Berlin Trip (Part 1)

Ok, the Berlin trip as promised! Haha. I will not be explaining too much of the places, you can go there and experience it yourself! Or wiki it...

In the beginning... we didn't plan properly and we were unsure of prices and stuff... But anyway, we decided in the end to get a package from this agency and it included to-and-fro tickets, 2 nights stay at a 4-star hotel + breakfasts. If we had planned earlier it would've been cheaper... however we were so intent to go. So, yar...

Day 1

On the overnight train. Long ride. Thank goodness I had my mp3 player and snacks!

Ok, we took the night train from Munich Hauptbahnhof on 9. Oct and arrived at Berlin early next morning. Berlin was colder than Munich!!! We bought our daily group pass for public transport and then went to the hotel to leave our bags there (couldn't check in yet). We still had time before our planned itinerary so we went basically just went to the main town to walk around. Walked down "Unten den Linden". An interesting name for a street... it means "under the linden trees", or even more interesting in Chinese, 菩提树下. Then we saw the famous Berlin/Germany symbol: Brandenburger Tor. Took some photos...

I guess I look a bit out of place. Haha. "US soldier" on the left and "Russian soldier" on the right.

I think we just loitered around the area for sometime before we went to the meeting place for the "New Berlin Free Bike Tour" at Postfuhramt on Oranienburgerstraße. There were already a few people waiting there. Our guide, Nikolai, came soon. He was born Bulgarian but emigrated to the US with his parents and now stays kinda permanently in Berlin I guess. We went to get our bikes and paid a deposit (€15) as well as surrender some form of identification.

Postfuhramt on Oranienburgerstraße

Our bicycles for 3 hours

Our first stop was near a Jewish Synagogue that was rebuilt after WWII. We learnt afterwards that many "old, historic"buildings in Berlin were rebuilt models. We had to cycle on many main streets and other terrains and Enrique wasn't comfortable with it so he left the group at this time.

Jewish synagogue. First time I saw something related to the Jewish faith.

We then went on to Museums Insel (Museum Island), Gendarmenmarkt (the tour guide said there was a scene here in "Run Lola Run") and also a place where the Nazis burned books (didn't know this happened. So 秦始皇 Qin Shihuang was not the only one. Apparently book-burning has happened in many places before). We then visited the infamous Berlin Wall, but it was rather a disappointment coz I was expecting bright graffiti and a thick wall but it wasn't so. Nearby was a large building that was built either during the Nazi times or East Germany times (forgot le, have to ask Bernard!).

Berliner Dom. Some crazy king wanted to build it to compete with other famous church buildings.

intact Berlin Wall remaining

We then went to the apartments that were built for the famous or high-ranking people during the East Germany period. Nearby were the bunkers that we used by the Nazis and also where Adolf Hitler committed suicide. Unfortunately it is out of bounds to tourists. Also nearby was the "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe" which basically just consist of many concrete slabs. We had our lunch at the shops nearby (wonder if this is an arrangement done on purpose. tourism mah).

At the Jewish Memorial. Guy on right is our guide.

We then went to Brandenburger Tor (2nd time for me) and Reichstag. The tour ended with our guide telling us more history at an empty open space. He told us a lot of info as well along the way of course, and we also got a lot of ideas and "insider tips" of what places were worth travelling. All in all, really enjoyed this trip and it's a nice introductory tour of the city and its history. We got our deposit and ID back and gave him tips (coz everyone gave and he said before that he wouldn't mind receiving them =P). Oh, and a huge huge thanks to Bernard who found out about this online!!!

I took this photo coz the building with the green roof is Hotel Adlon where Michael Jackson dangled his baby from a balcony.

Then we went back to our hotel to check-in. After dilly-dallying for some time we went to Sony Centre which is located at Potzdamer Platz. Potzdamer Platz is an interesting place because it became a hot spot for investment only after the Wall fell. Lots of modern buildings there. There was a Lego centre there but we found it too expensive (and it was closed). Bernard had also wanted to watch the "Blue Man Group" performance but we didn't watch it in the end.

Sony Centre. Potzdamer Platz has an ultramodern look.

Lego giraffe outside the Lego centre

Went back to the hotel then, watched some TV and slept.

(this blog entry might be editted again, as I've forgotten some info. Sorry!)

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Part 2 will ensue of course, but I'll be away for the next 4 days as I'll be in Prague. Ciao!