Berlin - to the Hotel

OK, so we have just entered West Berlin and missed the exit to get to Downtown. The West Berlin area is huge, and I did not have a map, so that was priority one. So we began looking for a gas station to buy a map.

We had reservations at a hotel on the famous Kufurstendamm, a major street in then-West Berlin. We needed to find out way to get there. After about an hour of the unintended but awesome sightseeing tour of West Berlin, we found the "Ku-Damm" and our hotel.

By this time, it was getting towards early afternoon and we were both hungry. So after parking and checking into the hotel, we went that bastion of culinary masterpieces; yes, we went to Burger King.

I went to the counter, and in my best German (I took it for two years in high school - Foothill HS, class of noneofyourgawddamnbusiness - and living in Germany made me a better speaker), I ordered a Whopper with cheese - no mayo, large fries and Onion Rings, and a Pespi Light (Euro Diet Pepsi) . She came back in English better than mine to confirm it. I had forgotten that most Germans in West Berlin spoke English (the younger ones, especially). So with our bellies full of that fantastic cuisine, we went to our hotel room to get settled and for a short nap (we were pretty tired from the trip).

We got up a few hours later, and the night life on the Ku-Damm was just starting. We walked all over the shopping district, and found a steak restaurant for dinner. Whe had net seen a steak restaurant in well over a year, and we jumped at it. We knew that it might not be as good as the steaks we had in California (or what I had in Texas - 32 oz. steaks for $10, and you cut cut them with a fork, they were so tender (if you order meat more cooked than Medium you are a commie and I do not like you), but looking at the ambiance of this restaurant we knew it couldn't be that bad.

So, we went in and were not disappointed in the least. Our steaks were really good, and the sides were awesome as well. A great dinner and a good time. After dinner we walked around more and enjoyed the cool evening, even with the rain (this was in October, and the weather was typical fall in Europe: rain and cool temps). We finally turned in at the hotel, where I made sure my uniform was squared away for the trip the next morning (final polish on my shoes, made sure my name tag was secured properly, etc.).

Next, the Fateful Trip into Commie East Berlin