Tag: Berlin

TallyHo-Traveller’s Springtime Gallop Through Northern and Central Europe 2012 – Final Day Twelve

Posted on by carol_tallyho

Wake up Thursday the 12th to a full travel day back to the US! We had yet another efficient checkout of the Holiday Inn Mitte. After deciding the evening before to use a taxi to return to the airport because of the amount of luggage we were bringing back, the front desk promptly handled our request for a large taxi. Within minutes the auto arrived with enough room for 5 people and all our luggage – all this for less than 20 euros! What a deal!

Since the check in process for BA did not start until 90 minutes prior to departure, we stopped at the airport coffee shop Wien for juice, cappuccino and the biggest slice of cheesecake ever! Finally we said our goodbyes to Kaitlin and checked in, quickly went through Passport Control and Security (all the same queue) and after a short wait, boarded the plane.

An hour and a half later the plane landed at London Heathrow and, having eaten a smaller breakfast while approaching lunchtime, we opted to dine at Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food. Chris and I loved the beef carpaccio appetizer! While the fishcakes others ate were a little dry (Shame, Gordon!), the banana toffee pudding was fantastic. Not a cheap lunch, but a great location for watching planes take off and taxi to their respective gates!

After lunch, a final cruise of the duty free shops while awaiting the posting of a gate during the 1 and ½ hour delayed BA Flight #991 back to Denver. Finally a gate was posted and we took the underground train to Terminal 5 Concourse C to reach our departure gate. Eventually boarding began and the flight back to home was underway.

The flight crew aboard this plane was very friendly and competent – MUCH better than the other trans-Atlantic flight! I watched the movie, The Iron Lady, while eating a very flavorful dinner that came with complimentary wine and other beverages(when requested). After the dinner trays were removed and the Iron Lady ended, I started to watch War Horse but fell asleep halfway through (probably due to a combination of the previous week’s activity and not feeling well more than the actual movie itself). Upon awakening, I viewed part of the movie Tower Heist prior to a hard landing in Denver, but we brought the RAIN back with us (which we desperately needed)!!

All in all our April gallop through Northern and Central Europe was a fantastically memorable trip and we didn’t get lost once (Thanks to Vanessa)!!

Can’t wait ‘til our next visit…

TallyHo-Traveller’s Springtime Gallop Through Northern and Central Europe 2012 – Day Eleven

Posted on by carol_tallyho

Wednesday, April 4th – our last full day in Berlin! After breakfast Randy and Chris decided to visit the computer gaming museum in the southeast part of the city while we gals went to Ku’damm for some retail therapy. Sitting outside a small Italian coffee shop while Kaitlin savored “the best double chocolate cake in Berlin” we watched the birds at an adjacent outdoor aviary. A large crow entertained us as well by trying to decide which piece of biscotti to steal from the table next to us. After selecting the prized piece, the crow flew off victoriously, leaving the remainder for two sparrows to squabble over, much to our amusement! As we walked around the corner of the mini-shopping area, I spied a Meissen porcelain outlet. A few short minutes of marveling over the various wares (along with sticker shock at the prices) quickly showed me that even the outlet prices were definitely out of my price range. I did, however, take a complimentary Spring catalog as a souvenir.

Onward to H&M (there are ONLY 5 or 6 on the Ku’damm) for more value oriented shopping! I found a gold pleated dress just perfect for special occasions as well as a clearance blouse for springtime wear. Across the street at C&A, another value priced clothing store (as well as a competitor of H&M), Kaitlin and I both found some brightly colored springtime tops. We then popped in briefly at Karstadt to look at certain perfume pricing (and compare to airport duty free shop prices). By then the guys were finished with their museum experience and texted that we would all meet up soon.

We revisited the Irish Pub in the Europa Center for a late lunch – you can’t go wrong with an Irish coffee alongside a toasted ham ‘n cheese sandwich! After lunch it was back to the Ku-damm for more shopping, meeting up with the guys again at the hugely famous (or was it famously huge) department store KaDeWe. Our heads were on swivels as we tried to take in all the wares and activity inside the store’s main sales floor. Then off to the escalators to the 6th floor, home of the only food hall in Europe larger than Harrod’s of London! The cakes and pastries section looked divine and there was even a section of American foods. We laughed at the $8 Poptarts and $11 Quaker Oats Instant oatmeal pricing – one has to REALLY be homesick for the US of A to pay those prices when the German pastries and tortes beckon!! Out of the store we hurried back down the street to the S1 to keep a dinner appointment with yet another set of German cousins.

We arrived at our destination with just a couple of minutes to spare and walked to a small restaurant just outside the train station. Another type of schnitzel for me for our last dinner in Germany! I also tried a hot Gluhwein as an afterdinner balm to soothe my throat and help clear away the sinus congestion – the Gluhwein was very warm but not as sweet as I had imagined, but seemed to work well as a medicinal remedy. Another lovely evening spent with relatives ended too soon with a train ride back our hotel for an early bedtime in anticipation of another early wakeup call then next morning.

TallyHo-Traveller’s Springtime Gallop Through Northern and Central Europe 2012 – Day Eight

Posted on by carol_tallyho

The start of Easter Sunday arrived much too soon even with a late alarm of 8:15 AM. We dressed and met Kaitlin at 9 AM to walk the 4 blocks to the Einstein Cafe for breakfast. Just beating the morning rush of customers, we found a backroom table and enjoyed our light breakfast offerings of fruit, muffins, and cake as well as the mandatory coffee and tea. Since relatively few stores are open on Sunday in Germany we wandered across the street to briefly show Nana the CheckPoint Charlie memorial we had viewed in more depth the previous evening. Walking back to the Angleterre through a growing crowd of tourists I took photos of the hotel façade from across the street. Once inside the hotel, I took the lift (elevator) up to the 7th floor to check out the mini gym and sauna. Discovering both were locked at mid-day on a holiday Sunday I decided to go back and enjoy being in our lovely 2 room suite for a few more minutes before the noon checkout time. Check out was, once again, very friendly and efficient.

Back on the U6 to the S1 train we traveled on to the last hotel on our trip – the Holiday Inn Mitte, just a few short blocks from the Gesundbrunnen train station (Bahnhof).

Well, it’s only a few short blocks to the hotel providing you get off the train and head in the proper direction. As luck would have it, we did not and ended up walking around the long (i.e. scenic route) way to the hotel (Berlin city street maps are always a good idea). We walked through a small park on the way and arrived at the hotel about an hour prior to the published check in time. Luck was partially on our side, as the Reception Desk staff on duty informed us that one of our 2 requested rooms was ready, so we could certainly check in early with that one. We decided to drop off all of our luggage in the readied room and check in to the other once we returned to the hotel after meeting our German cousins.

Taking the train to Bornholmerstrasse in the former East Berlin section wto meet with our cousins at a coffee shop by the name of Elf (translated to “eleven” in English) we arrived just a few minutes before Cousin Martin. We sat in the backroom, anticipating ordering one of the sublime pieces of cake displayed in the front of the café. Various cake slices were eagerly ordered after Martin’s arrival – both Martin and Randy ordered a plum marzipan torte, Kaitlin and Nana had the raspberry torte and I opted for the schokoladen/orangen (chocolate/orange) torte which was heavenly! Chris chose a meat, cheese, fruit platter that was quite substantial (and quite tasty he said). Soon Cousin Kati and their 2 children arrived and introductions were made all around. Soon enough the toddlers became restless and Kati, being the good mother she is, took them across the street to the park while we conversed with Martin. After a couple of hours, naptime for the children beckoned, and we departed the café, but not before Nana and I ordered a couple of cake slices for carry out (I bet you can guess which types we chose) fas a late night dessert. Walking along with the cousins until we reached their apartment building, we bid adieu then walked back to the train station via another Berlin Wall memorial. This memorial commemorated the demise of the Wall and the reintroduction of the East Berliners with their West Berlin brothers and sisters via the bridge that stood immediately before us. A humbling experience and one all should see if given the opportunity.

Back to the Holiday Inn Mitte via train, we arrived just in time to dine at the hotel restaurant, Movie, and enjoy the Sunday Schnitzel Special menu. Eager with anticipation both Randy and I ordered the Wiener schnitzel – would it live up to our schnitzel expectations? Emphatically YES – the schnitzel was extraordinary as was the potato/ham/pickle salad that accompanied it. (Could we please bring the chef back to the States with us?) Nana enjoyed the chicken schnitzel (more like a chicken cordon bleu), Kaitlin savored her schnitzel selection and Chris truly appreciated the non-breaded pork schnitzel with “tasty buttery” potatoes on the side. Add the obligatory Berliner Weisse (red, not green) as the finish to a perfect European Easter Sunday.

After dinner Nana decided on a few short games of FreeCell on her Kindle while the rest of us decided to check out the sauna and observatory on the 6th floor. We discovered a fantastic view of nighttime Berlin from the outdoor portion of the conservatory and definitely sweated off some of the day’s calories in the menthol scented sauna (supposedly 5 minute limit per use which we eventually figured out). Then back to our rooms around 10 PM for much needed showers and sleep.

TallyHo-Traveller’s Springtime Gallop Through Northern and Central Europe 2012 – Day Seven

Posted on by carol_tallyho

We awoke to a 7 AM alarm Saturday the 7th in a Hotel Ibis’ newly refurbished fourth floor triple room. After preparing for the day, we all made our way downstairs to the hotel breakfast buffet. Tasty bread, rolls, pastries, cheese, ham, leberwurst, various herring dishes and an unusual-but-tasty beet salad beckoned as different breakfast options. All the various dishes we tried were very delectable and the coffee and juice were perfect finishing touches to start another very busy day. Our morning check out of the hotel was again very efficient and friendly; a large taxi called by the front desk for us arrived within 5 minutes of the phone call. A short taxi ride to Malmo’s Trianglin train station later, we purchased tickets for the train to CPH which arrived within 1 minute of our arrival to the train platform. Talk about efficient timing (and a little luck!). Alas, we had to be back in Berlin for Easter Sunday, but wished we had planned more time to explore and enjoy the city of Malmo (a great reason for a return future visit!).

Arriving at the Copenhagen airport with time to spare, Nana and I decided to do some window shopping and complimentary food sample tastings. After purchasing some duty free souvenirs (should have bought some of those addictive caramel wafer cookies, darn) we met up with the rest of our traveling party and walked to the gate posted on the Departures board for our return trip to Berlin. Prior to boarding, there were about 10 different newspapers for reading on board our 40 minute SAS flight – I snagged a London newspaper that surprisingly contained a colorful feature article on the flowers blooming in the Netherlands (how appropriate and déjà vu). After deicing the plane (it started to snow on our arrival to CPH) due to the cold and snow, we lifted off into the low clouds. The clouds prevented us from seeing any interesting land sites below until almost time for landing again at Berlin Tegel airport.

Back in Berlin the clouds slowly parted and allowed the sun to shine. The temperature was definitely warmer outside Berlin-Tegel airport waiting for the bus than the start of the day in Malmo! We travelled by bus and train to Fregestrasse, off Feuerbachstrasse S-Bahn station for a short time to regroup and formulate plans for the remainder of the day until check-in time for our next hotel “home”. At a local ReWe supermarket we picked up smore gluten free snacks and a bottle of Easter day wine for our German cousins. Then we walked several blocks down Bundesallee to a gluten free bakery discovered by Kaitlin on a previous weekend jaunt. Debating where to eat a late lunch, we opted for one of Kaitlin’s regular haunts, Café Melanie. Nana and Kaitlin ordered chicken enchiladas, Chris opted for a specialty cheeseburger, sans bun, and Randy and I savored German-style cherry cheese cake (kirsch kase kuchen) and coffee. Being revived by the very good and extremely filling food offerings we slowly made our way via train (how else?!) to the next hotel on our itinerary – the Angleterre Hotel (which I had booked on a whim since we only needed rooms for one night).

Arriving at Friedrichstrasse 31 (does the street name sound familiar?), we walked to the Reception Desk only to learn that since the hotel was fully booked for that night, our 2 standard rooms request had been upgraded to 2 two room queen suites at no extra charge. Happy Easter one day early! Nana decided to R&R in her shared suite while the rest of us walked four blocks to Checkpoint Charlie. While at the site we saw where the Wall had been (I took a photo to commemorate the event) and discussed the information at the Checkpoint Charlie memorial wall. We marveled at the revitalization in the former East Berlin area around us as dusk settled in along with the wind and a light snow. Wandering back to the Angleterre the snow started in earnest due to the increased cold temperatures.

Back at the hotel, Chris picked up a complimentary voucher for free Internet room access at the front desk. Once back in Nana’s suite, we opted to order room service due to the reasonable prices posted on the menu and because we were being wimps, not wanting to venture outside again at night into the cold and snow. Room service was prompt, but there were some issues regarding the gluten free portion of the order. More on that in my upcoming expanded article on the Hotel Angleterre. Finally all ended well with a little patience on our part. Definitely a good night’s rest was enjoyed by all.

TallyHo Traveller’s Springtime Gallop Through Northern and Central Europe 2012 — Day Four

Posted on by carol_tallyho

Wednesday the 4th of April found us rising early for another ample Hotel-Pension Kassandra breakfast buffet. After the meal Randy and Kaitlin headed to the Europa Center in a moderate rain to collect our rental car while I reluctantly checked out of the hotel. After a 30 minute wait, a rental Mercedes B Class showed up at the hotel where we quickly loaded our luggage and started on the road trip to Lisse, Netherlands for tulip viewing. After a couple of wrong turns, we finally got onto the autobahn in the direction of Hanover, driving through less and less rain the farther we traveled to the west. Once out of Berlin proper our son, Chris, deciphered the GPS navigation system (christened Vanessa by daughter Kaitlin) and set coordinates for our lunchtime diversion (and special surprise for Nana), Schloss (Castle) Marienburg, located about 45 minutes south of Hanover. Vanessa’s directions led us directly to the Schloss Marienburg parking area around noon, where we promptly located a great parking spot.

We stretched our legs as we gazed at the impressive castle grounds perched on a wooded hill ahead of us. Arriving at the expansive castle entrance gate, we turned left into the gift shop to purchase tickets (7 euro per adult) for the 2 PM tour of the castle interior; that left us ample time to relax and enjoy lunch at the onsite castle restaurant. The restaurant wait staff was friendly, as well as efficient, and our lunch of beef veggie soup, duck soup and lamb goulash was excellent (in addition to being very reasonably priced). A cool wind started to blow into the inner castle courtyard after lunch; time for the tour to begin! Our tour guide led the group into the antechamber and closed the door on the cool wind to begin the tour (no photos allowed!). Since the tour was delivered in German, Nana had elected to use the free audio tape available in English to more fully understand the spoken portion of the tour. The winding staircase to nowhere was a memorable part of the interior tour as well as the huge iron and copper pots in the fully stocked basement kitchen, library with ornate reading table and central heating grates and personal chapel with pews specifically reserved for the king and queen (AND the enormous pipe organ directly above the royal pews!).

An hour later we were back outside in the cold — time to head back to the Autobahn and onto the Netherlands. Randy enjoyed driving the sections of the roadway where there were no posted speed limits (reaching speeds up to 160 KPH at times)! Traffic moved quite well until about 35 km east of Amsterdam. A couple of slowdown areas due to heavier traffic at rush hour and then we were back up to the posted speed (no tickets, no harm, no foul), where there was one – some areas did not have a speed limit posted.

Along the way as we inched closer to the Germany/Netherland border, those of us awake spied an old fashioned windmill – how pretty and picturesque — Hello Holland! Kaitlin remarked that she loved her initial impression of the Netherlands – lots of green grass with horses in every pasture, it seemed, and colorful flower fields! We were getting closer to our lodging “home” for the next two days once we exited off the A44 heading for Sonnenheim. Vanessa’s directions for traveling through the numerous roundabouts (5, we counted!) were outstanding although there was some confusion at one of the roundabouts. Once that issue was resolved we decided that roundabout travel was a fun game of chicken, Holland style, when entering a roundabout. Docked along the canals next to the road were small boats of various types, some apparently used as homes, since lights emanated from their curtained windows in the early evening light.

Around 7:30 PM we arrived at our new lodging for the next 2 nights, the NH Leeuwenhorst Hotel and Conference Center. Check-in at the Reception desk was very friendly, efficient and in English! Our desk person even made same night dinner reservations for the onsite restaurant to complete the check-in process. Randy parked the Mercedes in the hotel parking garage, after we unloaded our baggage, and was back at the lobby within a few minutes. From there we proceeded to our elevator and the first floor where we were assigned 3 adjoining rooms. Since dinner reservations were not until 8:15 PM, we had plenty of time to look over our respective rooms, unpack and cruise the lobby gift shop. Dinner at the Sabre restaurant, included in our hotel package, was a pre-selected 3 course meal of 2 appetizer choices, 2 entrée choices and 2 dessert choices. My choice of venison carpaccio app, steak with mushroom sauce and chocolate mousse met with a mixed review. The appetizer was very memorable as was the dessert but the steak was a little overcooked from the medium that was ordered. I should have opted for the prawns and cod that the others had ordered and raved about. Such is life! The food in general was very good but the service was exceedingly slow – over 2 hours for a 3 course “fix pris” meal. I finally had to flag down another waiter to request the dinner check – not what I needed at 10:30 PM after a very long but enjoyable day of travel. Ending the evening in our nicely furnished rooms was a positive note – each room was furnished in soothing neutral tones with accents of burgundy red, complete with modern flatscreen TVs (English speaking channels included CNN and BBC), choice of pillow types, in room tea and both a soaking tub and separate shower in the en suite bathrooms. Sleep came quickly that evening, dreaming of the eventful day to come.

TallyHo Traveller’s Springtime Gallop Through Northern and Central Europe 2012 — Day Three

Posted on by carol_tallyho

What a treat Tuesday morning, April 3rd, revealed — trying to decide which of the numerous buffet items to choose from for breakfast – varied selections of breads and pastries, croissants, hard boiled eggs, several types of meats, cheeses, yogurt, several juices, milk, tea and coffee. Anna and two other employees kept the buffet well supplied until after 9 AM! Everything we ate was delectable! A fantastic way to start our Berlin adventure!

After breakfast we met up with our daughter Kaitlin and took the U-Bahn then S-Bahn trains and then bus transfer southwest of Berlin proper to a small town called Kleinmachnow. Our daughter escorted us around town and we walked to the Berlin Brandenburg International (BBIS) school, an International Baccalaureate school, where she is currently student teaching (hence one of the reasons for this trip). Along the way, we saw various trees and flowers already blooming, much earlier than when we left Colorado! An older man was walking his very cute Westie in a forested area not far from the BBIS. After touring the school grounds, we opted to walk a path that led us through the forest along a large lake. After a very long lakeside walk, we climbed a short distance to an abandoned castle (our retirement home, Kaitlin kidded), the Hakeburg Castle. The huge, stately castle sat overlooking the lake through the trees and was a complex of marvelous older buildings, complete with a cobblestone courtyard and conservatory on the side of the actual castle as well as a neglected formal garden area in back. We lingered there a short while, looking around and dreaming, if only that MegaMillions jackpot were ours! Finally we hiked back down a different (and, thankfully, shorter) path to where we had entered the woods. Opting to go back to the bus stop a different way, we walked back down the hill through a residential area (and saw two honest-to-God fixer-uppers for sale) to wait for Bus 623 to take us back to Berlin Zehlendorf.

After our extensive morning walk, it was time for lunch. Tomasa’s Restaurant’s posted menu had some interesting gluten free options so we decided to try their food. Kaitlin and I decided, not being as hungry as the others, we would share the gnocchi with shrimp and lachs. This turned out to be a fortuitous plan because the food portions were HUGE! The dish was very tasty and paired wonderfully with my Berliner Weisse (a very famous Berlin drink of weiss beer and raspberry syrup – yum)!

After lunch activities included more walking and riding the S-Bahn train to the Brandenburg Tor with a short stroll through part of the Tiergarten, all the while taking many snaps with the camera. Back past the Tor and the US Embassy onto Unter den Linden (where the street is appropriately lined with linden trees) led us to the Volswagen Automobil forum Bentley/Bugatti showroom on Friedrichstrasse. Upon entering the showroom/museum, a black Bugatti Veyron (th red accents, of course) was prominently displayed — a source of much excitement for those brave enough to enter the building. While my husband Randy stood in awe, enjoying the view of the fastest European supercar in existence, I marveled (and took multiple photos) at the Bentley sedan displayed next to the Veyron. After a short tour of the rest of the museum, we walked south on Friedrichstrasse to the Ubahn station, hopped the U1 back to Uhlandstrasse and walked back to Hotel-Pension Kassandra.

Once we left Nana back at the room to recooperate from the day’s activities, the rest of us walked a few blocks and discovered a small health food store to stock up on some gluten free snacks. Then back around the corner to Uhlandstrasse we looked for a Konditorei to consume some late afternoon coffee and cake. At Kaffee Rosterei there were many tea and coffee varieties to select from, as well as multiple types of cakes and pastries (even a gluten free cake)! After a relaxed hour with a large latte and slice of cake, we meandered back to the hotel for the remainder of the evening.

TallyHo Traveller’s Springtime Gallop Through Northern and Central Europe 2012 — Day Two

Posted on by carol_tallyho

Having landed at LHR a few minutes ahead of schedule on Monday, April 2nd, at noon (UK time), due to constant tail winds, all passengers were offloaded and transported to Terminal 5 by bus. The weather was in the low 60s and mostly sunny – no expected British rainshowers for once! Once inside the Terminal we followed the purple Flight Connections signs to Security and quickly went through that process. It’s amazing how much faster the Security process went with not having to take shoes off! Once belts and jackets were back on, two of us decided to window shop some of the Heathrow Terminal 5 shops – Harrods, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Tiffany and the Caviar House (free smoked salmon samples there) – before meeting up with the others. Since we still had a 3 ½ hour layover before the next BA flight, it was time to eat lunch (or was it an early dinner?) at Terminal 5’s Crown Pub bar and restaurant. What a great decision for reasonably priced airport pub grub this choice was! I waxed poetic over a British mini-pie selection consisting of a steak and ale pie (my absolute favorite), a chicken and root veggie pie (much better than anticipated) and a shepherd’s pie (still good, but the least liked of the 3). The mini-pies were accompanied by a huge serving of mashers (mashed potatoes as we Yanks would say) and steamed mixed veggies. Add a half pint of Guinness as the perfect beverage and a perfectly memorable lunch was slowly savored. Chili and smoked salmon baguette sandwiches ordered by other members of the traveling party were equally consumed with great satifaction while we waited for a gate assignment to be posted on the Departure board for the final segment of our trip to Berlin, Germany.

After a couple of hours we decided to walk off some of our d mouth-watering lunch and try to find information regarding our rapidly approaching departure gate. Stopping at the British Airways Customer Service desk we were given the information we needed. A short walk from that desk and we were at the correct gate. Soon our fellow passengers began descending on the area and a general boarding call was made soon after. Let the cattle call begin! After going through another Customs check with passports at the ready we actually boarded the plane via a walkway and not stairs and a bus. An improvement to be sure!

A short, efficient hour flight later we landed at Berlin’s Tegel airport. After a few minutes waiting for a gate (due to being early yet again) we finally disembarked the plane. Getting through German Customs was quick and efficient and our luggage was waiting for us at Baggage Claim when we got there. Upon exiting the Baggage Claim area our daughter, Kaitlin, met us and directed us to the bus transportation area. We took Bus 109 from the airport to the Kurfurstendamm/Uhlandstrasse stop. After deciding which direction our first hotel might be, we took a guess and headed south on Uhlandstrasse. Two blocks later and there it was, the Hotel-Pension Kassandra, located on the corner of Uhlandstrasse and Lietzenburger Strasse.

A buzz of the door button opened the wooden security door and we walked up a flight of gorgeous older white marble steps to Reception. Anna, our evening hostess, was a very efficient and friendly older German matron who took us to our room and described, Auf Deutsch, how the room’s door lock and light switches worked as well as cautioned about the step up to the bathroom. Our requested room of a quad consisted of 1 double and 2 single beds, 2 writing desks with chairs, a small TV with multiple channels and a large wardrobe for luggage and clothes. The double bed mattress was new and very comfy (NO bedbugs here!) and the feather comforter kept me VERY warm at night.

The Hotel-Pension Kassandra was a clean, but older, building in need of some TLC (in particular the threadbare carpets) but considering the price of the room, which included a wonderfully extensive breakfast buffet and the central Berlin location, our 2 night stay here was a great start to our Berlin holiday. After dumping our luggage in our room we walked and window shopped the Ku’damm down to the Europa Center and ate a late dinner at the Irish Pub bar and grill. One tasty toasted ham and cheese sandwich washed down with Irish Mist made for a satisfying end to a very exciting travel day.

New Year’s Eve Zaniness in the Heart of Berlin

Posted on by carol_tallyho

11:55 pm, December 31st – New Year’s Eve. Standing on Unter den Linden just a few blocks away from the Brandenburg Tor; in the midst of a few thousand of my fellow revellers it’s apparent that for 355 days of the year Berliners are sane humans but New Year’s Eve brings out the “pyro” in both Berliners and visitors alike.

One day every year, December 31st to be exact, anyone in the city of Berlin, or any German city, can legally buy the most amazingly high powered fireworks made (by US standards) just about anywhere. In fact we bought our fireworks pack in a stationery store of all places! The entire day is spent in anticipation of sunlight leaving so the day’s purchase of skyrockets can be unleashed into the darkening sky without repercussion from the police or other authorities.

Dinners are planned with almost military-like precision so that meals are completed prior to midnight when most of the noise and lights of the fireworks erupt. Then the party moves outside to let the real festivities begin… fireworks that look like mortar boxes are set off in the street just a few feet away…fireworks of gold, green, red, orange and even a purplish blue scream overhead, launched from the building rooftops lining the street… sometimes ducking around a building corner for temporary cover is required in this free-for-all madcap frenzy of pyro-activity. But oh, the adrenaline rush and excitement of watching the sounds and colors associated with the exploding all around you is so utterly contagious!

After the fireworks are finally done and the last lone flash and scream in the air is over the crowd slowly disperses, with most wandering toward the closest well-known Ubahn stop. Tag along with a local and catch a less crowed subway line just around the corner to get back home within a reasonable length of time. Beware tho, even on the Ubahn and the Ubahn station you can encounter firecracker activity so stay alert! If one lands next to your foot you can either move away really fast or (if you are lucky) stomp on it really hard with your shoe to put it out!

Venturing outside the next morning, New Year’s Day, brings a shock to those who are new to the Berlin style of NYE partying. On the streets and along the sidewalks sit massive amounts of spent fireworks papers, bottle rocket sticks and finished fuses — it looks like a war zone! By the next morning though (January 2nd) the masses of debris are neatly swept up into piles 2 to 3 feet deep alongside the streets awaiting pickup by the trash collectors!

My advice—if you EVER get the chance to travel to Berlin for New Year’s Eve, GO! You will never forget the experience!