Summary Observations about Trip

We are home (if you’re reading this). I wrote this one on the plane, in an attempt to cover insights & details I didn’t have time or space for on any given day.

A quick admission: I went with no intention of blogging. I took neither laptop nor portable keyboard. This made it trickier than it needed to be. But both companions insisted I write one, the young one claiming “this is how we remember where we’ve been & what we ate.” She actually called it up twice to remind us of things that happened. 😃 & last night the other one was laughing at my account of the drunk stumbling thru the tram, which she missed. 🙂 that’s rewarding.

What more to say? We have some summary observations after 10 days in Europe: 

• We all agreed Prague was our favorite. The culture is old & impressive, & it’s not too expensive. Lunch Saturday was 1,000 “zlotnys” – or $44. For similar (Italian) fare yday in Zurich, it was $110.

  

  Prague Castle from across the river

• Berlin was our least favorite. Maybe because we were in old East Berlin, it had little charm. It was nice enough, with our favorite restaurant (the Royal Grill last Sunday) & some good museums – both antiquities museums & the modernist gallery were quite good, but we never warmed to it.  Even our flat was the nicest place we stayed in (except for Sat back in Berlin’s hotel), but… None of us really see a need or draw back (I wouldn’t go back to Prague either, btw)
• Central European food is not for us. Given the choice of it or Italian, having had Italian multiple times, we chose Italian. EH wisdom “even mediocre Italian is good.” (Corollary from her: don’t try Mexican food where you can’t get salsa in the grocery store [see Berlin]). We had local cuisine in both Berlin & Prague twice. Lots of sausage, breaded meats (eggplant schnitzel?!) & potato side dishes. Why they aren’t dead of cardio event by 60 is a curiosity.

  

  Goulash w/ potato dumplings

• The German/czech notion of paying for bathrooms is caw-caw. I have a small fortune invested in the one in Prague train station; every museum in Berlin either didn’t have one or charged. The Starbucks in Prague charged! (In fairness, a sign said they’d give customers the coin).  Criminitaly, as they used to say. I guess it fits w/their stereotype of being retentive 🤣
•   I look forward to a real shower. 10 days of hand-held, short things had been annoying
•  Both EH & KH wonder why Europeans (this is true in Britain too) don’t believe in top sheets on beds. Esp in warm temperatures.
•   Washcloths were rare. We wondered what they did instead
•   We never had trouble with people not speaking English. The taxi driver in Berlin the first day & the scheister in Prague the first day, but otherwise, everyone spoke enough English. Maybe except me.   
•  We found the Swiss very friendly. Even the Germans, who don’t have that rep, were friendly (caveat: no one is going to be nice when you’re a total d***f**k. Just sayin’. 🙂 & as for not liking Americans, never encountered any of that. Both Berlin & Prague were crawling w/ Americans – Viking river cruise ship was in Prague the one day.
• Not all airports are the same. Today in Zurich passport control was miles from security, then we did a TSA passport check at the gate. Yesterday in Berlin was a cluster. & it’s a wonderful thing not having to go thru customs from one European country to another. Only the Brits & Americans are crazy abt such things.
• Mass transit is a wonderful thing. We had day passes in all four cities & they worked great. We took trains from Berlin to Dresden, Dresden to Prague, Prague back to Berlin.  Even figured out how to make the Wi-Fi work on 3^rd trip 😃 we wished US had invested in mass transit infrastructure the same way. OC, Americans would rather pay lower taxes & drive cars. Short sighted.
•  Google maps ain’t good at bus stops in these countries. We wondered around last night & never found the stop in Oerlikon we were supposed to get on. There was an alternative. We did the same in Berlin one morning. Trust but verify 🙂

And that's it. It was a long ten/eleven days, but we had a great time, despite pretty much collapsing every late afternoon, then after dinner, every night.  European travel is big on walking (maybe it's true of USA, too, if you don't have a car). Where we go next is very much up in there, so...till next time.

" We are never coming back to this airport, or flying Swiss Air, or..."

As you can tell by the title, the morning did NOT start well (understatement).

But we got to Zurich & found it a lovely (tho amazingly expensive) city.

But first, the morning. Let's start w/ mother & daughter "Freely discussing"wast time to leave for the airport. Daughter won. Uh oh. 😮 we got there in great time, but Berlin airport has you check in at the gate. KH had to check her bag. There was a long line. We waited at least 35 mins in that line. Then I had to go 4 gates away to pay that to get our boring passes. They got in the security line as I did that, but hadn't moved. By the time we got thru security (which was right next to the gangway) they were announcing they were closing the doors. OC  we had noted the 40 people being us in line. KH was practically apoplectic. I almost forced an ativan down her throat, but decided I might never recover from the attempt. We never got breakfast. 😥
Oh, it gets better. Oh, yeah.
We get to Zurich, go to luggage carousel, & the bag never comes. More recrimination, more tears. No ativan & no breakfast. We found the lost luggage person & she said "it's going to new york... You should have said." We had a 22.5 hour layover, WTF!
An unhappy 75 mins later , where I prowl Everywhere to discover we are trapped inside customs. I got cash & 2 drinks at duty free, KH went back & was told she should have looked on carousel 21!!! It was there. KH was very, very, very unhappy.
Then we found out the hotel shuttle was twenty minutes away. So we took a  taxi. 32 francs (=$1) later.... Then our room wasn't ready. Grrrr😡😠😡
Did I mention we hadn't had real food yet?
The bus stop is conveniently right outside the hotel (we're supposed to be near the airport) & in half an hour we are along this lovely, Venice or Amsterdam-like river.

Here are the photos. 
They were running a professional level Iron man competition, which we kept crossing. You know what they do in an Iron man competition?! A marathon, 2.4 miles swimming (today on lake Zurich), & 118 miles cycling. They almost killed me they look so tired: the white stuff in the fountain pic are sponges for them.
I am out of room. Till next time!going nuts so far. We stood in front of a "swiss restaurant" & she said "there's an Italian place across the lane." She claimed this wasn't a statement of fact, but a suggestion. We all agreed we'd rather have Italian. You can see from the pics, we did.  😃

• We went into the Frauenkirche (woman church), which is nicely Romanesque (if you have to ask, I can't help you) but has wonderful Chagall stained glass windows. But doesn't allow pics
• Then across the river to Grossenkirche (gross church) which is the big one. Also Romanesque. No Chagalls. Boring. 
• Then across the river (lose count, I did) & up a heart attack hill to a park overlooking the city. I may have caught my breath long enough for a pic
• After a Starbucks break, we walked to the lakefront. Where we found we could get on a ship for a 75 min cruise & did. It was beautiful. Here's one quality shot:
• I am out of room (& lake pic is in wrong place). Till next time. Love ya!

High lights & low lights our last. day in Prague

Okay, we're out of Prague. Back to the overhyped "german efficiency" (the train left Praha Hladni Nadrazi -- central station (i did learn some Czech) 10 mins late.
•Turns out the last thing we did was one of the high lights of the trip: we rode the elevator to the top of the town hall clock tower (from yday video). The views were spectacular. Here's  the shot across the square at the "cathedral" -- "Our Lady" the Catholic Church.

The views in all directions were outstanding.

• We started the morning, after dropping our bags & a gnosh, w/ a tour of the alchemy museum. Seriously.  I'm a little surprised I wasn't turned to stone. The house it is in is the 2nd older in Prague, dating to the 9th c. During the time of Rudolf  II (you know when that is 🙂) it was a center of alchemy. Rudy was a fan. Including have a 2 km secret tunnel dug from the castle to the house (i.e. Under the river). I did learn that a big part of alchemist potions depends on alcohol and opium. Genius!
• Next, a tram across the river to St Nicholas's church. As this picture will show,
• (Picture went to bottom)
•  it's v different than gothic cathedrals we've seen -- this is v baroque  (insert joke ). We climbed the (posted) 60 steps to the gallery. You can see the view. 
• Then back across the river to the clock tower. 

Then it was 2 o'clock & time for lunch & dinner (we arrive in Berlin at 845) -- KH, yes, not me, suggested pizza Nuovo,  where we ate Thurs night b4 the ballet, so the pictures will remind you of that. Pizza & pasta. Guess who had the pasta?

B4 closing the book in Prague, there's the story of last night. The apartment say w/ the bedroom on the front side, so there was lots of street noise at night (Last night included a woman & kid &d Bundy of drunk guys). So, it wasn't quiet. At 4 last night I was awakened by a rattling noise, which I first thought was something banging around in the dryer. Then I realized there was no dryer! Then I thought it was someone trying to get in the balcony door. Neither of my traveling companions wee awake, so I got up to investigate (they could've, you know 😃). In the hall I realized it was someone trying to get in the front door-- rattling the key over & over. I hit the door w/ my fist & termed "go away" in my best The Rock voice, and they did. EH & KH w wondered what that was all abt- 🙄

Final notes on Prague:

• As we walked thru old town last night, we saw a group of middle aged men in front of a cafe in matching, ugly Hawaiian shirts. Yellow & red. EH analyzed "Dumb asses on vacation"- -- you can see the pic of guys peddling while drinking beer -- i.e. There was a lot of that
• On the first tram today some oversized 20 something men got on reeking of last night. Not to far along & the driver slammed the breaks & one of them flew. As EH put it "he did the whole I stumbled but I'm ok thing, taking half the car & grabbing multiple people on the way. " including me. ☹️ we all stayed up, but barely. He was reminded to hang onto the poles
• We decided the Czechs hate sitting. Benches were rare. At one point last night in the subway there was a metal pole abt a foot off the ground protecting the wall & lots of people were sitting on it. But it wasn't built for sitting. We decided "no sitting, comrades"was their motto, left over from the Soviet regime 😂
• As for our assessment, KH said she really liked it (but she's said the same abt vermin AND Dresden). EH & I think Budapest  & Bratislava are more interesting, tho Prague is better than Vienna (for instance). 

Now. The reverse trip via Zurich home.

Gray Day in Prague; Czech please

Today was not a "Feel good day" in Prague.

It started w our coffee run (a morning ritual). KH joined me; we took the EH unapproved route of the bus from a block away, 11 stops later. We got Starbucks. (We'll skip the exchange abt gnoshes & missing the bus). The bus is sitting short of the bus stop & the woman from Norfolk (we don't drink, nor smoke, nor...) & she takes her hurry cane & pounds on the window & shouts "open the door" & he shouts & points at the sign 50 feet up the road. We stand there & Karen gives him the stink eye every few moments as he reads the paper. Four of us got on & went one stop be getting off. I said "i forgot to say dekuju to him" & KH says "i was going to say something to him in English but he'd have understood it!" Whoa.
    We started by going to the Old Town Square. Hundreds of people were blocking the road. Turns out the astrological clock does interesting things on the hour -- the video in today's pics gives you an idea, although not the best angle.
.   Then into the cathedral. No pics allowed.
.    Then across the square to St Nicholas church. A nice enough place, smaller than the two nearby, but its congregation are Hussites (that's him in the big statue in the square). An early (14th c) protestant rebel.
.   As we were hungry, we had lunch at Meetburger. You can't make this shit up. The burger photo should tell you all you need.
.  Across the street was a Kafka exhibit. He's a big deal here (see the awning in pic). EH was lured in by promises of some kind of knowledge. If it wasn't the weirdest thing I've ever seen, it's up there. There were two rooms of medieval excavations & one room w 64 screens, 8 at a time showing the same thing, w a series of murderous & morbid events, some w/ a guy w/ a K in a circle on his clothes. We were told by signs the confusion we felt was the human condition.!!!
.  If that wasn't uplifting enough, we then went to the Jewish quarter. Acc to EH, Prague had the largest Jewish population in Europe for centuries. The Nazis took care of that. The first building was a synagogue w/names on the wall of all the Prague Jews killed. Imagine the Vietnam Memorial on white walls w/ LOTS more names. Stunning.
.   Then the Jewish cemetery. Again, v old. As you can see, it rained the whole time we were outside.

.    By the time we got thru the 4 synagogue, we were worn out.
.    Back to our bus stop, where again we waited, this time patiently, for the driver to finish his break. 😃
After a nap, & changing, back onto a tram to dinner. This place was recommended by our waiter Sunday night in Berlin. It had a young, hip vibe (i.e. We were out of place) w/ an early institutional decor. The food was "Czech" -- which means breading, potatoes & not much sauce. We were disappointed. 

.  & now patient Reader, for one of those observational endings. One thing we have find consistently in 3 cities in 2 countries is that they don't want to bring the check!!! Tonight wast the worst culprit but it took 15 minutes after our plates were cleared. Wed night it was over half an hour. Sunday night in the almost Michelin star it was half an hour plus. We don't get it. Like we turn invisible abt the time you'd think they'd want to flip the table. Even Tues in Dresden they said we had to be done by 9 for someone else, were done at 850 & they didn't bring the check till 915! WTF!!

.  Tomorrow, we see the alchemy museum & other things, then get on a 430 train back to Berlin. Two days left. 

.  

On second Czech...

I start by saying it was pointed out I forgot the link for yesterday's pictures. Here it is again. 

the day began w a trek to the grocery store to get (wait for it) laundry detergent. then we did laundry. ever try using a machine w instructions in an unknown language?! my 🇨🇿 Is still Prahaha 😂 I got it going & we left the apartment as a big  dryer.

Today was Prague Castle, which rises above the west side of the city. There are 8 museums there. We did 4. The best was clearly the cathedral -- maybe the best example of gothic cathedral I've ever seen (& I've been to both Chartres & Salisbury). Here's one pic that show up on mobile versions display:

The Palace is impressive & 14th c, having survived two medieval fires. But there are no real furnishings. I'll also add that all the signage abt "land rolls" could put a guy to sleep. I know they were important, legally, but geez. You don't have to roll in them.

Next was the Basilica of st George. As you can see, Romanesque & much smaller. W OC a statue of George & the dragon. OC.

We sat & had lunchtime ice cream:

In case you were wondering, this is a "traditional Czech" treat, a trindl'k. Or something. They are almost as ubiquitous as curry stands in Berlin. & much tastier. 😃 it was more than any of us could eat. One thing: the thing to do, that makes it authenticate, is you cook the pastry on a double in the front of the stand. I don't understand either, but there you have it. [Ed's note: EH (this is how she got the nickname 😃) did some research & the 'net doesn't think they are either Czech OR traditional! Supposedly they are Slovak (uh oh, war coming) AND didn't show up in Praha till abt 10 years ago 🤦‍♂️).
Before we left the castle, you'll see a procession of Czech soldiers. I like their unis 🙂. We pointed out they were hardly a threatening force: we just had Trump's 4th for heaven's sake!
.   Also, b4 leaving, we hit the WC (the Continent had taken the British take on this -- one wonders if this is in the Brexit agreement. 😂You have to pay to get in. I didn't have the right change& the attendant stopped me --  "no, 50 euros!" I went, got change, handed her 20 zlotnys & she says "no change, go away." I was by now abt to wet myself so I said "i don't need change" & got an "you're an idiot" shrug, but she let me in. 😃
Dinner was at a pizza & pasta place (See pics) in old town (almost). The women had tickets to see Swan Lake. I wrote this.
I'm out of room. Manana

PraHahahaha

 We made it to Prague. Ass-crack of dawn & all.

After easily finding the place to dump our bags at train station (Hlavni nadrazi in Czech, which we are learning) we walked abt 5 miles doing this:

• Lunch was from those small huts outside the train station -- haute cuisine. 
• The Jerusalem Synagogue (see pics here) was right on our path to wherever. It was spectacula ; reminds  how tough they had it there w Nazis, then Stalinists. Synagogue survived WW2 bc it was warehouse for Jewish confiscations 
• Then Henry's Tower, 1 of 120 towers in Prague. Paid to go to 10th story, great pics. 
• Then coffee & a box of 10 assorted macaroons from a street fair booth. Note how many are left (& then there were none)
• The highlight of the day was the Mucha Museum. I took a photo of the entry ticket since you wrest supposed to take them inside. 
  
  Seems Sarah Bernhart made him famous in 1894. His stuff is quite good. 
     Then back to the train station to get bags. It took a few mins to find taxi stand; EH later read never do this 90% of the time you'll get screwed. Like this time. I paid 20€ for what KH timed as 6 mins. Oh well. 
     The apartment. KH booked the 2 long stays. The flat in Berlin was good. The codes to get in worked. But we're missing a 2nd bedroom (their are bunks for EH in the one). & it's not "within 400 yards" of anything significant. KH called but was told there were only 1 bedrooms here. ☹️
  
  
    Dinner. This place, Kuchyň (kitchen in Czech) was on a top ten in town list (& we could get in). As you can see, the views of city are spectacular. 😃 their thing is they take you to the stove, open the pots (like you're in someone's kitchen) & you get to pick your dinner from that! No menu! Here's us doing it:
  EH & I had the goulash (when in Central Europe, do as...) & KH had peppercorn beef. We had both bread AND potato dumplings (again, central  Europe). It was v good.
  One dogfight was me writhing on my Czech. I tried to say "thank you"to our waiter. She ignored me. EH tried to use the internets to see how to pronounce dekuju. Finally, we made friend w the couple next to us at the table (all Czechs love NHL) d asked how to say it. He did & we laughed. There were no u's in his version! I told him how I said it & they laughed & laughed, but said "maybe it'll catch on". 
  & For the title: that's the check word for this city. Isn't it funny?! Hahahahaha

The Benjamin Button of Cities

Yes, Gentle Reader, we are in Dresden. "How to do Dresden in one day, for Dummies, on $6000CZH" 😂
we left Berlin at what EH called "the ass-crack of dawn" (9 am) after a classic family exchange on the platform. We got to discussing train trips thru Europe &  I  said the trip in '17 from Bratislava to Budapest was a chicken away from totally primitive. EH disagreed, saying it was the trip TO Bratislava that was like that. So she looked it up on this blog! I am the Boswell of such things! Meta- blogging! Best part was I used the same chicken 🐓joke in the blog entry about B to B 😂🤦‍♂️
It was hard to top that. The train to Dresden was painfully full, but we got here in good time & the flat is v near the train station & tram line. My good.
The title comes from EH. You see Dresden had rebuilt since the horrific 1945 bombing, where 70% was destroyed (see Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5). So all these sandstone buildings that look old wee rebuilt after '45. As our cab driver this morning said "the old town is really new & the new town old as it wasn't destroyed by bombing."
But it's a beautiful city. We loved the Zwinger (Ger. 4 fort) so here are two pics from the inner courtyard.
Here's the link to more.
We saw at least the outside of the main sites: 2 churches (there are no pics allowed inside the one, but it is almost gaudy ornate), 2 palaces, the tiled wall "procession of princess," the Buhl Terrace overlooking the Elbe. We were happy w that & have tickets at the "ass-crack of dawn" train to Prague in the morning.
Dinner was at a place labeled "vegetarian German". As you can see from pics, they had some meat. Ironically, again, I was the only one to abide by the description - I had their delicious potato soup (w all kinds  of cheese & stuff in it).
Finally, I lost my guide status. 😩 we were on the way to dinner & I @) got on what was really the wrong tram , b) assumed which way to get on & ended up on the wrong side of the Elbe. There was unhappiness abt how I recovered, too. I was told I was too  scrambled (you might see this as insensitive 😥) to trust. EH is now our guide. Good bless us.
Tomorrow from Prague!

Walls, wind, crankiness & food fusion

Monday morning bright many changes in our little world in East Central Berlin. First, the traffic increased multifold. Then there was an alarm at 530 that took 10 minutes for someone to turn off. Then there was a small line (& people seated) at Starbucks after 2 days of being the only one there.

& then there's the 3 amigos (-as): feeling tired, sore & a bit cranky. KH did a nosebleed over breakfast, then EH pulled up lame (exaggeration) going up stairs.

Today's picture from the morning site is of the Wall.(here's link to more pics)

It's not much now, but it was 150 km. They've kept this to remember. &, as a visitor I'll tell you they don't let you forget. Even though it's been down longer than it was up, it is mentioned constantly. Or the partition is. Checkpoint Charlie is still a thing.
What we did:

• Started with the "Topography of Terror" museum. Nope, not what you might think. It's all abt how the Nazis came to and held power. & killed millions of people. Panel after panel depicting Nazi this & these people being led off, etc. It's rather amazing.  The site is where the SS headquarters was. I never saw it, but I suspect the Allies turned the former palace into rubble. 
• Next it was to the Neues Museum, which houses... Old stuff. Ok, there's a part of 3rd floor on ancient Berlin. Part of first floor is Egyptian. Part of second floor is Huns. There's a whole wing on Schliemann's work & robbing of the Troy dig. The highlight is Neferti's head, which you can't photograph. But I liked the recreation of the temples.  They seemed to be big on dragging whole walls back from the middle east. 
• Then we looked at the cathedral, but no one was up to climbing the stairs to the walk along the outside of the Dome. 

Other notables:

• We breakfasted again at the bike place. They replaced spinach in scrambled eggs, W some unknown greenery. I had their version of an English breakfast, which failed multiple ways -- the baked beans weren't right (multiple colours of beans) & as Sheldon would say, the bean to egg ratio was off -- too many beans. 
• We found a local chain for mid morning coffee, but it was so cold we had to move inside to drink it. It was 60 cloudy & windy.
• You can see from the photos we had ice cream for lunch.  😋
• OMG! It was supposed to be Tapas for dinner at a place that had 4.7/5. Yeah, come to Germany, eat Spanish. But, despite having av reservation, there were no tables inside (& it was chilly remember?) & the tapas reminded us of Madrid (code for "not good"). So it was EH & KH tried to find a nearby alternative: one wanted a "safe burger" the other Vietnamese food. I sulked. ☹️ they ended up finding... Wait for it...a Vietnamese place that served burgers! NS. Ironically, I was the only one to get Vietnamese food (pictured). A fusion food ending. 

Tomorrow, early, dresden. 

Do I Make the Baroque joke or is that too Abstract?

OK, today begins w this caveat: your getting just a page (or what my ipad thinks is a page) & 1 picture (& link to more) bc... Well ipad + Google app = issues.
For the 3rd day the lead photo is food porn: we ate dinner at Grill Royal, oh some top 15 lists in city. We all had cow but this strawberry tart dessert was a winner

Okay, here's what we did today:

• Started w Gemaldegalerie (Old Masters) where KH wanted to see the vermeers (not many places have 2); EH hates V. I like the guys w cigars (#jk)
• Saw Charlottenburg Palace, begun in 1701 -- some baroque rooms survive the bombing in '44. If you look at photos, there's quite a pottery room. & Queen Sophie Charlotte's (yes, the palace & town are named after her) harpsichord was impressive (she could play, I hear)
• The Bregguen Museum was across the street, in what had been "the officers' casino" (so the sign translated it) for the palace, which has the world's largest collection of Picassos & Klees. The world is completely different after seeing that. 

Today's highlights:

• We took too long to find the bus stop outside our flat 1st thing this AM bc a) Google maps didn't know where the stop was, b) you can't just ask Google what a bus stop sign looks like& get a decent response! (An H in a yellow circle)
• I want to go to the zoo & see the panda; I was told I'd already seen them in SAN Diego & DC. "But I want to see a European panda" wasn't a winning argument 😩
• When I told them what kind of souvenir I wanted KH said "of course you do." When I  said that was her words but EH's voice, they laughed & laughed
• KH had beer for lunch. See pic -- "like they know how to pour beer here or something"
• At lunch, a young American w stroller came up to me & said "good shirt... My baby is wearing one just like it. He loves the Dutch." I was wearing my Dutch Soccer (aka flowers) shirt (v orange)
• In KH's continual struggle to do more, she said "I didn't know the museums  were open last night  till 8." 😂🤣 it was pointed out we had dinner at 5, napped, then went out for ice cream & then to bed. Where  was another museum fitting in there?
• Google maps didn't know where the bus stop was on way to dinner either 😠
• In discussion of painting, I stated the obvious: Picasso liked naked women. Even the blue guitar has a decapitated breast in the corner. 😂

And texting the link doesn't work. So I'm emailing it. Enjoy. 

Not the Wurst Day in Berlin

For the math challenged, today is our first full day in Berlin. 

It began w one of the highlights -- brunch at a place called Einstein's. As EH pointed out, every German country tries to claim him: she & I breakfasted two years ago at an Einstein's in Vienna. Here's your food porn:

The day in a nutshell:

• After brunch, we went to Pergamon -- Berlin's antiquities Museum. The highlight was Nebuchadnezzar s blue wall. Picture

(Nevermind, pics not working with ipad now 😠)

• Let’s be clear: the Pergamon is neither the Louvre OR especially the British Museum. When you admit some of your statues are copies of those in the British Museum, you have to admit you were only a second-class colonial tomb raider. 😂

• Then we stopped for a drink at the cafe there, where we remained invisible to wait stash for over half an hour! The bus-person told us they were "very busy," which seemed an exaggeration considering it was a Saturday in tourist season. 

• Then one building over to the Alte National Gallery. Their poster child is this painting, which is NOT a Renoir!

• The highlight here though was two-fold: I was wearing a Minnesota polo & held the door for people, several of whom asked me directions – in English!!! Then EH & KH BOTH got busted for carrying their purse wrong! By the same docent! I was told it started w KH pointing too closely to a statue. 😊

• It was raining outside. We waited. We found the right spot to hop on the off & on bus. We saw all of Berlin, including TWO Irish pubs & many Starbucks!

• Dinner was at Vapiano. If you don’t know the chain, it serves Italian food in a strange way – you have to stand at a counter & watch then prepare your food. Quips were made abt it not being a good food service day. ☹️

• We had Hagen Daz (there’s a retail store next to our local Starbucks) for late dessert. We had a six half scoop sampler, onto which “the chef” (Ice cream shops have chefs?!?!) added special toppings 😊 It was gone before anyone thought of a picture. But we’ll prob be back. Oh yeah I’m suppressed to remind you they were HALF scoops 😂

So far the weather has been spotty, with annoying afternoon showers both days & the famed German efficiency had been little in evidence – tho more than one German near us has mumbled “it’s Berlin, you expect it.”

Ich bin ein Berliner!

Yes, I'm back. Was told I had to blog "so we knew where we've been." 🤷‍♂️

Yes, we are in Berlin. For 4 nights. Three full days, starting tomorrow.

This will be "brief." Highlights of trip over & (part) day 1:

• A kid on the plane wailed the first our. I think it was "too tight " over & over, but maybe it wasn't English (did I mention we were 80 mins late taking off?)
• A woman on the flight had tattoos up her leg to her ass crack. How do I know, you ask? Bc she was wearing the smallest pair of denim cutoffs in history. As one of companions said, "you rode 8 hours on the plane w a constant wedgie?!"
• The street food thing in Berlin is currywurst. Yes, a brat w a sauce made of ketchup & curry. Really. I had it for dinner. (Pictured?)
• 
• We did a third of a bus tour on & off thing b4 two of three were asleep (names withheld to protect the old & infirm). 
• But what we saw was a constant reminder of a) it used to be a divided city (we are staying a block from the line) & b) the Allies destroyed a lot in WW 2
• Brandenburg Gate is impressive (US Embassy is right next to it) 

Well, that'll do for today. My Fitbit says I got 2 hours & 9 mins of sleep 😥