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Next day, it was time to take to the water, for a 3 hour boat trip.  This was a circular route along one of Berlin’s canals, and back along the River Spree.  If you go to Berlin, totally recommended – relaxing and a good way to see a lot of the city.

We took the youngest member of the family on this trip….

Part of the canal ran parallel to the U-Bahn, with this impressive elevated station cantilevered over the canal.

We passed the Technology Museum, with this fine collection of bridges.  The lower one once carried a rail line, but is now a footbridge.

Three locks on the trip (two on the canal and a large one on the Spree) were very interesting to watch in operation.  A local train passes overhead here….

An S-Bahn train crosses the Spree, with the Alexanderplatz tower in the background….

An inter-city train passes through Friedrichstraße station….

Jannowitzbrücke station would make an interesting model, with the supporting arches dropping directly into the river.  It has two S-Bahn platforms, and the main lines bypass the station on the outside.

The Oberbaum Bridge (Oberbaumbrücke) is a city landmark, a double-deck bridge crossing the Spree.  Road crosses at low level, the U-Bahn above.  The Berlin wall ran along the left bank in the photo below.

Finally on the boat trip, there were a number of extremely low bridges (I think there was one even lower than this) with dire warnings to keep ones head down!

Our last day in Berlin was spent socialising with Ruth’s friends, and having a beer or two whilst watching the World Cup – Mexico .v. Germany, of course.  The whole (expatriate) apartment was, also of course, supporting Mexico.  The following morning, the Berlin papers looked like the UK ones usually do after a football tournament.  Long may it last!!

Last weekend, we spent our usual summer weekend in Berlin seeing our eldest daughter.  Time for family and tourism – and a few trains in passing.  After last year spending our wedding anniversary looking at trains in the technology museum, this year was a little low key on railways…..

So we went to the zoo.  We got there on my favourite U-Bahn line (U1/U2/U3), that is elevated for much of its route, with elegant overhead stations.

And once the line went underground, we arrived at this impressive station…

And the zoo was great fun.  I’d forgotten how interesting it is to see the worlds animals and birds, in well kept surroundings.  And how much good conservation and education work is carried out there.  So here are just a few of the animals we saw.  It’s not really a zoo without pandas, elephants and penguins!

Somehow, a day at the zoo rolls back the years.  Can you believe that my ladies actually waited for children to get off this hippo to get their photos taken?

Now this is a good way to end the day.  Sitting outside a Mexican restaurant enjoying a good meal and watching the trains go by.

I have a few more photos, and will post those next time.