Berlin

Woke up to a better day than before; breakfast of strong black coffee and croissants. Headed out on the S - line metro of Berlin to the Brandenburger - the starting point of my 'Berlin Walking Tour' - a 3.5hr walk through all the highlights of Berlin; in a comfortable group of about 20 tourists. From the Reichstag to the old Luftwaffe HQ to Check Point Charlie - and mostly in the rain; it was all quite surreal to be in a place where so much change has happened in relatively so little time. Remnants of the Berlin Wall in East Berlin with McDonalds down the street is a site no one thought would be in one picture just 22 years ago.
Then it was "free time" again...meant dilly was alone again to explore whoever my white Nikes would take me. Popped into the Berlin History Museum and walked right through the secondary entrance into the exhibits when a HUGE dude asked...most likely very politely...in German for my ticket; having none I thought I was going to be taken out back and shot! Fortunately I muttered in English 'sorry' and walked to the nearest 'free on display' statue while catching my breath and thinking of my dignified escape route. Back on the street I headed back to the Reichstag - German Parliament building which was greatly rebuilt after WW2 - I wanted to walk in the huge glass dome erected in 1999 when Berlin once again became the official capital of Germany since before WW2. Unfortunately there is a long registration you have to do online, only usually a day or twos notice, so will still try get there. So I set out on a new itinerary - walking down 'June 17 Street' which goes through a huge forest right in the middle of Berlin - near the center is Siegessäule - a beautiful 60m monument to the commemorate the Prussian victories during later half of 1800s. The climb up the stairs almost killed me - but views from atop spectacular - definitely worth the 3€ and the killer climb.
The walk down and the long, very long work down StraBe des 17 Juni again back to Brandenburg Gate got me very hungry and thirsty - so headed to my favoutire coffee house in Berlin - pure Origins - once I arrived I was greeted by my pal Marcel and had a beer and sandwich in less than 1 minute after arrival.
Now I'm enjoying the Indie/ Lounge music of Pure Origins, sipping on beer and reading lonelyPlanet Eastern Europ guidebook - desperately want to head to Croatia after Prague...will see if I get to the Sea.