Berlin – A Weekend Visit

We’re heading off for the June bank holiday weekend to Berlin. Neither of us have been before so we’re looking forward to exploring from what I’ve heard is a very interesting city. After a busy week of work we head to the airport and manage to get a pass for the lounge….here’s to the long weekend ahead…

The flight is just under two hours and we arrive quite late but we do manage to get our first curry wurst and a Berliner beer!

We’re staying in Hotel Pestana which is by Tiergarten, one of the many parks in Berlin. We take the train from the airport to the zoo and walk about 15 minutes to our destination.

On Saturday morning we are up for parkrun in Hasenheide park. It’s my first where the briefing is in a foreign language but they do a special English briefing as there are lots of visitors.

Berlin’s colorful life-size Buddy Bears have been on tour around the world as Germany’s ambassadors of goodwill since 2002. We see lots of them positioned throughout the city.

We head back to the hotel for a quick shower and we are off again to explore the town…. Starting in Mitte with Alexanderplatz

Next we head over the bridge to Museum island. Berlin’s Museum Island is a grand work of art in and of itself: five museum buildings from the time of the Prussian rulers, together with the modern James Simon Gallery, form an exciting ensemble that was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 1999.. We also see the Berlin cathedral as we pass over the bridge.

And it’s lunchtime… for our first lunch in Berlin I go for a schnitzel because it’s very much a local staple and also I can’t understand anything else on the menu. We sit outside this old restaurant apparently established since 1270. Shane has a cold fish dish and overall it’s a really good meal.

Back on museum island there are so many museums, it would be impossible to visit them all and it’s even hard to pick one.

I’ve always loved seeing antiquities especially the Egyptian stuff so when I see a poster for the Neus museum and realise this is where Nefertiti is I get very excited and we have to go in. I’ve wanted to see this statue ever since I visited Egypt in 2009 but I thought it was in Frankfurt… so excited to get the opportunity to see her and pay €14 for the privilege.

Back outside in the sunshine we continue our way along the many museums. We notice people gathered at a building so take a look and realise this is the Neue Wache (new guardhouse) where in 1969 the remains of an unknown soldier and an unknown concentration camp prisoner were laid to rest. With a sculpture of “mother with her dead son” in the middle of an otherwise empty room, this has now become the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny

We head to the Brandenburg gate. The light isn’t the best but we get a quick selfie and plan to come back tomorrow.

Our next stop is the holocaust memorial or to be more accurate The Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. There are separate memorials for other minorities who were killed by the nazis including homosexuals, and gypsies. The memorial was built in 1999 and covers 19,000 square metres, on which the designer Eisenman placed 2,711 concrete stelae of different heights. The area is open day and night and accessible from all four sides. The memorial is on a slight slope and its wave-like form is different wherever you stand. It also has an uneven concrete floor. There are children running around playing, which is unavoidable in a structure like this but it certainly provides an opportunity for reflection.

It’s quite sobering as you’d imagine so I need a bit of cheer…. Time to try those crazy Berliner drinks…

We go to Zollpackhof beer garden and I have rosé served in a glass mug. It’s lovely! The sun in shining (although we are happy in the shade) and the place is fairly busy.

The food being ordered around us looks so good and I really am enjoying the rosé so we decide to have dinner here. We get pork knuckle and a smoked pork loin served with sauerkraut and chips (the later at my request of course!). The food is really good.

To get closer to home we take an S train which brings us to the main train station where we can get on the underground. As we pass through Washingtonplatz there’s a stage with a DJ cranking out a few tunes. This is no doubt the closest we will get to some techno music and a dance while we’re here!

We walk through Tiergarten, by the zoo and see some antelope or caribou or some type of large deer!

On to another beer garden… well it’s only 8pm! This is essentially our local and it’s called Cafe am Neuen See. I go for a large radler. We are a bit knackered and by the time we walk home have hit 30,000 steps.

On Sunday morning we set off and walk through Tiergarten which is a beautiful park in the city and it’s right on our doorstep.

As we walk along the road that runs through Tiergarten a large portion of it is closed to traffic and there’s some sort of festival going on – it’s called the Umwelt festival and there are stalls which seem to be advertising organic food.

We get a cup of tea and a coffee from a stand and it’s served in delph mugs which we’ll need to pay an extra €3 each as a deposit!! Hilarious!! We opt to drink our tea at the stand so he can have his mugs back safely. A few stands down we try a cinnamon pastry… a cinnamon swirl although it’s called something German obviously but I can’t remember!

Onward to the Brandenberg Tor (Tor means gate). The light is much better for a photo although the herds have gathered. The hotel to the left (not in this photo mind you) is where Michael Jackson dangled his baby from the window!

We are heading to the Berlin Wall and to where apparently is the best kebab or kebap!! If we hadn’t had that pastry to share this would count as a breakfast kebab but in fairness it’s lunch! Locals don’t ask for a kebab they just ask for a doner – it may be the best I’ve ever had…

We take the train to Ostbahnhof where the wall is painted with elaborate graffiti. It is the longest preserved section of the Wall at 1.3 kilometres long and it stands along the River Spree. It is called the East Side Gallery because the eastern side of the Wall was painted here by 118 artists from 21 countries. From February to September 1990 they were allowed to let their imagination run wild.We walk all the way and check out all the murals.

There are lots of people at the famous mural of “the kiss”

There’s a really nice looking bridge – Oberbaumbrucke and we can see molecule man from a distance up the river.

Onwards to get closer for a better view ….

From here we are heading to a brew bar that Shane wants to check out and surprise surprise it has a beer garden… it’s such a nice way to enjoy a Sunday evening. BRLO Brouhouse has cider (none of the beer gardens have so far) so I’m delighted and it’s really nice.

I’ve been looking at the list of the top 10 beer gardens in Berlin and we’ve only hit two of them so far… some are too far or too awkward to get to but one is near our “local” so on the way home we decide to stop there for one… it’s in Tiergarten again called Schleusenkrug. I think it’s time I got a round in…

People around us are ordering food and it looks really good. It also has a couple of things we have wanted to try… the flammkuchen (kinda German pizza!) and German meatballs. We are certainly not disappointed as the food is delicious.

It’s time to leave and we decide to stop for one in our local!! It is jam packed… we watch people arrive on small boats and have one more beer. I have a “radler” which I find out is actually a shandy.

It’s bank holiday Monday and our flight home tonight isn’t until 9:45pm so we leave our bags at the hotel and head out for a last day of exploring. We stop at a cafe for a cup of tea and a pastry – pastries are so good over here and they are everywhere!

We pass The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which is the symbolic center of West Berlin and one of the city’s most popular sights. The original West Tower was partially destroyed during a bombing by the Allied Forces in 1943. It is a striking ruin and it’s free to go in.

We continue on and get the bus to Charlottenburg to see Schloss Charlottenburg but the palace is closed today so we walk around the grounds for a goo! The gardens are from the 17th century and are very pretty.

Back on the bus we head further along the same route (Bus M45) to Spandau. “So true funny how it seems” 🎶… Spandau actually means a German machine gun!

We visit the “old” town, not really sure how old it is but it’s very nice. A much smaller town outside the big smoke! We visit St Nickolas church. It’s a Protestant church so generally no sign of Mary but in the corner there’s a statue called the Spandau Madonna… I can’t read the history of this statue as it’s in German so I’m not sure how she got into this church!

There’s a brauhouse that looks like the perfect spot for lunch. The pollen is crazy high and I’m sneezing badly, there are visible pieces of flowers floating around… especially in the garden at the brauhouse… allergy city!

We continue to Spandau Citadel, a 16th-century fortress that hosts open-air concerts, is home to a history museum, and has a bat colony in its cellar. We also climb to the top of the tower for some good views.

We visit a UNESCO world heritage sight which is essentially an apartment block!! [Berlin Modernism Housing Estates consists of six housing estates that testify to innovative housing policies from 1910 to 1933, especially during the Weimar Republic, when the city of Berlin was particularly progressive socially, politically and culturally. The property is an outstanding example of the building reform movement that contributed to improving housing and living conditions for people with low incomes through novel approaches to town planning, architecture and garden design. The estates also provide exceptional examples of new urban and architectural typologies, featuring fresh design solutions, as well as technical and aesthetic innovations]

I could pretend that Shane dragged me here but honestly I was interested to see it, that said, it’s not the most exciting so I wouldn’t be suggesting going out of your way if you’re in Berlin to see it!

It’s thirsty work walking around Berlin in the sunshine so we stop for a cola… I’ve seen the Fritz Cola advertised quite a bit and reckon it has to be tasted.. it’s very good.

Back on the U-bahn, we head to Checkpoint Charlie – we passed here the first day but I missed it and I don’t want to leave Berlin without saying I was there.

I read about a book burning memorial at Bebelplatz. It’s easy to miss as it’s under the ground, viewed through glass in the ground. It’s hard to see as the sun is shining but it’s essentially a library with empty shelves that would fit 27,000 books – the amount of books that were burned in 1939 in this very square.

It does attract lots of students though…

I mentioned on day 1 that there are a lot of museums in Berlin. There are museums for absolutely everything.. I particularly like the look of this one and if I had more time I’d love to visit them all!

However our time has come to an end and we get the train to the airport for the homeward bound journey. Auf Wiedersehen Berlin!