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May 20, 2017: Our First Evening in Berlin |
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One reason for choosing the Turkish Airlines route from Miami was that it afforded us to spend a couple of days in Fort Lauderdale ahead of the trip and after it. This afforded us the opportunity to be as relaxed as possible before the long overseas flight, and to decompress after the long flight back. Our flight from Miami to Istanbul would depart from Miami at 9PM, and after driving our rental car down to the airport, turning it in, checking our bags and going through security, we were at the departure gate over an hour before flight time. When we got there, we found our plane already waiting (it was a turnaround from Istanbul, and it arrived at 7PM).
 At the Departure Gate |
 Some Final Texts |
Actually, we didn't need to do any final texting; we'd arranged for a one-month international texting plan so we could stay in touch while overseas. It didn't include free calling, but we didn't anticipate that would be necessary. We could do email and Internet at all our hotels and some other places as well, and could text each other; Prudence, Ron, Karl, and Nancy; Jeffie; and everyone back home. All that would keep us in touch. Thanks to the idiocy of President Trump, there was a ban on hand-carrying laptops into the United States on flights from 7 countries; since Turkey was one of them, and since I didn't want to check my laptop, I left it in Fort Lauderdale. We'd make do with our phones and the two tablets (quite checkable) that we brought.
The 11-hour flight left Miami on time at 9PM, and arrived pretty much on time in Istanbul at 3PM on the afternoon of the 20th. As you can figure, we crossed 7 time zones on the way over. Both Fred and I had brought plenty to do and read on the flight, but as it turned out, none of that was really necessary. The seatback entertainment system right in front of each of us had a catalog of over 250 movies of all kinds, most with available subtitles, that you could start and stop at any time. What with the three movies I watched on the way over, the three meals, some reading and some solitaire on my tablet, I was never at a loss for something to do. If I could sleep on airplanes (as Fred can) the time might have passed even more quickly.
 Fred and Our Plane to Berlin |
 Me at the Gate in Ataturk Airport |
We had about an hour layover in Istanbul; we had to change planes to go onward to Berlin. The airport was easy to navigate, though, and we got to our new gate again an hour ahead of time.
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The flight left on time for a 7PM arrival in Berlin (a one-hour time change in the other direction). As we taxiied away from the gate and around to our runway, Fred got a couple of representative airport pictures, and as the airliner climbed out over the city of Istanbul, Fred was snapping away, and a few of his pictures turned out nice enough to include here.
There was one picture that turned out particularly nicely, and shows a huge development a couple of miles from the airport (and one which we would pass on the ground in a taxi about twelve days from now. You can see that picture below, along with our route to Berlin.
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On the way to Berlin, Fred took lots of pictures, although because it was a little hazy and very cloudy, they weren't as good as they might have been on a clear day, so I haven't added any of them to this page. We came into Tegel Airport (Templehof having closed many years ago), claimed our bags without difficulty, enquired at a tourist desk about transportation downtown, and went outside to wait for a bus that would take us quite close to our hotel.
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The helpful tourist desk gave us a map and sold day passes for the transportation network; after changing some currency and getting a few euros, we were all set.
The bus came pretty quickly, and it, too, was pretty underfilled. It was your typical city bus, although, like all transportation in Europe we would come to learn, it was equipped with electronic message boards that detailed where the bus was heading eventually and what the next stop was. Of course there was also a route map for the bus posted a couple of places inside, and there were recorded announcements as well, but we would come to rely on the little electronic displays in Berlin (as well as Prague and Istanbul, as it turned out).
I might also say that at bus and metro stops, there were usually also little electronic signs that told you how long it would be before the next bus or other form of transport would arrive, where it would be headed, and what its next stop would be. Of course there were also posted timetables, so waiting for a bus or a train in Europe is, it seems, a lot different than in the United States (although I confess to never have actually taken a bus in Dallas). As we rode downtown, we took pictures of each other on the bus, so you can look at Fred or myself if you care to.
When we were planning our trip, I'd printed out some little maps, so I already knew where we should get off the bus so as not to pass our hotel. As it turned out, getting off at the stop before the Wyndham Excelsior Hotel had us walk a longer distance than if we had gotten off at the first stop past it, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. We arrived at our hotel before eight o'clock and as it was still very light, and we were just blocks from the Zoo and the Tiergarten, we dropped our things in our room and went out to see what we could see and have some supper.
You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.
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May 20, 2017: Our First Evening in Berlin |
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Return to the Index for Our Visit to Berlin |
