First things first: dcoombs asked for my thoughts on LX (Swiss Air), which I flew for the first time on the way here. I slept through the night flight over to ZRH, so I can’t really say what that was like, except the seat was quite good (the only time I’ve seen proper lumbar support in economy) and had a personal video thingy. The short flight from ZRH-TXL was quite good, they fed us and there was free booze available on a 1.5h flight. My only complaint is that their carryon restrictions are smaller than everyone else’s. I don’t know why – they have the same aircraft with the same overhead compartments, but a flight attendant told me my bag was too big. She let me get away with it because it had an AC elite tag on it (I knew those were good for something) but in future, I can’t count on that. So if I fly LX again I need to check bags, which adds to the travel time on arrival (and adds to the risk of my stuff being lost) and may make me avoid them.
Anyway, arrived in Berlin on Saturday and didn’t do anything too exciting. I mostly wandered around trying to remember where the interesting stuff was – but most of what I found was block after block of Neubauten and all I was thinking was “wow, it would be great to play manhunt here.” On Sunday I headed to the zoo, saw Knut, and wandered around some more, this time finding mostly interesting things (but everything is closed on Sundays, even some restaurants.) I also met up for dinner with my friend Kirsty from high school.
On Monday I went to work – there is a Hornbach on my way to work, which I find endlessly amusing. I had to work fairly late so I didn’t have time for much else. Today, I went downtown straight after work, had food, explored a bit more, and made it to Absinth Depot, which is excellent. Sadly, there isn’t a real AbsinthKitteh. It’s just a logo.
Anyway, time for bed – this timezone disagrees with me, or something. I hope you’re all doing well!