Brandenburger Tor, Berlin

Albeit slightly delayed, I wanted to write about my recent travels to Berlin for a friend’s Stag!  I write this as I longily look back to the Indian Summer we had in early September, where the temperatures hit the 30s (C) for a long weekend. Probably not the best combination when planning on drinking copious amounts of beer!

This was my first trip abroad this year, and only extended break from work following a week away in Norfolk.

We set off early on the Friday morning. I was lucky to get a lift so was able to relax a little to the airport. We missed the junction to Stansted off the M11, so not a good start.. but we made it with plenty of time to spare.

We got our bags dropped and through security, where we could relax a little.

This was my first trip to Berlin, and although I am half German, hadn’t made it there yet. I have family near Dusseldorf and in Hamburg.

Following delays getting through airport security on the German side (lots of jokes relating to German efficiency) we managed to get an Uber and get to our AirBnb. At this point we were fairly ravished, so headed out to find food and beer! We managed to find the German equivalent of Weatherspoons so got stuck in for lunch.

Next, our plans were to see some history, before we drank too much. We hopped on the U-Bahn and checked out Brandenburger Tor, the Rathouse, and the Wall. The weather was beautiful whilst we walked round taking in the sights.

We returned in the evening for a traditional beer hall event, with music and lots of steins. We bumped into lots of friendly people and all had a good laugh.

The next day was a rather slow start, but we had a beer bike booked so needed to get ready and into town. We managed to split off and get some breakfast and headed to our location. The idea was to eat something to line our stomachs. The weather was going to be hot and we were all dreading a beer bike in the heat. I remembered sun cream and wore my hat constantly. That and my forward thinking bringing electrolyte powder with me (saved me).  It’s also true that a lot of local UK beers have impurities which tend to cause a fuzzy head the next day. The heat and lots of walking kept us drinking lots of water too anyway.

We had a great time, with many additional breaks added in. These were definitely needed as the weather was very hot and we were out in the middle of the day.

We got some good recommendations of places to go and visit and stopped off at a nice river side location called “Holzmarkt” lots of pop-up bars and restaurants. We got really good homemade pizza! I was equally surprised how many places still didn’t take card (compared with Hamburg where everywhere takes it, certainly since Covid).

This is getting quite lengthy now, so keep an eye out for part 2!