First we take London, then we take Berlin!

Between marketing and a conference, Lisa had a full four days of work scheduled in London in mid-November and with Christos having just resigned from Canstar (one year's budget was all Canstar started with in mid-2018, the money was all gone!) we decided to tack on an additional trip, a long weekend in Berlin visiting our friend Ferdinand whom we had not seen in a decade!

We travelled on Sunday, catching the early morning flight from Toronto that lands late at night in London, with Lisa front of the bus and Christos sadly not! As we always travel light, and Lisa had an express pass for customs, we were soon whisked to our lovely hotel in Mayfair, the Langham.

We grabbed a quick pint at a nearby pub and then opted for room service dinner and inane TV before drifting off to sleep for our first night abroad.

The next morning, Lisa was up bright and early for work while Christos, still feeling the effects of jetlag, slept in till noon. While Lisa toiled, Christos started with a full service stop at the barbershop before wandering from Mayfair to Marylebone, Oxford Street and back again over three hours.

With the sun setting it was time for tea back at the Langham. Christos had his first pot alone before Lisa joined him and a second pot was brewed. After tea and a brief rest, Lisa was off to a corporate dinner while Christos enjoyed Udon Noodle soup and green tea (costing 20 pounds!) at a nearby Japanese restaurant.

Christos encountered a guitar toting busker after dinner and was treated to a personal performance of "American Pie" lifting his spirits and setting the tone for the rest of the travels. Lisa and Christas were finally reunited around 10PM after Lisa's corporate dinner was done.

The next day was fortuitous for the both of us as Lisa had a meeting cancel and while she was up early, she was back at the hotel by 10AM! We packed up our bags after two nights at the Langham and hopped in a cab to take us to our new hotel for the next three nights, the Sea Containers.

After a disappointing burger lunch, we retired for an afternoon nap (it was also a rainy day) before a walk across Black Friar's bridge over the Thames and a visit to the Blacklock City (the same brand of restaurant Christos had visited with his mom six weeks prior but a different location) for a wonderful dinner of "skinny chops" and sides. While Lisa had a full schedule the next day, that did not stop us from visiting "Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese" and the "Black Friar's pub" after dinner on the way back top the hotel, finally getting in to bed some time after 11PM.

Fortunately, Lisa's start was not as early the next day and after a hasty wakeup she still made her 10AM meeting with time to spare. While Lisa was working, Christos set off on a walking tour with the first stop being Borough Market for a yummy breakfast bun of sausage, bacon and egg. The HMS Belfast, a museum ship, was the next stop on the stroll where a full hour was spent touring (well worth the 17 pound admission price) before heading to the iconic Tower Bridge (having never actually crossed it before) to cross the Thames.

Once on the other side of the river, Christos strolled past the Tower of London (not even considering the outrageous entry fee having visited the place with Lisa previously) and set his sights on Sir John Soane's museum where he and his mom had previously managed to arrive on a day the museum is closed.

An hour or so was spent at the museum enjoying both the nooks and crannies filled with antique as well as the main show of a series of Hogarth paintings known as "A Rake's Progress".

Next on the agenda was a walk over to Fortnum and Mason's to shop for goodies for Ferd and Co in Berlin. Christos loaded up on tea and chocolates as gifts before heading out seeking a spot for dinner.

As he was in a tony part of town, Christos passed Farlows, an upmarket fishing store with tackle and tweed in the window, so he stopped in.

It was just before 6PM and the place was about to close for the day but was hosting an information session, complete with nibbles and beverages, on luxury fishing trips to exotic locales including Zambia (where First Quantum has operations) and of course Canada!

Christos bought a holiday card ("Chistmas Fishes") while listening to the presentation and after 40 minutes (and much nibbling and imbibing) it was off to find a proper dinner which in this case happened to be fish and chips at the Admiralty Pub in Trafalgar Square.

Our final full day in London (Thursday) saw Lisa working once more while Christos went out for a four hour trek through Mayfair with stops at Pre (for breakfast), Sharps Pixley (where they gave him a lovely book on gold for free), Williams & Son (seeking a replacement hat to the last one he purchased here, sadly they no longer make the style sought), the David Aaron gallery (where for a lousy 2000 pounds one could own a 1200BC statuette of Bastet!), Purdey's (more hat seeking), the Houses of Parliament (just a walk by) and finally a visit to Apsley House, once the home of Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, and now a museum to his life and times.

With the tour complete, Lisa and Christos met up around 5PM , rested a bit and then headed off for dinner at "Indian City" which was quite good (London really is a great place for Indian food). After dinner we revisited Black Friar's Pub for a few pints before heading back to the hotel and indulging in late night cocktails as we celebrated Lisa being done work for the time being and our upcoming visit to Berlin slated to commence the next day!

We caught an 11ish flight to Berlin and met Ferd, accompanied by Lilly, at the airport.

He soon whisked us to his apartment where we had a lovely soup for lunch before taking us to our lovely hotel, the Sir Savigny, where Lisa and Christos relaxed for a bit before heading off to meet Ferd and Lilly at a local Austrian place called "Josl" where we dined on dumplings, cabbage and other Germanic goodies.

After dinner, Lisa and Christos enjoyed beer and fries at the hotel restaurant called the Butcher before finally turning in for bed.

The next day was Saturday and we made a full day of it. We met Ferd at our hotel for lunch before heading out to for a long walking tour of Berlin.

We stopped at the "Hollow Tooth" remains of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church and thought on the tragedy of the Christmas Market Massacre whose victims were commemorated nearby.

Next it was off to the Bendlerblock to visit the German Resistance Memorial Center and to see the spot where they shot Stauffenberg and several other participants in the July 20 1944 Coup attempt on the Nazis.

After the heaviness of the Bendlerblock, it was time for some lighter fare and so our final stop on the tour was the Berlin Museum which has some nice pieces but pales compared to the Prado.

After an hour at the museum it was now dark and we wandered through a darkened Tiergarten until we made it to the Brandenburg Gate . We milled about with the other tourists for a few minutes before hopping in a cab for the trip back to Charlottenburg. Having spent the day with Ferd, we opted to part ways this evening and Lisa and I dined alone at Dicke Wirtin on large portions of traditional German food such as schnitzel and cabbage. A very decent meal although certainly not amazing!

After dinner, we opted for a lovely bath back at the hotel as we had popped into Lush earlier int he day and grabbed a bath bomb. After a long day of walking through Berlin, a soak in the tub (with cold beer in hand) was the perfect way to end the day.

Our Sunday started with cappuccinos from the Cafe Aedes across the street. The cafe had once been a favoured haunt of Ferd's and a picture of Ferd from a decade ago hangs on one of the walls.

Once we were caffeinated, and with a little breakfast in our bellies, it was off to visit Ferd at his place where we had a low key day of cooking and family time planned.  Christos made a bolognese sauce, without celery as it the Germans seem not to stock it, for later consumption and we settled in to play a board game amongst the three of us. Later in the afternoon, Clara had to go to her mom's house so we said our goodbyes and Lisa and I headed back to the hotel for a couple hours rest before dinner.

Dinner with Ferd was at 7PM at a local Latin American restaurant (nothing special) followed by drinks out and much chit chat before we made our way back to the hotel for bed.

Our final day in Berlin was a wet and rainy Monday. Ferd had things to attend to during the day so Lisa and Christos opted for a limited wander and visited several antique shops in the neighbourhood; Lisa ended up buying a lovely change purse from a different era. In the evening, we met Ferd, had a couple drinks at the bar and then dined at a local German place (Ferd and Christos both enjoyed goose leg, Lisa had a less satisfactory meatloaf) before we said our penultimate goodbyes. Tuesday morning we met Ferd and Dorte in the lobby of the hotel and were driven to the airport before saying our final adieus.