Berlin!

I got a coach to Heathrow Terminal 5, arriving shortly after 1pm, headed through security and went straight to the British Airways lounge to enjoy my business class perks after upgrading my flight with some airline points I'd saved. It was my first time ever flying anything other than economy class although I'd experienced a few lounges over the years but this was so much better! I'd intentionally arrived hours before my flight to give me time to enjoy it, especially the large selection of surprisingly good red wines.

Once on the plane, I was sat in the second row with three seats to myself (in business class they put an extra tray across the middle seats so you'd never be sat next to someone anyway). When we landed in Berlin (Tegel), I was one of the first off the plane and amazingly the passport control was within a few steps of the gate (they have one for each gate rather than a combined one like most airports) and then a few steps after that I was out of customs. It was literally a couple of minutes between landing and getting on the bus. In the end I arrived to meet my friend Beth over an hour before she expected.

I've known Beth for years and we were even in the same year at secondary school (although we didn't know each other at the time). She moved to Berlin four months ago and she's the reason for my visit, other than that I've never been before. After dropping off my bags and a quick change of clothes, we went out for a kebab which are really popular in Berlin and good quality unlike the dirty version we mostly get in the UK which only cater to drunk people. Dinner was only €2.50 (about £1.80) and large beers are usually less than that, so it's very cheap compared to the UK!

We had a really nice catch up and then headed back around 1am.