Leaving France, Roman and I then flew direct to Berlin, Germany. We’ve always wanted to come to Berlin but I had some reservations about this city. First I heard it was ugly and that it doesn’t have much to do. It turns out I was half wrong. There is plenty to do in Berlin and in ways this city did surprise me. World War 2 and the Berlin Wall have left its effects and has made Berlin one of the most unusual cities in Europe. Love it or hate, Berlin works well and one of the best surprises about this city.

Getting There

From Bordeaux there are daily flights to Berlin and it’s a 2 and a half hour flight. Bordeaux airport is nothing to write home about and their budget airline terminal is just okay. EasyJet flies into Schönefeld just south of Berlin and it’s just a tram ride away into the heart of the city. It’s pretty convenient and we really had no issues getting into Berlin.

Hotel i31

I chose this hotel because it was near the center of the city, got great reviews, and easy to get to from the airport. I highly recommend this hotel because it is right next to a bahn stop, the staff was very accommodating and the room was beautiful for the price. Berlin has a range of hotels that are located further from the city center, at a good price, but having a nice hotel near all the attractions is priceless. Check out i31 for yourself.

Brandenburg Gate

This is tourist central and really the first place any tourist should go. It’s important and it marks the heart of Berlin. It has survived war and still stands today as a reminder of the separation that once existed. It still represents Germany.

This was the dividing marker between the east and west and even today you can walk over the path where the Berlin Wall once stood. It is touristy and they may have tons of billboards around the statue but it is certainly worth visiting and I’m glad we paid a visit.

Checkpoint Charlie

A short walk from the Bundestag there is Checkpoint Charlie, the key entrance point to cross from what was west to East Berlin from the American sector. Okay, for me, it’s actually very touristy so you never can have a brilliant shot. However there are many information points to learn about this checkpoint and the history surrounding it. We walked from the old east side of Berlin and in the picture below McDonalds, that’s the American side. I do think it’s funny that these American fast food restaurants have since popped up around this area. I guess the United States really did win that war.

Schnitzel at Stadtklause

For dinner I chose a very cute, kind of touristy place that got great reviews on TripAdvisor called Stadtklause. They served cold beer and schnitzel as well as other German food. Although it was touristy, the food was legit and it was a great place to try some authentic German food. I believe this place has actually been around for a long time and is known to sell authentic German food so we had no problem spending our money here. The food was perfect and just the right amount with a nice, cold beer.

Bundestag and the Reichstag

Next to the Brandenburg Gate there is the Bundestag and the Reichstag Building. It’s a beautiful building where the government of Germany meets up to decide laws and it’s free for anybody to get into. All we had to do is just sign up for a time slot.

And really the main attraction is the dome at the top of the building that was newly installed. It’s there so that citizens can look “down” on the government of Germany. They feel that as a true democracy there should be full transparency from its own citizens and they should be allowed to see how the government actually works. It’s a unique building and a nice idea. I took some videos and photos of our time there and all we really did was walk up the dome and then back down.

East Side Gallery

That night we decided to make our way over to the East Side Gallery, the famous area where some of the Berlin Wall still exists. This part of the wall is viewed from what was once part of Soviet Germany in East Berlin. So we hopped on the U-Bahn and made our way to Warschauer Straße station to view some of the famous graffiti artwork on the wall today.

The East Side Gallery is actually a long walk and it’s best just to start from one end and work your way up the wall. That’s exactly what we did, viewing all the different types of paintings. Some of these are absolutely famous like the painting of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev giving East Germany President Erich Honecker a passionate kiss.

For me it’s a stark reminder of the realities of separation. Being on the east side of the Berlin Wall, it’s weird that this was once all blocked off from the west and vice-versa. It’s weird to think that nobody could view the west side, unless you lived on the upper floor of the apartments on the street but even then can only see a glimpse of the other side. It’s strange to think that life was totally different compared to the other side. It was truly a remarkable experience and I’m glad they kept the wall for us to tour.

Museum Island

On the second day we decided to spend most of the day looking at the famous galleries of Berlin on Museum Island. Now for quite sometime during this trip my knee has been killing me and on this day it finally caught up with me. I couldn’t move well for most of the day so I did have to skip some of the museums but I can say I saw the most important works that exist in Berlin at 3 different museums.

Altes Museum

Our first stop of the day was at the Altes Museum, which houses classical antiquities. There are two main floors and we spent time looking at each floor. Roman specifically wanted to fine a bust of Cleopatra, which is apparently the only surviving bust of her from when she was alive. I just wanted to wonder around and listen about some of the work. To me, what’s fascinating is that some of these things are centuries old yet we know so much about them. I personally love the bowl with the nude males cleaning their foreskin.

Lunch at Zur Gerichtslaube

We took a break from the museums and went to have an authentic German lunch. I found a place through TripAdvisor that was a great place to sit down outside and have authentic German food. I have to say that real German food is actually very good and that’s what I expected it to be. Potatoes with sausage and of course we had to get some Berlin Beer. Zur Gerichtslaube was the perfect place to sit and enjoy a German meal and a break from Museum Island.

Neues Museum

Our second stop was the Neues Museum. I didn’t get to see much work from the museum due to my knee but there is one famous work from this museum that I did see and that is the bust of Nefertiti. It’s in a beautiful room but no pictures are allowed so sadly I really don’t have any pictures from this museum.

Pergamon Museum

The last museum is one of the most popular on Museum Island and houses the famous Pergamon Altar, Market Gate of Miletus, Ishtar Gate, Mshatta Facade, and the Epic of Gilgamesh. All of them are very impressive and it’s amazing they reconstructed those huge gate entrances from an ancient city. Out of all the museums I liked this one the best. The walls they have are only a small part of a once ancient wall that existed.

Review

For me Berlin is a mish-mosh of a city. It is modern and it is ugly yet it’s also very efficient. You can travel throughout the city with breeze using the u-bahn which makes travel easy. It feels like a capital city and it feels like it has been sent through the ringer in recent history. There is the Berlin Wall that is still preserved and still has lasting effects on the city. I think it’s amazing they kept where the former wall once was and have paid tribute to places like Checkpoint Charlie.

Berlin is a unique city and unlike most I have visited in Europe. I can’t say I love it but it’s more like I respect it. After so many hard times and separation the city is still there and that is something to be proud of.