Saturday

48 hours in Berlin

I started learning German in 2001 and I've wanted to visit Germany ever since. Although I strongly considered continuing with the language at A level, I decided against it and, as such, can now confidently talk all about my work experience (Letzten Juni, habe ich mein Arbeitspraktikum in eine Schule gemacht) but can't really hold a useful conversation. Nevertheless, I've held on to the dream of one day visiting Germany and last week, as a surprise for our first anniversary, Rich whisked me off for a mini-break to Berlin. 
German flags flying
First impression of Berlin? It was hot. Like, really hot. 36 degrees hot. How is that even possible in a north/west European country? For any non-UK readers, let me give you some context: It barely exceeds 22 degrees in my hometown during summer. It's a shame it was so hot as it did somewhat limit what we could do, and we had to have regular stops in bars and cafes to cool down, so we didn't get to see as much of the city as I would have liked. Nevertheless, we had a great little stay.
Tourist map of Berlin
The first thing we did was head over to the Brandenburg Gate before walking the short distance to the Reichstag and having a rest in the neighbouring park. 
Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
Berlin Street Sign
Reichstag motto Dem Deutschen Volke
Tourist at the Brandenburg Gate
Hat on a tree branch
Between the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag is a restaurant called Hopfingerbräu im Palais, which has a cool, shady courtyard out the back where we stopped off for some currywurst.
Currywurst and chips
German bier beer mat
Berlin Road Signs
By now it was getting fairly late so we headed back to the hotel, but stopped off at the Holocaust Memorial on the way.
Holocaust Mahnmal Berlin
View of Brandenburg Gate from Holocaust Memorial
The next day, which was equally as hot, we decided to start the day inside at the Natural History Museum, figuring it would be air-conditioned and we could take as many cafe breaks as possible. Unfortunately, there was no air-con and the only cafe was at the front of the museum, back out past the exit, so we didn't spend as long as we planned in there but it was still interesting, especially the taxidermy, skeletons and, my favourite part, the potted specimens!
Berlin Museum fur Naturkunde
Specimen pots at Berlin Natural History Museum
Pickled eels at Berlin National History Museum
Preserved hammerhead shark
Kentrosaurus skeleton Berlin
Bao Bao the Giant Panda
After leaving the museum, we stopped off at a coffee shop called Balzac, where we had the most delicious muffins and milkshakes, to make plans for the rest of our day. 
Milkshakes at Balzac Berlin
Street Art in Berlin
Upon discovering we were close to a stretch of the Berlin Wall, we walked towards it and discovered a stretch of grass with memorials to those killed attempting to cross to the west.
Windows of Remembrance at Berlin Wall
Klaus Kratzel Memorial
View of Berlin Wall from below
Berlin Wall at Baustrasse
Rusty supports at Berlin Wall
Gartenstrasse mural
Bright colours at the Berlin Wall
This stretch of wall was near Nordbahnhoff, a railway station right next to the wall with a deep history. It was built in 1842, but as it fell within the east of the city, and was therefore under Soviet control, it ceased operation after World War II. All entrances were sealed off as they could allow escapees to walk through the tunnels under the wall into West Berlin, and to deter attempts, all references to the station were completely removed, with the old entrances disguised. It reopened in 1992, and the old entrance hall was restored in 2006. 
S-Bahn carriage interior
While we're on the topic of the railway system, I was really impressed with how easy it was to use. A whole-day ticket to use on both the S-Bahn and U-Bahn was just 7 euros and the whole network was simple to understand. For our final evening, we ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe which is completely against anything I would usually do on holiday (I'm an absorb-myself-in-local-culture kinda girl) but it was right next door to the huge Christmas shop I wanted to visit, which sold the most gorgeous decorations as well as affordable German-made cuckoo clocks (I really wanted one but we were on a tight budget so bought a cuckoo clock magnet instead!). In their defense, the Hard Rock Cafe does sell a local burger, which is different in all cities. In Berlin, it was a bratwurst so still German enough for me! And we got to sit underneath a belt Elvis wore in 1970 and one of his handwritten letters, which was very exciting for me!  
Hotel at Brandenburg Gate
Despite the heat (are you getting that I really hate hot weather yet?), I had a great time! That wasn't the end of our travels, though, as we headed back to the airport and hopped on a plane to Paris! 


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23 comments :

  1. I'm so glad you had a good time in Berlin, it's such a cool place. I assume you've seen The Lives of Others? If not I highly recommend you do to round off your recent German experience, it's one hell of a film.

    xxx
    Nina from little nomad

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  2. Berlin is one of those places that I've just never got round to visiting, despite it being such a culture hub! Looks like you had a lovely time, and the weather was amazing! x

    Martha Jane | www.marthajanemusic.com

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  3. Those milkshakes look amazing! My half sister lives in Germany so I'm hoping I can visit soon, the places you visited look really interesting :)

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  4. Berlin looks so amazing. I've wanted to visit it for sooo long!! I'm so glad you had such a lovely time! P.s now I really want a milkshake..

    Lust For Beauty

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  5. Hey lovely!
    Great post, I didn't know you learned German ;) The pics look great, you did a lot in these two days!!! xx

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  6. Oooh I really want to visit Berlin - and all these photos are making me want to go even more! Sounds like you had a really lovely time, even with the heat! Super craving a milkshake now...

    Fii | little miss fii

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  7. I've never been to Berlin, but it's on my travel bucket list! One of my friends from University lived in Germany for a year as part of his course, and it sounds like such an interesting country. x

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  8. Your photos are gorgeous, especially the close up of the shark specimens. I've never been to Germany, but I would love to go one day; your post makes me want to go even more! :)

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  9. Im so jealous! I learnt a bit of German at school and even more jealous because my Hubby has been to Berlin

    Charlotte
    www.discoveringcharlotte.co.uk

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  10. Berlin is amazing, I loved it very much when I visited! I also did a post about my trip but it's nowhere near as good as yours: your photos are gorgeous! I practically visited the same spots!

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  11. Aw your photos are lovely! I went to Berlin for the first time in March and would love to go back. It's such a crazy, eclectic city with so much to do. My parents just got back from Germany and said it was BOILING, so I'm sure they can feel your (sweaty) pain :(

    alittlesoapbox.com

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  12. Ich mag Berlin! Ich würde züruckfahren, da ich den Stadt vermisse! (German nerd over here). Glad you had a great time, how lovely a surprise and happy anniversary! That memorial near Gartenstraße was one I visited and it was very humbling x

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  13. I love Berlin; it's such a fascinating city which doesn't shy away from its history. I really felt like I learnt alot when I stayed there and found it to be a great city to wander round and explore.

    The Natural History Museum looks morbidly fascinating!

    www.jessicainyourear.com

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  14. I live in Berlin and you are right, the weather is crazy at the moment. We get temperatures like this every summer and after four years, I still can't handle them It is a great city though and you will definitely have to come back and see what else it has to offer.

    https://joyfullantidotes.wordpress.com/

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  15. Your photos are so lovely - you've really captured the city. I was in Berlin for a couple of days in June and I'd like to go back and explore some more. I feel like there is so much there to do and see that it's hard to do it all in just one trip.

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  16. POTTED SPECIMENS! How eerie, but fascinating.

    Looks like a very interesting place, lots of history to see.

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  17. I so understand what you mean by hot. We spent a week in Rome this month and I feel like I was very close to a heatstroke, seriously. Headaches all day long, no shade to protect ourselves, walking was so hard because of the lack of energy, dizziness, etc. I feel like it really kept us from experiencing the city as we had originally planned, we had to hide away at our hotel's AC during the afternoons because we couldn't cope with the heat. Beautiful city but I wouldn't do it again and I don't recommend anyone going to Rome in the summer.

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  18. I loved reading this - I think Berlin is my favourite city and the history is just so fascinating! I lived in Germany a few years ago and it gets SO hot in the summer. I couldn't cope at all. I think I preferred it in winter when it was -20 every day!

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  19. I studied abroad in Berlin and this brings back great memories! Looks like you did all the right things during your trip. How did you like the currywurst?

    -Nicole
    Meet Me in Midtown

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  20. What a great surprise! I'd love to visit Berlin. Sounds like you had a lovely time (despite the heat!)

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  21. I remember you saying during a Twitter chat that you'd love to go here and I'm so happy for you that you have!! It's an amazing city isn't it? I've just got back from a week there and scrolling through all the snaps on this post has given me Berlin Blues *sob sob* wasn't the potted specimen room amazing!! I'd never seen anything like it!

    Glad you had a lovely time,

    Tasha xxx
    thebeautycovet.blogspot.co.uk

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  22. Aw Berlin is one my favourite cities! (Maybe even my favourite one)
    Haven't been there for three years now though :( I hope I can go in September! Your pictures make me want to go right now haha
    And you have chosen the hottest summer ever to go to Germany haha, we had some crazy heat waves over here and I'm kinda afraid that it's not over yet D: can't cope with heat either :D
    xx Conney

    Teatymestories.blogspot.com

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  23. I am so jealous of your trip. Looks like you saw so much :)
    I'm not jealous of the potted specimens or taxidermy though - eeee! You can keep that.

    Dannie x

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