So i woke this morning to a couple of e mails from friends to say that Roger would be at the East Side Gallery at 2pm this afternoon. This is the area that we walked yesterday with the murals along the old Berlin wall. We arranged to meet Wendy and Chris and Ole there around 2pm
Today was the second day of our sightseeing bus tour, we decided to do a couple of the museums, Brandenburg gate and then head over to the East Side Gallery to see Roger. We took the bus a few stops from outside our hotel and got off at the stop for the Egyptian museum and the Pergamum.
Took us a couple of hours to see both and that was kind of rushing around and not seeing every floor, the highlights been seeing the Pergamon Altar, the Elgin Marbles and the Nefertiti Bust
Kim had a few “encounters” with the security in the museums, the security not letting her tie her hoodie around her waist and then not letting her cross her legs while sat on a bench inside one of the halls! A few choice words came from Kim but nothing a few hugs couldn't calm down :)
We got back on the bus and took another 2 or 3 stops down to the Brandenburg gate, took a wander around, watched a few demonstrations that were going on, took a few pictures and then headed to find somewhere for lunch. A small cafe at the side of the road just down from “the gate” was a needed rest stop for drinks a sandwich and dessert.
The Gunzingers having fun with the birds!
We took the train over to the East Side Gallery, took us a while to find the right one as there U bahn, S bahn and regular trains in Berlin and it can be a touch confusing to start with. Wendy, Chris and ole had messaged asking where Roger would be. They were already on their way and i said just head to the area where we were yesterday and look for the crowd of people. Sure enough they found them and 10 minutes later with got off the train and headed down to meet them.
There wasn't a huge crowd but the road had been closed off to traffic by the police and I’d guess there was no more than seventy five to a hundred people at the very most. Most of those were journalists and photographers too. There was a small platform set up right in front of the Floyd mural which was opposite the O2 World venue where I’d seen Roger play The Wall in 2011. We found Wendy, Chris and Ole and within five minutes a car pulled up and out got Roger.
He looked in great spirits from the second he got out of the car, smiling all the time as he walked down towards the platform, stopping briefly in front of the mural for pictures. We all laughed as a couple of security guys took a small 1/4 inch wide piece of rope out of one of their pockets and walked along with it at the side of Roger. We were all terrified of crossing the rope! he took to the platform and admitted himself that he rambled on a little but the main purpose of his talk was to suggest that future plans to pull down the East Side Gallery were ridiculous and that that whole section of wall should remain an reminder of the days of what it was like when it was built to separate the East and the West.
Roger arriving The infamous rope on the right!
Most of Rogers speech at the Berlin Wall (thanks to Beth)
Within ten minutes at the most it was all over and he was heading back down the road in the car. A couple of people tried to stop him for autographs but he politely declined saying if he did it for one he’d have to do it for everyone. We decided to walk right down to the beginning of the murals as Ole, Wendy and Chris weren't with us yesterday so hadn't seen it all. Mark and Beth stopped by the cafe an then headed over to the sightseeing bus and got the bus back towards the hotel. We took our time and again walked the full length of the wall. Stopping along the way to take lots of geeky pictures, after all we were with the biggest geek of all , Wendy! She had us posing this way, that way, backs to the wall, yoga poses, you name it, we did it!
The geek squad Yoga geeks! Biggest geek of us all!
Kami leaving her marks on the wall Just for you Jens!
Wendy didn't even know what date it was she was so star struck from seeing her idol up close!
No idea what Chris was doing with his arms on this first picture! 3rd picture with a fan of my blog!
After walking to the train station again and grabbing some Gelato we took the train back to Alexanderplatz, headed to our hotel and met up with Stuart who had flown in that afternoon. Wendy and Chris headed off to their apartment and Kami and i headed up to our room.
I’d spoke with Dave K a couple of days ago and he was coming out for dinner with us tonight. Mark, Beth, Kami and i took a taxi over to Wendy and Chris’s apartment around 7pm. Kim, Joe, Ole, Stuart and a few others were going out in Berlin and we said we’d meet up with them later on. Wendy had been to a Yoga class earlier today and had got a recommendation for a Thai restaurant about a mile away from their apartment, i had called earlier that day and booked an appointment for 8:30.
After drinks and snacks at the apartment we walked the mile or so down to the restaurant, arriving just after 8:40 only to be told that due to us being more than 10 minutes late our reservation had been cancelled. The place was absolutely packed and there was a line outside the door so i can understand them wanting the tables. After a little chit chat with the waitress she showed us out to the patio and told us she would put us in the next two available tables. Twenty minutes later and just before Dave arrived we were seated and had menus in our hands.
Beth, Mark, Chris, Wendy, Dave and Kami
Daves always has fun when he meets up with us, he’s ever such a nice guy and just a normal down to earth Rock star! We all had dinner with him in Paris in 2011 he came to our meet up in San Francisco without hesitation in 2012 and was more than happy to come out to dinner with us all and have some fun. Wendy’s Yoga teacher had not let us down with this recommendation, the food was fantastic! the atmosphere was great and i would go back in a heartbeat the next time I’m in Berlin.
After dinner i called Ole and Kim to check where they were, as luck would have it they were at an Irish bar just a 5 minute walk from where we were. The seven of us headed over there, after taking a few wrong turns while listening to Wendy’s directions we finally made it there around 11pm.
Kim, Ole, Joe and Stuart had met up with, Kevin, Georg, Bluenose, Emil, Kit, Philippe and a few others and were all in great spirits in the backroom of the Irish bar. The bar served Cider on tap so Dave and i were happy, Mark was happy as they had Guinness and Ole wasn't bothered at all as he had his endless supply of Underberg in his bottomless pocket! Ole and Stuart, otherwise known as “the Underberg Twins” have been drinking this German shot stuff on the whole tour. Everyone they come into contact with seems to get hooked on the stuff! Mark and Chris were ole’s latest victims, its amazing how potent a little bottle can be!
It was everywhere, Underberg would have made a fortune had they sponsored this tour! I’m sure their sales took an unusual peak over the last 2 months!
Mark, Joe and Guinness Philippe, Kit and Emil Kim, Dave, Wendy and Kami
Tonight was the 1st of Wendy’s three things that went terribly wrong on her vacation. As she was talking to Matt she was showing him something on her phone and it slipped right out of her hand and crashed down onto the floor of the bar, normally this would have been fine had it been a carpet or even wooden floor but it was a stone floor and as she picked it up it was visible that the screen was smashed to pieces :( I’m not sure exactly what time it was we all left the bar, i remember getting back to the hotel around 1:30 and Kim telling us the next morning it was after 4am when they got back to their room!
