After a lifetime of not quite making it to Germany's capital, I finally did so last autumn, and contrasted it with a separate trip to the much more relaxing Lake Constance in the south, on the borders with Austria and Switzerland.
Berlin's one of those cities that a long weekend is never going to give full justice to, so I'm just waiting for the right opportunity to return. What I did do was tick off all the main sights and attractions, so I can next time experience more of the real city away from the tourist areas.
The travelogue article I wrote for The Australian Times covered most of these: the Holocaust memorial and Topography of Terror museum; TV Tower and Alexanderplatz; art galleries the Dali Museum and C/O Berlin; and of course Mauerpark (pictured above) where I resisted the urge to sign up for 'Bearpit Karaoke' - wasn't drunk enough to perform for that many people!
Some of my other snaps from around the city:
And then on to Lake Constance, flying in to Zurich and also dipping into Liechtenstein for the first time. Did all four surrounding countries in as many days, which was a breeze with no border controls. Was disappointed not to get the chance to fly over the lake in one of the Zeppelins that floated overhead every day, although I did get to sail across from the Austrian town of Hard on a restored paddle steamer - ‘Hohentwiel’ - which was a trip highlight.
Others were Konstanz city itself with its ancient cathedral; getting to make Käsespätzle in the kitchen of my hotel near Vaduz; and the Tettnang hop museum and brewery which is Elysium for a beer lover like myself - the smell of its barn full of freshly harvested hops was amazing.
My travel feature on all Constance destinations visited for Luxury Lifestyle Magazine: www.luxurylifestylemag.co.uk/travel/hidden-europe-a-luxury-guide-to-lake-constance/
As of this month I've no outstanding travel plans save for Green Man Festival in South Wales in August. Just interested to see what happens post Brexit following our big leaving day on October 31st...
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