Tuesday June 13
We left Sydney on the 7:55am SQ flight to SIN - arrived sharp on time at 2:00pm. Since our luggage was checked through to FRA - we grabbed a taxi to the Sofitel on Sentosa. We attempted to checkin just after 3:00pm but our room was not ready - not a great start - but it was ready about 10 minutes later. We changed into our swimmers and went to the pool for a relaxing swim before showering and heading to dinner at the Cliff restaurant - very enjoyable - made even better with out Accor Plus half-price dining and a pre-purchased F&B credit of $150 (for $90) - you need it - Singapore is very expensive.
Wednesday June 14
After our complementary breakfast we left the Sofitel at 9:00am for our 11:00am flight to FRA. The flight was uneventful - we arrived in FRA on time around 6:15pm local time. We collected our bags and headed over to the Marriott at the airport for an overnighter. The Marriott is essentially the old Sheraton where we have stayed many times - while the lobby bar has been completely re-vamped and looks great the rest of the hotel is a bit tired - even our expected Nespresso machine was MIA (but this could have been an oversight on the part of our chief hotel booking agent (no names no pack drill). We dropped our bags and went to the lobby bar for a welcome drink - it was buzzing. Then it was showers and off to bed.
Thursday June 15
After a restless / jet-lagged night we got up earlier than planned - Dieter went to one of the many airport kiosks and brought breakfast - OJ, yoghurt, pastries and take away coffee. We then caught our 8:41am train to Berlin - a 5 hour trip but very relaxing even after they changed the departure track with 3 minutes to go.
We arrived at the Waldorf Astoria (near the Berlin Zoo) just after 1:00pm to be advised our room was not ready and they would call me when it was (somehow a text message was not possible) and even though they would put a priority on it they had no idea when it would be ready. The concierge directed us to a nice outdoor pub less than 10 minutes walk away along the river and overlooking a lock. Even though the day had turned out cool (around 20C) and somewhat overcast it was very pleasant sitting there. Gotta love those German prices - a large beer and .2l of wine was 11 EUR ($18).
We headed back to the hotel arriving at 3:15pm and assumed we could now check-in since it was past the 3pm checkin time - alas “the room was not ready” so I staged a bit of a melt down and they pulled out all stops and finally we got our keys at 3:30pm with the promise of a complimentary dinner at Roca, their only restaurant.
After unpacking, showering a resting we went to Roca for dinner around 7pm - after following up with our server she checked was said all food would be complimentary (we have yet to confirm this on the final bill). Roca was more like an upmarket cafe but was nice and almost empty - the menu was pretty weird but all in all OK - no need for a return visit.
Friday June 16
We got up around 7am and had a couple of Nespresso’s in our room before hitting the Waldorf’s breakfast restaurant for our complimentary brekkie (a Gold benefit) - the brekkie was a 10 out of 10 with an excellent buffet (even berries) as well as a la carte. We tried their ‘ riginal' eggs Benedict (half order each) - according to Dieter this dish originated with the Waldorf in New York; however, Google only confirmed the New York part of this story. Nevertheless they were another 10 out of 10.
Unfortunately it was cool:
However we had already planned a bit of a low impact day.
We had a bit of a jet-lag recovery day - retail therapy in the morning - where Dieter snagged some new summer jeans and a great shirt from Ka De We department store. The store had a food hall so we had lunch there. After a short rest back at the hotel - we did a walk around our area - there were many high-end shops.
We went to Le Petit Royal about a 13 minute walk away - chosen as we got a $200 credit back from AmEx. The dinner was excellent - when we left it was pouring rain so the restaurant called us a taxi. Then it was a bit of reading and off to bed.
Saturday June 17
It was coolish and overcast day. We had pre-booked a tour of the Reichstag Dome (The Reichstag building with its famous glass dome is one of the most visited sights in Berlin. It is seat of the German parliament - we followed with lunch on their terrace. We walked back to our hotel via the park but it started to drizzle with lots of thunder in the background so we took a bit of a short-cut back to the hotel. After a short rest we went to the Monkey Bar (one of the top15 things to do in Berlin) - a bar on top of hotel across the street which overlooks the monkey enclosures in the zoo. It was hiphop and happening - loud disco music, packed with every sort of person - tourists and local millennials. We had a drink and went back to our hotel for showers and later went for dinner at local Italian restaurant.
Sunday June 18
It was a great summer day - sunny and high of 25C. We took the train to Wannsee for a 2 hour lake and river cruise - it was very scenic with many water craft out. We took the 10am cruise which was excellent as our ship was quiet empty but the following one looked fully booked. From here we continued on the S-Bahn to Potsdam then caught a bus to the Sans Souci castle - it was around 1pm when we arrived so we had lunch at the Movenpick outdoor beer-garden style restaurant - excellent. We still had plenty of time before our 3pm booking at the castle so we walked around the expansive gardens and visited the kitchens, wine cellar and art gallery. We toured the castle which, while small, was beautifully restored. We were going to continue on to another castle in the gardens but after a mixup with the busses we decided to head home - we got back to our hotel around 4:30pm ready for showers and a rest. As we weren’t hungry we went to a local beer-garden for a quick eat - “curry wurst” which was about a 5 out of 10. The beer-garden was very busy on this lovely summer evening.
Monday June 19
It started as an overcast day then turned into a nice sunny and warm day. We kicked it off with 1 hour cruise the Spree River (around the city). After a stop back at the hotel to freshen up we went to the Berlin TV tower. Up at the top we had a 350º view which was a bit hazy - we had a Aperol Spritz (which was included in our package) at the bar then watched the VR show on the history of Berlin.
We finished off the day with dinner at the Block House chosen for its proximity to our hotel.
Tuesday June 20
So off to Nuremberg today on the 10:04am train from the Hbf - we left the hotel quite early as we had to catch the S-bahn to the Hbf - there was a lot of confusion on our train. They had combined two trains and our train number did not have our car number - it never got sorted out but we managed to get seats with some assistance from fellow passengers. At one stage the train stopped for 20+ minutes due to a weather event?? !!
We finally arrived at our the Melter Hotel in the old town about 2pm - we could check-in right away after a very friendly welcome. Our room was really a large studio apartment with a kitchenette and to our surprise there was a full (shared) laundry. We went to the local supermarket (just a few minutes walk away) to stock up on breakfast goodies (berries and yoghurt) and cold cuts, cheese and bread for a light dinner at home.
We then headed out for a wander around the old town and a welcome drink at a canal-side pub - which was very refreshing as it was nearly 30C
After our dinner at home - we had another wander around the old town and shared an ice cream from one of the many shops serving ice cream.