Well, we all had a much better night's sleep as the room was a lot cooler but I woke up looking like I'd gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson! My eyes were very puffy indeed and I can only hope that it's because of the heat!
We had breakfast in our room again and then went off to the Berliner Dom which is, in my opinion anyway, the most beautiful church in the world. We paid 14 euros to have a look around (we'd visited before) and I lit two candles at the altar.
Downstairs, the crypt is wonderfully eerie with lots and lots of sarcophagi of dead kings and queens of Germany and Berlin. The most heartbreaking ones are of the babies and little children who did not survive very long, including one, behind an iron gate, of a nameless baby that was born and died on the same day. The crypt, with its white walls, marble floors and rows of ornate coffins, is one of my favourite places in Berlin, especially as one sarcophagus has split open, reminding me of something out of Dracula!
We called in for a quick coffee and ice-cream before taking a boat trip along the river for an hour. We've done this before and it was a very pleasant way of passing an hour as the weather was so lovely. From the river we walked up to Alexanderplatz and went into the Galeria department store. I'd promised Sophie some Mac lipstick to replace one she'd lost, but I ended up buying her two as she'd been so good while we were away in the North-east the other weekend.
Lunch was currywurst in a nearby cafe and then we went back into the Galeria to buy some beer, wine and chocolates. Keith found the beer he enjoyed yesterday while I treated myself to two bottles of German red Dornfelder.
Back at the hotel we found that our room still had not been cleaned! Keith and I left Sophie while we walked to a nearby supermarket to buy some eggs and milk for breakfast in the room. On the way we were caught in the most violent thunderstorm so we had to shelter until it passed. Of course, we hadn't thought to bring our new umbrellas with us! A German man kept talking to us but as neither of us understood a word of what he was saying, it was a bit embarrassing! He must have thought we were very rude!
In the small Netto supermarket we bought milk, bread and butter and some goodies but the one thing we went in for, the eggs, were nowhere to be seen. In the end I had to ask a member of staff in my very bad German where they were!
It was still raining on the way back to the hotel but at least the maid was in our room and changing the beds. At last!
We spent a very relaxing couple of hours lounging about our freshly cleaned room. I lay down on the bed and covered my eyes with teabags (from our cups of tea) and my eyes did look a bit better afterwards. As soon as I get home I'm going to book a beauty treatment with Virgin!
I'd suggested eating at the hotel tonight as they have tables set out by the canal, but I was overruled. We did have a few drinks in the bar though and got into lively conversation with a woman from Hannover who loves Berlin as much as I do. She was looking for an apartment to rent and was a bit of a Bohemian type. She said she'd been to University in Berlin in the 70s when it was a wild place...I'm sure it was! We also chatted with a man from Toronto who was doing a European tour so that was great. We always seem to meet interesting people in the hotel bar!
Dinner tonight was at Reinhard's with the most hilarious waiter we've ever had in Berlin. He was very camp (think of a character in 'Allo, 'Allo) and we were looked after very well. Sophie chose a potato and sausage soup again while Keith and I shared a salad, then Sophie had a Berlin meatball, Keith went for spare ribs and I had a trio of meats. I think that when I get home I'm going to go vegetarian for a little while to combat all this carnivorous food!
We waddled back to the hotel to find the German woman and the Canadian man still in residence! I enjoyed a glass of sparkling water (I'd had three cocktails and two glasses of wine during the evening so enough was enough!) while Sophie had a non-alcoholic cocktail and Keith indulged in a glass of Bushmills.
Our room was still pretty cool so another good night's sleep was anticipated!
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| It was another long day! |
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