Roof terrace

Always in search of cool places I found a surprising nice spot not far from home, even visible from the living room window... On the roof of the tall building of the Park Inn hotel in the eastern center of Berlin at the Alexanderplatz, just below the huge neon sign PARK INN on the 39th floor, there is a small observation deck with beach chairs.
150 meters above the Alexanderplatz it's the perfect spot for taking a sun bath right in front of the tv tower or calming down after a hard day, having a drink and watching the sun set over Berlin...great... Berlin from above looks like a beehive, not much structure visible...very different from those intentionally grid-layouted American cities. Narrow streets and lots of houses with almost equal height, the Berlin roof height. As I recently learned this was a rule decreed by the German Emperor, no building was allowed to be higher than the Palace (22 meters). Though I heard other explanations as well, so not sure if it's true...
Every time I get such a view over this vibrant city it's hoard for me to imagine, that 80 percent of it was destroyed or in ruins only 60 years ago, when WWII came back to the place where it was invented. Still some gaps are visible, though maybe, that is part of the charm of Berlin..
A closer look of the Berliner Dom.....and the Rotes Rathaus (red town-hall)......and the medieval Marienkirche, dating back to the 13th century.
Of course I played with the tele lens again. Here's a close view of Neptunbrunnen from the picture above.. Funny to see how many pictures of it are being taken right at this very moment..

Cafe

A lazy summer Saturday afternoon in one of the best located coffee bars of Berlin, just next to the Spree and the Museumsinsel, within sight of the Berliner Dom. Just to sit there in the sun, chat, have a drink and watch the tourists is entertaining for hours...The order today was an Espresso...
...and a cold and refreshing Hefeweizen beer....later followed by a second one :-)
After changing to the tele lens I made acquaintance with the playing angels on top of the Dom...again I'm so impressed by the performance of this lens...