Philippe, stay overnight and book a flight back on Sunday late afternoon. Seriously! My wife and I will take you out for dinner in the night and on Sunday morning we go together to the fleamarket at the Mauerpark, where, when we are lucky, we can find some nice alt glass for cheap.

As for the suggestions where to meet, let us wait if Philippe stays over night.

Heinz, thank you very much for your invitation, but I need to be back on Sunday morning for Church. There is a possibiity for me to return Sunday morning at 7h15, which would get me there in time if all goes well. Is your invitation to dinner still on?

Off course it is, Philippe

OK, I will confirm tomorrow. I really look forward to it, Heinz!

If you can stay overnight, then of course other options open up! Suggestions can be stock-piled here, just in case

As I said, Museumsinsel and Brandenburger Tor would be very nice, but perhaps a bit boring for you who already live in Berlin. But I am in general open to anything, I do not know Berlin very well.

FYI, I am on the train to Berlin early tomorrow morning and will only have mobile internet when I am in Berlin, which was very problematic last time. But I will check this thread somehow. If everything fails and someone wants to contact me, Carsten has my mobile phone number.

The architectural most interesting (and nice to walk) part of Berlin IMO is the area between main station/Haus der Kulturen and Alexanderplatz/Jannowitzbrücke. Between those locations on the west and east we could either walk alternatively along the Spree, Unter den Linden or more south along the route Potsdamer Platz and Checkpoint Charlie. These are tourist routes of course, but nevertheless with the advantage of having a lot of interesting buildings along the whole route. 90% of these photos were taken in this area: berlin photos. Maybe that's also an option for you.

I don't know a good location like Carstens suggestion of the Literaturhaus to meet there, but I'm sure someone knows something. Or we could meet at the Literaturhaus and go there by subway or bus in 15 minutes.

One thought: how young/old/fit are we all? I am 45 and will walk most of the day with a D3 and three Zeiss lenses But it could be that some of us are older and don't want to walk several kilometres in a couple of hours? Are the primary interests nature, people or architecture, or something else? Let's have some votes. Since I live in Berlin and have access to everything all the time, I will go along with everyone else.

Alternatively, we can also just meet first, and discuss what to do over a coffee.

I am almost 56, overworked, overweight, but hopefully can still walk for a couple of hours. I will do whatever the hosts suggest.

I for my part can and do walk all day and I love it. I'm 52 btw...

Ulff, sounds interesting, especially CC. Can we combine that with Museumsinsel? Sub would be fine and also interesting for Philippe, I find some of the stations very nice. Is Literaturhaus still the ideal meeting point then? I love it and find it has a very nice atmosphere but Charlottenburg is maybe a bit off then.
We should also consider the Dom, I think there are some nice photo opportunities at and around there.

I don't know if Tiergarten is an interest for Philippe. Very nice and relaxing, and the weather sounds like it *might* be good

Otherwise, we could meet at Hauptbahnhof, but then we might have trouble finding a nice cafe. Perhaps the best idea is to meet at Literaturhaus (or any other known-good cafe), and then take the S/U-Bahn to places of interest. Quick and cheap enough...

So it seems that I'm the youngest one on this tour with my 38 years.

Heinz, Museumsinsel and Dom are part of the Spree or Unter-den-Linden routes and can also combined with the longer Potsdamer Platz tour I proposed.

Ok, so let's just say we meet at Literaturhaus, nice and relaxed place and not too touristy.

Ulff, that sounds perfect.

Where is Literaturhaus exactly ? Is that Fasanenstr. 23 ?

Yes, that's the one. Right opposite the Leica dealer, in case you know that.

ahh so jealous

Look for a cheap ticket? There must be some people to meet where you are too!

Guys, I have been able to find my way on an earlier flight from Paris, so I will be landing in Berlin Tegel at 9:05 Saturday morning. I need a hotel for Saturday night.Any suggestions, considering that I must be at Berlin-Tegel early Sunday morning (6:45 is the gate closing time ) ?

What kind of hotel? Motel One, that I mentioned previously, is about a 15-25 minute drive from the airport, and close to Bahnhof Zoo, an easy station to reach. I don't personally know much about the part of town which is closer to Tegel than that, but there must be something there.

That is great, that gives us a lot more flexibility. Considering that the rest of us have access to Berlin far more often, what would you like to see? Have you been to Berlin before?

I hope you all will have a great meeting! I like Berlin and look very much forward to another meeting with you all there!

Please take care of Musei-insel and all the traditional and important things - maybe we can have a closer look at the other and more alternative views of Berlin later...

Philippe, as I recall it you can go to Berlin Tegel by bus from the city center (any of them) in no-time. Maybe a cheap standard tourist hotel at one of the Kurfürstendamm side streets?

Cheers,

/Jonas