We opted for the 1 hour trip as it was very hot and sunny and didn't want to be exposed for too long. Think it was about right as we saw most of the sites from the river and any longer may have been overkill.
Well worth doing though and as we sat on the boat waiting to cast off the crew came around selling a refreshing cocktail made with rasperries and whatever alcohol. Would have been rude to refuse so we indulged covincing ourselves it was one of our 5 per day.
Following the cruise it was lunchtime, only wanted a sarnie and all the places along the river seemed to be restaurants serving full meals. We ended up going into the Railway station (Friedrichstr) which had a big food court. Found a little cafe that sold small bagettes at a very reasonable cost, just what I wanted.
Afterwards we decided to do a bit of a tram route to look at a few neighbourhoods in the east of the city, really enjoyed it some lovely places off the beaten track, lots of little parks. From Friedrichstr we took a no12 tram to Ebeswalder str, then changed to a M10 to Griefswalder/Dazinger and finally a M4 back to Alexanderplatz.
It was our intention to go up the TV tower but it was Saturday Afternoon and it was really busy and would have meant a 2 hour wait. They have a good system where you are given a time within a 10 minute window so can work out when you need to be there so can buy tickets then go do something else. However we made the decision to give it a miss with the intention of getting there early Sunday to beat the crowds.
So we decided to jump on another tram (M5 I think) into the east eventually finding a lovely little cafe, can't tell you where but it was next door to a Woolworths. Not sure they had seen tourists before but we sat with the locals and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee with apple pie at a total cost under 3euros (starbucks eat your heart out). Seriously would recommend anyone to just jump on the trams its a great way to see parts of the city tourists wouldn't normally, small cafes everywhere so just jump off as you feel.
Sussed a tram route back to U-Bahn back to our hotel but we made a mistake and walked in the wrong direction eventually finding a totally different station so had to change trains a couple of times to get back.
That night we ate at a Persian restaurant close to the back of the hotel, food was excellent think we both enjoyed. Afterwards we decided to try the Irish Pub in the Europa centre, they had a Karaoke going (not that we got up). Turned out a great place with a good atmosphere, had a few drinks and didn't get back to the hotel until about 2am.
Day 4 - The Late night put a stop to the early start to beat the crowds at the TV tower but we tried anyway but still the queues were too much so we jumped back on a train to Checkpoint Charlie.
Photographs weren't allowed inside but was really interesting reading the history and looking at photos, some of the escape stories really fascinated me. Only problem it was a steaming hot day and with no air-con was really uncomfortable in there (nothing to do with the night before alcohol).
After we had finished at CC we decided to jump on the public transport system to go to a area called Hackesher Market for lunch (its actually walkable from Alexanderplatz). We had travelled through the area the previous day on the tram and there were lots of nice looking pavement cafes and restaurants.
We sat outside a Grill restaurant and had a lovely gourmet burger washed down with a pint of the local brew.
Afterwards it was a little early to go back to the hotel and we decided to jump on the S-Bahn (as we hadn't used it) to Warscheuer str as there was a river bridge i wanted to photo. We could also get the U-bahn back to the hotel from there so it served two purposes.
What a surprise as we walked to the bridge, we came across about 300 yards of the Berlin Wall still in place, hadn't done my homework and realised some had been left standing.Eventually it was back to the hotel and the plan was go to the Irish Pub after our meal as were intrigued that they had a "traditional Irish group" on, apparently made up of Germans and one Scotsman, lol.
On our way not too far from the hotel we came across a Chinese restaurant so decided to eat there, it was excellent so pleased we did.
Trouble is while there we got a big thunder storm with torrential rain, this made us change our plans and in a lull in the rain we went back for a couple of drinks in the hotel before calling it a night.
Part 3 to folow.
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