Christmas bear in Galeries Lafayette window, Berlin
End of dinner at Entrecote, Berlin. The wine is a giveaway!
Advent wreath hanging in the Augustiner Kellar, Berlin
Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin
Nativity Scene at Charlottenburg Palace Christmas Market, Berlin
We took the roundabout way to get to Berlin from Denver. Leg #1 – We flew to Atlanta, rented a car and – Leg#2 – drove to Auburn for 4 days for a nephew’s wedding. Driving on I86 is not much fun on a Friday afternoon and by the time we got to Auburn we thought a beer would taste pretty good, but when we asked our waitress at dinner what kind of beer they have on tap, the answer was “we don’t serve alcohol”.
While we were in Auburn, Mark and I went for a tour of the university – checked out the stadium with sculptures of their Heisman winners, the book store and the student center where we were one of the few customers of the Starbucks! We drove around a bunch of Auburn, the town, spent time with friends and family, and got the nephew and his bride married!
Leg #3 started on Sunday afternoon – another drive on I86 back to the Atlanta airport where, by the way, there is no gas station anywhere near the rental car return location!
Leg #4 – the flight to Washington Dulles was delayed several times thanks to all the ice all over the country, slow luggage loading and the air start machine to start the compressor that didn’t work – the hose kept popping off. We ended up leaving 3 hours late and arrived in IAD about midnight, took the shuttle to the Hyatt and went to bed.
Leg #5 was DC to Amsterdam and this one went remarkably well except for United moving Mark without asking to a different aisle seat. We both ended up changing seats – Mark because United moved him to accommodate a mom and son and then I changed with her husband so I could avoid sitting next to the children. Why did we fly to Amsterdam? Cheap tickets! I found this one for about $470 RT each and that was too good to pass up.
We saw the news about the truck crashing into the Christmas market in Berlin so everyone was sending emails checking with where we are.
The sun was actually up by the time we got to the Amsterdam Centraal station and found the hotel – IBIS Styles at Centraal Station. The only room open at 8 AM was in the basement but has a big bathroom! Had a nap and shower and walk and a pancake with ham and cheese for lunch before Mark started on some work meetings.
Dinner at the Kantjil & de Tijger (Indonesian food) – The food was good but the service was spotty.
Leg #6 the next day – Amsterdam to Berlin by train. We had the 2 window seats in a 6-person compartment in 1st class. While we waited for the train to leave, we could hear a cat meowing in the next compartment. It turned out to be 2 Siamese cats and, when the owner let them out of the kitty carrier, they were happy and quiet. They proceeded to lay on the seat by the guy and just check out the world. Eventually, they fell asleep curled up together.
We have a VRBO apartment on Plankstrasse near Friedrichstrasse Station and it’s set up well and REALLY convenient to food and sightseeing. We’ve hit 2 Christmas markets – GendarmenMarkt and Charlottenburg Christmas Market, Augustiner beer restaurant, 12 Apostles restaurant, Entrecote for great beef and French food for Mark’s birthday
After the truck running into a Christmas Market at Kaiserhof church on Sunday, the first Christmas Markt did not have any concrete barricades up nor was there more police presence although our bags were searched – sort of! By the time we left Charlottenburg market, police and workers had arrived to put up concrete barricades. The same barricade type was up at Gendarmenmarkt by the second night.
Mark looked up some microbreweries and Lemke Brewery was conveniently located across the street from the Palace. Mark ordered beer while I checked out the toilets! We both had a .5L Christmas seasonal beer and watched the world go by before we headed back to the U-bahn station in the sprinkling rain.
Christmas Eve we headed to Ausgustiner am Gendarmenmarkt to see them tap the Christmas keg and ended up sharing a table with 2 Ozzies who work for 2 years in the UK. Jake’s a social worker and Samantha teaches 1st grade.
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