Walking Berlin

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Geo: 52.5235, 13.4115

Today we walked for around 12 hours. It was a tiring, but inspired and jam packed day of experience. It started this morning, 9am I found a tour online, departing nearby in an hours time. We got ready, and joined up with the Third Reich walking Tour. For 9€ we had expected the tour to last maybe a couple hours. Incorrect. It lasted nearly five hours. What a tour it was though, our guide was excellent. We started by the zoo and took a public bus towards the Reichstag. Here, our guide gave us a background of the Nazi party, and its rise to power, with Hitler at the helm as Chancellor in 1933. From there back through the Tiergarten, via war memorials, SS Government buildings, the Topography of Terror Museum, Berlin Wall and location of the Fuhrerbunker, where Hitler committed suicide.
What a fantastic tour, full of history, facts, stories and fascinating information; the Valkyrie story, learning of the Battle of Berlin, the politics, the Red Armys advance on, and eventual conquest of Berlin, seeing bullet holes on buildings, the blueprints of Berlin becoming Germania (if Germany had won the war) and more! By the end of the tour, both our legs and brains were weary.
In an attempt to rest at least our brains, we decided to go to the zoo. We left the location of the Fuhrerbunker, now the worlds most significant carpark, stopped briefly at the Holocaust memorial and boarded the train, zoo bound, arriving around 4pm. It was a good zoo all round, elephants, monkeys, bears all putting on a good show and putting a smile on our faces. There were a few animals Id never seen before! After the frustration of not seeing polar bears in Svalbard, it was good to see them here! After a couple hours we were becoming heavy legged. We actually lost Marielle momentarily, but were reunited at the exit.
7pm, on the train again for one last stop; Checkpoint Charlie. We chowed down some McDonald's for convenience, across the road from the museum and entered around 8.15pm. The museum itself was stifling hot, and a little dry in content, political and reading overload. The highlight by far was the stories of people who had escaped from the GDR (Germanic Democratic Republic / East Germany); in car boots, suitcases, hot air balloons, speakers, surfboards and more.
Finally, we staggered home, having learned so much, and walked so far. We had a real crack at Berlin, and I feel we saw all we realistically could in two days. Tomorrow, the bus to Munich, and a new city.

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Photos

.. to these men
Failed hitler assassination