We left Hradec Kralove in full wet weather gear - yes, the rain had set in overnight. With a wet day ahead of us and a 440km ride to Berlin for 2 nights, it was on the freeway for the whole day. This is not a bad thing when the weather is wet as the road surface is usually better than some of the more scenic routes.

No photos of the ride - sorry! BUT when we stopped about 90km from Berlin we came across some other bikers from Germany and UK. After exchanging riding stories it was back on the bike - minus the wet weather gear - for the ride to our ht el. Kerrie had booked us in to The Hotel President - only 200m from the KaDaWe - a large impressive shopping complex - so after checking in it was off to explore this mecca!

When we woke the following morning the rain was with us again so it was off to find a way to see the city and keep dry at the same time. The solution was easy - Hop on, Hop Off bus tour! This is a method we have used successfully in several large cities. This time however did not go to plan. We purchased tickets for the bus, assured by the ticket seller that the commentary on the bus was in English. Well, it was in English - sort of! There was a live commentary by a German gentleman who threw in a few comments in English every now and then and even that was with a very strong German accent. At the first stop we got off, explained our problem to another ticket seller and asked for a refund - this was not forthcoming so we decided to write off the 15 Euro each we had spent and find another tour with a plug in commentary that we knew would be in English.

After parting with another 20 Euro each for a ticket, we were dry and warm in a new bus with a different tour company. The bus tour took us through the diplomatic district of Berlin but we soon discovered that the usual photos that we take through the bus windows were just not going to work today - it was too wet. Kerrie did manage to get a window open to take a few snaps of part of the Berlin Wall that has been decorated as an outdoor art gallery and memorial.

We hopped off the bus at the Brandenburg Gate. We knew this would allow us to check out this famous landmark as well as the Reishstag and the Holocaust Memorial We also knew that this stop would allow us to walk to the site of the Hitlerbunker - unless you know what you are looking for or you are on a guided tour , you would never find this. We knew what we were looking for as we had done the guided walking tour in 2007. - Greg's memory is as good as it ever was! .

After visiting these important sites and having a warm coffee, it was back on the bus for the rest of the circuit.

By this time, we were tired, damp and had generally had enough sightseeing for the day!

We would leave Berlin in the morning to continue towards Assen.