If it's Tuesday it's Berlin

Left the Heathrow Renaissance Hotel at 9:00AM to go to Terminal One and check-in for our flight to Berlin. No problems at the airport with our over weight baggage. The European airlines are always eager to charge for this unlike in the US where weight is a non issue for the most part. As we were really early (the no rushing is always good) we had breakfast in the departure lounge.....after all the rich foods over the last few days we decided to be good before we entered Germany and started in on German food so we ordered fresh fruit and yogurt and a hearty healthy organic porridge with oat flakes and oatmeal before flying off to the Fatherland. Flight was on a British Airways Airbus A320 - departed from the gate ten minutes late and our route of flight was Harlow, Clacton, Amsterdam, Enschede, Hannover to Berlin Tegel Airport. Cruising altitude was 11,887 meters with an outside air temperature, at that altitude, of minus 81 degrees Farenheit! Started our descent over Hannover at 13:37 hrs. Temperature at Tegel right now is 3 degrees Celcius. Dietmar Seidel (Inge's brother) was at Tegel to meet us. Dietmar drove us to the apartment which was very kindly all set up and heated for our arrival. True German hospitality - thank you Dido and Inge for making it all possible. What a treat. We unpacked and carefully took notes on what belonged where and checked the shine on the water taps etc...Have to leave the apartment better than it was handed over to us. That's hard to do! We then washed up and walked up to Heidelberger Platz and took the S bahn to bahnhof Zoo - walked. Briefly around the Christmas market and then back to Charlottenburg and the Alt Luxembourg Restaurant...we ordered;
Roasted sweetbreads with pumkin risotto for Sally to start and I had Millefeuille of horse radish and smoked salmon with tartare followed by Sally having Wild Duck Breast with honey and thyme crust and I ordered....Roast scallops with baby leeks and saffron and mango chutney.......with a nice Cote du Rhone to wash it all down with...it was all very well prepared and a flavorful experience. Dessert consisted of fig sorbet and caramel Ice-cream for Sally and a Gingerbread mousse coated in layered cake with Christmas Stollen parfait for me....then it was a return to the apartment via the S-Bahn....a good day...So until tommorow.....good night.....