1 Berlin to Bad Schandau

Berlin

We landed in Berlin mid morning and in a jiffy were in the city centre. It was a short march to the Brandenburg Gate and a shorter march still to the Café LeonsArt and my first currywurst* of the trip.  

Afterwards a stroll back to the Berlin Hauptbahnhof to catch the train to Bad Schandau on the River Elbe.

Train carriage was incredibly hot, the two ladies in the carriage perspired more than we. However the train ran parallel to the Elbe so the journey served as a bit of a primer. 

Hotel excellent, likewise the Wiener Schnitzel as our main course, consumed as we looked out across the evening river. 

Bad Schandau

Later Mike and I made a short walk before turning in. We fell into conversation with a  elderly couple released from the large and long cruise boat moored upstream from the hotel. She confessed not knowing from whence they came or where they were headed. 

ELBE 101

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (Czech Republic), then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km (68 mi) north- west of Hamburg. Its total length is 1,094 kilometres (680 miles).

*currywurst is a fast food dish of German origin consisting of steamed, then fried pork sausage whole or less often cut into slices and seasoned with curry ketchup, a sauce based on spiced ketchup.