Berlin - Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Nolle's Restaurant

Today was a long touring day, but it was fun and actually went quickly.  For scheduling reasons, the boat had to dock near Potsdam.  Two buses departed the dock at 8AM and drove about an hour to Berlin.  We rode on the Auto-Bahn (wheee) and quickly arrived in Berlin to begin the city tour.  It was nice to have someone else giving directions, information about the city (instead of referencing my tour book) and to have a familiarity with the area.  

Reichstag from the front.
You can see the glass dome in the center.

Our first stop was at Reichtstag, the Brandenburg Gate, a look at the front of the US Embassy (How did I miss this before??), and on down Unter Den Linden. Back on the bus to drive more in the former East Berlin to see Checkpoint Charlie (a replica stands in place of the original checkpoint building), and the remaining point of the wall.  

We drove through Potsdamer Platz and again looked at all of the high tech new buildings surrounding the plaza.  Lunch was at Nolle, a 1920s style restaurant.  The meal was chicken, little potatoes, and a tomato vegetable side dish.  Wine, beer or soda was included with the meal.  Dessert was apfel kuchen (apple cake) with coffee or tea.  We boarded the bus to head for Potsdam, ready to take a little nap.

These plates are a memorial to members
of the government who opposed Hitler and were
killed. The edge of each plate has the name,
date of birth, and party.

A portion of the Berlin Wall remains as a memorial.
Artists were selected from around the world to
decorate the wall. This is front the East Berlin side.

This is the back of the wall.  Two barriers were always
in place. At this point, there was (left to right), the river,
no-man's land, and then the wall.

This is from the bus window looking at the canal at
the Berlin Cathedral in the distance.

Checkpoint Charlie: This sign had the photograph of
the standoff between the US and Russian tanks at
Checkpoint Charlie.

This is a replica of Checkpoint Charlie.

Several street vendors sold hats and other sourvenirs.

These little East German cars were available to rent.

Lunch: Nolle's under the bridge.
This is tucked into a set of the arches
under the bridge.

The interior was done in 1920's style.

Lunch was potatoes, chicken and mixed vegetables.

A little local white wine. You can see the
1920's paintings in the background.

An interior view of the restaurant.

Pictures lined the walls.

A "couple" sat near the bandstand.

Desert was apfel kuchen (apple cake), whipped cream,
and coffee.