No, thank you. Fifteen is my limit on schnitzengruben!

Ski and I have just returned from a three day trip to Berlin. Ski’s brother, Svein, had taken his wife to Berlin earlier in the year and since then he had been raving about how Berlin was the European equivalent of New York. I guess he wanted us to see what the fuss was about so he booked us on a short jaunt to the land of beer and sausages. I didn’t want to mention that to him that Germany wasn’t high on my list of places to visit for various reasons. He had sent us on a trip to Prague the previous year before as a belated wedding gift and we had an amazing time. So since he had yet to steer us wrong on a vacation spot, so I went along and hoped for the best. Ski on the other hand was very excited to go because Berlin was one of the few major European cities that she had yet to visit.

The flight down from Oslo to Berlin was short and uneventful. The flight time between the two cities was comparable to commuter flights between New York and Atlanta. When we arrived in Berlin I was kinda shocked that the airport was so low budget. I had this crazy impression that everything in Germany was high tech and expertly engineered. The subway to downtown was also extremely unimpressive. However the subway travelled a path that took us directly through much of East Berlin. I had to admit that this was pretty cool since, as a kid growing up in NYC, I only expected to see East Berlin in some old James Bond movie.

Ski’s brother picked a good spot for us to crash. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Berlin. The hotel was fairly upscale and within walking distance of tons of restaurants, nightclubs, and parks. The had WiFi throughout the hotel but Ski made me leave my beloved Winona at home. She said she didn’t want me to be on my laptop the entire vacation. I figured that it was best not to argue about it so I packed my PSP with Grand Theft Auto Vice City instead. I guess what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt me.

The first night in Berlin was an experience. Ski and I walked around the downtown area and took in the sights. One of the locals suggested that we check out this nice little family restaurant called “El Toro Negro“, which translates into “the black bull”. I got a laugh outta that. I wondered if the dude was trying to be funny but decided not to dwell on it. I was on vacation after all. It turned on that the food at the restaurant was really good. Cheap too. Now I feel kinda guilty about wanting to flip the dude the bird.

The next day we rented bikes to check out the city. Berlin is a very “bike friendly” town. Ski and I rode all around and saw far more of Berlin than if we relied on taxis or the trains. It was a great way to see the city. We found this little internet cafe near the hotel called “Easylife” that rented bikes for just 10 euros a day. The guy that owned the shop was a Nigerian immigrant who moved to Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. We talked for a decent amount of time about living in Berlin. His insight on how Germany has evolved after reunification and communism was intriguing.

Overall, the trip was amazing. Both Ski and I had to admit that we would go back to Berlin without hesitation. The city was a very cosmopolitan and chic. The only thing was that next time I would like to bring the kids. There were a bunch of places in Berlin that they would have loved.