The next morning we walked through the busy city of Schwerin, only to find that the castle is closed on Mondays. This picture, less lovely than the view from the other side across the water, is typical of nearly every historical building we saw in Germany-- perpetually under restoration. We were disappointed but not devastated-- we had trailed through many rooms of old portraits, old clocks and tiled stoves, old canopy beds and gilded woodwork and we were content to spend time wandering the gardens.
There we had the lovely experience of seeing a swan family with seven cygnets. They really are gawky and homely babies-- the proverbial "ugly ducklings".
We found a very nice "portrait" of John by the shore of the lake.
Ingrid and Bill
We caught the noon train to Berlin and arrived a few hours later, disgorged into the frenzied environs of Alexanderplatz-- all of us hot, tired and dazed. Tagging behind Ingrid and Bill we walked to our Ibis hotel-- a walk that seemed endless to me as I dodged pedestrians and more bicyclists than I have ever seen anywhere. We did the same walk several times in the next few days and I realized it was only about 10 minutes.
Our hotel was an Ibis-- a chain with hotels across Europe-- we stayed at an Ibis in Budapest. Relatively inexpensive, clean, comfortable, attractive and with air conditioning! It was the perfect place for our Berlin stay. Breakfast was 10 euros extra but it was simply superb-- a buffet of croissants, breads, meats, cheeses, fruits, cereals, juices, eggs, and all manner of coffee and drinks. Our breakfasts were always great but this one topped the list.
Continue to Part 11
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