Berlin

Berlin is like a dirtier, poorer, cooler version of Paris.  Sure, the skies are grey, the streets are full of graffiti and there is construction work everywhere, but it is authentic. There are plenty of visitors, but not the stereotypical map-reading, camera-around-the-neck, starbucks-in-hand, hop-on-hop-off type that outnumber the locals in some cities.  The whole city feels a little 'off the beaten track' (unlike the phrase itself which, along with 'hidden gem', is well and truly trampled to death- spend 2 minutes on any travel website/forum and you'll see what I mean).

Our long weekend in Berlin was just enough to get a taste of the history (both ancient and modern), culture, architecture, food and nightlife in this fun city. Although the skies were dull and grey, the turning season gave the trees and leaf covered ground some beautiful colours really brightened the streets.

On Friday we went on a walking tour that covered the main sights and also some less well known back street areas, and was a great way to get an oversight of the city.  The city is quite densely packed with sights- the Brandenburg Gate, the holocaust memorial, preserved sections of the Berlin Wall, the site of the Nazi bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Reichstag, the luxury Hotel Adlon where Michael Jackson infamously dangled his baby from the window...

Checkpoint Charlie

Brandenburg Gate

The place where the Berlin Wall used to run

One of the few standing sections of the wall

Grey concrete blocks of the Holocaust Memorial

A carpark now stands above where the Nazi Bunker was located

We spent the afternoon on Museum Island where we visited the Pergamon Museum.  The highlights of this museum were the full size restoration of the Pergamon altar and the Ishtar Gatewhich was built for King Nebuchadnezzar around 600 BC.  We also made the climb up the many stairs to the top of the dome at the nearby Berlin Cathedral where we had a great view out over the city.  After dinner, our walk back to our hotel was literally lit up by the lights festival where many buildings were covered with brightly coloured light projection shows.

Pergamon Altar

Ishtar Gate

Berlin Cathedral

Looking up at the stained glass in the centre of the cathedrals' dome

View from the top of the cathedral

Lighting displays on the Brandenburg Gate

Lighting displays on the cathedral

Saturday began with a visit to the dome of the Reichstag, Berlin's parliament house.  Fortunately we had booked ahead online so had no troubles getting in, although security was very thorough.  The view from the top was nice, but the mirror filled dome itself was pretty spectacular.

After the tour we walked through the Tiergarten which was quite nice despite the gloomy weather.  When we reached Potsdamerplatz we walked through a giant inflatable intestine (not sure what it was advertising though because it was all in German...) before catching the underground to the extravagant KaDeWe shopping mall. We had some delicious cake at the massive food hall, although I enjoyed the currywurst from the little street-side vendor across the square from the mall just as much.  

Intestines...some sort of health awareness campaign at Potsdamerplatz

Cake at the KaDeWe food hall

Currywurst at Witty's on Wittenburgplatz

The afternoon was spent at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.  The self guided audio tour helped us find our way through this truly evil place. It was pretty incredible finding out that before it was even fully decommissioned after the fall of the Nazis, it was already being used as a 'Special Camp' under the Soviet forces.  It was not a particularly enjoyable experience but it is important to understand and remember these things, and it was well worth the visit.

Back in Berlin we visited the East Side Gallery, one of the more well cared for stretches of the Berlin Wall. This strip is covered with brightly coloured paintings and murals, some of which were quite political but some are just nice paintings.  The other side of the wall was also well covered, but much less curated.

We had dinner at a cozy little pub/cafe which prided itself on it's beer menu.  Of course we had to try the Berliner Weissbier.  According to one story we heard, the immigrating French people took offence to the taste of this sour beer and added different syrups to give it flavour- it's a Berlin standard to order either the Red (raspberry) or Green (woodruff) Berliner Weisse.