Exploring Berlin

Roy struggled with the online site last night, but managed to get an online reservation for the Bundestag at 8 this morning. We were told to arrive at 7.45, only to be left standing outside in the freezing cold until 8, while the staff stood warm inside behind the glass doors. Seemed unreasonably inhospitable.  But once inside, we passed the security checks and were given headsets which spoke in English while we walked up the spiral paths in the glass dome. The views at the top were nice.

Bundestag, seat of parliament

Now sitting in Starbucks

View from Starbucks, near Potsdamer platz shopping centre

Walking the next block to the Potsdamer Platz arcade, we passed a section of the old Berlin Wall kept for remembering.

Berlin Wall

It was around 10, yet all the shops were still closed. We walked to the Technology / transport museum and were greatly impressed.

Technology museum

The displays were so well presented, especially the ships and the museum rambled from section to section.

Dad would have felt like he was in heaven if he'd seen the railway section. Endless real steam trains preserved.

There was a coach which had taken Jews to concentration camps. It was quite moving standing in it.

Roy loves German expressionist art and so even though we were tired he went to see this at the Berlin museum while I walked back to the shopping centre. Sadly they are not currently on display, so he found me in the centre where I was trying to replace my special hair conditioner I'd left in the Paris hotel. I managed to find something which would do. Something I really love about Europe, besides the fact that there are lots of dogs around, is that it seem perfectly normal to take your dog with you into shopping centres and on trains. Of course it's absolutely filthy because of this. There is dog pee and poo everywhere inside and people eating in the restaurants are all dying of some dog spread disease. Not. Wish South Africa would just take a chill pill and see how well dogs can integrate with us. It's been great to see them everywhere like this. Best of all, I wouldn't look like the mad dog lady, like do in South Africa.

Potsdamer Platz arcade

We caught the underground to where the Sunday market was, finding a bottle store on the way which sold beer for less than half what we'd been paying, so we stocked up on a few bottles. As I wrote previously,  it's legal for homeless people to drink in the street, so I cracked open the Berlin pilsner that I like while we walked the rest of the way to the market. It was most like our Milnerton market with lots of old junk for sale. We bought some delicious rooti type cheese and tomatoe rolls and I had a gluhwein.

Homeless person drinking beer

Gluhwein

Tired, we walked back to our hotel which took 45 minutes and then passed out on our beds. Roy has now walked to the station to buy us some supper.
Was hoping to meet Megan at her bar or a market, but we were all wrecked and never made it. :(