Today is the approximate half way point in my adventure. On one hand it feels like I've reached half way in no time at all. On the other hand I have done so much that it feels like far longer than two weeks since I left home. This morning I woke up feeling good. I got up reasonably early and booked tickets for some of the sights I want to see. Late morning I headed to the Berlin Wall memorial which was only about 15 minute walk away. On the way I paused to take more pictures of the church at the end of my street.

When I got to the wall I found it very emotional. The whole area has been set up exceptionally well with lots of information that moved me more than I had expected. What tipped me over the edge were the stories of families separated by the wall. All they could do was arrange to meet on opposite sides and wave to each other. All that heartache to what end?

I spent quite some time there reading the stories. From there I had decided to go to the central station (Hauptbahnhof) because I needed to reserve my seat for Warsaw to Krakow and I thought that might be the easiest place to do it. I decided to give the Berlin underground a try out to get there.

I managed to head in the right direction and soon made it to the central station. This is where I arrived on Saturday and will leave next Saturday. It's massive and very new and shiny. My kind of place.

I got my reservation sorted and decided to head into the centre of the city. I hadn't planned to do that until later in the week but when you're on holidays plans are only suggestions. I took the underground to the Brandenburg Gate. An iconic location. When I arrived it was fenced off but later in the day when I returned it was all open. I savored my walk through it.

Next to the gate is the Reichstag, the parliament house. I have a ticket to go inside later in the week so today I just walked by.

Next to the Reichstag is the equally impressive and modern Bundestag.

Both these landmarks are on the edge of a massive park in the centre of Berlin. As I started walking I noticed the onset of autumn.

I walked a while to reach the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, a modern gallery on the edge of the park with an amazing roof.

Nearby there was a bell tower that rang out the time. I'm not sure of the name, if it had one.

In the distance I could see another memorial so I decided to walk through the park to reach it, not quite realizing how far it was. But it was a beautiful walk.

I reached the memorial. Because of the cloud cover my pictures are dark so you can't see it all that well.

I could see detail on the side and I assumed that would be the end of it.

Only then did I realise you could climb to the top. Lots of steps later (Em, I didn't count them) I was greeted by this view.

Spectacular! And then there was the climb down and the walk back to the centre of Berlin. I caught the train the last bit home. I have a strong feeling my legs will let me know how much they hate me tomorrow.

Day 17: Half way to ...