Fisher-Ayres on the Rhine

First the Forest Coaster  Then the zip safari, 2 hours of zip wires, wobbly bridges and very high tree platforms Compare and contrast - Max preparing for zip wires in 2015 and 2023

 We got the sleeper train from Berlin to Brussels Then the Eurostar home  I think everyone has had enough of trains for a while 

The wall  We went to the official memorial but bits of wall appear all over the city where the wall snaked across the centre This is a rebuilt section of border crossing with multiple fences, guard towers and the wall itself

 On Saturday we went to the zoo And fed some sparrows  Sunday was museums day, there are a whole cluster just near our apartment 

  We successfully made it to Berlin Early for the train as usual We took a walk into the centre and visited the Bundestag and the Brandenburg Gate The glass dome on the roof of the old Reichstag building is pretty impressive We had lunch in the revolving restaurant on top of the TV tower and then the natural history museum  

Julie’s friend Karin kindly gave us a tour of the city It’s still raining a lot and there are plenty of bombed out churches The docks are huge We went into the philharmonie which has a fantastic curved escalator  And it’s incredibly windy at the top!

  The Birthday Boy We went to the top of the Rathouse via a scary curved lift  Frankly the glass floor is an unnecessary addition to the already alarming lift  Sunday is the anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb and as Hanover is twinned with Hiroshima they have a peace bell in on the of the churches that was not rebuilt after the war     

  Today we have a long train journey to Hannover In Hannover the annual Maschseefest is in progress so everybody is drinking beer and eating beige food by the lake

  Yeaterday we Walked miles by the canals  Visited Rembrandt’s house Ate pancakes Visited the Cat Kabinnet And it’s resident cats And then the Van Gogh museum 

  After a few challenges from Dutch railways we made it to Amsterdam We went for a walk around near our hotel this afternoon, it started off sunny but.. Then it poured with rain Nice canal side houses though And the view from our rooms is pretty amazing