Whistlestop bike tour.

On reflection the amount to see, the time available and the distance either necessitated either using the u-bahn or the bike. Much as my arse needed a break - cycling was free and probably would be quicker. What also appealed was making an early(ish) start to avoid the mammoth scrums at the Brandenburg Gate. Hopefully the Berlin Wall memorial and Checkpoint Charlie could be ticked off fairly painlessly. Pleasantly the roads were quiet so despite a lack of cycle lanes all was good. Got to the park to find I was the only person looking round, a few were walking their dogs. The wall memorial combines a preserved chunk of wall in situ with a recreation of what it would have been like. There are also some memorials to those that lost their lives. The visitor centre unfortunately didn't open till 10. Onwards to the next point of interest. Checkpoint Charlie - a recreation of the border post. Bit cheesy but a nice photo of - managed to get in before the coach party - cue selfie frenzy. Potsdammer Platz is in essence a business district so lots of big skyscrapers. Also stopped in at Hansa Studios where loads of huge albums were recorded. There was a film crew outside - who might be working in there? Waited for a while but nothing happened - boredom set in quickly. Today's morbid chapter was the Holocaust Memorial. 2500 individual black concrete blocks of varying sizes. Felt a lot like a maze and buried beneath it a visitor centre again focussing on the stories. Not for the faint hearted. On the way back checked in at the Brandenburg Gate - not horrendously busy and the cathedral - not busy but horrendously expensive. If there'd been a guaranteed tower climb they would've been ok but nothing mentioned so nothing doing.Read more