Dear Berlin,

I neglected to properly thank you for the great time I had only a few weeks ago. You are a truly fantastic city and I will definitely visit again. I DO want to thank you, ever so much, for granting nearly all of my original requests. Any fun I didn’t have was certainly not your fault.

See how I made out…

• Let’s start with an easy transition into your time zone
  • Relatively smooth here, and the immediately available hotel room was an added bonus.
• Sunny days and comfortable temperatures every day but especially the day of my trip to the Baltic Sea – I’d love the chance to wear my cheeky polka-dot bikini at least one more time this year
  • You especially came through on the sunny days and comfortable temps. Except for Saturday and Sunday, every day was sunny and gorgeous. The taxi driver told me how lucky I was and I thank you for that. And yes, the cheeky polka-dot bikini has now conquered two continents!
• A great time at the football match tomorrow with happy, friendly fans and a Hertha Berlin win (how could I ask for anything less?)
  • Ok, so Hertha Berlin didn’t win but the fans were friendly and oh-so-passionate about their team. It was great to be there, and the unexpected history of the stadium was an added bonus.
• 

  Jesse Owens’ name looks great at the top of this list, doesn’t it?

  

  A view of the Marathontor (Marathon Gate) at the Olympiastadion

• Cooperative animals when I visit the zoo – out and about, active – especially the tigers, you know how I love them
  • You outdid yourself here – three active adult tigers and I got some great photos! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

• 

  I can just hear this baby saying “ahhhhh” as he sinks into the water – the look on his face says it all.

• Lots of history and culture to explore, to turn my mind in different directions
  • Visits to Ravensbruck and Saschenhausen should do wonders in shifting my perspective
  • So I didn’t visit Ravensbruck and my mind wasn’t exactly shifted in different directions, but that is certainly nothing to blame on you. There is a lot of great history and culture in your fine city and I will explore even more of it the next time I visit.

• 

  The gate at Sachsenhausen with a familiar message: Work makes free

• Great photo opportunities, no hazy or overly cloudy skies; sun, sun, sun! (see the second bullet above)
  • I think the pictures have spoken for themselves.

A sunny day by Wannsee

• Friendly people everywhere who smile and indulge my limited efforts to speak German
  • As I expected, very friendly and helpful people everywhere! I heart ❤ Berliners.
• An easy time on the public transportation system and a good plan to get the most value out of my Welcome Berlin cards
  • Your public transportation system rocks! I traveled by U-Bahn, S-Bahn, the bus and taxi with no trouble in any of them. So clean, so well organized, you guys know how to move people around. Just one hint here – you might want to send more taxis to the Philharmonic at the end of a concert.
• A drink I can enjoy that’s not beer or wine – if Germany had Mike’s Lemonade or Smirnoff Ice that would be fantastic but I realize that might be asking a bit too much – you let me know
  • So I didn’t actually drink that much during my visit but that sparkling wine I had at Reinhardts (I’ve already forgotten what it’s called) was very good and a great recommendation by the waitress.
• 

• 

  Bottoms Up!

• Safety when I go out at night which I don’t usually do in Europe but plan to do in your purportedly safe environs
  • Nailed it! Never felt unsafe, not one single minute.
• Let me successfully coordinate that one secret thing I’m trying to plan – you know what I’m talking about – it could be epic
  • This WAS epic – the Porsche Convertible rentals were fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. I will HAVE to do that again.
• 

  I still swear she is smiling at me in this shot

  

  Rear view of the 2nd Porsche

• An exceptional experience at the Berlin Philharmonic concert on Thursday
  • As if this request was ever in doubt. The musical experience was truly exceptional, and seating me next to the Brazilian gentlemen was a great addition. Nicely done, again!
• A friendly flirtation with an attractive German gentleman or two or three…
  • You dropped the ball on this one but its okay. There’s always next time.

In return, I promised to:

• Treat your city and all Berliners with respect, courtesy and friendliness
  • Done! Although I forgot to tip the concierge but I’m working on correcting that problem – he was awesome in coordinating the Porsche rentals.
• Spend lots of money – I’ve been known to singlehandedly boost economies with my spending habits – I’ll do the same for you
  • Oh yes, I definitely held up my end of the bargain here. You might say I went a little overboard but you definitely deserve it.
• Write raving posts about you on this site, providing lots of good press (#Berlin) while I’m there and long after I’ve gone
  • Blog readership is up so this is more meaningful now than it might have been just a month ago
  • I faithfully blogged every day while I was there and will continue to blog – you deserve every bit of good press you get
• Share beautiful pictures from around the whole city
  • I’ve done some and will continue to do so.
• Encourage all my friends to visit
  • I’ve told everyone what a great place Berlin is, maybe next time some of them will come with me!

Thank you ever so much! It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.

Auf Wiedersehen!

With much love,

Tamara

XXXXOOOO