Berlin, Potsdam

Berlin Bear
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This morning we get to sleep in a bit with our bus scheduled to leave at 8:30am for a Berlin City Tour. Here our local guide Christa-bell gave us commentary on the local sights. We stop at the memorial for the blockade for a photo op. After this we stop close to the Brandenberg gate and walk the remainder of the way on foot. Due to the celebrations the previous day for re-unification day a lot of the local area is still blocked off while the tents and other temporary festival infrastructure is dismantled. When we returned to the bus we are standing beside a large building which at its centre has been restored with a glass coppola. Inside this we are told there is a circulating ramp from the bottom to the top which allows you to get a birds bye view of Berlin. When it was first opened the queue to get in stretched three times around the building which takes up an entire city block.

Brandenburg Gate
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We headed back into the centre of Berlin to a huge Cathederal which has been left in its bombed state after the war. It was left this way to remind the young of the devastation that the war caused. Aftr an inside visit of this church we go next door to the new modern church which has been built for ongoing services. We went in search of a local Starbucks to use their free facilities but were disapponted when they had none. After a quick look through some market tents and the purchase of the requisite souveniers it was back on the bus. I spot one of the Berlin Bears and frantically grabbed by camera to get a shot of the colourful fellow.

Razzle Dazzle

Reichstag with Glass Dome
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We were then dropped back at the hotel at 11:30 and given 1hr to find a quick bite to eat, before heading out on an optional tour to Potsdam. In this city was located the building where the leaders of Russia, France, Britian and America met to finalise the splitting of Germany after the WW2 into four sections. Each country was then responsible for assisting with the rebuilding of their allocated area. It was here that Berlin was virtually split in half between Russia and America.

We are taken on a tour of Cecilienhof Manor by Christa-bell where she provides commentary on the rooms and furniture allocated to each world leader. She also tells us that in the central meeting room, Stalin located himself with his back to a set of windows, scross a round table, so that none of the other leadrs when they looked at him could see his eyes.

Ku-Damm
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We then visit the summer home and gardens of Friederich the Great called Sanssouci. Here we walk around the building (which is now a hotel) and view the massive gardens. There are numerous large gilded pergolas which we are told used to be covered in plants and a regular place of respite from the summer heat. We venture back to the bus then wait for one lost sole from our group which gails to return. We are about to leave them stranded when a final circuit of the ring road finds her waiting at the bus drop-off point.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church - left in its bombed state
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Once back at the hotel we have less hen a hour before we head out for an optional dinner and show. We first stop at a typical germann owned restaurant for dinner where we both chose the Weiner Schnitzel for dinner. It was then on the the Freiderichpladztstadt Theatre. This is the biggest revue theatre in Europe where we have great seats up on the first level. The show is a musical (of course sung in German) and is the story of a photographer who spots s young lady across the way then spends the rest of the day searching for her throughout Berlin. The many scenery changes takes you through familiar Berlin landmarks. In between large scene changes there are acrobats performing that bring the audience to the edge of their seats with their thrilling activities. At the end of the story the man gets the girl and I only just manage to stay awake after a long day and am dreaming of zzz's on my pillow. We don't get back to our hotel until 11pm and head straight for bed.