We decided to head over to do a bit of sightseeing, shopping and have lunch in a Bavarian restaurant. A short ride on the U-Bahn and we were in heart of the tourist area of Berlin.

Scott and Teresa took Michele to Checkpoint Charlie, which was the American occupied Berlin Wall crossing point between the East and West. These days it is just a place for lots of tourists to gather and other dodgy characters.

Lunch was at a Bavarian restaurant – Augustiner am Gendarmenmarkt. Michele chose the goulash, Scott had schnitzel and Teresa attempted pork knuckle. We chose beers to enjoy with our lunch and then finished with a schnapps.

We did a little shopping at the Mall of Berlin and then walked further around towards the Brandenburg gate. We stumbled upon an area that was filled with tour groups standing around. It just looked like a car park so we wondered what was so interesting about it. Then Teresa realised that this was the area where Hitler spent the final days of his life in his bunker. Now it is just a car park surrounded by apartment buildings that were built in the 1980s by the East German government as luxury apartment houses for important members of East German society.

A little further on we discovered the expansive memorial dedicated to the many Jewish people who were murdered during the war.

The area around the Brandenburg gate was covered in construction while a stage was being set up for the New Year celebrations. We ambled down the Unter den Linden wide boulevard and found some beautiful Christmas markets. The first one we decided to visit charged €2 for entry and was filled with stalls, food carts and restaurants. We purchased a hot fruit punch spiked with rum each and walked around enjoying the sights. Upon returning our fruit punch glasses, we received our deposit back and then left the markets.

On our way back to the Hauptbahnhof we walked through a couple more beautiful Christmas markets. Purchasing some hot gluhwein to walk around with, we remarked how differently we would be looked upon if we were doing the same back home.

Scott had booked Teresa and Michele in for a blowdry at 5pm so when we got back to Scott’s apartment Teresa and Michele walked a few blocks but found that the salon had closed for the night! Our hair would have to wait, there must have been a mix up. Instead we bought dry shampoo and went back to the apartment.

Dinner was going to be at the Ukrainian restaurant around the corner, but that was closed as well, so we opted for a little Turkish restaurant. This was a great choice! Hummus and bread was entree and then delicious lamb dishes for main.!

We were extremely satisfied and rolled back home ready for a cocktail and then bed. We fly to Scotland tomorrow. Guten Nacht!

It was an early morning start, as we had an Uber pre-booked to pick us up to take us to the airport at 9:30am. We got ready and then dropped Basil at Babcia’s for the next 3 weeks. Michele was very brave and did not cry as we left.

The checkin was done through the United App before we left home. It was straight forward and saved us a lot of time at the bag drop.

There was very little traffic on the road and our driver was very friendly. At the airport when we checked our luggage we were pleasantly surprised to learn that Teresa’s Virgin Gold status gave us entry into the Singapore Lounge!

Now we know how the other half live!

We’ve set up a very comfortable camp until our plane boards at 1pm.This will be the longest Christmas that we have ever had, as we land in San Francisco at 9:30am Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas to all. Goodbye!