Berlin

Off to Berlin! We had a good trip up - thanks Steve! Followed by a good flight and train journey to the city centre.
Our hotel was smart and comfortable and in a fantastic position (just off the Ku'damm) for getting wherever we wanted to go.
We started with a little mooch around the area popping into the amazing Kaiser Wilhelm church (old and new parts in photos) and beginning the food fest with coffee and cake!
Day 2

 

First photo is the Tiergarten in the snow! Cold but lovely and dry so no problem when wrapped up.
We bought tickets for a two day trip on the open top bus. Luckily the Berliners are used to the weather and every bus was covered from the elements. We covered a full circle on the first day popping on and off whenever a likely stop loomed ahead.
The second picture is me at Checkpoint Charlie after we had been in the museum.So much information to take in - we could have spent a whole day there.
The next picture is of one of the churches in the Gendarmenmark. A lovely square (where we stopped for coffee of course!) with 2 churches and a concert hall. Though they looked old one of the churches had been completely rebuilt in it's original style in the 1920s (I think).

 

Above is the Reichstag, or Parliament, with a modern Norman Foster dome.

Below is one of the lovely views from the Victory Column, the Siegessaule, that Gordon and I climbed to the top of. Leigh and Sue didn't feel up to it, so they had to wait in the cold until we returned! (poor old dears)

Another highlight - one that I had some fleeting memories of, was the Brandenburg Gate.

One thing that was fascinating was the mixture of the old restored; the modern; and the utilitarian Soviet era blocks in disrepair. At the bottom is the brand new train station.