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| M at Victory Tower Subway |
We escaped from the windy and damp city of Copenhagen to a surprisingly sunny Berlin. Air Berlin had cheaper air fare than the bus or rail and as it look a lot lesser time it turned out to be the best option and value for money.
Berlin was originally only a two day trip for us followed by 1 day in Munich and 1 day in Frankfurt. Alas there were floods and we ended up only exploring Berlin and Frankfurt.
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| Cemetery close to Ibis Hotel |
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| Turkish Eatery |
Friends who had trapised across Europe on more than one occasion had warned us about lack of good accommodation/ food / unhelpful grumpy locals, rain etc etc - much to our delight we met some wonderful and helpful locals - complete strangers who gave precise directions and ensured we were well on track. Food options were plentiful and yummy. Beer and water were similarly priced and at times choosing the wiser option was a tough and close call!
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| On way to Alexanderplatz - Berlin Tower in Background |
We stayed at Ibis - safe, neat and central. We used to walk down to Alexanderplatz after a hearty breakfast and then had options to board the train, bus, tram or walk about. We had so much fun in Berlin that it was a no-brainer to extend by another sunny day and actually spend only half a day in Frankfurt. Incidentally the seasonal showers of blessing only hit Frankfurt as our flight was taking off so we had sun shining on us happily all through.
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| Brandenburg Tor |
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| M at the Brandenburg Tor a.k. a Gate (Tor in Sanskrit is Door!) |
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| Cycle race! |
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| Dogs in a Pram - Luxury! |
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| Hard at work! |
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| Police guard for the racers |
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| Sharp right! |
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| Walking from Brandenburg Tor to Victory Tower |
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| Victory Tower - Finally arrived |
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| Inside the tower - steep climb |
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| View from the Top |
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| Berlin at a glance |
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| Lady of Victory Rather undaunted and somewhat naively we had walked in the hot sun from Brandenburg Tor to the Victory memorial and climbed close to 600 very steep steps. Then at our most adventurous we decided we will amble through the gardens - as a shortcut if you will to reach the holocaust memorial. The pictures below may belie the sheer effort it took us. We finally took a cycle rickshaw to reach the memorial. Water is not available inside the garden and given the heat and humidity we were rather glad to have carried extra H2O. Enjoy our walk through the lungs of Berlin ;-) |
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| M poses |
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| J poses as well |
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| M at rest |
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| How green is my lawn |
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| Serenity ! |
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| Wish we could sleep!! |
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| A bench to rest our weary feet |
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| Save trees - we need them to pose |
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| Cycle rickshaw - thank god! |
