Doing it cool for the East side

(slogan on mural, East Side Gallery) When you visit Berlin you can’t avoid references to the divided city, however it’s harder to avoid being swamped with tacky souvenirs or an uncomfortable feeling that some very personal and painful stories are being profited from. Tourists would be better off escaping from the crowds around Checkpoint Charlie and take the U1 to the end of the line to see the longest remaining part of the Wall. This portion has been renamed the East Side Gallery since the wall was redecorated after re-unification with a series of murals. Here you get to feel what a barrier the wall was, how it separated friends and family but also get a truer sense of what it's fall meant to people on both sides. For me the biggest plus is that you get to do this quietly, in your own time with your own thoughts although I suspect commercialism is getting closer. This is my favourite:

So anyway tomorrow we're off again - if you're in London 14th Sep and didn't get the email about beers please get in touch, ditto if you're going to South Africa vs Samoa in Paris or Wales vs Australia in Cardiff. Otherwise I'll leave you with more of Berlin berlin...