I spent 6 days in Germany, and learned some things.

  • My german is not as good as I thought it was.
  • The default at restaurants is mineral water (fizzy)
  • If you are going to be travelling between cities, the Rail Pass (only for non-residents) is a great deal. Just have it with you on the train.
  • First class on the train is not extrordinary, but makes the 6 hour trip from Munich to Berlin more pleasant.
  • In a hotel with a two-person bed, 2/3 hotels had two twin beds pushed together instead of one larger mattress. Also two twin-sized bedspreads instead of one large.
  • Hotel rooms are tiiiiny. Even the suites are tiny. You get used to it. (These were indie hotels, not large chains)
  • The toilets are made of plastic, with a two-piece button, and a door/separation between the stalls area and the sinks area. Lots of one-stall toilets in places where there could be bigger ones, like airports.
  • The Deutsches Museum is huge and wonderful- lots of stuff on transportation, printing. Good space section, good history/manufacture of computers section.
  • Buying a $40 sim card + plan from Lycramobile worked well. My Nexus 5 had troubles connecting to the network after being in airplane mode; I always had to re-select the network manually from Cellular Networks - Network Operator. Also the phone did not pick up the network settings and had to be set up manually. :/ I forgot to bring with me the tiny pin that ejects the SIM card from a Nexus 5 so I ended up buying one for $4 in an airport. :p
  • The current Berlin airport (Tegel, i.e. TXL) is tiny and will someday (2018?) be supplemented by a huge new airport which is behind schedule. If you want a flight out of the country from Berlin, you will probably end up hopping through Munich (München, MUC)
  • There are trains everywhere!! So many trains. Train fare is 2,70€.
  • In order to take a tour of the inside of the Reichstag You need to register on the website at least two days in advance, and the line to get in even if you have tickets is longggg. We didn’t get to take the inside tour because we didn’t realize this.
  • There are loads of 1€ ice cream shops open to the street in several cities and they are awesome.
  • There is a burrito place called Dolores Burrito in Alexanderplatz in Berlin and it is decorated with huge maps of San Francisco. The burritos are pretty good. :)