Kermit, let’s begin, describe the day you played Berlin

Yup, that song was in my head for our whole trip! Luckily I loved the Muppets Movie!

Way back in May we had a trip to Norway and then Germany. Originally we were going to Norway for half term, to tour and then to run the Oslo Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon on the final Saturday. But then it got cancelled, and then we looked at hotel prices in Norway. They were rather large.

So on Friday night we flew to Bergen (we didn’t get to our hotel until gone midnight), then were up early the next morning for a tour of a fjord. The wrong one, it turned out.

The idea was to do the “Norway in a Nutshell” tour- a train from Bergen, then a bus, then a boat, then another train. We got on the train, got off an hour later (along with everyone else) to be greeted by about 15 buses, all with the tour name on the front. We got on one bus, but then were told to get off as there were no seats. We then had an hour journey, before getting off and getting on a boat. At this point I was worried there would be no toilet on the boat, so I went quickly in the little tourist information shop, and when I came out the boat was about to leave so I had to run. I mention this because the people on the boat didn’t check the ticket…

Anyway, Andy mentioned that it didn’t look like how he imagined, and when we looked at the bus ticket we realised we had managed to get on the wrong bus. We did wonder where the other 14 buses were! This led to a rather panicked 5 minutes (we were on a boat, in the middle of a fjord, heading goodness knows where…) before Andy managed to get internet on his phone and find out where we were. Luckily the boat stopped after an hour, and we went to the tourist place there, and booked boat tickets for a return journey (and then a bus)- it was a long day!

The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast in our hotel, before heading to the funicular. It had beautiful views of the city, and lovely marked walks. We walked to a nearby lake, before heading back and treating ourselves to a cup of tea (we were tempted by sharing some cake, but it was £7 for a little slice!). You could get the train back down, but there was a marked trail so we did that instead- it was very steep in places but really nice as it was mostly paths through woods.

We then had a wander around the town and out to a little park, before getting our bag from the hotel and heading to the airport.

We were off to Berlin!

Again we arrived quite late, so the next morning decided to not set the alarm and have breakfast in our hotel. It was only after we sat down and had ordered drinks that we found out it was a buffet- 20 Euros each. Anyway, at least it had plenty of options for me, and meant we didn’t need lunch!

We walked miles! To the Brandenburg Gate, to a big park, various memorials.

We sat in the park for a bit in the afternoon- bliss.

Ritter Sport was everywhere! I fondly remember it as a corner shop staple from when I was little, and I was very excited to find this mini selection pack. I loved the chocolate with cornflakes in there, but sadly could not find a big bar of it.

We saw lots of these bears, but I only remembered to take photos of two!

And one was at the airport!

The next day we bought passes for the trains, so went a bit further afield -Jason Bourne spotting in Alexander Platz, seeing Checkpoint Charlie and looking at various parts of the Berlin wall. I found it really interesting as I didn’t know much about it. I don’t really remember the wall coming down, and I didn’t realise when it was built. There was lots of information to take in, but it was done well (although nothing was glossed over).

The final day it rained, but we only had the morning before our flight, so we went to a few indoor things- the holocaust memorial had a centre below it so we spent some time reading all the individual stories.

Then it was time for a spot of shopping before braving the rain to walk back to our hotel. By this point my jeans were wet through.

Berlin goodies

Delicious Ritter Sport (Nugat, confusingly for me, is not nougat but rather a lovely praline filled chocolate) including some special winter flavours (they were cheap too!)- caramel orange and coconut macaroon. I have had the caramel one, and that was OK, but I have high hopes for the macaroon one- saving it for a special occasion! Plus a Starbucks cup. At work we are only allowed cups like this, and Starbucks actually do dishwasher safe ones, whereas most insulated ones aren’t suitable. Plus the lids fit. I bought a pretty one in Hawaii but the lid doesn’t go on properly so I can’t really use it. We also bought magnets for both places, our fridge is getting ever more crowded.

They did a Berlin one too, but I liked the castle on the back. I would love to go back to Germany and travel around Bavaria a bit- it looks so pretty.

 Have you ever been to Norway or Germany?