I made it to Berlin. The trip was mostly uneventful except the train from LHR to TXL was delayed. The information desk at the Berlin-Tegel airport directed me to the desk next to him (“How do I get to Friedrichstrasse?”) and that desk directed me outside to bus stand 2. The directions on O’Reilly’s website for the hotel said:
From Tegel Airport (10 km): Take the shuttle bus to Friedrichstrasse Station, located across the street from the hotel.
The stop I got off at, Friedrichstrasse, was not across the street. Doh! A kind German man directed me away from the hotel until we got to a street sign that indicated the hotel was in the other direction. He was nice and I found the hotel!
The hotel is nice but the internet connection in the rooms is madness! €10/day!
I met a Gentoo colleague for dinner (He’s also attending railsconf) to see a friendly face. I was paniccing earlier since I don’t speak German and was homesick and, and, and… I’m okay now. 
When I met him in the hotel lobby there was a group of congoers having a nice chat and they were still there when we got back past 23:00. We/I didn’t join in since I’m tired, I’ve had a long day travelling and I want to settle in for a good night’s sleep before the giant frenzy that’s coming.
Registration begins at 07:00 and the first tutorial session begins a 08:30. As I type this the time is currently 23:35 – I seem to still be on UK time as I’m not very sleepy. I’ll have a lay down and see if I fall asleep.
