Berlin and Bratwursts

You would not think that Germany would bring fabulous sun burning causing weather but we were lucky, if not a little sore, that it did. Berlin was surprisingly fantastic.

Our first exploration was a bike tour through the city where we saw numerous interesting sites, places to sit, eat sausages, drink beer or eat ice cream, the gorgeous river and part of the Berlin wall. Casually bicycling through the city on a sunny day was a great way to see all the important bits quickly. In the afternoon we had our first wurst (or german sausage) of the trip and our first beer (mine had grapefruit in so it wasn't that disgusting) riverside in a deck chair! We also strolled around the city, had a pretzel, saw the TV tower, had an ice cream and went on an amazing river cruise as the sun was going down.

Next day after more sausages, pretzels and beer we climbed the Reichstag dome for a view over the city, walked along the river to the best river side bar in the world with more deck chairs and dined on ice cream sundaes. It seems like we did a lot of good eating in Berlin. Oh, I also had a schnitzel! With perfect weather and plenty to see and do, Berlin was a favourite city of ours. Next stop Munich...

The good life: relaxing on a beach chair in the sun, sipping a beer and watching boats go past. Bet you didn’t think you could get all that in Berlin, did you?

Neither did we, but that was exactly what we got. The weather was so good – shorts and T-shirt weather – and the river was really nice, with lots of cafes, bars, and restaurants running alongside. We must have spent a couple of hours sitting in beach chairs, beer in hand, watching the boats sail by. It was time well spent, I think.

When we weren’t relaxing river side, we did a cycle tour of the city. It was a brilliant way to see the sites, including Hitler’s bunker (now just a carpark), the Reichstag, and the Berlin Wall (pretty much just a wall and, to be honest, it's much smaller than you might imagine).

The food was great ­– currywursts, roasted pork knuckles, pretzels – and the beer was fantastic. The best beer, however, was yet to come...

Berlin pics are here!