The usual start to the morning. Sounds like Kevin and I got a much better sleep than most (though Kevin didn’t sleep that well) and we completely missed the excited of a fire at a nearby house at 11pm. There were lots of tired looking kids this morning at breakfast.
We set off for our day at 9am, walking to a (relatively) nearby train station. We find the continual waiting and getting organised somewhat tedious but are getting used to it. Kevin is having a much harder than I am even though I tried to warn him what it was going to be like.
After two trains and a walk we arrived at Charlottenburg Palace.
Inside was pretty grand, as you can imagine. Unfortunately we had been told we couldn’t take photos so I actually left my bag while we did our audio tour. Turns out we could have taken photos :-(. Once we realized (right at the end of the tour and after we’d done all the best rooms) Kevin took a few photos with his phone.
I wasn’t feeling the best while on this tour and my feet were very sore (I realized mid afternoon I’d forgotten to take my pain meds this morning 🙁 ). Afterwards we enjoyed an ice-cream while people visited the gift shop.
We then walked to another train station. It was lovely street we walked along, with a huge path up the middle and lots of lovely daffodils and tulips.
As we expected, the trees get greener and greener every day.
Finally we arrived in the shopping district, where we had lunch at KaDaWe – Europe’s largest department store.
We headed up to the rooftop eating area. I think I got some video here but I was a little overwhelmed and didn’t get any photos, which is a shame as it was a lovely place. There were lots of food choices (labelled in German) and things seemed rather expensive. I ended up choosing some vegetable dishes which was paid for by weight. Not a cheap lunch that’s for sure – this plate was 8 euro (around $12-$13). Some of the kids had plates piled high as it was not really explained to us how this all worked.
The food was lovely though. Kevin and I also shared some of the choc mousse.
I loved the method for clearing away the dishes. You just put your tray on the conveyor belt and it gets whisked away (actually now that I think about it I think IKEA does the same – but their’s doesn’t look quite so fancy).
By now we had worked out that this was a rather expensive department store – along the lines of Harrod’s. Kevin wanted to get a pillow to help him sleep. And 40 euros later he had one.
I also picked up a few items from L’Occintane. And was pleasantly surprised they gave Amy & I a free perfume sample each.
We then went to meet everyone outside. I can tell you it was nice to sit and be off my feet for a bit.
From here we walked up the street to view an old church ruin that had been bombed during WWII.
We then had 2 hours free time to do some shopping. Amy joined us and we visited Fossil – Kevin got a wallet and I got a bag. For all the Fossil bags I have, I believe it’s the first time I’ve bought one for full price at a retail store.
We also went to a pharmacy where I had fun buying some makeup. The brand Catrice had been recommended to me. **If anyone else has recommendations for German (or European) brands of makeup or skin care please let me know**. Someone did recommend some others but I can’t find where I kept the information.
We needed a break for our feet so headed to McCafe (2 McDonalds in 2 days – Crazy!!!). I had a yummy milka frappe, Amy had an oreo frappe and Kevin had a not-so-good coffee.
Feeling a little revived we went in search of some t-shirts for me (as the forecast is looking warm and I’ve only got one t-shirt with me). We didn’t find any so went back to the meeting spot.
We went via a lady we had passed earlier with two dogs to give her some money. She was asleep but woke up to say thanks when we dropped the money in the dog bowl.
And yes, that dog really does have a dummy in it’s mouth. So cute. I’ve never seen that before. Her other dog was beautiful too with one blue and one brown eye.
There really aren’t too many homeless people around here but the few we’ve seen seem to all have dogs.
I decided to head off one my own for one last try and lucked out with a H&M store, where I found a plus sized section and managed to get 3 short sleeve tops.
Then it was back on the train for 2 trips (luckily we were able to gets seats) and a walk back to the hotel where we were glad to collapse on our beds for a while before dinner. We weren’t the only ones complaining of sore feet today – I think everyone was.
Dinner tonight was a really nice veggie schnitzel, with some wedges and salad.
Back to our room to watch a True Blood and rest my feet some more.
Tomorrow : A different side of Berlin with 2 walking tours, an art workshop and dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.
I like going into pharmacies in other countries. The make up looks great. Prestige is a good German brand.
Delightful!
and yes – we were not that pleased by the coffee in Germany!
Loving your posts while you are in Europe, I didn’t realise just how lovely Germany is. So have you been blogging on your iPad, have you found it easy enough? Especially adding lots of photos?
Hey Libby,
good choice to pick up Catrice products! 🙂 You should also get the Nude Palette by thenm. It’s amazing and kind of a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked Palette although it doesn’t have as much colours.
I recently picked up the new Nude Magique BB Powder by L’Oréal which I LOVE. Not sure if you can get this in Australia aswell. The whole Nude Magique line is pretty amazing. 🙂
You can get Essie nail polishes at dm drugstores for a pretty good price, about 8 € per bottle. I think it’s much more expensive in Australia.
It you’re looking for more high-end brands you have the search for a store called Douglas. They have all the famous brands like Chanel, Dior, benefit, Bobbi Brown, MAC, etc. But it’s more expensive than in the US.
Hope you’ll have some more amazing days in Germany. 🙂
Oh, by the way- you should watch out for the coffee places called “Le Crobag”. They are spread all over Berlin and make very good coffee. 🙂 Way better than Starbucks. Maybe your husband would be satisfied with their coffee. They also have very yummy baked goods and snacks, also vegetarian stuff. 🙂