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LaserWash posted:Is the Berlin Zoo any good? Berlin has two zoos, the Zoologischer Garten in Tiergarten and the Tierpark in Friedrichsfelde. (The latter was founded in the GDR years because the former was in the western half and East Berlin couldn't not have a zoo.) They both have their high points: the Zoologischer Garten is the most diverse zoo in the world, by number of species; the Tierpark is larger (one of the biggest in Europe by area) and parkier, due to being built around what had been a late 17th century chateau's gardens, and has some unusually large (for Germany) enclosures. Both worth a visit in principle, I think.
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May 17, 2013 15:57
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LaserWash posted:It looks like there is a way to rent bikes in Potsdam and then bike into town. Any good places to stop along the way from Potsdam to Mitte? - Park Sanssouci in Potsdam and the Sanssouci Palace are pretty neat and very touristy locations. The park is right to the West of central Potsdam, though, so depending on where you pick up the bikes it might not strictly speaking be along the way. On the plus side, it's not hard to reach, either. - You have a choice: go over Glienicker Brücke, which is a historically significant place - during the Cold War, the USA and Soviet Union exchanged captured spies there - or go through Babelsberg and maybe take a tour of the Babelsberg film studio, where they shot films like V For Vendetta, Inglourious Basterds and Cloud Atlas. Depends a bit on how much time you want to spend there, too. Glienicker Brücke is kind of a "yep, now I can say I've been there" place. - You'll pass Wannsee unless you go to great lengths avoiding it. - From Google maps it looks like you can go through Steglitz-Zehlendorf or ride along the Havelchaussee following the river Havel northwards. Choice between going right into town or enjoying nature a bit more, basically. Although going along Havelchaussee will take you to Westend, which roughly marks the westernmost point or Berlin's inner area. - From there you can basically go East; Bahnhof Zoo and the nearby zoo are an option, as you said, you'll probably want to go through the Tiergarten park, and then you're right in the middle of it all with Brandenburg Gate, the victory column, the Reichstag, Potsdamer Platz etc. all just a short distance apart from each other. e: note that I am not a bike rider and cannot, in fact, even ride one so you might want to work out the route yourself. For all I know Havelchaussee is a dirt road lined with corrugated iron shacks. You can of course always ride through Grunewald forest itself. Anyway I'm sure the rental place will have maps and suggestions, too. My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 19:08 on May 17, 2013 |
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May 17, 2013 19:03
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You are aware that Potsdam to Mitte is over 30km one way? I'd recommend biking around the Potsdam/wannsee area on one day, it is pretty nice and doing downtown the next day and rent bikes there.
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May 17, 2013 19:36
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elbkaida posted:You are aware that Potsdam to Mitte is over 30km one way? I'd recommend biking around the Potsdam/wannsee area on one day, it is pretty nice and doing downtown the next day and rent bikes there. We would ride an sbahn out to Potsdam, rent in Potsdam and then return the bike around the Potsdammerplatz area. 30 km is about as long as we are willing to go in a day. Which is perfect.
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May 17, 2013 20:24
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There's a great bike road along the Autobahn of all things from Potsdam to the city (or at least the Westkreuz/Westend area, which are featured in Wim Wender's Der Himmel über Berlin aka Wings of Desire but I think it's not a particularly scenic route. It is a great road for bikes though, two broad lanes if I remember correctly and none to few cars. Absolutely pay the Teufelsberg a visit - not only the Teufelsberg itself but the abandoned radar station. I'd recommend catching a sunrise there, then climb the radar station's tower. Do it at your own risk - there's usually a hole in the fence and nobody gives a gently caress (security does patrol the area but they won't shoot you or stuff like that, I guess) - and watch your step. If you love sticking your hand into lion's enclosures, you'll LOVE this place. Bring a flashlight. Even better, sleep atop the tower. The sight is loving amazing, and it's free. If you like you can go on an official tour http://www.berlinsightout.de but that's boring and costs money. It's my most vivid memory of last summer. Here's a pic of the view from the Teufelsberg, from the radar station it's even better.  30 km is absolutely doable. Me and some friends did a bike ride from the northernmost of Spandau to Potsdam and back. Started around 14-15h, returned around 2-3AM and had drinks in a dive bar near Spandau train station - and beer and pretzels in a Biergarten in Kladow along the way. Estimated it at around 60-80 km. The western Zoo is a bit under construction at most times but it's fun. I like the Aquarium there better, and if you're going to the eastern Zoo, visit the abandoned amusement park there for some STALKER vibes. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreepark Zwille fucked around with this message at 21:39 on May 17, 2013 |
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May 17, 2013 21:34
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Sereri posted:Alternativ: "Ich habe eine starke Geflügel-Allergie" Alternativ: "Bitte rubbeln Sie mir stärkstens die Genusswurzel!" Or maybe not...
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May 18, 2013 02:41
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LaserWash posted:We've been to Munich enough to know our way around town and have been to Augustiner Keller, Hofbräu, Chinese Tower, etc. What do Bavarian goons suggest for other biergartens in Munich that we more than likely have overlooked? Hofbräukeller's beer garden (not to be confused with Hofbräuhaus) in Haidhausen is a lot smaller by comparision but quite nice as well: http://www.hofbraeukeller.de/der-hofbraeukeller/biergarten.html In case you want to extend your bike rides, try http://www.forst-kasten.de/ (southwest of Munich city limits) or http://www.gut-keferloh.de/Pages/biergarten.html (east of Munich). LaserWash posted:Never been to Andechs, but we'll be staying two nights down the street from the kloister. We'll obviously be imbibing there and eating massive slices of meat to chase it down. It looks like there might be a good chance to rent/borrow bikes at the place we are staying. What would you Bavarian goons suggest for bike riding outside of Andechs? Should we bike to Ammersee or Starnberger See? LaserWash posted:Any places we should see or things we should do while we're here that we're overlooking beyond the fresh air and large quantities of beer, cooked animal flesh, and rotted vegatables? And of course, the Alps start not too far from Andechs. Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Zugspitze) and Oberammergau are an hour away.
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May 18, 2013 18:51
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bavarian posted:And of course, the Alps start not too far from Andechs. Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Zugspitze) and Oberammergau are an hour away. Thanks for the awesome info. We've actually spent lots of time in around Oberammergau, Ettal, and Füssen. We have a regional train we want to take from Innsbruck to the lakes on our way to Andechs, through Mittenwald, which we have never been to. Any idea where we might be able to find a left luggage in Mittenwald? We might make a stop on the way to Andechs, if we could find a place to leave our bags for a few hours. Also, does the Bayern ticket work for the little stretch between Scharnitz, Austria and Mittenwald similar to the way it takes you to Salzburg? Im pretty sure it wouldnt work as far as Innsbruck. Bahn isn't really clear about that.
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May 18, 2013 23:16
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I don't think it does; you can see what routes are covered by the Bayern ticket on this map.
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May 19, 2013 08:00
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LaserWash posted:Any idea where we might be able to find a left luggage in Mittenwald? We might make a stop on the way to Andechs, if we could find a place to leave our bags for a few hours.
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May 19, 2013 22:49
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bavarian posted:the tourist office might be an option - although it has strange business hours on week-ends: http://www.alpenwelt-karwendel.de/en/tourist-information-mittenwald-1 Good idea. Email sent. Thanks.
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May 20, 2013 10:28
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Hello German goons again! Thanks for your advice earlier. I'm finally coming over to Stuttgart this Friday for a Week and then off to Berlin! The only bummer is a 2 day detour to Venice  It's all for business so I won't have too much free time for sight seeing and only the evenings off  Can anyone recommend some great places to eat in Suttgart? My coworkers are being really silly and have conservative Chinese appetites so they are packing in a electric kettle and packs of instant noodles. The last time they were in Germany they complained about the horrible soup quality in the local brand of instant noodles. I'm curious to check that out, and of course open up their eyes.From June 1- June 6, I will be in Berlin and will there be any goon meets? I love to buy you guys a beer/dinner if someone can meet up or host for me! you guys can PM me or e-mail [spolier][username][dot][spam][gmail][/spoiler] It would be really really cool to meet some German goons, most goons I have met are mostly Anglophones or Asians. Has there been any Berlin goon meets by any chance？
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May 20, 2013 10:34
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caberham posted:Hello German goons again! Thanks for your advice earlier. I'm finally coming over to Stuttgart this Friday for a Week and then off to Berlin! The only bummer is a 2 day detour to Venice I had dinner with some co-workers at the Cube Restaurant / O.T Bar in Stuttart when I was visiting this past March. Quite good but a bit pricey, IIRC. A couple of people in my party were having issues finding the restaurant (neither spoke any German) and mentioned it to the staff when they finally arrived. The restaurant arranged for limousine service to return them to their hotel at the end of the night. http://www.cube-restaurant.de/
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May 20, 2013 14:28
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Thanks! I want to go privately but I don't think the company will pay for this meal We have a budget of 100 euros a day. Yes, we can probably eat supermarket stuff on the other days to eat at a fancy restaurant but I think all of us are relatively frugal
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May 21, 2013 02:58
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I live near Stuttgart and my company does training seminars so I'll post some of their restaurant recommendations tomorrow (if I remember). It's too bad your coworkers aren't planning on going out because I have it on good authority that there are some excellent (German versions of) Chinese restaurants in the city. I can recommend Udo Snack for, by far, the best burger I have eaten outside of the US. It's a tiny casual place so don't be expecting a great dining experience, but it's way better than some crap from the supermarket. The Corso Kino shows films in English if you're up for that, and for beer gardens there's a decent one with a great view on top of the Killesberg. You can also check out the Schwabengargen if you're up for a bit of a trek; it is pretty authentic but there's lots of Americans there. Edit to add some restaurants recommended by the training department: Weinstube zur Kiste - Stuttgart's oldest wine bar Kanalstr. 2 Weinstube Stetter - 450 bottles of wine in the cellar Rosenstr. 32 Weinstube Vetter - classy, international Bopserstr. 18 Alte Kanzlei - sophisticated restaurant right at the castle Schillerplatz 5a (there's about a million of the above type of place on the list) Wilhelmsplatz: Pizzaria il Pomodoro - good pizza, cheap NOODLE 1 - loads of soup Bistro Einstein - french cuisine, I believe Alsacian specifically Tablö - kebabs and more (döner) Hans-im-Glück-Brunnen Deli - Maultaschen, pasta, cocktails Cortijo - Spanish Indian Palace - guess Vegi Voodoo King 1 - vegetarian Non-food stuff: Sports bars: -Calwer Eck, Calwerstr. 31 -Sophies Brauhaus, Marienstr. 28 -Fischlabor, Ludwigstr. 36 -Palm Beach, Mercedesstr. 73b Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Siemensstraße 11 BIX Jazzclub, Leonhardsplatz 28 No festivals are going on at the moment unfortunately. Hope this helped Troubadour fucked around with this message at 16:55 on May 22, 2013 |
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May 21, 2013 22:12
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For what it's worth, I got an email back from the tourist office in Mittenwald. They say they have a left luggage where we can store our bags for a few hours. Totally awesome news because my wife and I have traveled southern Bavaria extensively for several years now and will finally get the chance to go to Mittenwald for the day!
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May 22, 2013 13:14
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Thank you so much for your help! I'm here for five more days and today we just walked around konig starsse. It's really beautiful but the weather is a bit chilly.I feel like a dumb American wearing a t-shirt when everyone is dressed for winter wear. I think I'm having the worst luck or I lived in dense cities metropolitan cities way too long. My coworkers got singled out for a customs security check. Scanned for drugs and smuggling. I got a few random stares. Old ladies were amused when I ordered sausage and was watching me eat them. And some fruit seller refused me service when I wanted to buy a pack of strawberries. Perhaps that was a miscommunication... still i find it interesting that globalization crept up and major brands, clothing are pretty Americanized. Even the language has a lot more loan words than before. It's kind of convenient that English gets used a lot more. For everyone making fun of us bringing instant noodles,the daily soup of the day for 4 euros is chicken noodle soup. Which consists of instant noodles... All in all I look forward for more sight seeing. Wish I could meet up with some locals and not be so lost.
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May 25, 2013 12:58
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This has been the most unpleasantly cold and rainy spring since I moved to Germany almost 10 years ago. There's rarely been two days without rain, which particularly sucks for me because I have a 15km bike commute. Usually at this time of year I wouldn't say a t-shirt would be quite enough, but this is exceptional. I hope the rest of your trip goes well.
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May 25, 2013 14:13
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Troubadour posted:This has been the most unpleasantly cold and rainy spring since I moved to Germany almost 10 years ago. There's rarely been two days without rain, which particularly sucks for me because I have a 15km bike commute. Usually at this time of year I wouldn't say a t-shirt would be quite enough, but this is exceptional. Yep, this year has been absolutely terrible so far. There even was some snow in loving North Rhine-Westphalia last week  .
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May 26, 2013 16:40
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Popelmon posted:Yep, this year has been absolutely terrible so far. There even was some snow in loving North Rhine-Westphalia last week Dude apparently there was snow in Freiburg of all places a couple of days back. I'm glad I've beed in Naples for the past ten days (although the weather has been uncooperatively rainy a lot of the time  )
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May 26, 2013 19:09
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Mahlertov Cocktail posted:Dude apparently there was snow in Freiburg of all places a couple of days back. I'm glad I've beed in Naples for the past ten days (although the weather has been uncooperatively rainy a lot of the time I spoke with a friend in Lossburg on Friday and it was snowing there as well. I don't think I could deal with snow in June...
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May 26, 2013 20:40
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The first couple weeks of May in Berlin were spectacular though. 25 degrees and sunshine. Now I'm hoping it won't drop below 10.
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May 26, 2013 21:32
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Sock The Great posted:I spoke with a friend in Lossburg on Friday and it was snowing there as well. I don't think I could deal with snow in June... Yeah. I'm going back to Freiburg tomorrow morning (i.e. in six hours), and although it's not going to snow, it's still supposed to be rainy and ~10C all week, which isn't that great.
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May 27, 2013 01:39
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I checked the weather forecast before going to Braunschweig yesterday and it had me expecting nothing less than the most apocalyptical downpour, animals walking in pairs and everything, and then I arrived and it was hardly even worth it getting out an umbrella. I mean yeah it's pretty far from dry and sunny and you could just about plant rice on the fields around the city but come on, weather guys, a little perspective.
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May 27, 2013 08:45
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The weather in Münster seems pretty normal for this time of the year, though. Alternating clear skys with sudden rain showers and some stretches of colder days without rain.
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May 27, 2013 12:19
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Hopefully Stuttgart is finally warming up! I tried the few restaurants linked it it's pretty good. Yesterday we went to hohenzollern castle and it was amazing. A castle on top of the mountain feels like a backdrop in Castlevania. And Germanic princes and Swabian dynasties kick so much more rear end than English ones. Going to the Mercedes benz museum tomorrow, hopefully there's time to squeeze in the Porsche as well. And I'm glad it's a Monday. Man everything in Germany closes up on Sunday and like what I said "feels inconvenient" I'm also bummed by the fact there's not too much time for museums or other sights. Is there any night time activities besides a bar/fkk/table dance in Stuttgart? Sorry if I sound like a whiny whiny tourist 
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May 27, 2013 14:28
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caberham posted:Going to the Mercedes benz museum tomorrow, hopefully there's time to squeeze in the Porsche as well. That place is awesome, it'll pretty much sell you on never buying another vechicle that's not a Mercedes Benz. Skip on the racing simulator though, not worth the 7 EUR.
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May 28, 2013 14:24
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The weather is awesome,everything is getting better and I don't give a drat about people staring at me anymore. drat I should have read about the post earlier. The simulator is now.four euros but it's a bad bad vr vibration like the nineties. Meeting a Stuttgart goon tonight.hope I can catch berlin goons!
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May 28, 2013 16:40
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Just met up with troubadour! He is an awesome goon! all overseas goons are great. Hopefully I can catch up with Berlin goons 
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May 28, 2013 22:20
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Can anyone tell me what the emigration museum in Hamburg is like?
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May 28, 2013 22:48
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The one in Veddel? It's been 5 or so years since I've been there but what I remember is that it was OK, nothing spectacular. Interesting at least. They have a room stuffed with computers at the end where you can research for possible ancestors that left through the city or something like that.
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May 29, 2013 08:30
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I'm spending a couple of months in Heidelberg (Neckargemünd to be more exact) this summer to learn German. Any idea how to select a good intensive German course? A cursory google search shows lots of language academies with similar pricing and programs, as far as I can tell from their websites. Anything to avoid or watch out for? Any program/school you guys can recommend?
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May 31, 2013 12:36
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Anyone have tips for getting tickets to the Reichstag Dome when all the tickets for this week are taken? I've already sent an email because a guide book says that they might have some tickets released the day before, but I just wanted to check in case someone else had a strategy to get in. I see that the restaurant is a possible in, but reservations are supposed to be hard to come by and most plates run 20+ Euro. Also, leaving on Sunday and arriving in Berlin on Monday afternoon around 13:00; Thinking of doing one of the boat tours along the river as a way to get familiar with the town. Any advice on something else to do as an introduction to the city for an afternoon? We're staying two and a half days in Berlin.
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May 31, 2013 16:41
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LaserWash posted:Anyone have tips for getting tickets to the Reichstag Dome when all the tickets for this week are taken? I've already sent an email because a guide book says that they might have some tickets released the day before, but I just wanted to check in case someone else had a strategy to get in. I see that the restaurant is a possible in, but reservations are supposed to be hard to come by and most plates run 20+ Euro. I work at the Bundestag but unfortunately I'm not able to take you up then, maybe just try your luck online with the Bundestag website, I have no clue if lining up works (summer is tourist hell, I tried to go up with a girl who works there as well just to walk and chat and they're super stingy about keeping numbers on the roof in order because of fire safety). Don't take a boat trip, you'd be better off getting a map and walking around, because the river is kind of in a weird location and the boats are super low, you probably will miss the best stuff. Berlin is super huge and spread out, and due to our now super lovely weather I'd recommend familiarizing yourselves with public transit ASAP.
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May 31, 2013 17:40
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Hey goons I'm going to Berlin tomorrow staying until Friday. Would love to meet up with locals after work and hang out!
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May 31, 2013 17:54
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Landsknecht, No chance you are available for anything between Monday afternoon (3rd) through Wednesday( 5th) evening for a visit to the Reichstag? It would be just me and my wife. It might be fun to meet a fellow goon for a beer. We leave for Dresden on Thursday morning. LaserWash fucked around with this message at 19:09 on May 31, 2013 |
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May 31, 2013 19:07
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I was going to go to Berlin this weekend but that fell through at the last minute.
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May 31, 2013 19:13
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We're from Texas so you would get to hear us say "Ya'll" and "Gonna" a lot. For some reason people in Europe like to hear Texas accents. Might do a bike tour instead. It looks like Fat Tire does a good comprehensive one. What Berliner Beers should I have and which ones should I stay away from? LaserWash fucked around with this message at 19:58 on May 31, 2013 |
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May 31, 2013 19:38
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LaserWash posted:Landsknecht, Sorry, I would help but I'm not at the Bundestag this week, and there's no way I could ask a coworker to go through registering people for a non-work visit during a sitting week (death2work, plus I would have to personally come to the building and escort you around). If you are mostly just interested in the view from the dome though, head to the Siegesaeule in the middle of the park and go to the top, the small museum is quite good at well. Landsknecht fucked around with this message at 22:41 on May 31, 2013 |
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May 31, 2013 22:39
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Hey, it's no problem. I appreciate all your help. It's awesome having Berlin and German goon help.
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May 31, 2013 23:31
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