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Definitely get an apartment in Berlin at the Circus Hotel.  Just make sure it’s not apartment two (unless you like going up and down precarious stairs).  We are told apartment four in the main building is the room to request.

Apartment two aside, the circus hotel has lots to offer, including great breakfast, a top notch bar, outstanding staff, and the best lost-and-found monkey in Europe.  We enjoyed the location.

Once again no AC.  Berlin was cooler than Brussels (in both ways), but it still could use some HVAC tech.

The shower was just fine, though the bathroom was down some stairs and was pretty tiny.

It rained.  But we ventured right out into it.  Berlin with Lisa and Noelie is fun no matter the weather.

The holocaust memorial is a good place to visit in the rain.

I had not seen the Brandenburg gate since 1985.  Things have changed in Berlin.

 

The Wall museum is well worth checking out.

But then you need a rooftop bar without a corporate event!  And yet it is apparently too early to drink?!  Who knew.

Problem solved!  Open your own rooftop bar and serve Tanqueray and Tonics whenever you want.  The collusion from the circus staff was greatly appreciated.

And what is a party without sun umbrellas?

This is the 100th luftbaloon (it didn’t make the cut).

Of course our actual reason to visit Berlin is to visit Jaqueline!  new life.  new town.  new beginnings.

It’s startup city.

An actual dark and stormy with Angostura procured after a delicious dinner.

About that monkey…

We started the next day with a river tour.  Highly recommended, especially if you bring Markus along to translate.

The architecture is stunning and gorgeous.

But it’s too hot!  So time for a beer with the boyz.

 

St George

Or make that a truly awful cocktail at Wilde Matilde what a place.

What?!

I will never forget the clickty-clack of the skeleton teeth.

Marx and Engels.  Or maybe not.

Dinner for ten (!!) at VOLK was slow. Delicious. AND SLOW. Not a fan of French-style service though the food was great.

And then it was off to the Oderberger Pool for a midnight swim.  Who knew we were supposed to be there at 10?!  LOL.  This was awesome.  A romantic and delightful thing to do as a couple.

This rainbow unicorn is a tricky thing.

Another beautiful breakfast at the Circus Hotel.

We found of a copy of the Alchemist (not in London) and so had a celebratory CR#2.

We looked into terror and fascism for as long as we could stand.  The idiots in the US don’t think this can happen again.  They are fools.

Time for a quick roses break to level set.

 

Jacqueline on the street.

And a prize visit to Beavis, an outstanding bar.  Fortunately the lightning storm spared us all.

All the way from Virginia, some 601 now lives in Berlin.


Have breakfast at the house of small wonder.  Amazeballs.

A visit to the Boros Foundation (set up way in advance) was superb.  No pictures because these people have no idea how social media works.

Guess whose apartment this is?

Hearts.

Quick cocktail before dinner at Betty F.

And it was time to fly.

A fantastic visit, and no doubt the first of many to come.

Four showerheads for the Circus Hotel.  Fewer stairs and you would have a thing!

 

 

 

Third time’s a charm. This year’s cocktail extravaganza was hashtagged (as always) with a tip of the hat to the Clash. (See #londonculling and #rockthecasbar entries.)

From our base at the Mondrian London, we headed out to the shard for lunch.

The food at Aquashard is remarkably good. Fuel up!

After lunch, it was off to the Alchemist. Espresso was in the cards since it was early yet.

Next we paid a visit to our friend Alessandro (and delivered greetings personally from Jacques Bezuidenhout) at Duke’s hotel bar. Simply put, Duke’s somehow makes the best martinis in the world. Better to only have one.

Plans called for a visit to the Ritz bar, but we ran into a shoe-ware issue (someone had on trainers that cost as much as a car). So fuck the Ritz. We will be back never.

No worries, the Connaught Bar manned by Micheal was incredibly great. We sat at the bar. Somehow the Connaught became our home away from home with two visits the next day during much fun was had.

We paid a visit to Gerry’s Wines and Spirits to amass a treasure trove of Amer Picon and some very old Cuban rum. Graham and insta-graham were a blast. Gin tasting occurred.

Then it was time for prophylactic ramen at Bone Daddies. Great ramen with a rock and roll vibe. Beer seemed like a good idea.

Bar Swift was our next target. Without a reservation we shlepped downstairs. After a round, our waitress took pity on us and gave us a great round booth. Then we got into the George T Stagg 2016. Wise?? Of course it was wise.

Next up was a visit to one of our all around favorites, the American Bar at the Savoy. Our barman on point at the establishment did what he could to find us some Catoctin Creek rye to use in the Red Lips Rye. He had 24 hours. Sadly, his attempt was unsuccessful, but he did put in a real effort.

We always seem to get stuck at the American Bar for 2 or 3 rounds, after which we head downstairs and transfer our tab to the Beaufort. Two of our party bowed out after the American Bar visit around 10:30.

It was left for the remaining cocktail enthusiasts to pull all of the weight. Down to the Beaufort we went. Frankly we were not impressed with this visit. Though we love the bar and past visits have been fun (if not expensive as hell), there seem to be too many Russians around for comfort these days.

Back home to the Dandelyan it was. We made it in time for fernet and a last call that seems to have involved two CR#2’s and six Liberals. These things happen!

So, after all this we somehow ended up opening a bottle of champagne at 2am on the balcony. That was a bad idea.

You would figure that we had learned our lesson, but we had not. The next afternoon after some ramen (medicinal this time) at Monohon ramen we walked over to the Zetter Townhouse for some hair of the dog.

Which naturally led us back to the Connaught Bar to see Michael again before our fancy night out.

We leave you with a recipe for a Coburg Collins
50 ml London dry gin (no 3)
20 ml lemon
15 ml simple syrup
10 ml fino sherry
2 dashes celery bitters
top up with soda water over big ice.