Our first ‘free’ walking tour experience!

We woke up refreshed from our rest day and rearing for Berlin adventures. Well, that was me, at least.
I guess we walked out the door at about 11, which seemed like half the day gone already, even though the sun doesn’t set till well after 10 here.
We were walking into the city via Tiergarten- a massive public park in the centre of Berlin. It features play areas, statues, biergartens and there is even a palace within it.
We stopped at a play area so the 10 yr old to be a kid for a while. He was loathe to leave.

I have discovered that if he is chatting about one of his interests, he forgets he is walking and just goes hard. So I heard all about the 3 years of ideas he is going to pitch to the makers of Skylanders on our walk into the heart of Berlin. The details of his ideas were not disclosed as we were in a public place and he felt people may overhear us and steal his plans!

We hit the meeting point for our free walking tour: Brandenburg Gate. It was high time to withdraw more cash at an ATM. Searching for one took about an hour! It was a frustrating experience.
Travel tip: There are not many ATMs around the centre of Berlin. Come prepared for that!

Thank goodness the kids had stayed sitting in a shaded area that whole time and hence they weren’t thoroughly exhausted before the walking tour had even begun.
I actually came prepared not to do the walking tour at all. I had photographed information and locations for a self walking tour, but Zac especially was keen. Just before we started, he developed a headache, but being determined to do the tour, he took meds and hydrated. A massive crowd was waiting for the tour. I wanted out at that point! A few minutes past starting time, the guide came over and announced that the group was too large and 2 extra guides were coming and we would be divided into 3 groups .

Our guide Franziska’s British accent was a little deceptive. She is German and she rocked her job so much! She has a law degree but left a lucrative career path to become a full time tour guide.
The tour was at a much easier pace than I imagined. We would walk a bit, then stop for quite a few minutes while Fraziska explained the significance and story of where we were standing. This meant the youngest two especially were getting much-needed siting breaks.

I highly recommend this tour- there are no bells and whistles like the one we did in Edinburgh, but it is thoroughly engaging. There is nothing like a local to bring a foreign place to life.
As we were leaving to walk home, I saw an ATM, so I got in line behind the tourist couple already using it. They must have tried to use it 30 times while we were there, pulling out money in small amounts. I wish I had said something to them. So rude to make me wait for at least 10 minutes!