Haha uh actually I only had a very quick look at the offerings at booking.com so far and didn’t even check out this place in all detail yet 
I did make a quick reversable free of charge reservation already though for a single room for 34 euros a night and it’s about 6 miles north of the workshop so I guess I will actually stay there . . .
Hi guys! So amazing! Looking forward to see you all in our great city soon!
B H: It takes about 30 min. to get to the seminar room from your hotel. 
Seems to be a good choice.
I’m gonna book something tomorrow. To me 30 minutes sounds a little much considering it’s a subway, so I figured that means there is a change. I did some investigating. To get to the seminar you should get on the U3 line (Thank god it’s not U2, they suck! ;)). So I think the best place to stay would be near a station on this line.
U-bahn map: http://www.s-bahn-berlin.de/pdf/VBB-Liniennetz.pdf
Google maps with the u-bahn lines marked: https://www.google.se/maps/place/Fehrbelliner+Platz/@52.4880811,13.3101359,15z/data=!4m7!3m6!1s0x47a850f29b30a0c1:0xdbd0690742de0f09!6m1!1v2!8m2!3d52.4904064!4d13.3142252
I think Fehrbelliner Plats might be a good place find a hotel around, but I have no idea about prices. The U3 line starts at Nollendorfplatz so if you want to live more close to the city that would be an option.
Actually 30min is pretty good for a Berlin ride. You can easily need one or two hours to get through Berlin. It’s really big. As Berliner I’d be glad with 30 min.
And never say U2 sucks. That’s where I live. There are great districts at that line and it’s very Central. 
I’ve booked now. SANA Berlin Hotel near U Augsburger Str. It’s not very cheap but sometimes you got to chill out a bit with a good hotel And it’s on the U3 line. No Bono music on that line.
Seems about the same distance somewhat more southeast to the workshop location than my ‘hotel’ and even including a spa too we should possibly all meet there after friday’s workshop . . . anyway though I might take a taxi as for my friday morning transportation to the camp and in between all this U2 or U3 discussion I am inclined to strongly of course recommend not leaving out the comfortable (possibly) option of taking a taxi
(as for me btw I will be in berlin to attend the camp on friday only)
I’m also still looking for a quite reasonable located hotel…
But my biggest question: Are you guys (non berlin-residents) already fly in on thursday-evening or just on friday morning?
Same question for me Alessandro. Is it feasable without missing the first hour of the first day ? Berliners what do you think ?
Phew, might be pretty exhausting to arrive the same day. You’ll need at least 1 hour from the Airport to the city/Hotel/Seminar room. I’d recommend arriving the day before.
Thanks Martina.
Im also looking for a Hotel for my friend who is coming from Sweden. Not for the Shamicamp though. She will just be visiting Berlin to hang out cause we havent seen each other in 15 years or something. She needs a Hotel from the 27-29. Any help or advice will be appreciated!
We’re flying in on Friday because we have to work. No hotel yet but I’ll let you guys know if I find something good.
I’m arriving on Thursday but I’ll probably get to the hotel around 22-23. I should be able to grab a beer if someone’s around.
You picked out a nice hotel, Karl. Maybe I opt for that, too…if you don’t mind. Just haven’t decided, yet.
Martina, thanks for the info about getting there the day before.
How do you guys transport your shamisen?
Hard-Case only with Dou as carry-on…and an additional suitcase for stuff…
Will the shami-case really being treated specially/with care, when declared as fragile cargo? Never traveled with ‘treasures’ before, so excuse my non-existing knowledge
I should mention that we’re flying in the weekend before for a martial arts seminar. So we’ll be around before Friday. Thinking about renting a flat for the week.
Haha I don’t need the whole hotel for myself
As for travelling. I have a rectangular case. It has been on 4 flights in total and has taken a little beating. I have had the dou in my backpack while I’ve checked in the sao, of course with the itomaki taken out and put aside. I also filled my case with clothes to make sure that there was some padding. Nothing has broken before. I never had a fragile marker and I think that having one doesn’t mean anything.
I would like a travelling case where you put it apart though. Although I still don’t understand flight security where you can bring a pencil but not a nail cutter. I mean even if you have the protection blocks for the parts of the sao you could just remove them and have sharp pointy wooden parts. In any case, such a case would be much more safe. I don’t have access to creating the wooden blocks that protect the joints so I will not travel with one.
I would like a travelling case where you put it apart though. Although I still don’t understand flight security where you can bring a pencil but not a nail cutter. I mean even if you have the protection blocks for the parts of the sao you could just remove them and have sharp pointy wooden parts. In any case, such a case would be much more safe. I don’t have access to creating the wooden blocks that protect the joints so I will not travel with one.
I actually packed my whole shamisen in my carry-on (and checked in my pack case) when I went to Shamicamp California. I had no issues with the sao and I didn’t even had any of the protector blocks.
My dou did trigger something at the TSA when I was flying back to Canada and they had to sweep it with something. They never told me what was the issue though.
But the whole airport security is nonsense as a general rule, definitely in the USA. Europe isn’t too bad and I found that Frankfurt airport were pretty efficient compared to the TSA last time I landed there. A security guy had spotted something in my pocket 10 meters away and politely asked me what it was (tissues), TSA have been known to repeatedly ignore stuff that could actually be dangerous.
Then again, San Diego Comic Con last year had a stabbing with a mechanical pencil, the switchblade of the nerds.
Yeah it’s too bad it’s so random because if you are unlucky it all goes to shit. In Germany they have sub machine guns at the airport, so don’t fuck around. Even though it was obviously a routine check, I was uncomfortable with guns around when their sweeper beeped at my knee. Last time I checked I wasn’t in Vietnam.
I’ll consider packing the whole thing in my backpack. They did ask me to show and explain my dou when I came to Finland from Japan. Actually I had a flight inside Japan also, in which case they did put the fragile marker. I also had to fill in a form that they wouldn’t take responsibility if it got broken. But generally I believe Japanese baggage handling to be better than European.
Another time when I flew inside Sweden when they scanned my backpack I had a wedge of parmesan cheese in it, and they asked me to show it. That was fun. Oh my god, he’s wielding a cheese!
CHEESE?!
If you haven’t signed up for AirBnB yet, follow my link and try it out if you want. I’ll get a bonus credit. It’s very good for finding nice places.
Also, we’ve booked a flat and can potentially accommodate someone on the couch, worst case scenario.