Berlin. 24 and 25 June

 I was one very relieved girl when I saw Richard dashing along the platform towards me. I thought I’d become a seasoned public transport user in Vienna, but Berlin is next level HUGE! The station is a constant flow of humanity and endless trains coming and going from hundreds of platforms-both the underground and above ground variety. I think I would have become completely paralysed and still wandering in circles if he wasn’t there to rescue me me.

It was great to see Silke on her birthday and enjoy waffles and coffee in their beautiful 4 th floor apartment in which I have a large room, comfy bed and bathroom.

Also great to meet their lovely daughter, Rieke, who’s finishing off her 2 nd last school year. So friendly and confident and it’s great hearing her take on spending a year at school in Whakatāne in 2024-so brave for a 16 year old.

We had a birthday dinner of Silke’s favourite- white asparagus. It was St John’s day and the last day that asparagus is available-a tradition of old!

The weather this morning was looking a bit dodgy with some showers and we weren’t sure we’d manage the planned kayaking in central Berlin. But we took our chances and headed off laden with 2 blow up canoes. Richard and silke’s commitment to getting there and setting everything up was amazing. After a sustaining coffee Silke a d I set off to kayak the 6 kms down the canal. Luckily she’d decided it would be best to have the wind behind us, so paddling was pretty easy and apart from avoiding a couple of tour boats, all was peaceful.

After folding up the kayaks again we set off to view the Eastside Gallery, looking like a couple of old bag ladies (well, I was old anyway).

The Gallery is a kilometre long section of the Berlin Wall on which artists have painted their tributes to the many people affected by the building of the wall. Silke was a good tour guide and ensured I had suitable pics to show where I’d been. We also walked through the well knows Alexandreplatz, with famous world clock that has been used as a meeting point by generations of travelers (that was probably before there were cell phones and plans had to be made via letters!)

We were fairly shattered after doing the reverse rides home…I was very happy with the tea Richard made me- the first decent cup I’ve had for ages. Perhaps I should stick to tea as the perfect coffee remains elusive. It’s a small price to pay for the chance to enjoy so many great adventures.

Watch this space…




The “ou tops” carrying boats on trains


Preparation 



And we’re off!




Cake break












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