Berlin Road Trip

Day 5 - Wednesday 31 July

Keith and I awoke early and put Sophie in our room so she could have a bit of a lie-in. The workmen were busy building so we had a cup of coffee and watched Berlin wake up. Keith made a lovely breakfast of boiled eggs and toast and then we woke Sophie up with the promise of buying her something to eat at one of the numerous food stalls in the Underground, all of which serve a variety of different cuisines.

Our first stop today was the East Side Gallery where, for the first time, we could go behind the wall. Technically now, we would have been in West Berlin. The graffiti was widespread...

Yaam was the beach bar just around the corner from here

We wandered down to the river and saw a Beach bar called Yaam on the right but we didn't venture in.  Keith has been intent on finding the second best beach bar in the world here in Berlin but after seeing this place he decided it might be a good idea to leave it! They are widespread but I have to admit that a lot of them look a bit scruffy!

We had a stroll down the remnants of the wall looking at all the art and the scribbled messages from all over the world and then returned to the Ostbahnhof to take the underground to the Stasi Museum.

We'd visited the headquarters of the Stasi some years back but things had improved a great deal with lots more exhibits and English translations. The offices hadn't changed at all so there was lots of brown about - brown carpets and brown furniture - so it was a bit like stepping back to the 70s! We had a good look at the exhibitions but all three of us were flagging by now and when we sat down to watch a video I nearly fell asleep!

We made the decision to get the train back to Alexanderplatz and then go to Friedrichstrasse as there were lots of riverside restaurants nearby. However, we somehow ended up on a train to the Brandenburg Gate so we had a quick look (loads of tourists about) and walked the short distance to the river.

We found a lovely cafe right on the Spree and sat with a beer and a delicious lunch, watching the many tour boats go by. Behind us was the Reichstag and the Government buildings and there were several television companies based nearby including RTL.

Rather than get the train back to the hotel we walked back along the river which was lovely. By now it was very warm but there were still a few ominous looking clouds about. We passed Museum Island and the Berliner Dom and had an ice-cream overlooking the river.

We mused about eating at one of the nearby restaurants tonight, but Keith's foot was playing up so we decided to eat at the hotel, much to Sophie's dismay. Before getting ready we had a snooze and I started the task of packing and trying to streamline all our luggage a bit!

After a couple of drinks in the hotel bar we decided to eat at nearby Shazan, an Indian restaurant based in our hotel twin across the road. We had a chance to sit outside but chose a table inside, which was a bit of a mistake as it became increasingly hot as the evening wore on! It was refreshing to have a bit of a change for dinner and I chose king prawns for my main course as an alternative to all the meat we'd been eating! The food was good but it did feel a bit strange eating an Indian meal in Berlin!

After our meal Keith bought two small bottles of sparkling wine from the machine in the lobby, rather than go back to the bar, and we returned to the room for an early night before the long journey home tomorrow!