Guten Tag from Berlin!

Everyone we have spoken to has given Berlin a huge wrap so we were pretty excited about finally getting to visit. That and the fact that it feels like ages (perhaps because it has been) since we last left the UK. As an extra bonus it was the last bank holiday of the year (24 - 27 August 2007) so we got to see a bit more of Germany in three days rather than two.

Berlin has some amazing history surrounding it with most of it being fairly recent. Hitler, the WW's and the falling of the Berlin Wall are just a few events in history worth a mention. As we would soon come to appreciate, Berlin is a truly fascinating city.

Here's what we got up to over the weekend!

Friday 24 August 2007:

Ryan Air - the on time airline (as their advertising goes) was fashionably late leaving Stansted Airport (no surprise here) by 3 hours. We made ourselves comfortable getting some practice for the weekend by having a few beers and playing gin with Lou whopping Rob's arse (the score was 50,000,000 to zero). By the time we got to Berlin the trains into the city had stopped so it was a cab ride in. Much to our delight one of the first things we sped past was the East Side Gallery. The gallery is a kilometre of the old Berlin wall dedicated to artists and something we would see again on our weekend. Finally we arrived at the hotel and it was straight to bed.

Saturday 25 August 2007:

Rather than pay the ludicrous amount for breakfast at the hotel we ventured towards town for a traditional German breaky of ham, cheese, bread rolls, boiled egg and coffee. We then joined Original Berlin Walks for their Discover Berlin walking tour of the city. On the tour we got to see many famous sites including the only remaining section of the Berlin Wall within the city (with its ‘death strip’), Hitler’s old bunker site, Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Holocaust Memorial, Museum Island, Bebelptatz (Nazi book burning) and much more. It was a great four hour tour with our tour guide sharing her passion and knowledge of German history with us all.

After the tour finished we caught a train back to the East Side Gallery were we walked along the old section of wall and checked out all the paintings and murals.

From there it was back into town to check the line up to Reichstag (Parliament) a no-goer at this stage and a walk through the Tiergarten (Berlin’s huge park) to the Victory Monument. We also checked out the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) which had the most amazing modern architecture we have seen. We then ended back at Hackescher Markt for some Wiener schnitzel and Weiss Beer. One thing the Germans do very well is their beer - very tasty!!!!


Sunday 26 August 2007:

Breakfast was spent in the same cafe as the previous day while we contemplated what we should do. We wanted to go back to revisit the sites we had briefly seen the previous day on our tour and spend some more time at each. Along the way we also checked out a very awesome chocolate shop and tried to read German at the French Church (Franzosicher Dom) which was converted into a museum with no English translations. The lady at the counter did give us a funny look when we said "Sprechen Sie kein Deutsch" (speak no German), we should have just left then!!!


In one of the guide books it mentioned that a good way to past the queue at Reichstag was to make a booking at the restaurant so we planned a late lunch for 2pm. The rooftop terrace overlooking Berlin was a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours while gorging ourselves on great food and some more awesome German beer!

After lunch we checked out the Reichstag Dome, caught a riverboat cruise along the Spree and went inside the Berliner Dom. We then walked back along Unter de Linden for some nice evening views of the Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag (again) and the Spree. Dinner once again at Hackescher Markt where Rob enjoyed the same meal as the evening before and we got to sample some more awesome German beer! Before calling it a night we took the fastest elevator in the world to get to the top of the 368m Fernsehturm (TV tower) for some gorgeous evening views of the city.


Monday 27 August 2007:

Given we had seen most of Berlin we thought we'd get out of the city and visit Potsdam (on Pen and Kris's recommendation). Potsdam is half an hour out of Berlin and has some major historical buildings and a vast amount of green space. Initially we had a few drama's but once they were sorted and we had hired our deadly treadly's for the day we were off!! We ended up riding about 18kms through some gorgeous parks. We stopped for lunch at a small little cafe in town and enjoyed some beers at a stunning beer garden located along the tour next to the river. We didn't venture into any of the buildings however riding around was a great way to spend the day relaxing. From Potsdam it was back on the train to the airport for our flight home to London.



Berlin is a fascinating city and one we would definitely recommend!

London Weekend

Here's what we got up to last weekend (18 & 19 August 2007) :

1. Dinner with Nikki & Paul at Ping Pong (Dim Sum) at Waterloo

2. Un-fancy 'villian's and super-hero's' dress party at Clif & Chev's

3. Did the London tourist thing by waiting in line for an 1 1/2 hours to visit the stars at Madam Tussards

Nothing to exciting but still good to get out and do some things!!

Another weekend! Finding Nemo......

Yep, another weekend! And would you believe it but another weekend of good, summer weather.

Saturday we enjoyed lunch with Penny & Kris eating cheese and drinking champagne. Team Pen & Kris always put on a good spread and it was great to catch up on the goss with them.

On Sunday we dilli-dallied and with the threat of rain and rather than going to Kew Gardens we went and checked out the London Acquarium. The aquarium is at County Hall opposite Westminister. There was also a Star Wars exhibition showing, hence the Storm Trooper photo. The acquarium itself is only tiny and Lou didn't think it could be compared to her limited memories of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in T'ville. That said, it was still a nice afternoon spent watching the fishies swim in circles chasing each other.

Monday night, we joined Penny & Kris at Shakespeare's Globe for the 'Merchant of Venice'. The theatre (open air in the round) was an amazing venue, the cast awesome. Another great night!

Winchester

Finally, summer has arrived in the UK. After what feels like months of endless rain, the clouds have gone and the sun has showed its bright self. With the promise of sunny and hot weather for the weekend we thought we'd get out and see a little more of what the UK has to offer. A quick look through our Lonely Planet and we had our Saturday (4 August 2007) day trip destination... WINCHESTER!

Winchester is an hour from London on the train. It has some facisinating history and was once the capital of England. No, the gun originated in the USA. Its major site these days is the Winchester Cathedral which was featured in the DaVinci Code movie (doubled as the Vatican) and houses the tomb of Jane Austen. Initially we thought a look around would take 1/2 hour however given the enormous size it took more like 3 hours. Some of the good stuff included the flooded Crypt with its artwork "Sound II", the library, and the 1 1/2 hour tour of the roof and tower. Cheryl and Reg were our tour guides for this four person tour and they were absolutely brilliant in explaining the building, structure and various other facts about the cathedral. The views from the top were great thanks to our clear sunny day, with views (be they small) of Isle of Wight. Perfect day for exploring the roof of a cathedral.

After spending so much time at the cathedral we had worked up a bit of an appetite so we found a lovely pub by the river to soak up some ale and dig into some good pub grub. The view from our pub window was of the river and the City Bridge, an ancient river crossing that was once the entrance to the city.

From lunch we waddled up to take a look from St Gill's Hill Viewpoint. The lookout gave us great views back down the main street of Winchester and the cathedral. After laying in the sunshine for a bit and taking in the views we rolled back down the hill to check out a closer view of the River Itchen and the Weirs Walk. This walk took us along the very clear fast flowing river through some gorgeous gardens to our next destination, the Wolvesey Castle (in ruins). Wolvesey Castle was once the home of the very rich Bishop William of Wykeham. The current bishop lives next door!

From the castle it was a wander up the High Street to the old Westgate which you can go to the top of for views back down the street. We then checked out The Great Hall which is the only remaining part of Winchester Castle (13th Century). It was then back to the train station for our ride home.

One nice thing about Winchester is that with the exception of the cathedral all the other tourist traps are free. Welcome change given how expensive these things can be.

We arrived back in London at 6pm and given that the sun was still shining and it was turning into a beautiful evening rather than head home we went to the park and caught up with Kris and Penny for some Pimms and cheese!

With the sun setting we finally headed home - very content with such a great day!