Oranierburger str - Sunday evening 5 June

We had dinner tonight not far from our accommodation, in Oranierburger str. Hmmm, an “interesting” area. A variety of vibrant eating and drinking places, and other activities on the street too (think King's Cross). After a nice meal, we walked the length of the street, taking in the “scene”. Once was enough – we caught the tram that runs along the street back.

In the meantime, there are a few other topics in relation to which I have had some thoughts. One is the price of wine. There's plenty of perfectly adequate wine here for around €2.99 to €3.99, and you can get bottles of drinkable wine for €1.99 (yes, someone had to taste test it, so we have undertaken that tough task!). Makes you wonder about Australian wine prices (or is my sense of taste so dulled that I can't appreciate that although we pay more, we get better quality in Australia?).

Another issue is tipping. I've followed the guidebook advice and in general merely rounded up bills (sometimes by only a few cents). Invariably, I have been nicely thanked. Seems that this is all that is expected.

The attitude to former East Germany and the Berlin Wall has interested me. I am conscious that my perception has been through a very narrow lens, but it does seem to me that the city is making the most of the former wall as a tourist attraction. I guess this is inevitable, given the unique nature of the wall. But there seems to be a bit of a self righteous tone (EDIT - for example at the displays at Checkpoint Charlie and in the DDR Museum), and I have on occasion wondered whether there is anyone around today (except for Angela Merkel) who actually owns up to having lived in the former DDR? Since the wall came down over 20 years ago, I suppose anyone under about 30 wouldn't have any real experience of the DDR.

Euro copper coins - what does one do with the collection of 1, 2 and 5 cent copper Euro coins that we accumulate? I can get rid of the 10 and 20 cent coins into ticket vending machines, but the copper coins baffle me. I know this is also an issue in the US, but we don't miss copper coins in Australia, and we're questioning whether we need 5 cent coins. One consequence of having so many small coins is that payment at the supermarket checkout is often slow, while customers look for a few copper coins to round off their payment (and avoid getting another handful of copper).