We are so lucky to live in Australia, but the downside is that it takes so long to get anywhere. So, yesterdays flight from Sydney to Doha (pictured above) to Berlin was about 24 hours. It was my first time flying Qatar Airways, and I thought it was quite good, very similar to Emirates. As readers know I prefer the A380 for a long haul, as it is quieter, the seat is larger, and adequately padded. With some Bose noise cancellation earphones its makes the long haul from so much better.
I've never been to Qatar, but I do know that's hot as hell - we arrived about 4.30am local time and it was already 32 degrees Celsius!! It hit 43 later in the day. Fortunately, I didn't have to experience that heat, which from visiting Dubai down the coast it is like the blast of heat from opening the oven door, and strolled around to transfers. One tip, if your not in a lounge, is to find one of those bench seat tables, because they usually have power points.
You know those annoying airports that don't have trains? Yep, that's Berlin Tegel airport on the Western outskirts of the city. You can get an expensive taxi or the bus. Now, you can buy tickets from the little yellow machines at the bus stop. I think a four day ticket was nine Euros for four days if my school boy German is reliable.....I'm sure there are some English language versions somewhere.
I didn't know what bus stop to wait at, but I saw a bus that was going to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, which I also knew from my schoolboy German (Wo ist der Bahnhof? Where is the train station?) and my history studies that a Hauptmann is a captain in the German army, so I deducted it was the central station. See why education is so important!!!
The bus ride was actually quite fun, because Germans have a reputation of pointing things out to people who are in the wrong. Unfortunately, the lady doing it was sitting next to me who would yell out to people who were standing so the bus doors wouldn't close and complaining why the bus ride was so long. At least that it was I think she said. Nothing seems to upset Germans more than people not obeying the rules.
I'm staying at an Airbnb (love Airbnb) in Neukolln, which is in South East Berlin, about an hour from Tegel airport. I would call it a cross between Lakemba and Newtown in Sydney - it is culturally enriched! A Hipster suburb combined with Middle Eastern culture, so the coffee and food is going to be great. Another good sign are people riding bikes with beards and man buns a certain sign the coffee will be good and there will be WiFi.
I think I might be in the old East Berlin for some reason.
I've read that former citizens of West Germans stereotype East Germans ('Ossis' - Easties) - as lazy, poor, racist and largely influenced by Russian culture. It does appear to be significantly less affluent than other areas of Western Europe I have visited. I went to a Turkish restaurant in the neighbourhood and was the only Caucasian, but that happens in the South Western suburbs of Sydney too. The food was great, and I felt welcome. As for Russian culture, well, Karl Marx was German, after all. Although I do know from history and my former occupation, that culture is very hard to change, and the East Germans did spend two generations under Communism.
There is a nice cafe/bar in my street, and I people watched as a I enjoyed this German beer, Bayreuther, which was pretty good. Hipsters cruised past on bicycles, and hijab wearing women strolled along the footpath, on a summers evening it was all quite pleasant.
And there was WiFi.
I've never been to Qatar, but I do know that's hot as hell - we arrived about 4.30am local time and it was already 32 degrees Celsius!! It hit 43 later in the day. Fortunately, I didn't have to experience that heat, which from visiting Dubai down the coast it is like the blast of heat from opening the oven door, and strolled around to transfers. One tip, if your not in a lounge, is to find one of those bench seat tables, because they usually have power points.
You know those annoying airports that don't have trains? Yep, that's Berlin Tegel airport on the Western outskirts of the city. You can get an expensive taxi or the bus. Now, you can buy tickets from the little yellow machines at the bus stop. I think a four day ticket was nine Euros for four days if my school boy German is reliable.....I'm sure there are some English language versions somewhere.
I didn't know what bus stop to wait at, but I saw a bus that was going to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, which I also knew from my schoolboy German (Wo ist der Bahnhof? Where is the train station?) and my history studies that a Hauptmann is a captain in the German army, so I deducted it was the central station. See why education is so important!!!
The bus ride was actually quite fun, because Germans have a reputation of pointing things out to people who are in the wrong. Unfortunately, the lady doing it was sitting next to me who would yell out to people who were standing so the bus doors wouldn't close and complaining why the bus ride was so long. At least that it was I think she said. Nothing seems to upset Germans more than people not obeying the rules.
I'm staying at an Airbnb (love Airbnb) in Neukolln, which is in South East Berlin, about an hour from Tegel airport. I would call it a cross between Lakemba and Newtown in Sydney - it is culturally enriched! A Hipster suburb combined with Middle Eastern culture, so the coffee and food is going to be great. Another good sign are people riding bikes with beards and man buns a certain sign the coffee will be good and there will be WiFi.
I think I might be in the old East Berlin for some reason.
I've read that former citizens of West Germans stereotype East Germans ('Ossis' - Easties) - as lazy, poor, racist and largely influenced by Russian culture. It does appear to be significantly less affluent than other areas of Western Europe I have visited. I went to a Turkish restaurant in the neighbourhood and was the only Caucasian, but that happens in the South Western suburbs of Sydney too. The food was great, and I felt welcome. As for Russian culture, well, Karl Marx was German, after all. Although I do know from history and my former occupation, that culture is very hard to change, and the East Germans did spend two generations under Communism.
There is a nice cafe/bar in my street, and I people watched as a I enjoyed this German beer, Bayreuther, which was pretty good. Hipsters cruised past on bicycles, and hijab wearing women strolled along the footpath, on a summers evening it was all quite pleasant.
And there was WiFi.
