I started the day with a ride to a hardware shop to get myself a spanner. Then I went to a bike shop because I couldn't shift the peddles. They kindly took them off and handed them to me. I put them back on so I could cycle to the hotel. At the hotel I checked I could get the wheels off. That involved whacking the wrench with the spanner but I got there in the end.
After all that excitement we hadn't much planned for the day. We've been to Berlin a few times so have 'done' the big sites. We're off to a massive art festival next so we're also avoiding getting art-ed out. What to do? This kind of dilemma is of course where a smart phone comes in remarkably handy. Even Mr H, a telecommunications luddite, is coming round to the idea. A couple of Googles later and I had our day planned.
Stop one was the computer games museum. Neither of us are big gamers but it seemed interesting. It was. I was torn between nostalgia, amazement at how early somethings came out, and amazement at how quick things changed. I enjoyed watching the dads hogging Donkey Kong and demonstrating Pacman to bored teenagers as much as I liked playing Space Invaders. You'll be glad to know that I won at Pong.
We had something to eat further up the street and watched the preparations for the beer festival. That seemed to involve drinking then six big blokes spending 10 minutes huffing and puffing to move a trailer left by half a foot.
You'll be more than aware by now that I like to visit wool shops, just to get a feel for a place. I found one yesterday but couldn't go because some people have common sense. Today we could go. And they had a sale on. Handmade Berlin mainly stocks ITO, a fibre company I love for the range of yarns they produce. I hunted through the sale basket and got an alpaca/wool blend and a cone of paper yarn. I also got a paper/nylon blend and a mini loom. All for €20.
Mr H insisted we went for a pint to celebrate and we found an amazingly cheep Italian. My pizza was €4 and although not gourmet, it was perfectly edible.
After an early evening snooze we went to the Munich Beer Hall theme pub. Because it's next to the hotel. It's a very Bavarian place. I can't speak to its authenticity myself but it seemed very popular.
Right now I'm sitting in Berlin's main station waiting for Mr H. I cycled here but he's getting the bus. I've packed all my panniers into each other and their contents into a delightful snoopy bag. Next up is bike dismantling. I've done the peddles but I'm waiting for moral support to bag up the rest.
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