damage during World War II. Though services resumed after the war, they were eventually suspended in 1951, and the station fell into disrepair. Then Berlin got split up and it ended up in Western Sector, near to the Berlin Wall. Not much happened until Germany was unified (with the station I mean, quite a lot happened in general) and they decided that Lehrter Bahnhof would be the site for a new central station. So they knocked down the rickety old one and built a lovely new one which was designed by architects Gerkan, Marg and Partners. It took ten years to build this but it was completed just in time for the football World Cup.

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    It was the multi-level nature of the railway station that impressed me, that’s a track at the top as well.

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    It has something of a shopping vibe feel to it, but that’s what funds these buildings.

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    The signage here was one of the best I’ve seen at a railway station and it’s helped by the transport system avoiding using complex line names, they just go with letters and numbers which makes things much easier. Well, for me anyway.

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    And a train going by.

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    A model of the railway station.

  • Berlin Trip : Manchester Airport to Berlin Brandenburg (Ryanair)

    Berlin Trip : Manchester Airport to Berlin Brandenburg (Ryanair)

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    Although I had enjoyed the Escape Lounge, I was quite pleased to be leaving Manchester’s Terminal 3 as it was all a little cramped. The same was true waiting for the gate, there was minimal seating and the queue wrapped around the corridor trying not to get in the way of passengers walking by. The Ryanair staff were friendly and the whole boarding process was gloriously uneventful.

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    It was a wet and windy evening in Manchester.

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    That’s handy, I was able to note the registration number although I’m not entirely sure why I’m collecting these. Then again, I’m not sure why I do a lot of things, yet here we are. It’s EI-DWE and I don’t think it’s an aircraft that I’ve been on, although Ryanair have had it for 17 years. It’s a Boeing 737 from back in the day when they actually had a good reputation. I was fortunate to randomly be given an aisle seat and the whole flight was comfortable and without any issues. The cabin crew were professional, the aircraft was clean and it arrived on time, so for the £21 I paid for the flight (a little more than usual) I was entirely content.

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    I could claim that it’s blurry for artistic reasons. But it isn’t, so I won’t.

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    This was my first visit to Berlin Brandenburg and it’s already the laughing stock of airports across Europe, but I’ll save my moaning about this confused mess of a building in a later post. I miss Berlin Tegel.

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    There were long queues with poor signage leaving plenty of passengers in the wrong place.

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    Those who can use the left-hand queue are very fortunate and save a lot of time…. But, I won’t go on about that.

  • Berlin – Berlin Tegel Closes

    Berlin – Berlin Tegel Closes

    I’ve only just noticed on Flyertalk that Berlin Tegel Airport has finally closed, which I’m moderately sad to hear. I’m not sure that I should feel slightly saddened at a shut airport given everything else going on in the world, but there we go…. Tegel was too small, but it was in many ways beautiful and it was possible to reach the departure gate and go through security within minutes as they’re only a few metres from the entrance.

    I last visited in late 2019 and I did hope that I’d get one more chance to visit the BA lounge there again. I did note that the airport was uncomfortable, but I still sort of liked it. Lots of people wanted this airport to remain, but it was too near the city centre and so the amount of real estate was just worth too much. The new airport is Berlin Brandenburg Airport, which has been a national humiliation and been seen as one of the most mismanaged construction projects in Europe. It’s opened nine years late, hugely over-budget and there have been political scandals, corruption issues and pure incompetence.

    Anyway, the reason for this post is to mention the Flyertalk post with some photos of the airport in its final days. I think it’s polite for those who will miss the airport to note ‘Danke Tegel’.

  • Flixbus – Opole to Berlin

    So, after a lovely few days in Opole, it was necessary to get back to Berlin and I went back the same way that I went, via Flixbus. I don’t like Flixbus, based on many previous journeys, but my dislike of them is diminishing (since they’re actually generally turning up at the right place now), so this is positive for everyone…..

    On the morning of the bus journey, there was a notification from Flixbus that there would be a white bus instead of their usual green and orange effort. Unfortunately, there was no message within the app, but at least it alerted me as to what to expect, which was useful.

    I arrived at the bus stop early (as usual) and the departure time of the bus came and went. Thirty minutes later I message Flixbus and ask politely where the bus is, as the on-line tracking had stopped about 150 miles away. Two minutes after sending that message, a replacement coach branded with Euro Lines (another company that Flixbus have now bought out) turned up. Flixbus replied about ten minutes later, so I appreciated their efforts in replying quickly.

    I was able to get my preferred seat at the top of the stairs, so there was no-one in front of me. The bus was pretty quiet and not many customers boarded at any stage of the journey. The price of the journey was cheap and I can’t really complain about the value offered. There was very intermittent Internet and no power, although I’ve yet to be on a Flixbus that has delivered everything that they’ve promised, so I was hardly surprised.

    We eventually got into Berlin an hour late, but in the scale of things, that’s not unreasonable. The driving also felt safe throughout the journey, with no real delays along the route other than the wait for the bus to arrive, and then depart, in Opole. Judging solely by my experiences, Flixbus are definitely getting better.

  • Berlin – Berlin Tegel Airport BA Lounge

    The BA lounge at Berlin Tegel is, as required by the airport’s layout, landside and this gives the usual limitations of having to leave in plenty of time to board. There are also no toilets in the lounge, they’re on a different floor and require a trip through Starbucks. The lounge also has a policy that visitors can’t leave items whilst visiting the toilets, although I doubt that this is particularly well enforced.

    The welcome at the lounge was better than I’d usually expect, with the staff member checking if I had visited before and then offering a quick explanation of the facilities. The lounge was also clean and the staff walked around frequently checking that everything was kept well stocked.

    There’s little point in BA investing in this lounge, since the entire building will be demolished in the next couple of years, so although it’s a little tired, it’s still holding up well.

    Not the best of photos, but this area usually had customers in and I was trying to avoid including them which meant quickly taking a photo when I had chance.

    The food and drinks bar.

    An extensive selection of teas. The coffee machine also produced some decent quality coffee.

    The biscuits and cakes selection.

    The ice cream freezer and I did enjoy the mini tub of vanilla, latte and macchiato.

    Crisps and other snacks, with olives, cold meats, cheeses, yoghurts and jams also being available. For those who preferred, there were also chocolate bars such as Twix and Bounty, as well as mini individually wrapped chocolates.

    All told, this was a perfectly acceptable lounge, and it was kept clean and well presented. The food options were unexceptional, but sufficient, although the pre-packaged sandwiches which used to be stocked here seem to have been cut (cut in the no longer available sense, not cut up in smaller portions).

    The staff announce to passengers when they need to leave to catch their flight, although I left earlier to try to avoid being at the end of a long queue for security. And as a little final bonus, the reception desk had small packs of Haribo available. What more could anyone want….

  • British Airways (Berlin to Heathrow T5)

    Every time I fly back from Berlin Tegel I wonder whether it’ll be the last time I visit the airport, with its replacement seemingly having been nearly ready for nearly ten years. Tegel has long since been unable to comfortably cope with the volume of passengers and it feels crowded and uncomfortable.

    The boarding process is unusual as the BA lounge is landside, so then there’s a long queue for the security and border checks. Above is a photo of the queue for the flight at the next gate, it’s one of the few airports I can think of where the queues to board are within a five second walk of the terminal entrance.

    The British Airways check-in desks. It took over 40 minutes of queueing to board the aircraft, with no seating for those who needed it. Interestingly, or at least I was interested, my battery pack was examined by the security personnel for compliance, which has never happened before. It is a large battery pack at 20000mAh and I was quite impressed that it was checked, since it is only just under the allowable level.

    The aircraft was G-EUPE, an Airbus A319 that British Airways have operated since it came into service in 2000. I had a window exit row seat, which was sufficiently spacious and clean. It was also a busy flight and was at near capacity, although fortunately there didn’t seem as much pressure on the overhead lockers as usual. Then flight left around ten minutes late, but the captain gave updates and it seemed to be because there was a slight delay with getting everyone through the security process.

    The crew were professional and the buy-on-board (BOB) seemed to be popular, with a new menu having come out at the beginning of October. I still don’t think it’s a very innovative on-board menu, although my views on this are a bit irrelevant since I never buy anything on board British Airways flights anyway.

    The DHL truck had appropriate branding for where I had just flown from.

    The flight arrived into London Heathrow T5 at the expected time and the disembarkation process was efficient and timely. It took around twelve minutes from the airport doors opening to my leaving the terminal, allowing me to leave Heathrow in good time.

  • Berlin – Thomas Cook

    I hadn’t realised that there were retail outlets of Thomas Cook in Germany, but these too are sadly shut. Such a devastating situation for the staff.