Trains and planes: a striking story.

As you may have gathered, German raildrivers’ union GDL is holding  a series of strikes which could disrupt rail travel to and in Berlin. Check this page for updates.

Meanwhile,  air travellers will be aware that on flights in Europe there is a weight limit of 20kg – that’s 44lbs. No strikes are scheduled for air travel, fortunately.

Chaotic opening of Alexa Mall in Berlin

Visitors to the eastern half of Berlin may have noticed a large red structure near Alexanderplatz Station: it’s the Alexa Berlin, a huge new shopping mall with over 180 stores. There were chaotic scenes at the opening, as thousands scrambled for bargains.

Those who don’t get turned on by shopping might like to try out the huge model railway at LOXX Berlin.

St. Patrick’s Day in Berlin

As in cities all over the world, in the German capital St. Patrick’s Day is a celebration of all things Irish, particularly the dark beer which comes from the Emerald Isle. Berlin is not lacking in waterholes bearing the Celtic script – check out this list of Irish pubs in Berlin for places to go.

Misc Berlin links

Some miscelleaneous Berlin-related links:

• Berlin flea markets
• Neues Ufer café (formerly Anderes Ufer)
• “a month of sundays” – a Berlin brunch blog

Things disappearing from Berlin

Berlin is a city of change, which means while new things come, others – often sadly – go. Addicts of rolling BBC news will be distraught to hear that BBC World is no longer available on DVB-T in Berlin. The Love Parade is leaving the city. And the East Berlin Palast der Republik is slowly disappearing. However, it looks like the Tränenpalast might be safe (despite signs of demolition).

U55: Berlin’s shortest U-Bahn line

Won’t be long now before the U55 will open – a white elephant before it serves its first passenger. To run between Unter den Linden and Berlin’s new Hauptbahnhof, it will have just three stations – the two termini and the intermediate Bundestag station, and will be the shortest line on the Berlin U-Bahn network.

English bookstores in Berlin

If you’re living in a foreign country for any length of time, one thing most people miss is the ability to go to a bookstore and browse in your native language. Fortunately Berlin is not short of bookshops specialising in English works, if you know where to find them; here’s a nice list of English bookstores in Berlin.

Berlin Marathon

This coming weekend will see the 2006 Berlin Marathon, a traditional event dating from 1974 and – since 1990 – encompassing part of the former East Berlin. A description of the route as well as links to maps and further information can be found here: Berlin Marathon.

Free stuff in Berlin

Useful list of free services and stuff available in Berlin: Berlin for free.

Berlin Train Timetables

The Deutsche Bahn has an excellent train information site at bahn.de, though it’s a little difficult to find general timetables for individual stations. For a convenient list of Berlin train timetables see this page Berlin train stations.