The home of much conflict during the mid-20th century and the capital of Germany, Berlin offers a lot of modern history and wonderful monuments that honor such history. We got into Berlin around 4:30 in the morning due to the overnight train, which was definitely not the most comfortable trip in the world. Luckily, our hostel had 24 hour reception where we could "check in," but not necessarily go into our rooms just yet. We slept a bit in the common room, was able to freshen up, and walk around the city until we could actually check in to our room. Yay for Sandeman New Tours (yes, I'm obsessed) because they had a free walking tour around the city of Berlin. Actually, Berlin is the first city we've seen where they've offered way more paid tours about the Third Reich, Red Berlin, the Prussian era, as well as a day trip to Sachsenhausen, one of the concentration camps outside the city. I wish we had done one of the extra tours as well, but we decided to just do the walking one. Our guide Linsey brought us to some of the most interesting sites, such as Brandenburg Gate, Hitler's bunker where he committed suicide, Checkpoint Charlie (the American gate of the Berlin Wall), and some of the remaining segments of the Berlin Wall. The most interesting site that we visited was the Holocaust Memorial, a few rows of concrete pillars that is open to interpretation by the public. It was a haunting memorial that is located pretty much in the center of the city. We ended up going back to the hostel, officially checking in, then headed back out to see the Bedenkstate Berliner Mauer memorial to the Berlin Wall. Here, a large portion of the Berlin Wall, that fell in 1989, remains. It was relatively peaceful there, which is ironic because the Berlin Wall era was violent and scary. In the center of the park stood photos of the men, women, and children that lost their lives in the "Death Zone" between the walls. The youngest one we saw was just 2 years old.
The next day, Corinne and I decided to walk more around the city. Again, trying to figure out trams and subways in different languages is kind of intimidating. We don't mind the exercise, but we've noticed we need to drink way more water since we're walking around these large cities. We walked down to visit the Jewish Museum, a must-see whilst visiting Berlin (thank you, Sean!). We expected to maybe spend about 2.5 hours in the museum... Nope! 4.5 hours later, we were done with the museum. The thing that I loved about this museum was that it wasn't solely about the Jews and how they were persecuted against by the Nazis. Granted, there was a good amount of information about how the Jews have been blamed for many things throughout all of history and how they are constantly being persecuted against. There was a lot of info, though, about the daily life of the Jewish religion, food, marriage, family life, and famous Jewish poets, authors, philosophers, etc. Of course, it displayed photos and footage from the Nazi era. Some of the most disturbing artifacts were possessions that belonged to those who were brought to concentration camps and killed. Some of these included the yellow star declaring they were a Jew, photographs, a sewing machine, and a tiny statuette that belonged to a Jewish family. It was a long 4.5 hours, but it was eye-opening and definitely worth the hike down. We strolled along the river to see Museum Island, which contains about 5 large museums that are home to ancient artifacts and other such items. We decided not to go into any of the museums, but had a lovely dinner and beer along the river. Our train to Warsaw was at 6:30 the next morning, so we decided to call it a night and get some sleep.
I enjoyed my time in Berlin, but I wasn't in complete awe of it. It's a city that is still trying to regain itself after so much conflict in the 20th century, and I completely respect that. They are trying to recapture their identity as a city, reclaiming their history and heritage, and trying to catch up with the times. I didn't feel captivated by the buildings (not that I have to in every city), and it kind of just felt like a city I would find in the states. The one difference is that German completely surrounds you. I guess Berlin has quite a nightlife, but we didn't really go out at all. Berlin would be a city that I would visit again, but dedicate a little more time to maybe some of the nightlife as well as museums.
Oh! We did find a Dunkin Donuts, believe it or not. We popped our heads in to maybe see if they had pumpkin coffee, but to our dismay, they did not. :(
The next day, Corinne and I decided to walk more around the city. Again, trying to figure out trams and subways in different languages is kind of intimidating. We don't mind the exercise, but we've noticed we need to drink way more water since we're walking around these large cities. We walked down to visit the Jewish Museum, a must-see whilst visiting Berlin (thank you, Sean!). We expected to maybe spend about 2.5 hours in the museum... Nope! 4.5 hours later, we were done with the museum. The thing that I loved about this museum was that it wasn't solely about the Jews and how they were persecuted against by the Nazis. Granted, there was a good amount of information about how the Jews have been blamed for many things throughout all of history and how they are constantly being persecuted against. There was a lot of info, though, about the daily life of the Jewish religion, food, marriage, family life, and famous Jewish poets, authors, philosophers, etc. Of course, it displayed photos and footage from the Nazi era. Some of the most disturbing artifacts were possessions that belonged to those who were brought to concentration camps and killed. Some of these included the yellow star declaring they were a Jew, photographs, a sewing machine, and a tiny statuette that belonged to a Jewish family. It was a long 4.5 hours, but it was eye-opening and definitely worth the hike down. We strolled along the river to see Museum Island, which contains about 5 large museums that are home to ancient artifacts and other such items. We decided not to go into any of the museums, but had a lovely dinner and beer along the river. Our train to Warsaw was at 6:30 the next morning, so we decided to call it a night and get some sleep.
I enjoyed my time in Berlin, but I wasn't in complete awe of it. It's a city that is still trying to regain itself after so much conflict in the 20th century, and I completely respect that. They are trying to recapture their identity as a city, reclaiming their history and heritage, and trying to catch up with the times. I didn't feel captivated by the buildings (not that I have to in every city), and it kind of just felt like a city I would find in the states. The one difference is that German completely surrounds you. I guess Berlin has quite a nightlife, but we didn't really go out at all. Berlin would be a city that I would visit again, but dedicate a little more time to maybe some of the nightlife as well as museums.
Oh! We did find a Dunkin Donuts, believe it or not. We popped our heads in to maybe see if they had pumpkin coffee, but to our dismay, they did not. :(