Overall:
Penelope is a fantastic tour guide! She's an ex pat from Australia, married to a German. As she explained it, after she married into a German family, she became fascinated by their country, it's history, and culture. She dug in and anyone who hires her will be gifted by her wealth of information. I cannot rate her highly enough. In fact, my group's experience was so good, we still talk about our time with her, even though it's been 2 or 3 years since we took her tour. Because I often sent colleagues to Berlin for work, I gave them copies of Pen's business card and recommended that they make time to take her tour.
Cool thing she does:
She carries an iPad with her and at certain landmarks, she pulls up historical photos shot from the same spot we were standing in. We all got chills, I tell you, chills! She really great job of making Berlin's history come alive and be meaningful.
Logistics:
My party of 4 booked a Scandinavian cruise. We rented a car from Rostock and drove down the Autobahn to Berlin. Parked the car at the parking garage of Sony Center (Potsdamer Platz) and met Pen at Brandenburg Gate (10, 15 minute walk from Sony Center to B Gate.) From that point, Pen took us on a 4 hour walking tour all over Berlin. The content of the tour was customized to our interests and she diverted us on-the-fly based on the feedback we provided while on the tour.
We told her in advance that our interests were mostly historical/cultural, but would not mind her tips for good lunch afterward or good street food along the way. She answered all of our questions before our arrival; asked us the kinds of logistical questions that made me think she really cared that we arrived to meet her safely; suggested directions; and gave us tips for what to do in Berlin afterward that turned out to be GREAT. (At her recommendation, I discovered Fassbender and Rausch chocolatier and a fantastic beer garden where we chilled with locals. Good times, seriously.) read more