Off for Berlin... But first, sometime between 1am and 4am, the storm knocked out the electricity to our cottage (yes, even though there's no running water, there is... correction, was... electricity). It made things much more difficult to get ready for the day and especially to clean up after ourselves, but we did our best to leave the cottage as clean as possible.

We first drove to the port where Ivan's parents will be leaving in the evening and then returned the rental car. During our flight to Berlin, a problem was discovered in-flight, which required us to turn back for Helsinki after about 30 minutes in the air. However, about 20 minutes later, the problem was resolved and we were able to turn back around. The pilots made up most of the lost time and we managed to arrive in Berlin only 15 minutes late. The landing was a bit of a hair raiser as the plane kept rocking back and forth and the land was approaching awfully fast. Still, the pilots managed to pull off a safe landing and everyone lived happily ever after.

In the airport, we collected our luggage, bought a map, and found public transportation to the hotel (later we learned about a group day pass, but not before we spend 6.30 Euros getting to the hotel). We disembarked the tram at the specified stop, but there were unable to find the hotel from the directions given. Thankfully, with the help of two very nice German ladies (who didn't seem to speak any English), we were pointed in the right direction and were happy to finally arrive. The staff of the hotel was very friendly, helpful, and spoke excellent English.

We napped and found a fantastic restaurant (reccommended by Rick Steves) for a traditional German dinner (schnitzel, meatballs, etc) and then took a walking tour of the city (again, with the help of Rick Steves). We were able to get familiar with the lay of the land and the public transportation system and decided to take a guided tour tomorrow morning.

We returned to our hotel (which was quite nice, although the room was very small for three people) and got a good night's sleep.

Labels: Berlin, Europe 2008, Germany