Limehouse, London, UK.

It's Thanksgiving Day in gloomy Limehouse Marina today and the Admiral and I have just returned from a short jaunt to the fair city of Prague. Most enjoyable it was too and even the weather decided to cooperate but it was very cold.
We did all usual touristy things and there is a lot to see in a few days. We found Prague to be an almost fairytale kind of a city where everything works. Even though Prague is ancient, all is in good repair, the public transport is efficient and easy to use. Everyone was helpful and friendly and almost all spoke excellent English.
Highlights were the old town square with it's famous astronomical clock and ornate churches and of course the beer.
It's easy to walk every where in the old city and the architecture is truly impressive. On our second day we walked over the Charles Bridge to St Vitus'  Cathedral and the castle on a freezing cold crystal clear day. There were still plenty of tourists and one could only imagine how crowded this place must be in July.
We got a quick injection of culture at the State Opera House and enjoyed Verdi's Macbeth. I even managed to stay awake for the whole performance.
Oh, and did I mention the beer.
We will celebrate Thanksgiving with Ben and Jessica and the babies tomorrow and we wish all of you a very happy turkey day in the USA.

St. Vitus Cathedral

A view of the cathedral and the castle from Charles Bridge

One of the many 13th century towers in the old city. The Admiral and I had a very nice dinner on the 8th floor 

The old town square in the moonlight

The famous Astronomical clock doing its thing

The very ornate Spanish synagogue

The Prague Beer Museum. Not really a museum but more than 25 excellent tap beers

The Charles Bridge on a cold but clear morning

The State Opera House. We enjoyed a performance of Macbeth

Limehouse Basin Marina, Limehouse, London

We are back from our road trip to Berlin. We almost didn't get there due to the weather. We thought we would try Southend airport in an attempt to avoid the chaos that is Stansted. So much for that as Southend Airport is not an all weather facility and nothing was going in or out due to fog. After waiting 6 hours, we got bused to Stanstead and flew out of there instead. We, therefore, arrived in Berlin after midnight instead of 4 pm. Getting to central Berlin on public transport was a bit of a challenge but we finally got to the Marriott by 1 am. We wandered all over the eastern part of the city on the next day and did all the usual touristy things and visited Checkpoint Charlie, the Reichstag, the Brandenberg Gate and Unter dem Linden and had a nice lunch outdoors in a pleasant square outside French Cathedral. No fog in Berlin and the weather was cool but clear and sunny. Later in the afternoon, we went to a wonderful chocolate store called Fassbender and Rausch. Another two hours of walking off the chocolate and we were ready to go back to the hotel for a rest and some quiet dinner. Next day, the weather was again perfect and this time we looked at the west side of the city and saw Kurfurstendamm and then a long walk through the Zoo and the Tiergarten and then back to the east side of the city. The Germans certainly know how to build and re-build on a grand scale!

The Admiral sought out an Absinthe store near the Alexanderplatz and then back to the hotel and a somewhat indifferent dinner on Kurfurstendamm Street. The weather turned cloudy and cold and we planned to visit two museums but only managed one as there was quite a lot to see. 

An uneventful flight back to Gatwick where we were met by Phil and Sandra (Jessica's inlaws) and we spent a very pleasant two days with them at the lovely home in West Sussex.

On Friday, it was  back home to Limehouse for a little rest.

Outstanding chocolate at Fassbender and Rauch 

the holocaust memorial

Siegessaule

A political demonstration at the Brandenberg Gate

Kurfurstendamm lots of shopping

local Pilsner beer. 

The venerable Trabbie a relic from East Germany

Autumn foliage

200 hundred varieties of Absinthe

The Tiergarten

Remnants of the Wall