We departed Munich on a 9:55 AM train to Berlin, arriving on schedule at around 2:30. The ride through the German countryside involved no hiccups, unlike our last attempt at intercity train travel in France. See this post from March 2019 for that saga.

First impressions are that Berlin is going to be a vastly different experience. It is a much larger city than Munich, which features a pretty compact and historical center city. Berlin is much more sprawling and just feels more urban. Like arriving in New York City from any mid-sized American city; each can be interesting but for different reasons.

The main train station is huge and we had our first taste of the urban difference when we went out on one side of the station to a taxi stand, only to be told to go to the other side. We did, got a cab, and immediately circled around to the other side where we started at a cost of 2 Euro.

The cab driver also had trouble finding the Circus Apartments, where we are staying. There is also a Circus Hotel and a Circus Hostel, all operated by the same owner but a couple blocks apart. Pictures of the place follow, taken before we sprawled out. It’s going to be interesting to act like a resident. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants nearby, so finding sustenance won’t be hard, and we’ll be able to stock the fridge with snacks. Now we are off to explore.