It is another weekend which inevitably means another little adventure to distant shores (well Switzerland is land locked so they crave shores....I think they have no sea so the cows can't escape. They are excellent swimmers).This time it is off to Berlin. S and I went there last year and did most of the tourist things in the 20 or so hours that we were there. This time it was to visit some friends of S of which one was celebrating a birthday.
Friday 14 September 2012
It is like I am repeating myself but we set off on the autobahn in the mighty SLK for Zurich Flughafen (note all those German words....I am so fluent) for our Swiss flight to Berlin. New aircraft for me (and another model allowed out of the box) on a Swiss A320 and yes, it was in economy - e-gads! We had a little time in the Swiss lounge (some wurst und bier as a snack) as the offering on board is pretty light. This time it was some Movenpick ice cream and a beverage. I am watching my figure (expand) so just went for a white wine for hydration.
We were picked up by Thomas (S's friend) at the Tegel airport and taken to their home where we were also staying. They have just moved into what they call a "villa" which was not like the ones down under. It had three floors and very large rooms! I did not take any photos as I thought it may not be appropriate but there will of course be a review on TripAdvisor. Pretty low key evening with a lovely dinner of steak and potato gratin....full of creamy goodness. S and I did then venture into the city to explore the nightlife and managed to visit one bar. We soon realised that we were both exhausted and had one beer and headed back - I know, bad gays.
Saturday 15 September 2012
We had a leisurely start to the day which translates into a sleep in until about 11:00 am. Our hosts waited for us until 10:00 am and then gave up and had their breakfast. I was surprised that service had not ceased by the time we surfaced but there was still plenty on offer.
S and I then headed by S-Bahn into central Berlin for a spot of shopping. I was getting sick of my clothes and I am sure you are sick of seeing the same ones in photos. This mission was for new jeans and trousers - the most annoying thing to shop for I think. We did remarkably well and managed to pick up four pairs. I also found a beautiful Armani coat for S which was 50% off and a Zegna suede jacket for me at 60% off. Very satisfying retail therapy I can tell you. I don't have photos of all the items but they will be making appearances in photos in future posts.
We returned "home" for coffee and cake before we set off for dinner back in the city. Dinner was for Thomas' birthday and they chose a place called Fleischerei (the butcher) and so as you would expect the focus was on meat. It was a very cool spot in what used to be a butcher. S and I had the tartar to start - love a bit of raw meat of an evening and then I had a schnitzel. It was served with a potato salad and a cucumber salad and was a hefty piece of meet.We resisted dessert and headed back to Angela and Thomas' home (see pics below.....no idea what I was rabbiting on about) as there was left over cake from the pre-dinner dessert.
Sunday 16 September 2012
Although the urge was strong to sleep longer we made it down for breakfast with the family (Angela and Thomas have two daughters) for about 9:30 am.
It was a beautiful clear day so S and I decided to head to a place called Potsdam which is a capital of the next region, Brandenburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam). It is famous for some of its palaces, in particular the Sanssouci (below left) which means without sorrow which I guess would be the case if you lived there! The picture below right is the new palace.
We can across the two fellows to the right in the gardens amongst the many statues. The one on the left is either in pain or in ecstasy. I did like the way that the sculptor has the towel discreetly covering the bearded gents rude bits but went to the trouble of carving the other fellows testicles. Maybe that is what he is upset about that they were carved too small.
It was then back to Tegel Airport for our little Swiss jet home. As I am sure you are desperate to know, Berlin is getting a new airport but it has been fraught with delays. It was supposed to open one year ago but is not expected now until mid next year - does not seem like German efficiency to me!
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