BPV (1) - Berlin (Pre-Tour)

I arrived in Berlin one day before the tour started, so I got some time for sightseeing on my own.

1. My hotel room in Berlin.

I was delighted to find out that I didn't have to share room with another girl. Later I found out there was only one other girl traveling alone on the tour, and she paid the Optional Single Supplement ($625) due to a bad roommate experience years ago, so she was guaranteed to have her own room. So I ended up having my own room too thanks to her.

2. Looking out from my hotel room.

3. The hotel has the best breakfast of the whole trip.

4. The hotel has the best breakfast of the whole trip.

5. The hotel has the best breakfast of the whole trip.

6. The hotel has the best breakfast of the whole trip.

I love Berlin's public transportation system. It is so easy to use. One ticket is good for 2 hours in one direction no matter how many times you have to transfer using the tram, U-Bahn, or S-Bahn. It runs on honor system, so make sure you validate the ticket (insert it in a machine to get a time stamp) before using it.

7. Tram stop in front of our hotel.

8. U-Bahn station near the hotel.

9. Buildings next to the U-Bahn station.

10. Later that night I had my first meal in Berlin in a Vietnamese restaurant near the U-Bahn station: a decent bowl of pho with beef for 7.5 euros! I can't believe how cheap it was.

11. Lots of Ampelmann sign in Berlin, a beloved symbol in Eastern Germany that survived the end of the Iron Curtain.

12. Lots of Ampelmann sign in Berlin, a beloved symbol in Eastern Germany that survived the end of the Iron Curtain.

13. Lots of Ampelmann sign in Berlin, a beloved symbol in Eastern Germany that survived the end of the Iron Curtain.

14. Happened to see Berlin Inlineskating Marathon on the day I arrived.

15. Wandering around Potsdamer Platz.

16. Wandering around Potsdamer Platz.

17. Wandering around Potsdamer Platz.

18. Wandering around Potsdamer Platz.

19. Wandering around Potsdamer Platz.

20. Bear, Berlin's mascot can be seen in so many places.

21. Bear, Berlin's mascot can be seen in so many places.

22. Walking towards Reichstag building.

23. Walking towards Reichstag building.

24. Watching Berlin Marathon handbike race.

25. Watching Berlin Marathon handbike race.

26. Watching Berlin Marathon handbike race.

27. Walking towards Berlin Cathedral (not really a Cathedral since the church is Protestant).

28. Berlin Cathedral on the left, Humboldt Box (a futuristic museum structure) on the right.

29. Berlin Cathedral from the Altes Museum.

30. Altes Museum's rotunda.

31. Neues Museum where the famous "Bust of Queen Nefertiti" (ca 1340 BCE, Egypt) is displayed.

32. Neues Museum's "Golden Hat" (1000 - 800 BCE, South Germany).

33. Alte Nationalgalerie's "Double Statue of the Princesses Luise and Friederike of Prussia" (1795-1797).

34. The statues of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels near DDR Museum. There were so many Chinese tourists there. Everyone wanted their own pictures with the guys. I had to be real quick to take this photo :)

I made it back to the hotel around 4pm. Rested a little and met the tour group and guide at the hotel breakfast room at 5pm. There were 21 tour members in the group, 3 single travelers including me. The majority of the group is senior citizens, some are over 70 years old, yet they all looked pretty fit. I really become to admire them in the days to come. I hope I can still travel like them when I am in my 70s.

The overall tour guide, Jana (37), is from Czech. She lives in Prague with her husband and two young kids. That is why she only leads 4 tours for Rick Steves a year. She has the perfect personality to be a tour guide.

After everyone introduced themselves, and many announcements, Jana lead us to play the name game, which is pretty much saying every one's name over and over for the next 10 minutes. It sounds repetitive, but it really helped to remember everyone's names.

After that, Jana gave each of us a public transportation ticket, and we went out to take the tram, then a S-Bahn, and then a U-Bahn to get back to the station closest to the hotel, basically just to teach everyone how to use the public transportation, which is the Rick Steves' way of travelling within a city. And then we had our first group dinner together. It further helped us to know each other.

All togther we had 5 group dinners and 3 group lunches on this trip. And Jana provided local snacks on most days, and gave us either day passes or individual tickets on days we needed to use the public transportation. Plus the museums / palaces / tours included, the Rick Steves tour really is a great value (Do I sound like a Rick Steves tour salesman yet? :) ). No wonder many people signed up for Rick Steves tour over and over. For several people in our group, this is their 6th Rick Steves tour!

(To be continued)