The sites in Berlin

Our first full day on the continent was a chance to take a walk through Berlin, seeing a number of the main attractions before heading to Leipzig to watch the football match.

We had intended on walking to the metro station and catching the metro to Berlin Hauptbahnhof Station, however as we walked towards the city, we found there was just one more thing just up ahead we wanted to check out. Soon enough, we had walked the 7km to Central Station.

Along the way we started our sites at Checkpoint Charlie. When East and West Germany was divided, this marked the point at which you left the American controlled West, and headed into Communist East. We chatted about the state of the world 50 years ago.

We moved along and toward Friedreichstrasse and finally turned left to bring the Brandenberg Gate into view. It's a pretty impressive structure and we walked between its huge columns. We made our way past the Tiergarten park, largely cordoned off in preparation for the next day's half marathon, before coming upon the Reichstag Building. Tom was pretty amazed by the site of it. "You don't see stuff like this in Newcastle." Well, no you don't.

At the main train station, we had time for a bite to eat. Train station food is not a huge attraction, however Jack was pretty keen to try the currywurst, a curried sausage chopped up and smothered in sauce. It comes accompanied by pomme frites, one of my favourites.

The Germans are nothing if not efficient, and our train departed on time to the second. As we sat watching the countryside whizz past, Jack and I got chatting to the lady and her granddaughter with whom we were sharing a booth. They are travelling from Berlin to Munich together for the school holidays where 9 year old Maria will spend her Easter break with her grandma. I enjoyed listening to her casual chat about her life in Germany. We also found it quite amazing that Jack and Maria shared a birthday, exactly 12 months apart!

The trip to the football filled the majority of the day, and by the time we got home, we were walking zombies. Even Jack was happy to skip dinner for bed!Read more