There are two types of mudlarker the professional and the amateur

There are two types of mudlarker, the professional and the amateur. The pros tend to work the shore on the low tides on weekdays. You’ll see them with metal detectors and spades digging frantically before an incoming tide. That day I also found 15 polished garnets (semi-precious gemstones), a few medieval pins and possibly a pilgrim’s pewter badge.Mudlarking is archaeology for everyone It’s your history, and you get to keep it. We stopped on Hammersmith Bridge and looked through the railings, and my dad, sensing the inevitable disappointment at the adventure’s end, said: “Tim, it’s very unlikely we will ever find anything.”

He was wrong Within two hours we had a found a purse. It had probably been stolen – the wallet was missing – but inside was a gold necklace.

Sure, it was a tacky 9-carat necklace with a few lucky charms, but it was gold and confirmation of all my childhood beliefs.
I hadn’t thought about that adventure till recently when I pulled a white gold wedding ring from the mud down by Tower Bridge: 18-carat this time. In my young mind it was a natural place to look: the Thames was part of the sea; the sea equalled pirates, and pirates meant treasure. I was seven when I dragged my father down to the river to search for gold. Returns from Stansted start at £100.Where to stayBrandenburger Hof (00 49 30 214 050; www.brandenburger-hof ) offers doubles from €245 (£175) , with breakfast.Adlon Hotel Kempinski Berlin (00 49 30 2261-0; www.hotel-adlon.de) offers rooms from €370 (£264) per night, based on two sharing.What to doBorchardt, Franzosische Strasse 47, Mitte (00 49 30 2038 7110).Le Cochin Bourgeois Fichtestrasse 24, Kreuzberg (00 49 30 693 0101).Caf?m Neuen See Lichtensteinallee 2, Tiergarten (00 49 30 254 4930).Wurgeengel, Wiener Strasse 14, Kreuzberg (00 49 30 615 5560).KaDeWe, Tauentzienstr 21,Sch?erg (00 49 30 21210)..

TO still wins on the hotel front but LP is nipping at its heels in the style stakes. I’m relieved to find I’m still too young for DK – but it’s not the turgid tome I expected. RG is too heavy, in every respect, for a city break.GIVE ME THE FACTSHow to get thereLucy Gillmore travelled with Air Berlin (0870 738 8880; www.airberlin ). KaDeWe “has everything the consumer’s heart desires” according to the RG, but TO is right in its assessment that apart from the food hall “the presentation is bad and much of the merchandise merely average”.The VerdictShocks all round TO’s supremacy is challenged by LP. If I’d relied on TO, which says that the store closes on Saturday afternoon, I’d have missed the live fish swimming around the tank at the fish counter, sipping a glass of champagne at the Moet bar and choosing some brightly coloured pasta and Portuguese wine. KaDeWe, as much a tourist attraction as department store, is described as “Europe’s second-largest consumer temple after Harrods of London” with a “legendary” gourmet food hall on the sixth floor.They get the opening times right, too. LP has a surprisingly extensive section on shopping, including the best boutiques.