In which I prove that spying is still alive and well in Berlin.

One great way to explore the city of Berlin is on the water.


And there is lots of it with rivers and canals and locks all over the place. Here was the river at my hotel, just bringing you on to Museum Island. I loved the leafy, quiet, embassy-laden location and the fact that from here you could walk to the main sites of the city in minutes.


A highlight of my trip was a 2.5 hour river cruise.

Being served beer as you sit and enjoy the architectural splendor and rich history of the place was just so civilized. It is also worth mentioning that it is far easier and cheaper to buy beer than water in Berlin (well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.). In fact, I suspect the city has long been a bit of a drinker's paradise. Even the cherubim and seraphim are on the sauce.


The only downside to the boat tour was a harrowing sparrow attack (jk) while waiting at one of the locks. These were some cheeky little birdies, I'll tell you. The group of Russians on my tour got a tongue-lashing from the captain for feeding them and encouraging them to come scrounging for food. I'm no animal lover and consider these things in the flying rat category, but even I thought his reaction was a little OTT.



Berlin is the one of the most architecturally stimulating places I have ever been. Out on the River Spree you get to see a lot of the best buildings. They have sunk a tonne of money into developing the place and I think they're done a great job of respecting and conserving a lot of the older cityscape, while at the same time complementing this heritage with a daring modern vocabulary (as the poncy architecture types say). Mam, you can scroll down as the next bit is just pictures of buildings.













It was also while out on the cruise that I had a chance to see how the technology we possess nowadays can really strip people of their privacy. First, some background: my parents' idea of holiday heaven is to sit together drinking in the view of Clew Bay in Mayo in the West of Ireland while all the while spying on the neighbouring holiday homes with binoculars. I exaggerate of course, but only slightly. So there I was cruising along the Spree; on the one bank we had the Treptower Park (a fine green space to the south of the city) and on the other we had some new swanky riverside apartments overlooking the park. And what do I see on one of the balconies but a couple sitting there having a good old gawk through their binoculars at all the local goings on. I immediately took a snap to show my folks at home that they were not alone in their hobby.

It was only thanks to my sister's eagle eye that we realized that I managed to capture not just one guilty secret but two: in close up you can see that the woman is having a good old root around her nasal passages as well.


Today's technology has gotten to the point where a passing tourist on a boat catches a snap of you having a sneaky pick and then posts it on the web for literally fives of people to see.

It's probably as well the DDR never had such advanced digital technology to spy on its people or the wall might never have come down. In the time of the wall, spying on your neighbours was a lot more old school, as you can see.