Day 27 - Berlin

As we were absolutely shattered from our travels and walking yesterday we had a long lie and headed into the city in the afternoon. We got off at the main station again but this time got a slight surprise when we walked out the building, A BEACH!!! Not just any beach, but the European Beach Volleyball German Masters beach!!! There was one small seated stadium which was quiet with a much larger, rowdier stadium on the other side. What more could you want in a city centre, sun, sand and volleyball!! This then proceeded to take over our plans for the day as we sat for about 4 hours watching some brilliant matches including teams from Britain, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Germany. There are some photos below.




We then had to scrape ourselves away from the action to see more of Berlin. We seen some sights, which you can see below, then headed for Checkpoint Charlie. This was one of the main border crossings of the Berlin Wall and where many of the famous moments during the life of the Wall occurred. There is still a small pillar box in the centre of the road marking the U.S. Army checkpoint and a storyline of the history.

Just along from the checkpoint is a larger intact section of the Berlin Wall. It may not be clear from the pictures below but the Germans at the time drew graffiti on the wall, however, it was no real surprise to me to find clear as day written on the wall, Glasgow Rangers F.C. Obviously not a German fan but we did find it quite amusing.



We then covered what felt like half of Germany as we made our way through the streets and parks. At this point our legs felt as though they had been playing volleyball, never mind just watching it, so we called it a night, got some beer on the way home and rested.