An early morning start saw a 3 hour drive to Berlin, our shore excursion for today. The coach was only half full, so together with a couple from Sydney (who had also originally booked on Voyager) we formed an Australian sector.  A microphone fault with the coach didn’t bode well to start. However this was fixed by Jonas during a comfort stop, and then things really looked up when Sonya, our other guide, joined us just on the city outskirts. With a German father and British mother she bought the city alive with her personal stories and historical facts. She was easily the best guide of any shore excursion we have done. Icons such as Checkpoint Charlie, The Brandenberg Gate, Berlin Wall and the Reichstag were toured, as well as smaller memorials. A traditional Berliner lunch of cauliflower soup, sausage, beer and bread was followed by a short canal trip. The restaurant was located under a railway, and was decorated in a 1920’s style. An hour of shopping saw a few souvenirs make their way into our bags, and I’m typing the blog whilst sitting in traffic on our way back to MV Copenhagen. It’s 5.30 and the the ship leaves at 10pm, so we should make it. We have a day at sea tomorrow to get over these early morning starts, then a day in Talinn followed by Russia ! For now Prost !