BA is a revelation. They're how all airlines should be. You get a checked luggage allowance, snacks, drinks (hot and cold, including booze) and a proper old school service. Some other airlines consider it perfectly acceptable to sting you for such basics. They have a cracking little smartphone app that you can use to check-in online and then download an online boarding pass straight to your phone. If you're a technophobe then old school airport check in is free. They don't have credit card surcharges either, at least not when paying your Airmiles/Avios fees. All things considered, I was about £200 up against option B - a Jet2 flight from Leeds Bradford.
The Manchester connection to Heathrow was delayed by half an
hour. Thankfully, with less than an hour in the schedule to make the
connection, so was the Berlin flight. The cabin crew hunted me down and kept me posted. They said I
could take an alternative BA flight later that afternoon if needed.
Landing in Berlin is a little confusing, especially when you're short on sleep and not fluent in German. The only public transport from the airport are buses. You can catch a cab obviously, but you'll spend 20 minutes sat in stationary traffic waiting to get out of the airport. Just squeeze on the first TXL bus that you can - they all head into Berlin. I jumped off at Beusselstrasse, as did everyone else, and changed for an S-Bahn (urban) train. The TXL terminates at Alexanderplatz if you need to go further east.
You have to buy tickets before you travel. I bought a 5 day
Welcome Card for just shy of €31. It includes unlimited travel for 5 days (5x24
hours from activation) and also gives you discounts on various touristy things
to boot. I only needed 4x24 hours so could have saved a couple of quid with
separate tickets daily but didn't want to chew about buying tickets every day.
The transport system is integrated so one ticket covers all trains and buses.
Mine was an AB ticket (zones A and B) which covers Tegel airport and all of
central Berlin.
You can buy tickets from the BVG booth at the airport. If this is closed then there's a ticket machine outside near the bus stops. The guy selling tickets, despite having two credit card machines on his counter, was only taking cash. This is something I'd get used to - hardy anywhere in Berlin accepts credit cards.
You're supposed to activate your ticket when you first use it but the bus was too crowded to get anywhere near the machine. There's a machine near every door on the bus. I stamped it later that afternoon on an S-Bahn train station platform. Apparently most locals don't bother with tickets. There are no barriers at the stations so you can jump straight on any train or bus without a ticket. I was told by a local that you get occasional spot checks and he's seen every last person on the train gets stung with a €40 on the spot fine.
Checked into the hotel. Best Western Premier Moa. Very nice it is too. For reference, given that their website doesn't say, the nearest station is Birkenstr U-Bahn (underground). You can also use Westhafen U-Bahn or S-Bahn station if it’s easier. Not quite as close but it only adds a few minutes to your walk. I think it's a cooler station too, in it's own special way.
With hindsight, the best way from Tegel is the TXL bus to Turmstr U (not Turmstr/Beusselstr) and then the U9 U-Bahn one stop north to Birkenstr.
It's a new hotel and convenient enough for both the airport and central Berlin. The rooms have safes, amazing showers and very impressive electric curtains! Breakfast isn't included and the 'nominal fee' they mention on their website is actually €18. Which isn't very nominal in my books. The hotel is above a shopping centre though and the supermarket has a cafe that does coffee and breakfast if you fancy something quick and cheap.
There's also kiosks everywhere. We've used them in Munich but here they're all over, even on subway platforms. They sell beer, tabs and cheap snacks at all hours. €1 will net you a cold sandwich or a 'wurst mitt brot'.
I got showered and changed before heading into town. It's difficult to get your bearings at first. Berlin is flat, industrial and many buildings look the same. You can use the TV tower as a reference point. It is (was?) the tallest building in the EU so quite obvious. A symbol of GDR might, although as with all 'tallest structures' it claims it's prize by sticking a huge great aerial on top. This is probably acceptable for TV towers. Anyway, it's near Alexanderplatz station to the east.
Berlin is certainly not a pretty place, especially around the suburbs. It definitely has an old Soviet feel - there's lots of high rise flats, industry and graffiti. The tube stations are all the better for this though. The tiling and signs at most stations are from 50 years previous. Their decay just adds character. It made me smile but the lack of development was surprising. It felt like I'd taken a wrong turn at Westworld. You also get a full mobile signal in the subways. For someone who can't even get a signal at home I was very impressed. I really don't want to know how they do it though.
There's a public viewing platform at the top of the TV tower. You can pay to go up but I read a great quote along the lines of "Why bother? Berlin looks rubbish"!
The other thing that struck me was how dark it is *everywhere*. The hotel, bars and streets are all a few lumens down on normal. In fact, some of the street lamps are still gas. Very quaint, but a bit crap.
I think if you were of a nervous disposition then it could
be kinda scary in the suburbs. However I ended up walking home down pitch black alleys
around housing blocks at half two in the morning and didn't feel in the
slightest bit uneasy.
The centre (Mitte) around the government buildings is completely different. It's still dark, but the buildings are much grander. There's lots of glass and open space, as you'd expect in a capital city.
There's a lot of Buddy Bears around too. These are a bit like those painted cows that occasionally crop up in cities. Big plastic painted bears dotted around the city.
I sat and watched an AV display that was been projected outside the Reichstag building. It's a temporary installation showing the history of Berlin. It had footage of the wall coming down but surprisingly none of David Hasselhoff bringing it down with the power of Rock. A major omission I thought. They also showed JFK stepping up to give his legendary donut speech, but again they omitted the best part.
Berlin does appear to cherish that speech too. There were lots of advertising boards coming from the airport with 'Ich bin ein Berliner' tag lines.
Disappointed by the lack of attention they gave the installation I moved on to the Brandenburg Gate. It's bloody huge. The Victoria statue on top is super impressive. Despite a patchy history (it's been pinched by Napoleon, bombed, renamed and spun around a few times) it's now fully restored and looking good.
In front of the Brandenburg Gate it's perfectly obvious where the wall was built. There's very little of it left now but it's entire route is marked on the ground with paving and plaques.
Just south of the Brandenburg Gate, you can wander through the Holocaust Memorial. It’s kinda spooky at night. It’s unlit, or certainly it was when I was there, so it's really dark and imposing. It consists of thousands of big concrete blocks of different sizes and shapes and set at slightly different angles. Some of these blocks tower over you, others are much smaller. I unexpectedly bumped into another group of people and we all scared the crap out of each other.
Now in desperate need of food I took a wander away from the tourists. I ended up in a charming little restaurant called Weitzmann. It got a good mention in Time Out so I checked it out.
You probably wouldn't stumble across it. It's under some railway arches in what looks like a Soviet housing estate. I had an excellent pork schnitzel with fried pasta and gravy. Interesting, but delicious. 'Fusion food' perhaps? Beer came in porcelain tankards. They had a disco ball and lots of Village People, Wham and Queen playing. It was a tiny place but steady away. No English menus but the waitress spoke perfectly adequate English. A great find and definitely recommended. I ate at about 10.30pm but the kitchen is open until midnight.
Suitably fed I moved on and stumbled upon an excellent Irish bar called Lir. I'd normally avoid Irish bars in foreign countries but this place was exceptional. I didn't even know it was an Irish bar until I got chatting to the barmaids. It's way off the beaten track so the few Brits you tend to find there are ex-pats. It just looked like a cool basement bar and they had Bavarian beers. They also had a couple of local beers on tap but they did nothing for me. Weak and tasteless. I stuck to the bottled wheat beer. The girls behind the bar were really cool - an Australian and an Irish girl. I stumbled out at gone 2am and headed back to the hotel. The tubes run all night at weekends so no hassle.
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