a quick border-hop

On Saturday, we decided to venture further afield, across the border to Poland. For no other reason than just to check it out, see how different it was, add another country to the list. Rhea had never been to Poland, despite living in Berlin for three-ish years, so we hopped in the car and made a little road trip.

It took about two hours and then once we hit the border, EVERYTHING WAS DIFFERENT. Well no, not really, in fact we weren't even sure that we had crossed the border until we came across a big shopping centre / market with Polish signs. We carried on through a couple of tiny villages, they were so quaint and old-fashioned, with steep roofs and peeling paint.

We decided to buy some food at a local supermarket and have a picnic, and boy, was it cheap! It cost the equivalent of €9 to feed the three of us. On our way back to Berlin we stopped at a nature reserve, a huge wetlands which was lush and green and supposedly housed hundreds of species of birds and other creatures. We climbed a lookout tower and it was hard not to instead see a likely spot that thousands of Polish and German soldiers would have trudged through during World War Two.

Our favourite street sign on our wee road trip

After our lakeside picnic, we headed back to the apartment and chilled out with some beers and hilly competitive table tennis at the local park.

The next day, after having a delicious brunch with Rhea's friends Tracey and Steve, we headed to one of the biggest parks in Berlin (I think) to experience what has apparently become a Sunday afternoon institution - karaoke in the park.

Apparently it's been running for many years, and every Sunday afternoon, a thousand or so spectators gather to witness the good, the bad and the downright terrible, all in the name of an afternoon's entertainment.

Rhea had mentioned the karaoke in passing a few times when we'd caught up by email or Skype over the years, but I had always assumed these were talented singers and it was enjoyable because the singing was so good - but the exact reverse is true. There were a couple of really good singers, but for the most part, they were terrible - but they didn't seem to care and neither did the crowd, who would join in and sing along if the person holding the mic needed a lift.

After an hour or so of entertainment, we wandered the huge array of markets in the park, and past many families and groups of friends who were enjoying the afternoon sunshine with barbecues and beers.