Reviews of Germany

Last September we went on our first visit to Berlin, where we were invited to report on the shooting of the video for Rick Astley's comeback single. We had absolutely no idea where we would be staying and it was only when we landed that we found out that we were staying in a 5 Star hotel, with the bill being paid by Rick himself. This is not really relevant to the subject of this opinion, but I just wanted to name drop!!

Here is some general information about Berlin for anyone planning a visit.

From January of 2002 the EURO is the only currency that is used. The exchange rate at the moment means that £1.00 is equal to about 1.6 EUR.

In Berlin and Germany only GSM mobile phones with the frequencies of 900 MHz or 1800 MHz will work. Tip: Ask you local provider if your mobile phone will work in Germany. Ours didn't (we were with O2) and it was a bit annoying.

In Germany they have the central European time (CET) with daylight saving time in summer. This means there is a one hour delay between the UK and Berlin.

We arrived in the early evening and got a taxi from Berlin Tegel Airport. There are three airports in Berlin, but Tegel is the main airport for European arrivals. It is located six kilometres (four miles) from the centre of the city and is accessible by bus, car or taxi. The 109 airport bus leaves about every ten minutes and costs 4 Euro, but we weren't exactly sure where the hotel was, so we took a taxi which took about 25 minutes to get to the hotel. This was more expensive at around 25 Euro, but it was easier for us with our bags and it meant that we arrived at the posh hotel in a little more style!

We were staying in the Grand Esplanade Hotel in the Tiergarten area, near the river. It is one of the best hotels in the area and would not normally have been in our budget. We did feel like we had come to the wrong place when we got out of the taxi, but the staff were friendly and we soon felt at our ease....I must have been born to this Rock Star lifestyle!!! (I wish!)

Getting around town is not difficult as the S-Bahn and U-Bahn have a wide network of routes across most of the city, operating from 04:00 am until midnight, with some lines continuing throughout the night. Day tickets are available for frequent use. All tickets should be stamped, before travelling, by a validating machine found on all platforms. The ticket can also be used for bus travel which is extremely efficient and one of the best ways to enjoy sightseeing. There are also some night buses, but we never used them.

Most of our journeys were made either on foot or by taxi. If we had been there a little longer we may have used the U-Bahn a little more, but the video shoot was within walking distance and the weather was pleasant enough to stroll. There were four of us, so a Taxi was quite a reasonable option between us. The good thing about the taxis is that they have a list of prices for journeys, clearly visible, on the windows, so you know roughly what to expect to pay.

As well as watching the video being made (all the shooting was at night so we had the days to ourselves) we were able to do quite a lot of sightseeing. This is where Berlin comes into its own...it is a magnificent city! There are good areas and bad, but this diversity reflects the history of the city and everything we saw was interesting.

We went on a sightseeing bus, a trip that I would recommend because it is an excellent way to take in the attractions without getting too tired. There are quite a few different tours, all with different prices and routes. Ours was an open topped bus (it was raining, so they had covered the top) and had a commentary piped through headphones in a choice of about five languages (English, German, French, Japanese and I think the other was Russian).

The bus went on a circular tour around the city calling at the main tourist areas. The good thing about the bus tour is that the ticket lasts for the whole day. Buses leave every ten to fifteen minutes and there are stops at all the main lanEuroarks. Our tickets cost 35 Euro and we were able to hop on and off the buses to take photos. Just remember to check when the last bus leaves, because it is easy to get stranded.

We got on in the Charlottenburg area near to the Europa shopping centre. This is a wonderful area for shoppaholics and has a large variety of stores, restaurants and bars. The main lanEuroark here is the Gedächtniskirche, a church that was partially destroyed in the Second World War and has been rebuilt to symbolise how terrible the conflict was.

The bus moves on through the Tiergarten area, which was an area of parkland in central Berlin, and carries on through the amazing architectural features of the Postdamer Platz (big companies such as Sony and Daimler have built ultra modern offices here and other businesses are relocating here, to make it the centre of Berlin), through Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate. There is a museum at Checkpoint Charlie, but we didn't have time to visit.

There is only one small section of the wall remaining and I was surprised to discover that this is now a listed monument. It was very poignant to see it and to remember that many people died trying to cross a border that we were now able to just walk across. The remainder of the wall is marked by a strip of cobbles, two wide, running along the roads and pavements. This was again a strange feeling to just step across and be stood one moment in the East and the next in the West.

There are so many amazing buildings and many reminders to the past of the city, all of which was explained by the commentary. I couldn?t possibly explain all that is on offer and any opinion on Berlin will only scratch the surface. It is a city of contrasts: Amazing modern buildings stand next to building sites and the remains of the decaying old city. There are many museums (there is even a Museum of Erotica near the Europa centre), theatres, bars, cinemas and shops.

The nightlife is as varied and interesting as the history that can be found in the day. There are no shortages of places to eat and drink, many of which open until the early hours of the morning. There is a wide variety of different foods available, for example we found an American Diner, McDonalds, Sushi bars and many others. There is no excuse for starving in Berlin!

I would recommend a visit to Berlin. We were unsure of whether we would like it because usually we plan our holidays to warm sunny places. I'm really glad we had the opportunity to visit Berlin and I'm sure we will go back again in the future. Thank you Mr Astley!