So, Berlin then

[Lang Spoon]

Off to Berlin for a week on some work boondoggle mid October. Hopefully will have a bit of time away from official stuff. What’s the skinny for someone too old fer Tresor? If I arrive on a Sunday will most everything be closed?

[Lang Spoon]

Would The Einstein Observatory be doable for a quick trip? I’m assuming transport is super efficient to suburbs and the like but I have heard a lot of moaning about German regional trains

[Wouter D]

What’s the skinny for someone too old fer Tresor?

I mean, I'm a Dutchman who has spent some time in Berlin not too long ago, and I have both several friends and a truly fucked up brother-in-law living there. So I'd love to pass on some half-insider tips. But this sentence might as well have been written in Greek, for I have no idea what it is supposed to mean.

I watched the rugby in this Irish pub near the Tiergarten, and got chucked out at about half past four on a Saturday night because the place closed. On Sundays they claim to be open until 02:30. I guess that that would suffice for most people.

I haven't the foggiest about the Einstein Observatory.

[WOM]

Toby Gymshorts does Berlin. He should be along at any moment to direct you...or accompany you.

[ursus arctos]

Potsdam is dead easy to get to and from in multiple ways.

Some stuff will be closed on Sunday afternoon. There are these things called "websites" that have hours and directions.

Do any tour that Slow Travel Berlin is offering when you are there.

[treibeis]

Go to Willi Mangler and order the Wurstplatte. And ask the bloke in the navy-blue shell-suit why "Dorf" isn't in the starting line-up for the local Landesliga team.

You'll get your head kicked in - "Dorf", which is short for "Dorfdepp" ("village idiot"), is his son -, but it'll be something to tell your grandchildren.

[ursus arctos]

Collection of previous threads, some with the exact same title.

[Lang Spoon]

I mean, I'm a Dutchman who has spent some time in Berlin not too long ago, and I have both several friends and a truly fucked up brother-in-law living there. So I'd love to pass on some half-insider tips. But this sentence might as well have been written in Greek, for I have no idea what it is supposed to mean.

I watched the rugby in this Irish pub near the Tiergarten, and got chucked out at about half past four on a Saturday night because the place closed. On Sundays they claim to be open until 02:30. I guess that that would suffice for most people.

I haven't the foggiest about the Einstein Observatory.

Tresor is a techno club I don’t have the constitution for no more. Skinny= The low down, news.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

They will take any part of the pig, drown it in salt and boil it for you. so you have that to look forward to.

If you go to the Volkswagen Showroom, they have a bugatti Veyron, which is interesting if you are into cars, however what is far more interesting is that it has an energy rating like a fridge, and it's the longest one of those I've ever seen.

[Lang Spoon]

I’m all for for salted pig, and pig accessories. I might even put on weight if I can stomach the cabbage

[treibeis]

I’m all for for salted pig, and pig accessories. I might even put on weight if I can stomach the cabbage

No, if you eat the cabbage, you'll shit out half your body weight by midnight. Meat, potatoes, beer, schnapps - but no cabbage.

[ursus arctos]

Don't feel that you have to try Weisse mit Schuss just because you've heard that people drink it.

They do (though imagine fewer every year, as the core market dies off), and you shouldn't (whether green or red, they are both awful).

I'm quite sure that everything that I've said so far is on at least one of the other threads (and probably more than one).

Spreepark might be up your street (along with the other things on that blog, though it is a bit out of date now).

If you go to the Einstein Tower, you should make time for Cecilenhof, which is pretty much what you expect a Kaiser's version of an English Country House would be. I believe that they have re-planted the massive red star of flowers that the Soviets put in front of the entrance.[/url]

There are also a tonne of lower level football clubs, many representing various ethnic communities.

[San Bernardhinault]

The fact that tourists in Berlin go to Stone Brewing has not yet stopped seeming deeply dislocating. But the fact that the alternative is Weisse makes it more reasonable.

[Lang Spoon]

Collection of previous threads, some with the exact same title.

Maybe it’s my browser, but whenever you link to old threads, I just get a sorry, no matches message.

[treibeis]

ursus is right about Berliner Weisse. Imagine half a pint of Harp that's been hanging around on the bar for 24 hours. Add a thawed-out ice-pop to it, then drink it. And then, because the barman knows you're a tourist, pay a fiver for the privilege.

[ursus arctos]

Go to Advanced Search.

Put Berlin in the Keyword box.

Select "Search Titles Only" from the dropdown menu to the right.

Hit "Search Now".

[treibeis]

Go to Advanced Search.

Put Berlin in the Keyword box.

Select "Search Titles Only" from the dropdown menu to the right.

Hit "Search Now".

Just to make things clear: That won't make the Berliner Weisse taste any better.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

ursus is right about Berliner Weisse. Imagine half a pint of Harp that's been hanging around on the bar for 24 hours. Add a thawed-out ice-pop to it, then drink it. And then, because the barman knows you're a tourist, pay a fiver for the privilege.

So it's the beer version of the Currywurst?

There's no end of really good beer to be had in Berlin. there's probably no need to go down that road.

[ursus arctos]

[treibeis]

So it's the beer version of the Currywurst?

There's no end of really good beer to be had in Berlin. there's probably no need to go down that road.

Yes, but most of it isn't from Berlin.

As I never tire of saying - although everyone I know tires of listening: South Germany has many faults, but the beer it brews is better than anything up north.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

I vaguely remember getting gloriously drunk in a bar by the river that had essentially moved from Bonn, when the Govt did. There were fat middle aged businessmen or officials singing songs of the homeland. It sounded less poignant in berlin than it did in Boardwalk empire. But I felt that I was getting a full value German experience. Particularly the beer. Did I mention the beer?

[treibeis]

There were fat middle aged businessmen or officials singing songs of the homeland.

They're Rheinländer. You can have that experience every single day of every single year anywhere in the world.

[JVL]

As I never tire of saying - although everyone I know tires of listening: South Germany has many faults, but the beer it brews is better than anything up north.

treibeis speak truth.

I'll be back down south for a few days in October and (much as I am enjoying the selection of beers now available over here) am already looking forward to that first large Helles with my brother-in-law at whatever pub we head out to in Reutlingen. You can keep your Jever, Flensburger and all that, the beers from South Germany - with the honourable exception of Heidelberger Pils, which is filthy rat's piss of the highest order - are spot on.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Get on your bike and go and see the Soviet war memorial south east of the city. Its as big, and even more impressive than the Olympic stadium.

When I was there you could hire bikes at the base of the TV tower. They do guided tours in English, with interesting pub stops along the way.

[Duncan Gardner]

So, there's this chicken joint...readers will be unsurprised that I'm increasingly chided by family and friends for repeating the same stock of travel tip anecdotes.

Was in Sans Souci the other day. Admittedly the one home to Belfast University's halls of residence. My mate Brian parked there for the Bosnia game. Hoping we draw the Germans again for next year's qualifiers. Hamburg would be good