The Tiergarten, sometimes referred to as Berlin’s “green lung,” is a large park in the heart of the city.  At 210 hectares, it is about two-thirds the size of New York’s Central Park.

The Brandenburg Gate stands at the east end of the park, and the city’s zoo is at the west end. The winding north edge of the park is defined by the River Spree, and to the southeast is Potsdamer Platz.  The park is laced with waterways, including a small lake called the Neuer See that is roughly the shape of a five-armed octopus.

Last Sunday we biked over to Cafe am Neuensee for brunch.  Turns out that one can rent rowboats there — “Ruderboote.”  The boats weren’t much for rowing, but in the inimitable words of the character Rat from The Wind in the Willows, “There is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”