It was an early start, with our airport shuttle driver picking us up at 6:45am. He drove us 30mins to the airport. Going through security Irene got the full pat down treatment once again. They seem to like her for some reason.

Teresa had paid extra and booked our seats for our Ryan Air flight, which gave us priority boarding. We would recommend doing this. We had row 2 on the plane, which was a great row to be in as it was easy and quick to get on and off. As we approached Berlin there was a lot of low lying cloud, we could just make out the tip of the Telekom tower poking through the top. On descent, we realised how low the clouds really were, as the runway did not appear until we were on it.

Catching an Uber from Berlin airport to our accommodation was fuss free. Our apartments, Rosenthal Apartments, are in the heart of Mitte. The kind man at reception put our bags into storage (check in was not for several hours, until 3pm) and recommended Common Ground across the road for lunch. Here we ordered chickpea & zucchini fritters with smashed avocado, and Michele had pulled pork tacos. These were washed down with the most amazing bloody Mary’s…so we met our quota of vegetables for the day. Very impressed!

After lunch we walked and walked with the intention of finding the Brandenburg Gate. The place was crawling with tourists from all cultures, so we took our photos and got out again. On our way back we stopped at a bar for a cocktail and a rest. Irene & Michele had Long Island iced teas, and Teresa had an Irish coffee. We retraced our steps back to a wine shop that had been previously closed and guarded by a very cute and vocal little French Bulldog. This time the shop was open and we got to meet Frieda and Fifty (Frieda was 1yr old and Fifty had just turned 12 on Irene’s birthday). We had a play, Irene took off her beanie for them to chase and Fifty took off with it out the back. After the owner retrieved it we bought some wine and reluctantly said goodbye.

There is a burger shop called Kreuzburger next to our apartments. We decided that we could all do with a burger for dinner so we took advantage of its proximity. Here we got genuine hamburgers and a serve of fries smothered in chilli and cheese. The staff here were super friendly and we washed everything down with beer. Tomorrow we find mauer. Gute nacht!