3 days in Berlin. Do everything and enjoy.
For some reason, the good Greeks, before the next trip to the sea, gave me and my family a long multivisa. For which they bow low. Almost from childhood, I dreamed of how to spontaneously wave somewhere in Europe for a couple of days in a movie. Like drinking beer. Or coffee. But the main thing is without lengthy preparation, buying a tour, fees, etc. And so I decided. First I found the cheapest airline flying to Europe from Moscow. It turned out to be AirBerlin, and accordingly the cheapest tickets were to Berlin. Since, in principle, I didn’t care where, Berlin was quite suitable. With some difficulties, I ordered tickets (90 e. one way) on the Internet. I booked a hotel in the center using Bookincome. (105 e. two days for two with breakfast), ordered a visit to the Reichstag (free of charge, book three possible visit times, come at a convenient time for you), and flew.
Taxi Airport - Hotel 13 e. Hotel Pension Cortina is located almost in the very center of the city, it occupies two floors in an old apartment building with a solid staircase and a gloomy-elegant courtyard-well. Cortina is an institution for super-economical tourists with penny rooms and toilets in the corridor. But I booked a deluxe room and lived in a room with all the usual hotel business. Breakfast was not supposed to be on the day of arrival, but the receptionist offered us to pay and have breakfast. (6 e. for two). Eggs, three types of real sausage, bacon, two types of cheese, one of them is brie, two types of juices from packages (not fresh, but not Zuko), coffee, various teas, etc. (see price).
First day of stay. Reichstag. Frankly disappointed. The Reichstag for a Russian (Soviet) person is a sacred place and it was wild to listen to information in a Russian-language talking book about the fact that Koch invented his wand in the building on the right, and the like, and, practically, not a word about our dashing grandfathers. Then a trip on the City Circle sightseeing bus (22 E. for 2 days) around the city. The beauty of this bus is that there is a Russian speaker; the route is laid through the most extreme places and you can go to any of the 20 stops, take a walk, take pictures, piss or pull mulled wine. And then get on the next one and continue the trip. And so 2 days. From the Reichstag we drove to the Europe Center (remember Mimino there, he finally bought a green crocodile) and through a breathtaking Christmas market with sausages, gingerbread, mulled wine and other joys we headed to the hotel. On the way we went to the erotic museum. There is not much to describe here. Pipis, Lots of pips. expected. I was shocked by the sex shop at the museum. The range is clear, although not all. But the most fantastic thing is the customers. People wandered along the shelves without a hint of embarrassment or hee-hee. A married couple chose a whip, and the woman slapped the man on the backside a couple of times, and not for fun, but to check the ergonomics. A young, 25-year-old pretty girl chose a rubber horseradish, weighing it in her hand, running it with the back of her fingers and carefully examining the surface. Those. if she closed her eyes and did not see horseradish, then the feeling was that she was choosing zucchini or grapefruit in a vegetable shop. The emotions on the face are the same. And almost all buyers behaved this way, and there were many of them. In order to keep up with the representatives of civilized Europe, I purchased several packs of disposable vaginas. I hope that my friends will not strangle me when they find these things in packages with their New Year's gifts.
Second day. Trip to Potsdam. The metro to Potsdam goes from the nearest station to the hotel (Savignyplatz) without transfers. Subway tickets are sold directly on the platform. If you are a woodpecker like me and don’t understand devices where you need to poke your finger at the screen, then just go up to any German with a bill in your hands and mumble something like “Help... ticket... Potsdam town eprst” They will be happy to help. And they will remind you that the ticket must be validated. (Approximately 3 e. You can ride for 2 hours. ) From the station in Potsdam, you can take a tour of all the palaces, or you can take a city bus on your own and get to Sanssouci. It is cold to wander around the park in winter and we just went to the palace itself. (I don’t remember the price, but they give out a Russian speaker. ) The palace is summer and there is also a dubak in it. After the palace, you can go down to the park, walk to the fountain, turn left from it and you will enter the city. Take it a little to the right, then follow the signs to a certain arch (or gate) from it begins the sweetest shopping street with an unobtrusive assortment of mulled wine and sausages. So you can get back to the station. Facing him, pay attention to the small station cinema (he is on the right). It is called LSD and the poster surprises with its conciseness. Only 2 films. Erotic film 1 and Erotic film 2. In the evening of the same day, I advise you to visit the GDR Museum. Although this is not our nostalgia, the museum is good. You can touch everything, touch it, turn the steering wheel at the Trabant, sit during an interrogation at the Stasi, sit on the toilet in a typical GDR apartment. Yes, and round jars of Floren's cream will remind many a lot. In the evening, you can eat in a German restaurant halfway from the hotel to the metro. A standard dinner will cost 35-45 e.
Third day. Another yellow City Circle bus. I recommend getting out to take a photo at the stops Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate (there is nowhere to piss), the Berlin Wall Museum. If you like museums and palaces, then you can stay in Charlottenburg. It's warm there, they don't give Russian speakers, but they give the text in Russian with a breakdown of the exhibits. Shopping. KaDeVe did not shock. Luxury brands with Moscow prices. Tods moccasins on sale were more expensive than in Moscow. For this it is worth going to Milan. As an experienced aunt suggested to me, in Berlin you need to buy nameless, but solid German men's pants and bras. We have the same figures with the Germans and there are no problems with the size and cut, unlike the same Italy.
It cost me 20 euros and 300 grams of Russian (Soviet) sweets like Mishka or Belochka to extend my hotel room until the evening. The management of Cortina is Russian-speaking, so he fell for a modest offering. Taxi to Tegel 13 e. After passing the aviation control, do not rush to go to the drive. It is problematic to get out of there. Passports will be stamped. And there is not something like Dyutik or beer pubs. There isn't even a toilet. And from the duty free zone, they let me go back to German soil to smoke quite freely. True, on their return they called again.
Look like that's it. I wanted to be brief, but it didn't work out very well. But maybe someone will benefit from the experience.
