Berlin Fat Tire Bike Tour

This morning we slept in... and by slept in, I mean it. 8:30 a.m. people. New world record.

We went down to the hotel restaurant and checked out the breakfast menu which was not included in the price of the room. It took about three seconds to realize that we would be spending $40 each so we opted for (cringe) Starbucks which was right around the corner. We then hopped into a taxi and met our Fat Tire Bike Tour guide at the TV tower:
As we were waiting, we looked around and were shocked by the number of senior citizens who had signed up for the same tour. All in all, 50 people were registered and about half of them were over 65. It might not have been an issue but we were picturing a mass of bikes trying to get across a highway on one walk light with some of these people. Scary.

Well, turns out our tour guide did most of the sorting for us. She stood up and starting talking about Berlin having the third highest gay population and how our stop at the beer garden was going to be the highlight of the tour. She went on to explain that we needed to split up and those that wanted to go with her should stay at the front of the pack, and those that wanted to go with the other tour guide should stay back. I couldn't help but see a few of the older people literally turn and walk the other way while Ryan and I clawed and elbowed our way to the front of the pack.
We had a fabulous time, except I made a fatal mistake. Right before we left, the guide asked for a volunteer to make sure s/he stayed at the back of the pack. That way, when we got to the various sites, she would know that once she saw me she would be sure that everyone was there. Well, after several awkward seconds, I said I would. Note to self: Stupid filters down to the back of the line when you're on bike tours. I had a Brazilian version of Paris and Nicole that needed to stop and do their hair (and bike into oncoming traffic) and a couple nervous nellies from Britain that really could have benefited from training wheels. All things considered, we had a great time and I ended up getting an original piece of the Berlin Wall and a couple beers for stepping up.

We hit all of the same places we've shown you already (Jewish Memorial, parliament buildings) but stopped at quite a few more. Our tour guide was really knowledgeable and we learned quite a lot. Here are a few pictures from the day:

This is Checkpoint Charlie

Here is what is left of the Berlin Wall. A fence has been erected to protect it because tourists have totally demolished the part of it which is still standing (to take a piece home).

Lunch half way through the tour... Paris, Nicole, and the nervous nellies knew better than to lag behind for the second half of the tour. Note: I have had no alcohol at this point, despite what my eyes are telling you).

Here is the statue that Barack Obama gave his speech in front of a week or so ago.

Back in front of the Parliament Building (where Hitler was given absolute power, back in the day)

Our last stop -- we're not sure. A cathedral with a green dome (Note: we had finished that litre of beer at this point which was pictured above).

Once the tour was finished, we took a taxi back to the hotel, washed up a bit and ran out to check out the shopping district. Lots of stores though we won't be purchasing anything after getting that painting from Budapest which is just fine.

We are absolutely loving the city, the fact that everything is so... efficient and 'right,' and works like it should. Again, it feels like we've been here for a week or so. Hard to believe it's been less than 24 hours. Having said that, it's also hard to believe that we've been away for 19 days (of 23). Unbelievable... except that all of our clothing officially gets the 'smell test' these days. Believe me when I say it's not unbelievable for us that we've been traveling for 19 days (in 35 degrees centigrade) when we smell some of our underwear. Ryan's hair is also getting to the point where he'll need to gel some toothpicks into his spikes to keep them from wilting over. But it's all good. We're loving it.