Then We Take Berlin

I kept saying that Berlin reminds me of no other place I’ve been to. A weird habit (or maybe it’s just instinctual) is to compare every new city to cities we’ve already been to. In Berlin, the steps by the river where people sit and drink beer on a sunny day reminds us of the river Thames in London, the narrow streets and small cafes remind me of Portland, the number of people using bicycles as transportation remind me of Amsterdam (watch out… they do not slow down for day dreaming tourists tripping onto the bike lane) and the U-Bahn is loud like the Blue Line in Chicago ;) It’s pretty safe to say that Berlin is like no other place I’ve been to and I’m really sad to be leaving so soon.

We fumbled our way into Berlin Tegal airport late Thursday morning and our first struggle was buying bus tickets into the city. Apparently Visa is not an acceptable form of payment at the kiosks… and neither is anything larger than a 10 euro note… Back inside to wait in line at the service counter. Two missed buses later, we’re on way into the city. It’s about 11:30am by the time we make it to our hostel and we had to drop off our bags because check in was not until 2. Foolishly, I thought we’d be able to power through the jetlag and lack of sleep and actually get some sightseeing done today. Instead of heading downtown to see the sights, we zombie’d around our neighborhood, ate some falafel, and proceeded to nap in the hostel lobby. I had a dream about work and started making audible groans in my sleep. Andy shook me awake. Back to zombie mode.

After check-in, we took showers and a 3-hour nap… neither of us had seen a bed in over 24 hours. Our neighborhood was quite eclectic… we couldn’t find any schnitzel or wurst… instead we found Korean, Vietnamese, Turkish and Japanese with the occasional advertisement at a pub for a 7 Euro beer and burger deal… we don’t trust anything written in English though. Ha. After our nap, we were on our way to a place recommended by Rick Steves for Bavarian style German food and beer flights… I don’t remember the German name, but I know it translated to “Cheese King” :P But if Rick recommended it then it must be legit. On our way there, we were distracted by happy locals eating authentic looking dumplings outside… so we had Korean food instead.

We wandered back to the hostel with dumpling filled bellies to have beers on the rooftop. Cheers :)

 Rooftop Bar with the TV Tower in view :)

After ten glorious hours of sleep in a real bed, we had breakfast at the hostel (EU 4.50 each) and made our way to the Brandenburg Gate for our free walking tour. We were going with the same walking tour company (Sandeman’s New Europe) that we went on in Munich. I can’t remember who/what recommended this company to me (because it isn’t in my book) but we love them so much. Our experience is always so great that we tend to tip 10 or more euros each at the end. The tour guides only get paid in tips at the end so the service is always top notch - from observing other people, we guessed that the tip average is 5-7 euros per person.

The statue on top of the Brandenburg Gate was renamed to Victoria to represent the victory over Napoleon and hilariously enough, the statue stares directly at the French Embassy... maybe just a coincidence? Maybe not. Pictures to come later.

So now I have to apologize for the scarcity of pictures in this post and maybe all the rest of the posts of this trip... the pictures do exist - I just can't get them from my camera to my computer right now :( I bought this chromebook to save weight and space; however, it doesn't recognize my camera (it can't install the drivers) and the SD card slot I thought it had seems to be the wrong size. Boo! So all full albums will have to wait until I get home. The pictures in the blog are from our phones!

Throughout the rest of the walking tour, we saw and learned about so much - including standing in a parking lot which happened to be on top of the underground bunker where Hitler committed suicide. We also saw the remains of the Berlin wall, the Holocaust Memorial, and the plaza with the concert house of Berlin, the German Dome and the French Dome which are two cathedrals on opposing sides in the plaza built in the 1700's.

Konzerthaus Berlin

After the tour, we got some lunch and returned to the Berlin Wall to go in the Topography of Terror museum where there is a chronological display of the entire Nazi period from Hitler's rise to power to the end of the war and the Nuremberg Trials.

We also returned to the Holocaust memorial (which is actually named Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe). Since I can't upload the pictures right now, to describe it, this memorial consists of 2700+ large concrete slabs all in the same rectangular dimensions (about 2'x5' ... yeah, big). What made is extremely interesting was the varying heights of the slabs, in addition to the undulating ground below the slabs creating many different depths. Kids would have a blast playing hide and seek, as would adults, except to pause and realize the meaning behind the memorial (there were very few markings, to the naked eye, it looks like an art piece). The designer never revealed any meanings behind the size, quantity or heights of the slabs... it is up to your interpretation. All we do know is that it is located in what was originally the "dead zone" between the Berlin Wall and East Berlin. Essentially a no-mans-land equipped with, for example, armed snipers, land minds, booby traps and other deterrents to prevent the citizens of East Berlin from escaping into West Berlin.

EDIT: here is a picture of the Holocaust Memorial

Lastly we went to Reigstag (Parliament) and wandered down by the river. There is a really cool glass dome in Parliament where you can climb and observe the government operating on a daily basis. As we were short on time and the queue was long... we said, next time.

Here we are at Reigstag with our selfie stick! Waiting to have tea with Chancellor Merkel ;)

In such a short amount of time, Berlin left a lasting impression. I can't wait to go back and see more of the city and dig deeper into the history. But for now... we're off to Cologne.