Lucky Bastard Adventures: Bye Bye Berlin, Bye Bye

As the title suggests, today was effectively our last day in Berlin. Berlin is an interesting place and obviously has a very rich history. It has all the grandness that other major european cities have, with some impressive building and palaces. It also has the edge of a city that has seen tough times in recent history, the cold war was right in these peoples back yards. The soviet influence has left its mark. How long that remains is a matter for future historians to ponder. Where we are staying, which I am sure was part of the old DDR (East Berlin), it is today a vibrant, artistic place, full of cafes, artists, musicians, a higher than average proportion of people with Tattoos, Piercings, bad hair and dogs.

Todays activities were a mixed bag. Firstly headed off by tram to get a decent coffee, this was at Frankfurter Tor, this was a good opportunity to get a pic of that grand Boulevard of Karl Marx Allee that we say on our first day. I assume the main promenade of the old DDR. Then it was a combination of Tram and meandering Bus that took us through the city, (noting graffiti on the way) . We got off at Lustgarten and saw the grand church next to a big museum. We went into the Museum, mainly to use the toilet as the Berliners seem to have virtually no public toilets at major tourist attractions or public spaces. There are some, but not common.

The museum was full of Greek antiquities, notable all the statues of blokes seem to have had their willies chiseled off (except one bronze). Must have been a bit prudish in the past.

The Germans make it clear that they have been collecting these antiquities for 350 years and that they didn't steal it all from the Greeks during WW2. They have wall chart to prove it (See Pics)

After some "culture" we went off (by Bus again) to the Charlotte Schloss (Palace) having our own picnic lunch in the park on a bench in the shade. It is very hot here in Berlin and our room has no air-conditioning so it has been like a sauna every night. After lunch and a rest in the park, took a few snaps of the Palace and headed back towards shops to buy a Cooler Bag, a must when travelling.

Headed home after that, had a drink in the Bar and we saw some go karts going by on the street, got a quick snap of go carts but not a great one. They were gone as quickly as they appeared. We did notice in yesterdays exploring that there was a go kart track near by. I just didn't expect them to be going around on public streets.

Finished off the night with a nice dinner.