What we really did yesterday!

Wednesday, 27 February, 2013

Guten Morgan!

 

I do apologize for the short blog last night – but it had been a long day, and I’d had two glasses of wonderful French wine…so, instead of blogging, I went to bed!!  So much for apologies…and also, there are no new photos to include!

Up yesterday morning at 5:30 a.m.  (We had set the alarm clock for 6, but whenever I set the clock, I automatically wake up at least half an hour prior…) and we were actually ready to leave Bibury at 7!  Loaded up the car (a really nice little model, with the exception that there were only two doors, making the loading and unloading a bit difficult) and on our way about 7:15 a.m.  It turns out that Emmy (our GPS) calculated that it would take about 1 ½ hours to get to Luton airport.  The weather started out rather mistily, but we also had periods of heavier rain as well as lots of fog to deal with.  However, it seems that going west to east in southern England can be rather a challenge, at least in the morning “rush hour” period.  We had to divert from several A roads onto smaller B roads, sometimes because of construction, and sometimes because of massive traffic queues!  All in all, it took us 2 hours 45 minutes to make it to Luton!  And while everyone who knows us knows that we LOVE to get to airports early, we were very happy to have left when we did – for our 1:40 p.m. flight!

Arrived at Luton and turned in the car; shuttle bus to the airport.  Even though we were a bit early for check-in, the nice folks at EasyJet checked our bags and we headed through security.  I have to admit, it was a bit of a challenge for me.  First, there were just TOO many pieces to deal with, by the time we had computer out, iPad out (which was a first), bracelet off, jackets, scarves, bag of liquids, etc….then I set off the alarm system, so off came my shoes…I had the pat-down and by this time, Robert was through – but somehow his carry-on bad hadn’t gone through, so where was that?  (containing camera and GPS)  And where were my shoes?  As I say, it was a difficult process, which certainly got my blood pressure up… Finally, all the pieces came through the X-ray machine and we got out of there!

We did have time to get some lunch – lovely Cesar salads, and then wait for gate posting.  As there were three planes taking off within 10 minutes each other, and everyone had to go through the one gateway before branching off, it was something like an Oklahoma land rush once gates were posted.  Not far to walk, and we were numbers 2 and 3 in line for Speedy Boarding on our flight.  (If you pay a little bit extra, you can select your seat and get on the plane first, which means you can find space in the overhead bin for carry-ons.)  Our favorite seats are 1A and 1C, but that does mean we have no underseat storage room.  No problem, though – and there was no one sitting between us!  Flight off just on time, and it was quite lovely!  AND, we saw the SUN for the first time in at least a week!  Yipee!!  It’s still there!!  

Nice flight – about an hour and a half and landed at Schoenfeld airport, about 18 km out of town.  Quickly through Customs and collected our bags; all very efficient.  We had instructions on how to get to Circus Hotel, which worked very well.  We walked out of the airport and down a specified outdoor corridor to the train station.  We bought our tickets, stamped them in the right machine, and then found the train (which turned out to be on track 6 instead of the “usual” track 3…)  On to the train – over-heated, actually!  About 20 minutes later, the train left the station; probably took about 20 minutes to get us to Alexanderplatz, and off we went.  Then downstairs into the bowels of Berlin to U-Bahn (train) line 8 for two stops.  No problems at all; (I had been concerned that we would be running into rush-hour traffic, and while we did, there were still seats available for us!)  Then up again to ground level and across the street to, Voila!, Circus Hotel!  (I find that such an odd name for a hotel…possibly it’s the “Circus Circus” reminder…)  Circus Hotel is rated #1 in Berlin hotels, so we were thought we’d give it a try.

In a word?  It’s FABULOUS!  Katherine, a lovely young Brit checked us in.  It’s a very contemporary feeling place (we’re probably the oldest visitors in the place!).  We had splurged an extra 10 Euros for a “junior suite” and it was lovely!  We have a really large room with table and chairs, good work area and a lovely bathroom.  It’s in the interior of the hotel, so our view is one of the courtyard, which is quite attractive, and very, very quiet, for which we are thankful!   Robert got busy setting up the computer and logging in, while I unpacked everything and got us “situated.”  

It was now time for dinner!  We asked Katherine for a recommendation, and she suggested two places in the neighborhood – a small French bistro, and Transit which she described as Asian tapas.  Bingo!  Walked down the street and into the door – true and utter chaos, but on a very human scale!  HUGE room with tables and benches.  Tables were very close together, but, as Robert pointed out, it didn’t feel like you were sitting in your neighbor’s lap.  They were obviously full, but the hostess asked if we could come back in 10 minutes – which we could.  Walked around the area a bit and then back.  We were seated in a great area – fairly close to the kitchen, so that we were able to attract attention if/when we wanted it.  Basically, the menu works as follows:  Little plates, all at 3 E(uros) each; Big plates at 8 E, bowl of rice or noodles, 1 E.  Then, just like at a sushi bar, you check off the numbers that you want and hand it over.  We ordered six different little plates – spring rolls; tempura shrimp in guacamole (which is wonderful!); Asian spareribs; chicken in coconut milk; egg rolls and our very favorite, chicken satay in a very spicy peanut sauce!  YUM!  All washed down with some wonderful French wine…We actually had a second round – one more of spring rolls, satay and tempura shrimp.  Boy; fabulous meal, and including the wine, it was something like 50 Euros!  Wow!!  A fabulous find!  (Just checked, and it ranks #18 of the thousands of Berlin restaurants on Tripadvisor!)

We then staggered back down the street and into the Circus…So now we’re all caught up from yesterday!  (I think I was blogging all night in my head…)  Up this morning about 6:30 a.m.  We’ll try breakfast here this morning, I think, and then head out to get our museum/transit passes and be at one of the museums at 10!

More later!

m

xxx