With Chris on crutches now, we were careful about our sightseeing to avoid more damage to his torn calf muscle and alleviate arm strain. We made decisions to use Uber to get to and from airports and railway stations with our bags and backpacks where possible, sadly adding to our costs, but saving our sanity and health. We arranged wheelchair assistance to the plane at Heathrow, which was great to avoid long periods of standing and got us preferential access for boarding and we enjoyed another easy flight and entrance to the EU. We had never visited Berlin previously, so we were looking forward to our 4-night stay in a spacious room in central Mitte, close to trams and trains. This historic boutique accommodation had previously been student accommodation as well as a hospice. We enjoyed having space to spread out and a lovely shared courtyard and dining area.

I needed to rethink our itinerary for our few days here to avoid too much walking and more use of the great public transport to get around. One of the first things we decided to enjoy was a 3 hour river cruise on the Spree, taking in the many new and old buildings, hearing some of the history of this old city once divided and now united. The range of architectural styles and ages all seemed to fit well together, nothing really seemed out of place. The commentary was clear enough to give us a good picture of the different styles, and history as we went, especially the line of the Berlin Wall separating East and West. It was good to file some of this information away for our next few days of exploration. Our evening dinner, close to the hotel, was hearty traditional German Sausage fare, and Chris discovered that wheat beer also came in an alcohol free option he could have as he was on heavy painkillers that limited the alcohol he was allowed (0%).

The following day was our “history” day – first to the Brandenburg gate and surrounds. As it was a weekend, there were many tourists wandering the boulevard and surrounds. Then on to circumnavigate the Reichstag Building – it was not open to the public without advance purchse tickets, so we took it in from the outside. We had considered a hop on hop off bus experience, but then discovered that our 24 hour public transport ticket (€22 for both of us) gave us the 100 Bus, taking us to many of the places we wanted to visit. this was a great option as it took us further out through to Charlottenburg to see the ruins of Kaiser Wilhelm church and see the restoration that is ongoing for this building, then to the Victory Column in the Tiergarten, and further to Museum Island, noted on our river cruise the day before. So many beautiful buildings – some rebuilt after the war, others surviving.

Our public transport day pass took us the next day to see Schloss Charlottenburg on the outskirts of the city. This historic castle from the 17th century has been kept and restored. The rooms were highly decorated and many antiques were on display. We enjoyed wandering and were thankful that Chris was able to navigate most of it with his crutches (he felt that things were improving slightly for him).

We could see the Berlin TV tower from almost everywhere in Berlin, so had booked a time to visit. The tower gave wonderful views over the city, we could pick out the places we had been over the past few days. Descending the tower, we were able to view 9 centuries of Berlin’s history with their VR experience. Our final night in Berlin had to include a Beer Garden dinner, there was a beautiful one riverside, but as we arrived the thunder rolled and the rain pelted down, so we were lucky to get a seat inside for the obligatory schnitzel and cabbage dinner. Thankfully the rain eased for our return back to the hotel, but we had enjoyed a small taste of what this city had to offer.

Catching the high speed train to Munich the next day seemed a safe and efficient way to get between these two cities…. however…halfway through, Chris experienced a severe and painful cramp in his already torn calf muscle, setting his recovery back, possibly worse than the original injury. He was very disappointed, as he had been getting around with just one crutch, but was now reliant on two again.

Our chosen accommodation in Munich was walking distance from the main railway station, but due to Chris’ trauma, we took a short Uber ride to the Missio. This was a lovely room in a “gastehaus” as part of the local Catholic Mission, clean safe rooms, close to public transport and shops etc. We were thankful for an elevator to reach our top floor room, and very happy there was a fan and mildly cooler evening temperatures that allowed us slightly more restful sleep.

Day one in Munich, we again were able to get day trip public transport passes, so headed to the 1972 Olympics site to visit the BMW Museum and experience. This was a good way to start our time here, the place was massive, with displays of numerous BMW variants, and a detailed museum experience, very much celebrating this iconic German brand. We were surprised how busy it was when we arrived for opening and, by the time we left, lines were queued out the doors. Catching the train/subway back to the centre of Munich, we emerged right in the town square – Marionplatz, just in time for the Glockenspiel clock to do it’s thing! The square was busy with many waiting for the music to start and the puppets to move in their dance.

The Viktualienmarkt street market around the corner was full of little food stalls, local vendors and unique shops; there were so many options, we ended up grabbing a bratwurst (sausage in a roll), found a spot to eat, and just enjoyed the atmosphere. Chris decided he needed to sit for a bit, so I went off in search of Apple Strudel – but typically couldn’t find any within the market at all. I had decided we couldn’t leave Germany without sampling this dessert, and finally came across a bakery/coffee shop that gave us a taste, but probably not the best quality one we could have had.

The following day, we caught the local tram and bus out of town to Schloss Nymphenburg, another beautiful German castle and gardens. Dating from the late 1600’s, it again was opulent inside and out. Thankfully, Chris could access the upper floors by a lift, so that made things a bit easier for him. Despite his mobility issues, we usually averaged close to 10,000+ steps per day – so much for taking things easier. This was our final day in Europe, so we found another delightful garden restaurant for our final dinner -schnitzel of course… we definitely could have shared a plate, they were the largest servings we’d seen so far.

We were looking forward to the adventures awaiting us in Japan, our next destination, travelling long distances and many time-zones, but not looking forward to the heatwave they were experiencing. Read on….