Full English Breakfast

hbg, Wow, I'm impressed. You stayed at the hotel kempinski in berlin - one of the hi-tone places. I'm more the Holiday Inn guest. The only time I've stayed in fancy hotels is when the tour company selected the hotel.

c.i.

You pay just 80 EUROS/night/person on weekends there = by bus from Friday to Sunday (2 nights Kempinsky + breakfast buffet) including some tours AND a guided tour through the actual MoMA-exhibition (in Berlin) for less than 189 Euros from here!

Oh, even we can afford 80 Euros per night; I have always thought Hotel Kempinski was one of those US$300+ per night places.

FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST
walter, c.i. at all : we booked the kempinski through the berlin tourist site at EURO 160 for a deluxe room incl, breakfast and all taxes and charges. we had an excellent room looking towards the JUEDISCHES GEMEINDEHAUS on fasanenstrasse.i had looked at the rate offered through the berlin tourist-site and assumed i would be able to do better by booking directly, which we usually do for canadian and u.s. hotels. the hotel website showed a rate of EURO 300 and up i believe. when i phoned the hotel (i used a phonecard at 6 cents a minute - so no great cost), and spoke to someone at reservation wondering if they had a better rate available, i got a long silence in response, followed by some stuttering and eventually the reply that they only offered the posted rates ! well, i booked via internet and had a confirmation from both the berlin tourist-office AND kempinski within about thirty minutes ! (there must be a disconnect somewhere, after all the hotel would probably have to pay a commission to the tourist office ?). anyway, mrs h and i were pretty pleased with the price AND the service at the kempi (we had invited my wife's sister and her husband to come up for a day and asked them to meet us for breakfast.- my brother-in-law was the one who discovered the SEKT - i had no idea that was breakfast-fare ! brother-in-law was suitably impressed !!!). i have noticed that many of the tourist-office websites in germany will offer much reduced prices for the top-hotels; i assume that they will adjust the prices according to the flactuation in business. SEE YOU AT THE KEMPI ! hbg ... even if you have no intention to visit berlin right now, you may find it of interest for future reference ... BERLIN TOURIST SITE

At 300 Euros, the equivalent is over US$500. Too rich for my blood. I'd rather spend money on good food rather than for a bed.

c.i. : remember, we paid EURO 160 for the ROOM, not per person. i'd say that if we staid in a 4 or 5 star hotel in north-america and would want a 1st class brunch(which it definetely was) we would have to pay as much; i also like the idea of not being whacked with additional taxes and service charges upon checkout, which seems to become more and more the practice in north-america. you can definetely find some fine hotels in berlin at a lower price; but mrs. h feels that we have come to the point of "you only live once" ! (when we are staying in san diego in december we will be staying at a holiday-inn express; hope you approve of our frugality !). hbg

hbg, You're a prince for keeping the Mrs happy. When you come to San Diego in December, is there any chance you can swing up to San Francisco? I'm sure some of us would love to meet you and the Mrs. Have you been to San Diego before? If not, let us know if we can make some recommendations.

Yeh, some of us might..

c.i., ossobucco et all : sorry for not replying earlier. we finally have some fine weather in eastern ontarion and mrs h and i have been spending most of our (waking) hours in the garden, on the patio or walking along lake ontario. we'll be flying out to san diego on dec 1. we'll be staying right in the "old towne", and from looking at travel guides , we should be right in the middle of the historic district. we are not planning to rent a car but hope to perhaps be able to take a bustour to take us along the pacific coast to see some (or one !) of the artists' villages. san diego website is very helpfull. on dec. 6 we'll be boarding the "statendam" for our 15 day 'round hawai cruise. will be back in kingston on dec 21 for christmas (and snow ?). hbg ... expect that ehbeth will be looking for some macademia nuts (found out they are native of australia ! what a disappointment). what do we bring for bailey and cleo ? hawaiian dog-biscuits ? have been playing my spike jones c.d. and listening to his "hawaiian war chant "TA-HU-WA-HU-WAI' - i think i am making good process in learning the language . you want me to sing in hawaiian too ? hbg

Learn the Hawaiian war chant. And don't forget; waving your thumb and pinkie means "aloha."

"waving thumb and pinkie' ... when i'm practicing in the pool tomorrow morning, i hope none of the ladies will mis-understand and perhaps try to drown me. i'll refer them to your entry if time permits ! hbg ... " gargle, gargle " ...

hbg, The thumb and pinkie wave actually means "hang loose." A term used by surfers. Here's a link to some Hawaiian lingo. http://www.theinsider.com/Aloha/TipsandIdeas/glossary.htm

c.i. : should i be telling the ladies at the pool to "hang loose" ? i just need some advice ( hee haw). hbg ... remember, kingston is still a fairly "british" - read "conservative" - city.

At your own risk.