Friday and Saturday in Berlin

Berlin. First order of business: Replace Paula's phone, buy Berlin Welcome six-day public transit passes, and buy coffee. We walked to Alexander Platz and accomplished all three. We also hit a Saturn store and bought some extra wall adapters (type F to type A).

And had some currywurst.

The guy at the Deutsches Telekom (T-Mobile) store was very helpful. Paula said the important consideration was that the new phone not be larger than her current phone (which died in Iceland). We looked at a Pixel 9, and said yes. He went back to get one and came back with that and also an 8a, which was cheaper and slightly smaller. So Paula got the 8a, in blue.

Our hotel		Entrance and kitchen area

I like taking pictures of our hotel rooms. It helps me remember the place.

Living area		View from the balcony

Our hotel (Adina) is half a block from Hakescher Markt, which is full of interesting restaurants. There is also an ATM there (more on that later). There are a couple of (sort-of) convenience stores within a few blocks, one of which could sell us milk.

Hakescher Markt		Cafe minouche

On Saturday we got up too late to go to the large Trodelmarkt flea market, but Isaac noticed that there was a flea market right here in Hakescher Markt. Paula got a pretty scarf and a seriously useful-looking grey purse.

Later we explored using our Berlin Welcome passes on the S-Bahn. (Note: You don't have to stamp them or show to anyone unless asked; just hop on board.) We experimented with accessibility and found it adequate in most (but not all) places without needing a ramp. Just for practice we rode out to Trodelmarkt (now empty). We walked (or scooted) through part of Tiergarten (a very large park, containing a zoo), and ended up back at the S-Bahn line at the Zoologischer Garten stop.

Along the way (which was a very long way), we stopped for a break at a very small cafe, where I got a yummy raspberry tart. 

At the Zoologischer Garten station we discovered that the elevator up to the platform we needed was out of order. (Think: It has movink parts!)

So there is a van for this purpose. A very helpful gentleman from an information booth told us where to find it, and even went out with us to point it out. It wasn't there. So he went off to somewhere to find out what was going on. It was overbooked. So he took us to a Deutsches Bahn train, which took us to Fredrickstrasse, where we caught an S-Bahn back to Hackescher Markt.

Paula in Tiergarten		Sometimes you just need a break

Pictures are not necessarily in the proper order, but I'm too tired and Blogger is too much of a pain on a small screen, so I'm just going to leave them that way.

Paula got a pretty new scarf		Riding the S-Bahn

I haven't been taking many pictures because hey, it's just Germany. I've probably spent more time here than anywhere else outside the US. It's comfortable. I've even been using some German successfully.

Isaac wanted to go to a fancy Georgian restaurant, Svpra, which is in Hackscher Markt. We did, had a long fancy dinner, then tried to pay. Their system, apparently a new one, couldn't handle our credit cards. Not rejected, just unable to process. The woman in charge was very embarrassed. Isaac was embarrassed. I wasn't. Anyway, Isaac and I went off to find an ATM, which took maybe 20 minutes.

Restaurant menu		Main dishes

Paula with menu		Dancers

Germans all seem a little surprised when we use a credit card. Australia, this isn't.

One thing I have to get used to again is that coins here have value. The coins in my pocket range from half a euro up to two euros