Dates - August 13th to 16th
We arrived in Berlin on Saturday afternoon and checked into Swissotel on Ku'damm by 5:00 pm. After freshening up a bit, we headed out onto the Ku'damm which is West Berlin's main boulevard with lots of shops, resaurants and crowds. We walked around Ku’damm for a couple of hours and saw Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche church which has been kept in its bombed-out state as a reminder of the destruction caused by war (picture), ate currywurst, and then went to a grocery store to buy cheese, bread, snacks and wine. Strangely, the store had a great selection of Australian and American wines (which are hard to find in Paris) so we picked up a few bottles of Hardy's and Gallo wines. At night, we went to Potsdamer platz (which was where Hitler's bunker was located), Saw pieces of the Berlin wall, Brandenburg gate (picture), the Holocost Memorial (picture), Reichstag (picture), and Federal Chancellery. For dinner we ate chinese food at the mall across from Sony Center and picked up some bagels for breakfast.
On Sunday, we went to see the Faberge Egg exhibit at Schloss Charlottenburg (picture). The collection of eggs was surprisingly interesting and, of course, very beautiful (picture). After visiting Schloss Chlottenburg, we headed over to the Technikmuseum. On the way, we stopped and ate sushi at stand in Zoogarden. The Technikmuseum (picture) was one of the most interesting museums I've ever visited. The organization of computers, trains, airplanes and various other inventions over the past two centuries is excellent. My favorites parts of the museum are its collection of old computers (picture), trains (pictures) and planes (picture). Located here are some of the only Nazi artifacts in the city. After spending a few hours at the museum, we headed over to Potsdamer Platz once again for dinner at Tony Romas, after which we explored Sony center a little further.
Monday was our busiest day. We took bus 100 from Zoogarden to Reichstag through Tiergarten. Enroute, we saw the Victory Column (Siegessaule) and Schloss Bellevue (President's home). We began our walk of East Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate (picture) and walked along Unter Den Linden (East Germany's main boulevard) through Pariser Platz, Babelplatz, past Humboldt University (where Einstein taught - picture), St. Hedwigs Church (picture), Berliner Dom (picture), and on to Alexanderplatz. Along the way, we went into an old ghost subway station which was unused during the cold war (West German trains looped through East Germany, through these stations - but didn't stop). For lunch, we went to Gendarmenmarkt (picture) and had sushi at the nearby Sushi Circle restaurant. Believe it or not, this only made up the first half of our day. After visiting this main area of East Germany, we took the U-Bahn to Potsdamer Platz and had iced tea and iced coffee at Alex restaurant at Sony center. Following our little break, we then headed over to the Berlin wall and The Topography of terror (picture), which is an open air museum located on the grounds of the former SS. After a captivating visit to the Topography of terror explaining the crimes of the Nazis during WWII, we walked over to Checkpoint Charlie (picture) and had donairs for dinner (Berlin is known for it's excellent Turkish food). We then visited the Museum of the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie which describes many of the escapes over/under/through the wall during the cold war. Described at this museum is the famous hot air balloon escape in addition to numerous other creative escapes. After a couple of hours at the museum at Checkpoint Charlie, we headed over to the Reichstag (our last site of the day - picture). We expected that our late visit to the Reichstag would result in little or no line. Unfortunately, we had to wait in line for 1 hour until 9:30pm to get in and see the famous glass dome (picture).
On Tuesday, our last day in Berlin, we had just enough time to see the Pergamon museum before catching our flight to Paris. The Pergamon musuem has an incredible collection of Eastern artifacts, including the Pergamon Alter (picture), Market Gate from Miletus, and the Ishtar Gate from Babylon (600BC - picture).
All in all, Berlin was one of my favorite cities. Even though we saw many sights, there are still many others that we didn't get a chance to visit: a concentration camp, world-famous zoo, art gallery, and the Egyptian museum. The food in Berlin was very good, and the prices reasonable with a great selection of shops, arcades, malls and restaurants throughout the city.
We arrived in Berlin on Saturday afternoon and checked into Swissotel on Ku'damm by 5:00 pm. After freshening up a bit, we headed out onto the Ku'damm which is West Berlin's main boulevard with lots of shops, resaurants and crowds. We walked around Ku’damm for a couple of hours and saw Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche church which has been kept in its bombed-out state as a reminder of the destruction caused by war (picture), ate currywurst, and then went to a grocery store to buy cheese, bread, snacks and wine. Strangely, the store had a great selection of Australian and American wines (which are hard to find in Paris) so we picked up a few bottles of Hardy's and Gallo wines. At night, we went to Potsdamer platz (which was where Hitler's bunker was located), Saw pieces of the Berlin wall, Brandenburg gate (picture), the Holocost Memorial (picture), Reichstag (picture), and Federal Chancellery. For dinner we ate chinese food at the mall across from Sony Center and picked up some bagels for breakfast.
On Sunday, we went to see the Faberge Egg exhibit at Schloss Charlottenburg (picture). The collection of eggs was surprisingly interesting and, of course, very beautiful (picture). After visiting Schloss Chlottenburg, we headed over to the Technikmuseum. On the way, we stopped and ate sushi at stand in Zoogarden. The Technikmuseum (picture) was one of the most interesting museums I've ever visited. The organization of computers, trains, airplanes and various other inventions over the past two centuries is excellent. My favorites parts of the museum are its collection of old computers (picture), trains (pictures) and planes (picture). Located here are some of the only Nazi artifacts in the city. After spending a few hours at the museum, we headed over to Potsdamer Platz once again for dinner at Tony Romas, after which we explored Sony center a little further.
Monday was our busiest day. We took bus 100 from Zoogarden to Reichstag through Tiergarten. Enroute, we saw the Victory Column (Siegessaule) and Schloss Bellevue (President's home). We began our walk of East Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate (picture) and walked along Unter Den Linden (East Germany's main boulevard) through Pariser Platz, Babelplatz, past Humboldt University (where Einstein taught - picture), St. Hedwigs Church (picture), Berliner Dom (picture), and on to Alexanderplatz. Along the way, we went into an old ghost subway station which was unused during the cold war (West German trains looped through East Germany, through these stations - but didn't stop). For lunch, we went to Gendarmenmarkt (picture) and had sushi at the nearby Sushi Circle restaurant. Believe it or not, this only made up the first half of our day. After visiting this main area of East Germany, we took the U-Bahn to Potsdamer Platz and had iced tea and iced coffee at Alex restaurant at Sony center. Following our little break, we then headed over to the Berlin wall and The Topography of terror (picture), which is an open air museum located on the grounds of the former SS. After a captivating visit to the Topography of terror explaining the crimes of the Nazis during WWII, we walked over to Checkpoint Charlie (picture) and had donairs for dinner (Berlin is known for it's excellent Turkish food). We then visited the Museum of the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie which describes many of the escapes over/under/through the wall during the cold war. Described at this museum is the famous hot air balloon escape in addition to numerous other creative escapes. After a couple of hours at the museum at Checkpoint Charlie, we headed over to the Reichstag (our last site of the day - picture). We expected that our late visit to the Reichstag would result in little or no line. Unfortunately, we had to wait in line for 1 hour until 9:30pm to get in and see the famous glass dome (picture).
On Tuesday, our last day in Berlin, we had just enough time to see the Pergamon museum before catching our flight to Paris. The Pergamon musuem has an incredible collection of Eastern artifacts, including the Pergamon Alter (picture), Market Gate from Miletus, and the Ishtar Gate from Babylon (600BC - picture).
All in all, Berlin was one of my favorite cities. Even though we saw many sights, there are still many others that we didn't get a chance to visit: a concentration camp, world-famous zoo, art gallery, and the Egyptian museum. The food in Berlin was very good, and the prices reasonable with a great selection of shops, arcades, malls and restaurants throughout the city.
