Wednesday

We're off to Berlin today, for a short holiday we've both been looking forward to enormously. We get up at 5.30 and after quickly finishing packing we head out and jump on the Piccadilly Line towards Heathrow Terminal 5. It's quite nice that we can walk down the road to Turnpike Lane station and not have to change trains or even move before we're inside the terminal we're flying from - but it is a bloody long journey and takes around an hour and a quarter to negotiate the 30-odd stops out to West London.

We pass the time by reading, though, and soon we're in the impressive Terminal 5, breezing through check-in and security. We're nice and early for the flight, so we grab an uninspiring and overpriced baguette from Pret a Manger and take our seats. Since both of us are regularly budget airline types, it's quite a thrill to be flying BA and not have to worry about scrambling for seats - and even getting food and drinks on the plane. What a treat! No matter that the food we end up getting this morning is a ham and tomato roll the size of a fag packet - we're just pleased to be on our way.

We land at Berlin Tegel airport at around 11.30, where a nice man helps us buy a day ticket for the Berlin transport system and we get a short bus into the city centre. We arrive at Alexanderplatz, the touristy/shopping centre of old East Berlin, and, since we have a couple of hours to kill before we can check into our hotel, get stuck right in by sitting down with a beer and a portion of currywurst (the local specialty) each. We take in the area for a wee while before heading towards our hotel, which is further south of the centre. It's getting hot here already - and after checking in and getting rid of our heavy bags we set out to explore the city a little, as well as finding a decent bar to watch the England game in.

We head due north and the first place we come across is Potsdamer Platz. A literal no-man's land during the Cold War, it's spent the last 20 years becoming a collection of impressive skyscrapers and restaurants, as well as an audaciously designed U-Bahn stop. There is also a small preserved section of the Berlin Wall, with markings showing the line the rest of the wall would have followed. This is our first real encounter with Berlin's history - and while this particular section of the wall is overshadowed by a massive iPad advert, it's exactly what I was hoping to find.

Next we head further north and stumble across both the huge Holocaust memorial - a grid of concrete coffins that's truly impressive and utterly claustrophobic to walk through - and the Brandenburg Gate. It's weird to be standing next to something so famous when you hadn't been looking for it, but especially when you're just trying to find a bar with a TV where the beer doesn't cost 5 euros a pint!

We eventually find a small, deserted roof terrace (it is 3pm on a Wednesday after all) and take our seats in front of a sunlit TV to watch the England v Slovenia match and rest our legs a bit. There are only a couple of other people here, but our waitress is English and spends some time suggesting areas of the city to visit to find bars and markets and suchlike.

After the game (which England win 1-0 in a much improved performance, albeit failing to win the group thanks to a late USA winner over Algeria) we jump on the U-Bahn and head further into East Berlin in search of fun. We quickly come across a large beer garden, which instantly looks exactly how I had imagined Berlin - grafitti-covered, crumbling concrete walls, gravel on the ground and long benches full of people eating bratwurst and drinking lager. Tonight it's even more exciting, though, as people are starting to gather for the Germany v Ghana World Cup match with flags and vuvuzelas in tow.

It gets busy quickly, and we move on after a single beer. The sun is starting to go down, but it's still hot as we hit the north bank of the Spree, and the East Side Gallery - the longest and most recently decorated stretch of preserved Wall. Painted up by a series of graffiti artists to celebrate 20 years since the fall of Communism, it's pretty stunning, though walking it's length is a hot and tiring affair.

By the time the sun's gone down, we're in a small pub in amongst some fairly residential streets. I had led us here having picked out a particular U-Bahn station which would take us home later, but it had been a very long walk, and we are both happy to sit and have a few drinks and relax.

The relaxation doesn't last long, however, as the final whistle in the Germany match goes - they have won 1-0 - and people in the flats above the pub start throwing firecrackers off their balconies. It's a huge noise, amplified by the tight square we're sat on, and fearful of getting hit by fireworks on our first night in Berlin we scuttle into the pub to finish our drinks along with the old people and the shaking, terrified dogs.

On the way home the German fans are out in the street in force, beeping horns and waving flags - it honestly seemed like a bit of an over-reaction; you'd think they'd won the bloody tournament.

We eventually get back to the hotel after midnight, slightly drunk but utterly exhausted; with pounding feet and aching limbs. Our 'gentle' first day in the city had turned into a 17-hour walk - and we reluctantly set our alarms for tomorrow's exploring.