Dates: 12-16 August 2023 (Pictures in the link)
Airports: STN ⭐️⭐️, BER ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (+/- 1/2)
Airlines: Ryanair ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (+/- 1/2)
Night before Hotel: The Kicking Dickey (Dunmow, UK) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Berlin Hotel: ibis Berlin Kurfürstendamm ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (+/- 1/2)
I planned a trip to Berlin, Germany for my 6 week summer break. As I just finished paying off some large bills - this trip happened when I was still paying those bills off. So, I had to do Berlin in a budget way (which it shouldn't - what an incredible city). I was really surprised by the trip and cannot wait to share it with you!
As I always do, I did the Kayak Explore search to see where the best deals were. Berlin came up - but through a really early morning flight using London Stansted. I had been avoiding Stansted because there was not a good direct route from Luton to get there. It's about a 2 hour trip Luton to London St. Pancras, then the London Underground to Tottenham Hale, then to Stansted Rail Station which is right outside the airport. So, I decided to try it out. I booked a room about 5 miles from the airport so I would make the flight ok. I looked up bus routes to and from the airport - the whole nine yards. I felt like I was pretty prepared.
Saturday 12 August - Took my train from Luton to Stansted. I was impressed by Greater Anglia's rail service. Nice trains and in good shape. However that all ended when we got to Stansted. Evidently, most international travelers do not understand that you have to buy a National Rail ticket from Tottenham Hale (where you get off the Underground). Supposedly, and I vague remember this from my quick trip through the station, that it warned travelers to this. Most rail companies have someone on the trains checking tickets. I am used to this and this makes a ton of sense. Does Great Anglia do this? NO.
Unlike the many rail stations in the UK with automated ticket turnstiles, at Stansted Rail Station, Greater Anglia inspects every passenger's ticket personally. This creates a huge bottleneck! The people in line were not happy; many people were cutting in the queue; it was unorganized chaos. More on this later... Anyway, I get to the ticket agent and not only do they want to see my ticket (which I had out), they also want to see my Network Rail card (a discount card you can get to help lower train prices in Southeastern England). I have been in the UK for two years and have never been asked for this. Frustratingly, I rampage through my phone while the people behind me moan in displeasure because they also recognized the request was ridiculous. I finally pass through the rail station and walk to the bus station to take my bus to the Hotel. Busses weren't very reliable but I got to the hotel right for check-in.
The Kicking Dickey was literally a two minute walk from the bus stop. It is a beautiful old building to the East of Dunmow Town Center. Nicola, the inn keeper, was lovely - checked me in and showed me my room. What a great deal for £50 a night! Single bed, nice shower in the en-suite. No frills, but lots of personality. After I settled in, I went back into the Pub and had lunch. Nicola took my order and nothing was too much trouble; great good, well prepared, great value. I went back to the room for a long nap - I wanted to bank some sleep time in for the next day.
I woke up very, very early to get my bus to Stansted. The bus service was about 25 minutes late. Not thrilled about that and probably will not use a bus to get to an airport when I am in a rush. I got to the airport at 6am for a 7:35 flight. I am usually someone who gets to an airport 2 hours before BOARDING, so I am stressed a bit about being behind my normal schedule.
I got to RyanAir's check-in and there was quite a large queue which reinforced my stressful feeling. RyanAir however really got through the line quickly and processed me through by 6:20. I had purchased the Fast Lane for security and I got through security pretty quickly.
Stansted, for those of you who have never had the "pleasure," has this labyrinth of duty free and other shops that you must walk through to get to the gates. We are talking a 20 minute walk through a maze of shops of all kinds with shop assistants being very aggressive with wanting to force their samples on you (no I do not want to smell that woman's cologne). So, we are at 6:40 by this point. I then had to walk another 15 minutes to the gate which had me going up and down stairs - just seems like the function of the airport was not really considered. I get to the gate and I am sweating and a mess; just in time for boarding.
Also, to my friends outside of the UK, boarding at an airport here means that they take you from one waiting area to then stand (often on a staircase) for an hour before you are allowed outside to then climb stairs to get on your plane. Did the inventor of the jetbridge and the UK have a really bad relationship or something? The only jet bridges I have seen here are at Heathrow and perhaps Gatwick (?). Sorry my Brits, the jet bridge and you all need to connect again on Facebook and be friends.
If you know me at this point, hah, you can guess Im a stressed-mess. I was so worried about RyanAir and - it looks like it was for no reason. My flight to Berlin was amazing. If you do you homework on RyanAir and how they work - they are really easy to work with. Loved both trips on them.
I should have taken Liam Carpenter @liamcarps1 on instagram at his word. Germans love their walking! The walk from Terminal 2 in BER to the S-Bahn station was a bit long. But not awful. Signs weren't the easiest to find to find where to get the S9 into Berlin. I got there and once I figured that out, things were a piece of cake. I took the S9 to the U1 and got off at Wittenbergplaz where the ibis I was staying with was a 2 minute walk away. Super convenient location!
This was my second time staying at an ibis (the other time was an ibis Styles in Amsterdam). This time was a bit off a toss-up. The folks on duty at the front wear pretty casual clothing so it was hard to process they were actually working. The gentlemen on duty when I checked in was amazing. I got in early and they let me check in early - was nice to get all my stuff put away and settle in. The bed was awful, the AC extremely weak (one day it was broken - doing a heat wave), and the soap smelled like Currywurst (not kidding - it was not pleasant).
I was able to get in my first Currywurst in (YUM) and settle in with a few beers. It was going to be a hot couple days, so I decided to get all my sightseeing from 7 to 11 in the morning and then do some more at night when it cooled down. If you check out the picture link above, I got to see:
Checkpoint Charlie - really wanted to see this as I was raised during the cold war and saw the Berlin Wall fall. It was very cool to see the check point from both sides. I took some time to reflect; what must it have been like to be an East Berliner looking at that check point. I really took the time while I was in Berlin to orient myself to where I would have been in the 80's (East or West).
Brandenburg Gate - It was beautiful. I walked towards the gate from U Bahn stop towards the Gate. Crazy that this was another portal between the two sides of this conflict.
Reichstag - Where the German parliament is housed. Another beautiful building.
US Embassy - it's crazy; the avenue from the U Bahn to the Gate is the embassy row. I saw Hungary's embassy, Russia's, and the US Embassy. The US Embassy was the only one with a ridiculous amount of security.
Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe: What a stoic and massive monument that helps show the massive amount of people who died during Nazi rule.
Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism - although no where near in volume and horrific extent to which Nazi's murdered the Jewish people of Europe, they also persecuted homosexuals. Something that really is not know by most people. The monument is very simple, but profound.
At the end of the sightseeing, I went to shop at a grocery store to get some local foods. They even had Hungarian Pick Salami :) I was able to get some local fare and save some money on meals.
My second day, the hottest one while I was there, in Berlin was a little more relaxed. I went to go see the Haribo store, went shopping in the area to take in some people watching, and had some German Diner Kebab. I looked around Bauhaus for USB fans because I was worried about the AC in the room (it was fixed).
The early trip back to the Airport was problem free and the check-in went very well. The flight was fine and the train station and Stansted sucked just as much on my way home.
My takeaways:
- RyanAir, I will gladly fly you again!
- Ibis, I will be avoiding you.
- Stansted, I will try the National Express bus service if I have to use you again.
I need to visit Germany again (and I'm 75% sure I will in December). I loved it and really feel bad I made such a short trip and tried to be overly budget focused. I look forward to visiting again :)
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