June 22 On to Berlin

The second half of our Monogram Vacation was in Berlin.  We gathered up our belongings, met our local host and walked across the street to the Hauptbahnhof.  And we quickly learned the value of a local host.  The train we had reservations on had been cancelled.  She stood in line, talked to the officials, went to the reservations office then came back to us with reservations on a train leaving an hour later -- but arriving two hours later in Berlin.  Had I had to deal with that, I'd probably still be in Munich.

The train that we eventually took.  Service was good, but it was a long trip -- 5.5 hours.  But they did have WiFi.

 Some German countryside seen along the way.

 We were picked up at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, put into taxis and taken to the Intercontinental Berlin Hotel.  Berlin was the originator (they claim, and I have no idea if it's correct) of the Spirit Bear construct, and here is the version outside our hotel -- celebrating Marlene Dietrich (the namesake of the bar in the hotel).

 By the time we got into our rooms and got our briefing from the Berlin local host, it was late and we were hungry.  We walked down the street and passed the zoo entrance.

 Not a beachwear shop but a good sized shopping mall. 

Across the street is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church with the burned out roof.   One of the few war damaged buildings we saw in Berlin.  Most have been razed or rebuilt.

Seen in Bikini Berlin -- not a family at the food court, but rather a large window into the Zoo exhibit.

Mostly a day of riding the rails.  Tomorrow we tour Berlin.