Day 3 - exploring by bus - Charlottenburg and Reichstag

Up quite early. We saw the news on BBC World - crisis meeting about the Greek economy and the latest shooting in US. Very busy in breakfast today. I had boiled eggs and orange juice. Today we plan to take the bus tour to Charlottenburg and visit the late 17th century castle. The weather is dull but not raining - yet.

The rooms of the castle have been restored

We took a city tour bus for a second day and went all the way out to Schloss Charlottenburg in west Berlin. The castle was built for Queen Sophie Charlotte by King Friedrich I in the 18th Century. The apartments have been beautifully restored after damage in WWII.

We first saw the Alte Schloss and after lunch in the Orangerie we toured the Neue Schloss and the gardens. We were not supposed to take photos inside the Schloss without a permit.

Inside the Norman Foster dome at the Reichstag 

The church of the Berliner Dom looked splendid when floodlit

It was cool and rainy.

We caught another city tour bus back to the centre but the driver went off shift part of the way round and we had to wait for another bus! We passed the sites of the old wall and Checkpoint Charlie and Potsdamerplatz.


n the evening we had a pre-booked tour of the Reichstag and took a lift to the transparent dome designed by Norman Foster, from where we had a great view all over the city. We were able to walk up a glass ramp to the top, see the 360 degree view and then descend by another ramp. It was quite spectacular.


We had dinner in an Argentine steakhouse, La Parilla. At our hotel we had a coffee before taking a stroll over the river and seeing the Berliner Dom church in floodlight.