It is one of my life's ambitions to visit all the capital cities of Europe so I was thrilled when my parents said we could go to Berlin. Berlin is the Capital City of Germany and is located in the north-eastern part of the country.
We stayed in Berlin for four nights. That may not sound like a long time but we managed to cram an awful lot of exploring into our time there! I will go through which attractions we visited each day to give you an idea of how long it takes to see the main sights.
~ Day 1 ~
The majority of day one was travelling to Berlin. We flew with easyjet from Newcastle airport. It was late afternoon when we arrived at Schonefeld airport. It took us about an hour to get from the airport to our hotel (Marriott) which was in Berlin City's centre. After unpacking we went for a walk in the immediate area of our hotel. It was dark though so we didn't really go very far.
In the hotel reception area there were cabinets with merchandise for sale. One of these cabinets particularly caught my attention because it was filled with items decorated with green and red men wearing hats. They were from the pedestrian crossings but I wanted to discover their significance. Finally, towards the end of our holiday we found out that they are called Ampelmann. The Ampelmänn are the red and green traffic-light men from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) which, following reunification, have achieved cult status in Berlin.
~ Day 2 ~
We walked about 5 miles on out first full day (I measured it on my pedometer!) We started off by walking to the Sony Centre, which was just around the corner from our hotel.
This was one of the places that my dad knew he wanted to see before we even got to Berlin. The Sony Centre is located in Potsdamer Platz (the new centre of Berlin) and it houses apartments, offices, trade and catering businesses and a cinema with a film museum. We walked round and took some photos but we didn't really know what was there so we didn't go inside any of the buildings. We intended to go back and have another look round but we never really got the chance.
We went for a walk not really knowing where we were going but it wasn't long before we came across Brandenburger Tor (The Brandenburg Gate). The Brandenburger Tor is a former city gate and the symbol of Berlin. It was built between 1788 and 1791. In 1961, the gate was closed when the Berlin Wall was built. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the gate symbolised freedom and the unity of the city. It re-opened on 22 December 1989 when the West German Chancellor walked through to be greeted by the East German Prime Minister.
After walking through the gate (towards East) we found a French café which had lots of Peugeot items in downstairs. Working for a Peugeot dealership in England we were interested so we decided to take a look. There were lots of items (e.g. Salt and Pepper Mills and Saws) that I didn't know Peugeot made so I found this an interesting place to visit! There was a full size 601 (one of the first Peugeot's made) and also the 907 Concept Car. There was a shop where you could purchase Peugeot items such as small Salt and Pepper Mills and miniature cars.
We then went upstairs into the café and we had drinks and I had a delicious sandwich!
~ Day 3 ~
We went to the Berlin Dome (Berliner Dom) on day three. The Berliner Dom or Berlin Cathedral was built between 1894 and 1905 and is 75m tall. The cathedral was built after the split of the Protestant and Catholic Church, as the Protestant answer to the Catholic cathedral of St. Peters Basilica in Rome. Originally rising up to 97m, the dome was destroyed in the Second World War and only rebuilt in simplified form. The Cathedral was beautiful inside and we went up the Dome. It was a long, exhausting trip to the top but the view was amazing.
After visiting the Cathedral we walked to Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was a crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War. Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west, and - for the East Germans - a gateway to freedom.
Walking towards Checkpoint Charlie (towards the American Sector) there was photos and information about the Berlin Wall. There was also a museum about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall. We didn't go in here, as we didn't realise what it was. If I ever go back to Berlin I think it would somewhere I would visit.
Today, Checkpoint Charlie is a tourist attraction. When we were there, there was a man dressed as an American Soldier whom you could pay (70p) to get your photograph taken.
~ Day 4 ~
After a tiring three days we wanted to do something a bit less energy consuming so we got a taxi to the zoo. Zoologischer Garten Berlin is one of the biggest zoos in Germany and the one with the largest number of species of the world. It was a large zoo and we walked a lot. It was a very enjoyable experience as it was quite peaceful and the weather was also quite nice. It cost 11 Euros each to get into the zoo (approximately £7).
After visiting the zoo we headed to Kaufhaus des Westen (often abbreviated to KaDeWe) which is the largest department store in all of continental Europe. I had read about it before we went to Berlin and being a bit of a shopaholic it was a must see! The store has 7 floors (!), and I took (dragged is probably a more appropriate word!) my parents around them all! When I first went in I spotted some pink tights and having been looking for some for over a year in England I was very happy! KaDeWe was in my good books straight away! Being our penultimate day in Berlin I spent most of my remaining money. The store sells absolutely everything I could think of! We bought lots of presents from here. Some of which were delicious chocolates. (I bought some for me too!) Before we left we went to the café on the top floor. It was very bright and airy and we had a drink and some cake (Mmmmmm!). KaDeWe is quite expensive but I think some items were well worth the money.
Day 4 turned out to be just as tiring as the previous days but it was still very enjoyable! :-)
~ Day 5 ~
We flew home on day five but the flight was quite late and the hotel looked after our luggage so we had another day to explore.
Not far from our hotel was a Holocaust Memorial. It was opened in May 2005 after many disagreements over its design and outright opposition from many Germans, including some Jews. The memorial consists of 2,711 gunmetal grey reinforced concrete slabs. Each slab is positioned uniquely on a grid. It is the size of several football fields and lies in the heart of Berlin between the Brandenburg Gate and the site of Adolf Hitler's bunker.
Visitors can enter from all four sides, day or night, and wander on their own through the maze of stones, as though visiting a graveyard with nameless tombstones. Although it is like a maze there is no way you could get trapped inside because you can walked completely around each slab. Therefore you could go in one side and out another. The columns are sunk into the ground to various depths and at some places, they were higher than our heads. There were no set paths or signposts to guide us. The memorial was designed to deliberately disorient visitors by having all the stones tilted slightly and paths that are not level. I did feel quite disorientated and it was a very moving experience.
Some critics complained that the memorial is too visible and too painful a reminder for a people who had long confronted the Nazi past. Others said the monument should also commemorate the other 5 million European victims of the Nazis.
Just opposite our hotel there were parts of the Berlin wall standing on the pavement with information about the history of the Wall. We only discovered this on our last day. It was quite interesting to read more about the Wall and it also gave us an idea of the height of it. This part of the wall was located where the actual wall was 17 years ago.
We did some more shopping and went to the Peugeot café again (I wanted another lovely sandwich! lol) Shopping in Berlin was different to any other capital cities I've been to. The souvenirs were a bit different and I think they were unique to the city. Berlin is not as expensive as some of the capital cities I've been to, which was a pleasant surprise.
We travelled home on the Friday night after a very enjoyable week!
I loved Berlin! It is a city filled with character and atmosphere and it is somewhere I would like to visit again in the future. There was some building work going on near our hotel so I think it would be nice to back in a few years an see how it has changed.
The weather was nice considering it was October - we even took our coats off sometimes. It did get colder towards the end of the week so I think that we went at just the right time!
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed learning about my time in Berlin. I look forward to reading your comments. bluejules xx
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