Day 6 - Wurst is yet to come .....

Currywurst that is.  All over Berlin you see little stalls selling this particular delicacy so, in the interest of trying all things local, I had to give it a go for lunch - suffice to say I’m glad I’m not a Berliner as would hate to think that I might have to have another!

OK, today was about fitting in as much of the sights not yet seen as possible so to help with the navigation I boarded one of those big red buses- got a discount as the guy took pity on my waiving the Booking.com discount QR at him that doesn’t really work.  Had to show the two Scottish ladies sitting next to me how to work the commentary gadget; they had got on a few stops before me and where looking all bemused when I plugged mine in, so had to explain what it was for.  Then my one Good Samaritan gene took over and I went and got them ear pieces and set them up with the right language - browny points for me today.

Stop number 5 was supposed to be Checkpoint Charlie but for some reason our bus driver didn’t want pto stop there so we went sailing past - I had to walk to this later.  Thankfully its really quite close to where I’m staying so was just a 15 minute detour on way home.





I did get off at the Gendarmenmarkt, which has the Berlin Concert Hall and a Cathedral (Catholic I think), to take photos and the Scottish ladies swiftly followed me with one muttering ‘see I told you we’d get off’ - what that was all about I don’t have the foggyist.

Fortunately most of the stops I’d already covered yesterday so was able to whiz round most of the circuit and only got off in a couple of places.  I did however want to see the new Cathedral built by Joachim II.  He didn’t much want to be Catholic and was impressed by Martin Luther so wanted to build a Lutheran church but still keep a lot of the catholic style and pomp e.g. he had 2 alters built one in the catholic tradition and the other Lutheran.  I also went right up to the top of the dome, 286 stepsister that’’sky exercise for today done.  Oh and I crept round the crypt - 2 kings and 4 queens plus their babies.  I was actually moved by the number of tiny little coffins that were in here.

The Cathedral is close to the river boat trips,  so after having consumed the Currywurst, I joined one of these to get a perspective from the river (and it was a lovely sunny day so ideal opportunity to sit back and soak up some rays).  Here are some pictures taken from the boat.

Back on the bus and it was to the Holocaust Memorial. — very sobering.

The Reichstag Building, which when it was set on fire in 1933 it facilitated the ‘Enabling Act’ to be introduced and gave Hitler the power to arrest and incarcerate any dissenters.

The Victory Monument.

Couldn’t resist stopping by the Trebant Museum and snapping a few.

Today Berlin has been packed with football fans - it’s their cup final; Bayern Munich V Frankfurt.  The atmosphere has been really happy and very friendly amongst the rival teams and the worst it has gotten was a contest on who could sing the loudest.  The picture below is a boat full of Frankfurt fans enjoying the sun on the river.