Boat Trip Day 1

On Sunday, my parent's old friend Jurgen invited me and my Dad to take part in a boat trip tour of the different canals and rivers that flow through Berlin. Although I didn't know the plan at first, I ended up finding out that Jurgen had rented a boat in Potsdam (southwest of Berlin) and had planned for us to navigate through the city and eventually get back down to Potsdam on Sunday.


[Dad getting ready to head out to Jurgen's]

We went out to Stralau, where Jurgen and his wife live, and where our starting point would be. We got there a little bit early and decided to walk around Stralau for a little while. The neighborhood was quite interesting, lying technically in the neighborhood of Friedrichshain, but secluded on a peninsula from the city. It was very pretty with the water, the park across the water, new houses, and lots of trees, but it was almost a little bizarre for me to be in the city but feel as if I were in a little town.


[Stralau peninsula map]


[Quiet street]


[Soccer field, where it seemed like some sort of semi-professional team was playing]


[Along the water]


[Interesting new houses]

We had a very nice breakfast a Jurgen's, but we also got the bad news that he had suffered an injury to his back and was having trouble sitting down and standing up and bending over. Of course, this made the plans for the boat tour more complicated. We decided it would be best to take a shorter trip today to see how Jurgen was feeling rather than push the limit.


[The view from Jurgen's balcony]


[Filu, their very cute but interestingly-tempered dog]

We began by going southeast towards Kopernik. Although the weather wasn't to die for, most of the time it wasn't raining. Here are some pictures from along the way:


[Captain and First Mate]


[This one is for Ben and Donny - there were a crazy amount of rowers and scullers out on the water and boathouses everywhere. Here a particular group of children seem to be getting yelled at by their coach]


[A boathouse along the river... this is a rowers dream city, I believe]


[Dad driving the boat]


[Looking apprehensive as I try to steer down the river]


[Our view approaching Kopernik... the weather wasn't too great, as you can see. A couple of times we had to pull the roof of the boat down so that the rain wouldn't get in. But even with the weather it was still a nice trip]


[Garden sheds turned summer cottages in Kopernik]


[I felt like I was in a parade...]




[We finally got some sunshine]