It was a later than planned rising, and it wasn’t until about 10:00am that we ventured out into the Berlin suburbs in search of breakfast. We found a cafe that did various choices and we each picked a different option, Lucia going for croissants and Belinda and I chose eggs, scrambled and omletted. Other than the wasps it was an excellent repast and we may well visit there tomorrow as well.

Following from the morning meal we picked up a day ticket on the tour bus which which would transport us in a huge circle around Berlin via the Raddison hotel. The hotel had a HUGE fish tank holding over a thousand tropical fish. Unfortunately the lift that rose in the middle of this circular tank was only available to paying guests, rather than any old waif and stray from the street, so we were unable to appreciate it fully – still it looked pretty good !

Our first stop was a flea market which was like any flea market in the world other than being rather subdued and rather expensive; still, I managed to buy a couple of dinosaurs for my desk at work which will cheer me up no end !

We then hopped back on the bus and zipped around to a very posh shopping street which housed our target for the afternoon – The Hard Rock Cafe. We had a nice cheese cake and coffee as well as buying a pair of pajama bottoms, so it was a successful trip. We then visited the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church which is basically a ruin, left that way after the 2nd World War, but was a very significant symbol of the city and is still a powerful one now. The spire is cut off at about half way and most of the church is gone, but what is left is bracketed by two newer places of worship which are wonderful in their own right and act as a centre for the city.

We then wandered aimlessly through the Tiergarten and after an ice-cream we ended up at Potsdamer Platz. Famously once the busiest square in Europe, it is now a modern gleaming glass edifice, with towering skyscrapers in mirrored glass rising from the shopping malls and restaurants – we didn’ t spend much time there, but it is our lunch stop for tomorrow.

Then we tried to board the tour bus to take us back to the hotel but a passing demonstration blocked off the road for 20 minutes. We never did find out what was the cause, but Berliners seemed to take it in their stride and eventually the road was cleared and the bus arrived.

After a shower in the hotel we meandered out to a German/Italian resturant where we had pizza, rissotto and pasta. The food was excellent and the service was lovely, which is not what we have always encounted here. Occasionally people have been, seemingly, needlessly rude and we cannot work out why; it is not that we are doing anything wrong ( or at least we hope we are not ), but people do, sometimes, seem rather off-hand and lacking in manners. Ho hum, never mind, it is still a fabulous city !

On the way back to the hotel we popped into a clock shop and it was stunning. Hans, the owner, was more than happy to show us clocks costing tens of thousands on Euros even though we said we were just looking – a lovely man and a lovely shop !