28th December 2015.....Bristol to Berlin.

It's been a while since Reykjavik, almost a year in fact bar a few days, this doesn't mean there has been a lack of adventures just a different manner of adventure, for  a start I spent 9 weeks in a full leg brace after knee surgery which somewhat hampered my exploring lust and destined my faithful bike to a summer in the shed. The Badger was, as ever, good company but as she advances in years she sleeps and when she sleeps, she snores and that is not relaxing.
 The other adventure consists of a beautiful blonde, the one I had to promise I wouldn't eat a puffin whilst in Iceland, we had a week in La Rochelle after I regained the ability to walk more that the length of the hallway, there was no diary of that, so this will be the first travel item I write accompanied by a girl and not just any girl.

I haven't flown from Bristol in a few years, it doesn't seem like a real airport, it's so laid back and small it almost doesn't fit in the UK, it would be fine in France or Greece where a lackadaisical approach to airport procedure are common place but it sticks out like a sore thumb in the world of uptight UK security. It was really nice to only drive an hour and a half to an airport and to only have the same length flight was refreshing. A couple of downloaded episodes of Bosch saw the flight off in what seemed like no time.
 Walking out onto the runway after a smooth touchdown it was noticeably colder than the UK, only about 4 degrees centigrade but worth of a good coat. The "transfer" from Schoenefeld airport to our hotel was to be undertaken by train, a mixture of the S line, essentially an overground network that occasionally heads underground and the U line, a full-time underground service, it wasn't daunting at all, if you've ever used the underground in London or any other major city, you'll find this a doddle. There is however one thing to note, you must validate your ticket, stations appear to be unmanned and tickets for single journeys, day passes and week passes are available from the automated machines that all have the option of English, once you pay and get your ticket you have to present it to one of the small validating machines on the platform, it stamps the ticket with the date. Ticket collectors travel in plain clothes and if they catch you without a ticket or with an un-validated one they will fine you......100 euro! The fares are cheap, a day travel pass in zones A & B cost 6.90 EUR and once you take 5 minutes to figure out the machines you'll be ready for the train experience itself.
 As a lover of all things retro and kitsch I was instantly enamoured, the trains appeared to be a relic of the cold war, bright yellow, small and boxy they were however the most punctual, quiet and clean relic I have ever been on. We departed the S45 train at Templehof and took the U6 to Stadtmitte, as we exited the station and made our way above ground it soon became apparent that we were in the middle of the road ! This, as I was informed, is the same as with a lot of stations in New York, it seemed like a daft idea to me.

The hotel is called Gat point Charlie and was converted from the old Stasi headquarters and as expected for a building formerly inhabited by the state security for the German Democratic Republic, it isn't a pretty building although they have tried to disguise it's concrete coldness with some green neon lights, it didn't work. Inside, in stark contrast, everything is very modern and very white. The room was similar and after we'd unpacked we went for a short stroll around before heading to the bar for a quick drink before bed, I had an ice cold Berliner beer and the pretty one had English breakfast tea, naturally.