Oh dear, I seem to have been to Berlin and returned without blogging once! For what was supposed to be a more relaxed trip it turned out to be quite busy, and maintaining my main diary was hard enough work in itself. So I plan to do some retrospective blogging, on the correct dates, just to keep the record straight. Starting now, 14 June.
I caught the first of my three buses to Luton airport at 09:43. It arrived on time at the first connection, but the #101 at the stop over the road eventually arrives 18 minutes late, just as I thought it might have been cancelled. Much discussion with some local people about how best to get to the airport. But a local man says that he's noticed that our driver changes the number of this bus from 101 to 100 after arriving in Luton town centre, and then goes on to the airport – in other words it will become the bus that I thought I was going to miss.
And so it did. So I arrived at the airport at 11:30, only a few minutes later than planned, and made a beeline to Starbucks for a well-earned cappuccino. Quite quickly through security, where the staff were unchacteristically cheerful and friendly. Then to the departure lounge, where I find the flight is estimated to be 40 minutes late! I sat and ate my sarnies and made a start on the diary.
The gate opened at the scheduled departure time and we formed a long queue. When we finally moved we were marshalled into a holding pattern in an airless four-storey stairwell for 10 minutes. Eventually onto the plane, which pushed back exactly an hour late at 14:40, for the 90 minute flight to Berlin Schönefeld. I passed quickly through passport control. Everything is very quiet and the airport is almost deserted – it felt positively provincial.
Located the Tourist Information desk and bought two Berlin Welcome cards, giving me free and convenient travel on trains, buses and trams, and discounts at certain attractions: 3-days for zones ABC (zone C includes the airport and Potsdam), and 3-days (to follow on) for zones AB plus Museumsinsel (Museum Island). All part of a cunning plan! The station is a five minute walk from the terminal, and I managed to arrive only seconds after an Airport Express had departed for Berlin, so had to wait another 30 minutes. The weather is sunny and feels very hot.
I got off the train at Friedrichstraße and took the S-bahn two stops further north to Nordbahnhof, just a two minute walk from my hotel, the Zarenhof, where I stayed at the end of my Grand Tour in 2008 and which is close to excellent connections to anywhere in the city. Ten long hours of travel today.
Comments