I do have an internet connection on das boot, but it is agonizingly, teeth-grindingly slow. The very idea of uploading a picture is unthinkable. It looks like I will have to wait until I get to Prague to post anything of significance.
On the bright side, I paid 50 Euros for the all you can drink package on the ship. Unlimited beer and an open bar. Good stuff too. Last night I closed the bar up drinking rusty nails, and they used Famous Grouse scotch, not a shabby brand. Plus this package lets you select quality wines with your meal so you don't have to drink the cheap stuff like the people in steerage.
So far the cruise has been great. Sorry the connection is so slow but eventually I will post more with pictures. Until then, however, you will probably only get short narratives about my journey.
Why is it that they always say that the winner of the match at the U.S. Open had to overcome the wind? Didn't the loser have to contend with the same conditions?
Free (kind of) beer awaits me so I shall bid you all Uff Wider Stein and may all of your internet connections be faster than mine.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Saturday, September 04, 2010
A Stroll Around The Neigborhood
It was another kind of dreary day here. Overcast and a bit chilly with occasional drizzle. Still, not too bad a day to be out walking around a bit. And it certainly didn't deter the locals. When we went looking for a place to eat lunch we spotted this place where everyone seemed to prefer eating outdoors.
A Hearty Breed
Being of a somewhat less hardy breed, we decided to eat indoors and just watch the weather, not sit in it.
On The Inside Looking Out
This was a pretty big restaurant but not too many people were inside. It was kind of fancy too so I suspect it does more of an evening business.
A Fancy Lady
I wasn't being fancy, though. Just a beer for me, and a little light lunch.
A Beer And I Am Happy
The light lunch part didn't work out too well, though. The waitress seemed surprised when I "only" ordered a bowl of spicy beef soup. Like it was supposed to be some kind of a warm-up or something. What it was was a large bowl of spicy beef chunks with just enough soup to cover them. More than enough for a meal.
The Mysterious Chinese Woman opted for a vegetable lasgne, thinking it would be healthy. What she got was a large portion of what looked to be a creamy cheese covered pasta. She said she could only find one small piece of broccoli in it, but I guess that was enough to qualify it as a vegetable lasgne. I don't know why there aren't more fat people here considering the size of the meals and all of the beer they put away.
After our lunch we took a stroll down to an island in the Spree River. Quite a lively little area it was, too.
See The Spree
There were all kinds of food stands, bars and outdoor eating areas here.
More Hardy Souls
Once again I decided to pop inside. This place had kind of a 60's diner atmosphere.
Where's The Fonz?
A Bear, A Beer, A Bar Man
Lots of bears in Berlin. I think it was an integral part of the coat of arms of some ancient ruler. One day I will look it up, but I am too lazy today.
The Mysterious Chinese Woman And Another Bear
We continued to walk around the area to see what we could see. In keeping with the big eating theme was this stand selling very large bagels.
Would You Like That With A Pound Of Cream Cheese?
This stand was selling sausages and cheese and offered free tastes as well.
More Food
There were also stands that sold bottles of wine so you could get your sausage, cheese, bread and beverage than go find yourself a table by the river and have a little picnic. It would be nice if New York set up some kind of an area like this. Instead we have parks where you can't eat or drink, huge tourist traps like the South Street Seaport, or big expensive restaurants. And that is better than a lot of the riverside which is either commercial or a highway.
We walked around a bit more and I, of course, had to have my picture taken with this lovely lass.
Pretty, But No Personality
After walking around all afternoon we decided to just have our dinner in one of the hotel restaurants.
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is a pretty fancy restaurant, but not at all stuffy. Very friendly staff. We had kind of given up on the idea of eating light. After all, we are on vacation and can always diet when we got home. The Mysterious Chinese Woman was going to just have the scallops appetizer. The waitress said you only got two of them so we decided to split an order for an appetizer.
Just One
Two of them would, indeed, been enough for a meal. I said it looked like the cook spit on them but this was kind of an artistic thing meant to, I guess, look like sea foam.
I had enough beer for the day so I ordered a bottle of German white wine to go with the meal.
Cheers
For dinner I ordered liver with potatoes, apple slices and onions.
Pile It High
The Mysterious Chinese Woman thought she would get off easy ordering baked cod, but even that came with a heavy cream sauce.
Might As Well Just Give Up Trying
The free breakfast at the hotel presents another challenge. It is like a brunch that you would get in Las Vegas. Okay, a little bit smaller, but not much. And this morning they even had free Champagne. Or at least something sparkly.
Today we are going to try out the subway and visit the zoo. The Mysterious Chinese Woman also wants to visit some big shopping center. I will post about that in a few days. I lose my internet connection here pretty soon (17 Euros for 24 hours) and probably won't get hooked up again until we are on our boat.
Until then, be well and remember, it can't be the beer and food that makes you fat.
A Hearty Breed
Being of a somewhat less hardy breed, we decided to eat indoors and just watch the weather, not sit in it.
On The Inside Looking Out
This was a pretty big restaurant but not too many people were inside. It was kind of fancy too so I suspect it does more of an evening business.
A Fancy Lady
I wasn't being fancy, though. Just a beer for me, and a little light lunch.
A Beer And I Am Happy
The light lunch part didn't work out too well, though. The waitress seemed surprised when I "only" ordered a bowl of spicy beef soup. Like it was supposed to be some kind of a warm-up or something. What it was was a large bowl of spicy beef chunks with just enough soup to cover them. More than enough for a meal.
The Mysterious Chinese Woman opted for a vegetable lasgne, thinking it would be healthy. What she got was a large portion of what looked to be a creamy cheese covered pasta. She said she could only find one small piece of broccoli in it, but I guess that was enough to qualify it as a vegetable lasgne. I don't know why there aren't more fat people here considering the size of the meals and all of the beer they put away.
After our lunch we took a stroll down to an island in the Spree River. Quite a lively little area it was, too.
See The Spree
There were all kinds of food stands, bars and outdoor eating areas here.
More Hardy Souls
Once again I decided to pop inside. This place had kind of a 60's diner atmosphere.
Where's The Fonz?
A Bear, A Beer, A Bar Man
Lots of bears in Berlin. I think it was an integral part of the coat of arms of some ancient ruler. One day I will look it up, but I am too lazy today.
The Mysterious Chinese Woman And Another Bear
We continued to walk around the area to see what we could see. In keeping with the big eating theme was this stand selling very large bagels.
Would You Like That With A Pound Of Cream Cheese?
This stand was selling sausages and cheese and offered free tastes as well.
More Food
There were also stands that sold bottles of wine so you could get your sausage, cheese, bread and beverage than go find yourself a table by the river and have a little picnic. It would be nice if New York set up some kind of an area like this. Instead we have parks where you can't eat or drink, huge tourist traps like the South Street Seaport, or big expensive restaurants. And that is better than a lot of the riverside which is either commercial or a highway.
We walked around a bit more and I, of course, had to have my picture taken with this lovely lass.
Pretty, But No Personality
After walking around all afternoon we decided to just have our dinner in one of the hotel restaurants.
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is a pretty fancy restaurant, but not at all stuffy. Very friendly staff. We had kind of given up on the idea of eating light. After all, we are on vacation and can always diet when we got home. The Mysterious Chinese Woman was going to just have the scallops appetizer. The waitress said you only got two of them so we decided to split an order for an appetizer.
Just One
Two of them would, indeed, been enough for a meal. I said it looked like the cook spit on them but this was kind of an artistic thing meant to, I guess, look like sea foam.
I had enough beer for the day so I ordered a bottle of German white wine to go with the meal.
Cheers
For dinner I ordered liver with potatoes, apple slices and onions.
Pile It High
The Mysterious Chinese Woman thought she would get off easy ordering baked cod, but even that came with a heavy cream sauce.
Might As Well Just Give Up Trying
The free breakfast at the hotel presents another challenge. It is like a brunch that you would get in Las Vegas. Okay, a little bit smaller, but not much. And this morning they even had free Champagne. Or at least something sparkly.
Today we are going to try out the subway and visit the zoo. The Mysterious Chinese Woman also wants to visit some big shopping center. I will post about that in a few days. I lose my internet connection here pretty soon (17 Euros for 24 hours) and probably won't get hooked up again until we are on our boat.
Until then, be well and remember, it can't be the beer and food that makes you fat.
Friday, September 03, 2010
Berlin, We Are Here
Well, it was a long and very unconfortable journey to get here. Long, well, that can't be helped. Uncomfortable, that is another story. We flew Lufthansa, which I had always associated with being a classy airline. The flight to Frankfort,where we changed planes, was the most uncomfortable commercial airplane that I have ever been on. They had obviously refitted this plane so they could get in more seats and it was horrible. Not only was there no leg-room, but some of the seats had, well, who knows what under them so if you sat behind them you had no room to put anything under the seat in front of you and little room for your legs. If you did manage to fall asleep you got woken up and told to put your seat in the upright position if the person behind you wanted to use their tray-table to eat dinner or something. I am not looking forward to my trip home.
On the other hand, the flight from Frankfort to Berlin, also on Lufthansa, was very comfortable. Wide seats and plenty of leg-room. Of course that was only a forty-minute flight whereas the flight to Frankfort from New York was about seven hours.
The airports in Germany are kind of interesting. At the gate in Frankfort they have these things like they have at JFK where you catch the train-to-the-plane. Only instead of inserting your Metrocard you insert your boarding pass and it opens to let you on the plane. Then at the Berlin airport the baggage carasol is right where you get off the plane. It looks like each carasol handles the baggage for just two gates. And then after you get your baggage you just walk through a door and and you can exit the airport. Very quick, very easy. And at no point did we go through customs or have to fill out any declaration forms or anything. There are a few points where they check your passport and you do have to go through security when you switch planes in Frankfort. Quite a strange experience.
The person from Viking was right there to greet us and our van was right outside. A quick ride and we were at the Berlin Hilton. A no hassle check-in and we were in our very nice room. Spacious, nice flat-screen TV, comfortable beds, very, very nice.
My Night With Hilton - Berlin, Not Paris
The Berlin Hilton is in a very nice part of the city. Plenty of restaurants, a close walk to the Spree River, lots of old buildings, a subway-stop right outside the door - just perfect.
Right Out The Door
We got into Berlin mid-afternoon and had a short meeting with a Viking representative. Then, because we couldn't sleep on the flight over the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I took a bit of a nap. We got up around 7:00 PM, took a quick shower and headed out for dinner at one of the nearby restaurants, and there were plenty to chose from. We just walked about two blocks until we saw one that looked crowded and went in.
Our Choice
Augustiner
Most of the restaurants had outdoor seating but it was kind of chilly and drizzling so not too may people were eating at these tables. Inside was another story. This place was pretty packed.
Everyone Was Inside
And they do like there beer here. Almost everyone was drinking beer, and lots of it.
Beer For My Men
And this was perfectly fine with me.
Beer For The Bar Man
The Mysterious Chinese Woman was more interested in the menu.
Hmm, Perhaps The Innards
And I am not kiding about the innards, apparently they are some kind of a local specialty.
Waiter, There Are Innards On My Menu
I opted for something a bit more mundane, a baked pig knuckle.
Umm, Delicious
And this was delicious. The skin and fat were really crispy, almost like that deep-fried fat that I like so much when I am in Mexico. The inside was nice and juicy and tender and the cabbage was great. Way more than I could eat, though.
The Mysterious Chinese Woman had a pork dish with the same cabbage and a potato dumpling.
Just One Dumpling, But A Big One
I really liked this restaurant and if I was going to be in Berlin longer I would go back again in a minute. But we are leaving Sunday morning and I will be lucky if I have digested this meal by then.
So far I really like Berlin.
I have an internet connection in my hotel room until tomorrow afternoon (17 Euros for 24 hours) so I should be able to post once more before boarding our boat. Then probably not until Monday.
Kind of a fall-like crispness in the air, but not bad at all.
On the other hand, the flight from Frankfort to Berlin, also on Lufthansa, was very comfortable. Wide seats and plenty of leg-room. Of course that was only a forty-minute flight whereas the flight to Frankfort from New York was about seven hours.
The airports in Germany are kind of interesting. At the gate in Frankfort they have these things like they have at JFK where you catch the train-to-the-plane. Only instead of inserting your Metrocard you insert your boarding pass and it opens to let you on the plane. Then at the Berlin airport the baggage carasol is right where you get off the plane. It looks like each carasol handles the baggage for just two gates. And then after you get your baggage you just walk through a door and and you can exit the airport. Very quick, very easy. And at no point did we go through customs or have to fill out any declaration forms or anything. There are a few points where they check your passport and you do have to go through security when you switch planes in Frankfort. Quite a strange experience.
The person from Viking was right there to greet us and our van was right outside. A quick ride and we were at the Berlin Hilton. A no hassle check-in and we were in our very nice room. Spacious, nice flat-screen TV, comfortable beds, very, very nice.
My Night With Hilton - Berlin, Not Paris
The Berlin Hilton is in a very nice part of the city. Plenty of restaurants, a close walk to the Spree River, lots of old buildings, a subway-stop right outside the door - just perfect.
Right Out The Door
We got into Berlin mid-afternoon and had a short meeting with a Viking representative. Then, because we couldn't sleep on the flight over the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I took a bit of a nap. We got up around 7:00 PM, took a quick shower and headed out for dinner at one of the nearby restaurants, and there were plenty to chose from. We just walked about two blocks until we saw one that looked crowded and went in.
Our Choice
Augustiner
Most of the restaurants had outdoor seating but it was kind of chilly and drizzling so not too may people were eating at these tables. Inside was another story. This place was pretty packed.
Everyone Was Inside
And they do like there beer here. Almost everyone was drinking beer, and lots of it.
Beer For My Men
And this was perfectly fine with me.
Beer For The Bar Man
The Mysterious Chinese Woman was more interested in the menu.
Hmm, Perhaps The Innards
And I am not kiding about the innards, apparently they are some kind of a local specialty.
Waiter, There Are Innards On My Menu
I opted for something a bit more mundane, a baked pig knuckle.
Umm, Delicious
And this was delicious. The skin and fat were really crispy, almost like that deep-fried fat that I like so much when I am in Mexico. The inside was nice and juicy and tender and the cabbage was great. Way more than I could eat, though.
The Mysterious Chinese Woman had a pork dish with the same cabbage and a potato dumpling.
Just One Dumpling, But A Big One
I really liked this restaurant and if I was going to be in Berlin longer I would go back again in a minute. But we are leaving Sunday morning and I will be lucky if I have digested this meal by then.
So far I really like Berlin.
I have an internet connection in my hotel room until tomorrow afternoon (17 Euros for 24 hours) so I should be able to post once more before boarding our boat. Then probably not until Monday.
Kind of a fall-like crispness in the air, but not bad at all.
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