Since more than 25 years people tell me: “Go to Berlin! It is so cool!” why not test the spirit of this famous town on a few autumn days?I am honest, the Berlin trip was last year and I was NOT overwhelmed by the Berlin spirit…. Maybe I did the wrong things there, didn`t connect with the people….
But from the beginning: we went to Berlin by car, it`s quite a distance from where we live, but I like to be flexible, I don`t care driving long and after all – I always travel on a budget – for four people it is the cheapest way to travel. I rented an appartment near the Main Railway Station, in Alt Moabit. It was small and NOT cheap, but the location was good and we could cook simple meals there which is always the best to save money. What really surprised me was the fact that many streets of Berlin are very wide and accompanied by trees, many trees!
On the second day we had a fixed date in the morning. We got up quite early, walked to the Main Railway Station and took the Metro to the centre of Berlin: Berlin Alexanderplatz.
I had booked a breakfast in the TV Tower Restaurant! After security check we took the elevator with the glass ceiling to get up over 200 metres – very fast! The restaurant rotates and this gives you a wonderful panoramic view over Berlin while having breakfast.
After this we strolled through the city…Unter den Linden, Nikolaiviertel, Gendarmenmarkt…
The Dome
Brandenburg Gate
Reichstag
Spree
The next day we started with a walk through the huge Park Tiergarten.
Destination Bauhaus Archives.
beautiful and impressing, I love the Bauhaus movement!
There was an exhibition of tiny houses, too!
After so much interesting design and architecture we went to the famous shopping centre KaDeWe. It was so crowded, we didn`t shop anything. But we were hungry, so we tested Curry Sausage.
Then continued walking to the Potsdamer Platz… seeing iconic Trabi cars
then to the modern Sony Centre and Leipziger Platz where you still can see a line where the Wall separated this town for so many years – it ran through the middle of this square!
Not far from there is the Holocaust Memorial.
From outside it is not so impressing, but when you walk in….
the blocks become higher, you don`t see the surroundings any more, you feel small… a special experience. After this we had seen enough for the day.
After a stormy night we wanted to go to the flea market in Friedrichshain. Unfortunately a fallen tree destroyed the entrance of the flea market and it was still raining.
Not much to see there, so we took a break in a vegan supermarket. Despite the heavy rain we walked to the East Side Gallery where you can see parts of the Berlin Wall, decorated with graffity.
At last the sun came out and with wet shoes we decided to visit Checkpoint Charlie before heading back to our flat.
On our last day in Berlin the weather was much better. We looked for special shops, had burritos at Dolores`restaurant and walked around the city in sunshine.
The Berlin trip ended buying souvenirs and being very tired from walking.
We only did sightseeing, not nightlife. Maybe this would be the key to the spirit of Berlin…. and maybe I am too old for that… or my youngest son is too young for nightlife…