Berlin by bus, boat and foot

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There are a few things that become important when you travel - wifi and coffee! Without good quality, you will find both can be frustrating. i am going to add a rating on both these items, for each country/city I visit. So, to catch up:

Stockholm and Malmö, Sweden - excellent coffee everywhere. Internet free and available at most places. Quality was good in my hotel.

Copenhagen, Denmark - excellent coffee everywhere. Internet free and available at most places. Quality was good in my hotel.
Hamburg and Berlin, Germany - coffee is only average. Internet available intermittently. Doesn't work very well in my hotel room hence I find myself sitting in the lobby when I need to do my blog. Main reason for introducing a rating system ?. It is not only annoying but quite time consuming when you are sitting there for ages watching a wheel spin around.

Anyway, on to today's update - after breakfast I walked to Alexanderplatz to start my HopOn HopOff bus tour around the city. It took a little while to find the starting point because companies are not allowed permanent offices for these tours so you need to look out for people wearing the company banner as a flag. After a minor argument about my online ticket not being an online ticket, I eventually got onto the bus. The entire circuit takes about 2 hours and it was a sunny, hot day. It was really great to get to see just how many amazing, historical buildings there are in Berlin. What a stunning city. Even though so much was lost in the war, there is still an amazing amount of huge beautiful buildings.

After finishing the entire circuit, I headed to the Berlin Tower to see if I could go up to the observation deck. The way it works is you need to book into a time slot and there wasn't one available for at least 20 minutes. I decided to have some lunch so had the curry wurst, which is their national dish. It was quite nice - a sausage that is covered in this mixture of tomato sauce (or ketchup as they call it) and curry.

I then headed off to find where the boat cruise leaves from, which i had added to my bus tour ticket. After a rather rude man pointed me in the right direction, I found the actual boat I needed to be on - just as it was about to pull away from the dock. I was able to convince the man to let me on, which I was grateful for. Another hour sitting in the hot sun, soaking up the rays and enjoying all the sights from the water. I found Museum Island quite fascinating - there are 5 big, beautiful, historic museums all on this one 'island' where the Spree river splits in two. We also got to see just how many people were out enjoying the sunshine on the river banks.

From the finishing spot of the boat I decided to walk to the Brandenburg Gate and then from here, I headed to the Memorial for Murdered Jews. Both of these places are quite spectacular however the memorial really gives you pause. It is such an interesting structure and the photos done do it justice. As you wander amongst the columns, there are many times when you cannot see another person and it gives you time to reflect. at one point, I was just standing on the outside looking at the whole area when a lady came up to me that just happened to be walking past. She asked me what this was and just as I was about to tell her she exclaimed "oh, the holocaust?" We both got quite emotional - I can't explain why - maybe it was because of the shared realization of what we were seeing. It was just a moment in time but such a meaningful one.

After this I headed to the other side of the Brandenburg gate as I wanted to see if I could go up inside the Dome on top of the Reichstag building. Another place that wasn't easy to work out the system but I eventually found where I could purchase a ticket - only to be told the next available time slot was on Sunday! I am leaving a Sunday morning so is was no good. Note to self - be better organized when you go to the next big city!

I wandered down to the river as I wanted to see the memorial of the white crosses that I saw when I was on the boat. After spending some time here I walked back to my hotel. That was a lot of steps so far today!

After a little happy hour back in my hotel room, where I gave my feet a rest, I decided I was going to venture out for dinner. I was feeling like I hadn't accomplished much today as the things I had set out to do, didn't all happen. For instance, once I was back in the hotel and could use the internet, i found out that underneath the Memorial for the Murdered Jews was the actual museum! I did think there should have been more too it so I was kicking myself that I didn't know this before I went there. Oh well, I will just have to head back there tomorrow.

There is an underground station right out front of my hotel and from my research it looked like this was the same line as one of the stations we went to on my 'Off the Beaten Track' tour the other day. Our guide had told me about a Vietnamese restaurant near the Prater beer garden so I decided I was venture out and find it. I bought my ticket and within a couple of minutes a train pulled up. I was pretty sure it was heading in the direction I needed and sure enough, 5 stops later I was where I needed to be. After getting a bit lost I found the street I wanted and then found the restaurant- but it was vegetarian not Vietnamese! As this was not what I was looking for I kept walking up the street and event I found.......... yep, you guessed it! A Vietnamese restaurant- yay! I had two spring rolls and then the salad with rice noodles and beef, all washed down with a Tiger beer.

I found another station after dinner and safely got myself back to the hotel - feeling a little more accomplished than a few hours ago.

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Photos

Bellevue Palace
Located in Berlin's Tiergarten district it has been the official residence of the President of Germany since 1994.

Berlin Cathedral
On Museum Island

The Bode Museum
On Museum Island

The White Crosses
A memorial to all those who died during the Cold War by trying to cross the river.