Berlin by Bike

Day 2 in Berlin

Up early heading over to Gillian’s flat a couple of blocks from our hotel.  Quick tour round her flat which was lovely old(ish) building with an internal courtyard and rooms with high ceilings.  Chose a nice café nearby for breakfast and chat about the itinerary for the day.  She suggested hiring bikes which is a great way to see the city as there are no hills and the pavements are wide with designated cycle paths. Complete opposite from here no sharing the road with an artic or a bus.   
 
Highlights of the day. 

Trip up the TV Tower with fantastic views over the city, seeing the difference in architecture between east and west Berlin.
Alleyway full of amazing and innovative graffiti art.
East Side Gallery.  A mile long part of the Wall still standing.    After the Wall came down in 1989, hundreds of artists from all over the world gathered and transformed the eastside of the Wall with their paintings, giving the Wall a new face in a new time.  There are many of the paintings that are flaking and I hope that this memorial is not left to decay. 
Sitting outdoors in the sunshine at Oranienplaz for coffee and cake break.
Checkpoint Charlie – a symbol of the Cold War.  I found it interesting to see the  blown up black and white pictures along one side of Friedrichstrasse leading up to the Checkpoint showing various famous moments in it’s history.  One that stuck in my mind is the American and Russian tanks facing each other in October 1961. 
Brandenburg Gate – good snippet of info from our guide, pointing out the exact window of the Hotel Adlon where Michael Jackson dangled baby Blanket…
Cycle through the park, both ways,
 
Then in the evening a meal in a typical German restaurant eating the famous Currywurst.
 
After all that we were shattered!