Left Hamburg for Berlin. Flat countryside with more windmills and barley fields. Noel pointed out the old border crossing from West into East Germany as we sped by on the autobahn. On arriving in Berlin, we first briefly visited the Schloss Charlottenburg palace. Bus dropped us off in shopping district for a couple hours free touring. We bought some lunch at a street market: smoked fish and sausage. Visited Wilhelm Cathedral ruins, left as a reminder of war. We walked to the nearby zoo and spent most of our time there. Made a quick visit to KaDeWe department store. Embarked on a bus tour of downtown Berlin: Reichstag (parliament), Brandenburg gate, Dom, etc. Rode out to Potsdam for dinner at Wilhelm's hunting lodge on the lake. Had mushroom soup, ham hocks, trout, pork loin. Did some walking too. Stayed at Berlin Hilton downtown, great hotel and location with lots of shopping nearby. Hard to believe but it is in the former East Berlin. Pete called Ed for a couple minutes.