From Wrocław via Dresden to Berlin

Thursday, July 17, 2025, after a fairly decent breakfast at the FourPoints, the car was loaded again, and we set off on our journey toward Germany.

The tire pressure display warned that the right rear tire was low, which forced me to increase the pressure in addition to filling up gas. It was strange that the inflation pump at the first gas station allowed a maximum of just 3.0 bar, but I needed 3.3 bar, which I was only able to do at the second gas station.

I also noticed that the car was "jumping," especially up to 80 km/h. The faster I drove, the smoother the car ran. This solved the problem by the time we reached the highway heading west.

While still in Poland, we turned off the A4 onto the E40 toward Dresden—an excellently maintained, brand-new road.

At the border with Germany, all vehicles were directed through a rest area by the federal police. However, no one was checked; we were simply waved through and quickly back on the highway.

I pulled off the highway before Dresden because I wanted to take the opportunity to show Maryna the "Blue Wonder" – which didn't particularly impress her.

I myself, although West German, have a connection to "Dresden," as I founded my first company there in 1992 at the age of 22, bought dilapidated old buildings, "evicted" and divided them up, renovated and sold them as tax-optimized properties. For this reason, I lived in Dresden for a few years, which at the time really corresponded to every idea of ​​"Dark Germany" – gray, stinking of coal, not particularly inviting. Nevertheless, I still feel a connection to the city until today.

Since we were only in Dresden for one night and I wanted to show my wife the most in that short time, I booked the Holiday Inn near the Zwinger.

I wouldn't really recommend this hotel; it feels like it's housed in (renovated) Nazi or Soviet-era barracks. The rooms are small and very basic, but there's a shower with enough water pressure to clean your alloy wheels.

Despite the relatively bad weather – it rained intermittently and a nasty wind blew – we walked through the Old Town, took in the most important sights, bought an Eierschecke (egg cake) at the Kreuzkamm confectionery, watched the demolition of Carola Bridge, and returned to the hotel to drive to the Summer Palace in the Grosser Garten.

However, our car handled like a kangaroo in the slow city traffic, so we started to get worried and headed to a tire shop after visiting the Grosser Garten.

They put the car on a ramp and removed both rear tires. The mechanics could hardly believe I'd driven from Breslau to Dresden on those tires at over 200 km/h, too, because the casings on both were completely bent, making the tires more square than round. We were expressly advised against continuing on to Berlin the next day, despite the run-flat properties of the tires.

No problem, I thought, I'll just buy two new rear tires, have them fitted, and off we go. But it was 4:40 p.m., and according to the system, no 275-30/20 tires were available at this tire shop or its other branches.

So the search began until we finally found what we were looking for at the third dealer, a branch not far from our hotel, and made an appointment for the next morning.

The hotel breakfast at the Holiday Inn was canceled since I had another plan: from my childhood and youth, I still remember the delicious baked goods (and caviar) that my father always brought back from the GDR when he visited the Leipzig Industrial Fair once a year. So, I Googled the promising "Bäckerei Rebs" outside the city center, which we drove to in the morning and stocked up on breakfast, which we ate right in the car.

We then went to the tire shop, where a new set of rear tires was fitted for within an hour and a half. Fortunately, the rims were neither bent nor cracked. So the car drove like a dream afterward. The kangaroo was gone.

The drive to Berlin was stressful, with a lot of traffic; the rule of driving on the right seems to have been abolished in Germany. Even though I got the most out of the car given the traffic conditions, an average speed of just over 100 km/h was the maximum.

We arrived in Berlin in the early afternoon and headed for the JW Marriott Berlin, where we had booked a surprisingly low rate for the next few nights.

The hotel is located directly across the Federal Ministry of Defense, a 25-minute walk from the Brandenburg Gate, and thus still relatively central.

We unpacked our luggage, parked the car in the underground garage, and went to reception, where check-in took a bit of time – the staff didn't seem particularly well-trained yet.

As an upgrade, we were given a room on the newly renovated Club Floor (where the Club Lounge isn’t located) with a view of the Ministry.

Access to the Club Floor was a bit strange: you were given two key cards for the elevator to get to the respective floor, as well as two additional key cards for the room – all four in a uniform gray, which often led to confusion.

It was very warm and humid on the Club Floor, which is due to the swimming pool one floor below.

The room itself was partially renovated, and you could see that some things still dated back to the old Steigenberger days, such as the headboard of the bed and the bathtub, which you had to step into to take a shower using a cheap, flexible showerhead.

The club lounge wasn't particularly recommendable either, an uncomfortable area to the side of the hotel restaurant. We didn't like the breakfast with its Styrofoam rolls or the evening snacks. However, in a city like Berlin, this isn't an issue, as you should stick to local cuisine anyway, rather than eating standardized food from a commercial kitchen just because it's included in the price.

It was a Friday, and the main reason for being in Berlin, besides some sightseeing, was clubbing.

In Germany, in my opinion, there is only one big city, one metropolis, and that’s Berlin. This is also where you'll find the most unusual clubs in Germany, clubs that would be simply impossible to find in other German cities.

First, we headed to "Insomnia," a fetish club with electronic music. While the music was very good and the interior interesting, the crowd wasn't so appealing. We were also getting hungry around midnight, which we satisfied ourselves at 'Curry 36' with a currywurst with and without skin, served with fries and mayo.

Refreshed, we continued on to KitKat Club, where we were extremely lucky to be waved past the line (no idea why) and were in in less than 15 minutes. We spent the rest of the night there with good music and a pleasant atmosphere. What struck me, however, compared to my previous visits, was that a large portion of the crowd wasn't there for the club's actual theme; many came for the club's reputation, wanting to see what was really going on inside.

Also because we didn't get back to the hotel until relatively early on Saturday, we skipped breakfast and explored the city by car in the early afternoon, taking in the classics: the Brandenburg Gate, along Unter den Linden, giving the cameras of the North Korean Embassy and the Russian House an erected middle-finger, and out to the Olympic Stadium.

Hungry, it was now time for the second typical Berlin dish: a ‚Döner‘.

We found a legal parking space near Rüyam Gemüsedöner and were surprised by the line already stretching out on the street. Standing in line when you're hungry isn't the best way to spend time. But eventually, we placed our order, found two seats outside, fought the wasps, and finally, 1 hour and 8 minutes after our arrival, got our food.

Was this Döner worth the wait? It was certainly one of the best Döners I've ever eaten—but over an hour, no.

Around 10 p.m., we took a taxi to Berghain, knowing that, especially on a Saturday, you should arrive early to avoid waiting in line for more than three hours, always keeping in mind that despite the wait, there's still a chance you won't be allowed in.

I felt sorry for my wife; I have no idea how she managed to stand in line for so long in her 14-centimeter heels and then danced the night away.

We were lucky, though, because in less than two hours we were inside Berghain. This club is and remains unique, although perhaps not for everyone.

That's why I love Berlin. Berlin, as the capital of Germany, is the city in Germany that feels the least 'German.' Munich is certainly a beautiful city, but too narrow-minded, too boring for my taste.

After that night, Sunday was more about relaxation. For a very, very late breakfast, we went to the highly acclaimed French bakery 'Du Bonheur' and, despite the relatively high prices, didn't regret this decision at all. I highly recommend their products to anyone staying in Berlin.

It rained incessantly on Monday, so we drove around the city a bit, went to the gym, and played UNO.

We still had some sightseeing to catch up on, so we were glad that it wouldn't rain until 3 p.m. the next day.

This time we set out on foot, trying another hyped vegan bakery for a small (and expensive) breakfast, this time 'The Sanctury' at Potsdamer Platz. We both found it so disgusting that we didn't finish the stuff. If you're a vegetarian, why eat artificial cheese or even 'vegetarian ham,' whose consistency is reminiscent of slime?

We continued past the Chancellery, through the Brandenburg Gate, and right down Unter den Linden toward Museum Island and the New Palace. Sorry, I don't understand the 'New Palace'. Why rebuild something old? In my opinion, they could have left the ‚Lamp Palace‘ (government building of the GDR) standing for memory purposes, or at least built something modern, forward-looking, and trend-setting. But something so backward-looking???

Anyway, we continued to the TV Tower and from there back past the Berlin Cathedral and the old museum – before it suddenly started to rain heavily, so we took an Uber back to the hotel.

In the evening, it was still raining, we drove toward Kurfürstendamm, easily found a legal parking space, and chose the Turkish restaurant 'Baba Pirzola' for our last dinner in Berlin.

'Baba Pirzola' is an atypical Turkish restaurant, more in the high-price range, and beautifully decorated inside.

For starters, we chose various meze, which you can choose from a wide variety, along with freshly baked, wafer-thin bread. Perfect!

After some wonderfully tender and flavorful kebab, there was unfortunately no room for dessert, so we headed back to the hotel.