Berlin - Day 1

We left the hotel with our bus at 09.00 and then picked up our guide at the KaDeWe shopping area.  The KaDeWe = Kaufhaus der Westen = THE largest shopping arcade this part of Europe, especially if you're looking for pricey stuff.  We didn't go inside but just picked up the guide and she spent the next three hours with us, weaving through the city and explaining many of the important sites.  I am glad that we passed by the Olympic Stadium (yes, the same one in 1936 and used just recently for the European Sports Championships, and still being used regularly for football tournaments) as it is on the outskirts of town and is not a regular stop for Hop On Hop Off bus routes, so this little detour spared me an extra ride.  We also stopped at Checkpoint Charlie, which is where this litter box is hanging.  I found it hilarious enough to make it today's post.  If you want something touristique, though ... there are a couple of extras.  It's taking two lifetimes to upload stuff using the usual Explorer, so I changed to Google ... and what a difference!

After the guided tour, some of us joined the hour-long boat tour on the river Spree (sounds like 'Spray' ... really, same as in Dutch) while the rest were dropped off at the KaDeWe again.  The bus returned to pick us up and then we all went to the KaDeWe.  At 17.00, those who wanted to join the dinner got on the bus.  I joined the dinner, and we had a short evening tour after that.  I used the tours to give me ideas about what I want to do tomorrow and which spots deserve a second visit.  At 21.30, we were all back at the KaDeWe to pick up those who didn't want to join, and then we all returned together to the hotel.  A full day!  It wasn't really tiring, however, not physically anyway, as we were with the bus or boat most of the time.

Tomorrow, I'll be organizing my own day.  I hope it will be interesting.