Our visit to Berlin in 2015 - memories

A diver was cleaning the fish tank..

In June 2015, Richard and I visited Berlin and stayed at the Radisson Hotel with the memorable fish tank in the foyer. We will be visiting there again in April 2020, staying at the same place, but this time with the whole Newton family. Apparently the fish tank is currently being renovated!


I have managed to recreate our previous visit from my old blogs, as a reminder of what we did last time, which restaurants we ate at and what we saw. The diary is listed in reverse order, so you may prefer to scroll down to the end and work back.

So now read on...

Day 7 - leaving Berlin

We set our alarms for a 7 o'clock start on the day we leave Berlin. We did more packing and then had a quick breakfast of muesli, fruit, yogurt, orange juice, coffee, boiled egg and bread. We checked out of the Radisson Blu and noticed that it was pouring with rain.  

We walked along to the bus stop and waited 10 minutes for the airport express bus. It did stop at quite a few stations. We checked in our bags and got our boarding cards, then waited for the boarding to start. No passport control needed for flights within mainland Europe.

The flight boarded on time but was a bit late taking off. We had a fairly nasty cheese sandwich with herby mayonnaise in. I just drank water. The flight was a little late landing in Zurich but it didn't take long to get our bags. I met Sophia who had just been to Lubljana. We took the train back to Thalwil and caught the bus home.

Our apartment was warm and the plants looked a bit dry but everything was fine. I caught up with the second episode of Celebrity Masterchef with four celebs. They seemed to enjoy themselves. We went to Migros for food for the next day or two. At home again I read some of the many emails which I missed. I also imported my photos.

Day 6 - River Cruise, Newton Bar, Nicolaikirche

Richard 'Unter den Linden' in Tiergarten

Today after breakfast we took a river cruise on the Spree. We saw the sights and bridges as far as Tiergarten where we got off to explore the large tree-filled park.

We crossed the road and walked through the trees to the rose garden, then went on to find the Rousseau monument on a small island and the Soviet monument to World War II. On the way we saw a fox, rabbits, a heron and a goose and ducks.

In the rose garden

We regained the boat back to Nikolaiviertel where we had pizza for lunch in Marcellino before seeing the Nikolaikirche museum. It contains many replicas of the former church artefacts. Then back to the hotel for a rest. We got bus tickets to the airport for tomorrow morning.

The Nikolaikirche is now a museum with many replicas

Later in the rain we walked down Unter den Linden to Charlottenstrasse where we saw the French and German cathedrals and the concert hall. We had cocktails in the Newton Bar, before having dinner next door at Lutter und Wegner. Our lamb was very rare.




We walked back via the Schiller monument in the Gendarmenmarkt and the Hedwigskirche. We continued packing for an early start tomorrow.

Day 5 - Unter den Linden and Daniel Barenboim

Not very summery in Berlin. No hurry to get up for breakfast today. It was busy but we still had nice food. I had a croissant today. Then I wrote two cards while the room was being cleaned.

Richard wanted to visit the Pergamon Museum so we headed to the island just over the bridge. Some people don't get the idea of queuing. We queued for about half an hour but discovered that the Pergamon Altar was closed for refurbishment. We did see the Ishtar Gate from Babylon, partially renovated and the Market Gate of Miletus, incomplete. We also saw some other sights from Mesopotamia and Rome but they were not very well displayed.

The remains of the Market Gate of Miletus in the museum

After spending an hour there, we strolled down Unter den Linden to the Neue Wache, a restored guard house containg a modern Pieta in bronze of a mother and dead son.

We had lunch at Cum Laude, another German beer garden where we shared a room with a Christening party. I had beer and potato soup with leeks. Quite tasty.

When we went back into the street there was an open-air concert taking place at Bebelplatz near Staatsoper, with Daniel Barenboim conducting the Staatskapelle in works by Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. We found a place at the side to listen. It was very exciting to be there. The violin soloist Lisa Batiashvili played an encore for the victims of the floods in Georgia. Luckily the rain held off.

The historic Jewish Synagogue was guarded by police

Back at our room we rested and then went for a refreshing swim in the spa pool. We declined the mixed sauna without swimming costumes. Then we got ready to walk to Lokal by the river, through Monbijou Park and past the historic Jewish synagogue.

At the restaurant we chose a nice menu: I had rabbit and Richard had matjes and we both had coq au vin. We had another bottle of Riesling. We shared cheesecake for dessert. It was very light when we walked back and then had a coffee at the  hotel.

Day 4 - Alte Galerie and Dom church, Philharmonie

We got up rather late and had the usual nice breakfast in the Radisson Blu. Rain was forecast. We took umbrellas and strolled across to Museums Insel. There was a long queue for the main art museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie.

We paid to visit the ImEx exhibition of Impressionist and Expressionist art of the 19th and 20th centuries. It was rather crowded but we managed to see all the works by Manet, Renoir, Monet, Cezanne and Kirchner, Liebermann, Macke and Munch. They were grouped into themes such as Bathers, Leisure, Relationships and Premonitions of War. We also made a quick visit to the rooms of Constable and Courbet.

The Berliner Dom church interior was rather ornate

We walked over Friedricksbruecke and found a place for lunch, Allegretto, where I had a salad and Richard had a ham and cheese breakfast. It was raining by now and we dived into the Dom church and saw the ornate altar, stained glass windows, pulpit and the crypt with historic tombs. Much of Berlin was destroyed during World War II and has been recently restored.

Back at the hotel our rest was interrupted by the cleaner so we had a coffee in the large bar. Many people visit the hotel foyer to see the huge blue aquarium above the atrium, which is cleaned by a diver daily.

Richard at the Philharmonie before the concert

We are going out soon after 5pm to go to the Philharmonie Berlin where Simon Rattle is conducting a concert with works by Brahms, Debussy and Enescu. We arrived early to see the concert hall and have a drink. We had very good seats up high behind the orchestra. In the first half, Christian Tetzlaff played solo violin in Brahms Violin Concerto and the augmented orchestra played works by Debussy and Enescu in the second half. There was prolonged applause. Then Sir Simon paid tribute to flautist Andreas Blau who was retiring.

After the concert there were encores and applause

Afterwards we walked towards Potsdamerplatz and got seats at Billy Wilder bar for beers and nachos. A very nice evening.

Day 3 - exploring by bus - Charlottenburg and Reichstag

Up quite early. We saw the news on BBC World - crisis meeting about the Greek economy and the latest shooting in US. Very busy in breakfast today. I had boiled eggs and orange juice. Today we plan to take the bus tour to Charlottenburg and visit the late 17th century castle. The weather is dull but not raining - yet.

The rooms of the castle have been restored

We took a city tour bus for a second day and went all the way out to Schloss Charlottenburg in west Berlin. The castle was built for Queen Sophie Charlotte by King Friedrich I in the 18th Century. The apartments have been beautifully restored after damage in WWII.

We first saw the Alte Schloss and after lunch in the Orangerie we toured the Neue Schloss and the gardens. We were not supposed to take photos inside the Schloss without a permit.

Inside the Norman Foster dome at the Reichstag 

The church of the Berliner Dom looked splendid when floodlit

It was cool and rainy.

We caught another city tour bus back to the centre but the driver went off shift part of the way round and we had to wait for another bus! We passed the sites of the old wall and Checkpoint Charlie and Potsdamerplatz.


n the evening we had a pre-booked tour of the Reichstag and took a lift to the transparent dome designed by Norman Foster, from where we had a great view all over the city. We were able to walk up a glass ramp to the top, see the 360 degree view and then descend by another ramp. It was quite spectacular.


We had dinner in an Argentine steakhouse, La Parilla. At our hotel we had a coffee before taking a stroll over the river and seeing the Berliner Dom church in floodlight.

Day 2 - Berlin Wall and Holocaust Museum

The Brandenburg Gate is an imposing sight

We woke early, had a basic shower and a nice breakfast. We asked about bus tours and bought a two-day ticket. After collecting our things we caught a yellow Bex bus outside the hotel. The first section went from the Dom to Unter den Linden and past Museum Insel, currently surrounded by building works.

The Holocaust Memorial was a quiet place

We saw the Russian, UK and US embassies and alighted at Brandenburger Tor. We took photos all round. We then walked to the nearby Holocaust Monument, a sculpture of 2700 stone steles. We admired it from the front and also walked through the taller stones. Afterwards we visited the exhibition of facts, stories and images of the holocaust when over 5 million Jews died. A sobering experience.

All that remains of the notorious Berlin Wall

Then we had lunch at the Hotel Adlon, featured in several spy novels. I had chicken Caesar salad and German rose wine which was delicious.The service and ambience were excellent.


We resumed the bus tour through more Berlin districts including Tiergarten and Charlottenburg. We returned via Kurfirstendamm to Potsdamerplatz and the Philharmonie, home of the famous BPO. We also passed the remaining Berlin Wall built in 1981, and saw the Checkpoint Charlie museum.


We drove past Alexanderplatz over the river and back to our hotel for a rest. Later we took a taxi to Henne, a popular place where we ate half a roast chicken with crispy skin and potato salad, plus two glasses of Riesling. Back at the hotel I had an Irish coffee. Very nice evening.

Day 1 - Arrival in Berlin

Up at 7.15 for our trip to Berlin. We had breakfast with our limited food supplies and then completed packing. Hoping for warm weather but taking umbrellas and jackets in case.

An altarpiece in the Marienkirche

We took a bus and train to the airport and left our bags, then had time for a glass of wine in the Walker Bar - poor service. Our flight was late taking off and landing due to too much air traffic. In Berlin we found the express bus to Alexanderplatz via the main station. We got off near our hotel, the Radisson Blu in Karl-Liebknechtstrasse in the former East Berlin.

The aquarium in our hotel was a big attraction

The  hotel has a huge fish tank in the atrium. Reception was rather brusque. We unpacked and discussed plans. Then we explored the Nicolai Quarter nearby. The river was blocked off for building work but we went into the Marienkirche, rather plain, and saw the Dom church, the TV tower and the Red Rathaus.

We had dinner at Reinhard's, a traditional restaurant with '20s photos on the walls. We had soup and sea bass with a nice Riesling Bockenheimer Gravenstuck 2014. Back to the hotel for an early night. Didn't sleep well.