We arrived in Berlin, via Zurich at 2pm on Monday the 3rd June 2024, after nearly missing our flight in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The taxi we booked online the night before for a 5am pickup, failed to show up! So, with no Uber in this city, we both frantically phoned every taxi company on the net to get a pickup, before finding a car to pick us up at 06:45 for a mad dash to the airport. We got onto our 07:35 flight as the boarding gate was closing!

Hotel Sachsenhof.

At our stopover in Zurich we had a recovery Heineken beer before boarding the flight to Berlin. The new Brandenburg airport south of Berlin is quite far out of town, but we managed to navigate the S and U Bahn train services successfully to arrive at our charming Hotel Sachsenhof at 4pm – a full day!

Brandenburg gate.

We  booked in for seven days and guess what? We spent the first two days in our hotel room loaded up with medications to try and shake of the persistent colds and coughing that were still with us. After this we swung into action and tested the public transportation system, which includes the S-Bahn, U-Bahn and busses, and runs like clockwork. We never waited more than 5 minutes.

The Reichstag.

Over the next four days we visited the Brandenburg gate and the Reichstag (Parliament building) with its striking new dome designed by Lord Norman Foster, after Foster and Partners won the International design competition. The large glass dome at the very top of the Reichstag has a 360° view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape.

Glass dome.

The main hall of the parliament below can also be seen from inside the dome, and natural light from above radiates down to the parliament floor. A large sun shield tracks the movement of the sun electronically and blocks direct sunlight which would not only cause large solar gain, but dazzle those below. Construction work was finished in 1999 and the seat of parliament was transferred to the Bundestag in April of that year.

Inside the dome.

We visited the East Side Gallery, where a kilometre long remnant of the cold war Berlin Wall still remains. It is covered with graffiti on both sides. The architecture of the buildings on the East and West sides of the wall differ dramatically, although the reunited Germany is systematically renovating the drab Communist era buildings on the East side.

The wall from the West side.

Annie on the Eastern side.

Unter den Linden is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin. Running from the Spree River to the Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall on the median and the two broad carriageways. We also visited some museums.

Unter den Linden.

Monument to the Holocaust victims.

Public Art.

Jewish museum.

The day before we flew to Milan, Jorg Domann a sailing friend we met in the Caribbean, took us to lunch at the Zenner beer garden on the banks of the Spree River in south eastern Berlin. We enjoyed a long lunch catching up on news, the food and the beer. Jorg did a solo circumnavigation about the same time as us, on a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 409, a sister ship of Esprit. His boat Aurelia, is currently moored in Las Palmas and he appears to be planning another trip around!

Spree Park.

Jorg and Annie at Zenner beer garden.

Long lunch.

Our next post will be from Italy, after we have flown to Milan to collect a VW California camper van for a nine day trip through Northern Italy’s beautiful lakes. Annie is planning to join our Michelle for a hike through the Dolomites.

Cheers for now

Annie and Dirk