Day 5

2nd Day sightseeing in Berlin

It started as a drizzly day which unfortunately got progressively worse not that this was a problem for us. 

Museum Island from river Spree

We decided on the 1 hour river cruise (River Spree) starting outside the Hauptbanhoff.  From the water you get a completely different view of the city and particularly beautiful and stark is the museum island sector.  The contrast between modern and historical is amazing but it seems to work - Fritz especially liked it.

We had scanned the different museums (there is a massive number of different museums to be sampled in Berlin from art and design to engineering to political to currywurst.  We opted to take in the DDR museum - detailing the lives and culture of life behind the wall. 

Hopped back onto the tour bus and the weather closed in - wet and cold

Touring by route and numbers has its downfall especially when you get on the bus and have to travel slowly for an  hour or more to get to a particular stop of interest. Our trip to the DDR museum next to the Radission Blu hotel took us through a large part of the sights we had passed through yesterday.  But it was still interesting and you tend to hear and see things you missed the day before.

The DDR museum was most interesting.  An interactive experience although quite small in layout was extremely popular.  There were also a couple of school groups and moving around the displays was a little difficult.  But I wouldn't have missed it.

Having missed lunch and with the rain steadily falling we opted for an early dinner before going to the telecommunications tower which has a revolving restaurant and viewing platform.  The viewing platform is set 208 meters above the centre of Berlin.  We arrived at the best time - just before twilight.  The 360 degree viewing was fabulous and the poor weather having eased to light drizzle did not hinder this view.  As the lights came on the city was transformed.