Berlin - Between Past and Future

We landed at the Schönefeld Airport. The first thing we did was look for a ticket stand where we picked up our prepaid Berlin Welcome Cards for public transport. The card includes unlimited travel for zones ABC (the Airport is in the C zone and all the attractions in A zone), as well as train connecting the capital to Potsdam, which we visited on our trip. We used the cards to get a discount in museums. Purchasing the card turned out to be a very wise choice. We took the train to Alexanderplatz and had our first cup of coffee on Berlin soil – the holidays officially started.

It quickly became clear that the city was really big. Even though we found our way around the city after a few days, we mostly used public transport and therefore saved time and energy. We stayed at Youth Hostel International on Kluckstraße, adjacent to the Kurfürstenstraße U-Bahn station, which means the hostel has a good public transport connection. It’s a beautiful, modern, safe and quiet hostel, and the rooms are spacious and clean. It had everything we needed after a full day of exploring the city. There was a self-service breakfast with a wide choice of breakfast items. We also got a welcome-drink voucher. You can read more about the hostel here.

Our exploration of Berlin included learning about the city’s history, visiting the Christmas market, awakening the child in us, doing some unconventional sightseeing, having a completely random encounter with the locals and going on a day trip to Potsdam.

One’s blood still runs cold at the thought of Berlin’s sordid past. We felt this deeply at the Holocaust Memorial (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe), among 2,711 concrete, grey slabs of various sizes, together comprising 19,000 m2. Arranged in a grid pattern and on a sloping field, they give off an uncomfortable feeling of grimness and entrapment. This is definitely a city where ominous feelings of World War II really cut through your soul. We headed to the Brandenburg Gate, a wonderful neoclassical triumphal arch. Huge masses of tourists swarmed here during the day, and at night, the arch was lit by colourful lights and a street artist was singing Sheeran’s Perfect over and over with his velvety voice and played its tune on his guitar. Simply divine! We then headed towards Under den Linden, a boulevard lined with linden or lime trees. It used to run to the Berlin Palace, residence of the kings of Prussia. During the Christmas season the trees are illuminated by blue lights, guiding tourists towards one of the biggest Protestant churches in Germany and the largest cathedral in Berlin (Berliner Dom). We got the most beautiful view of the cathedral from its front (where the mighty and astonishing dome makes its grand appearance) and from the other side of the River Spree, where it’s overlooked by four bronze sculptures (Drei Mädchen und ein Knabe). The part between the church and the River Spree is called Museum Island (Museum Insel) and most of Berlin museums are found there (Bode Museum, Pergamonmuseum, Neues Museum in Alte Nationalgalerie). No wonder this part of the island came to be known as “Berlin’s Louvre”. Even though we didn’t visit the museums, we were fascinated by the buildings and the well-cared-for park by the river.

Looking towards Berliner Dom, you can see the famous television and observation tower (Fernsehturm) rising in the background (in Alexanderplatz). Due to thick fog, we couldn’t see the tower at all during our first day, not even the “first circle”, let alone higher up. Not even when standing right below. In the next few days, when the weather was nicer, the tower revealed its great height. With its 368 metres it is truly enormous. Another attraction in Alexanderplatz (and together with the tower also most often photographed) is the World Clock (Weltzeituhr).

There’s also a town hall adjacent to Alexanderplatz, which was named Rotes Rathaus after its red brick façade. The town hall itself wasn’t anything special and our eyes were more riveted to what was happening outside the building. Namely to one of the numerous Christmas fairy tales unfolding in front of the town hall. Wooden market stalls were offering ornaments and gifts, and a pleasant smell of mulled wine, sausages and sauerkraut wafted from many of them, while children were enjoying ice skating. We were tempted to try the merry-go-round. And so it was that we got to see the city from another perspective and realised that it was truly big in size. The festive lights really shone in all their beauty when it got dark.

Our greatest wish after deciding to pay Berlin a visit was to see the East Side Gallery – the world’s largest open-air gallery. It was located at the other end of the city but was really worth visiting. Only 1.3 kilometres of the wall remains where once stood a 150-kilometre concrete barrier that had been dividing the world into East and West for 28 years, splitting up many a friendly, family and romantic relationship. The remains of the Berlin Wall are now adorned with 105 graffiti of artists who mostly promote peace. Even the art of famous Banksy can be found among the graffiti of numerous artists from all over the world. The Wall had 8 border crossings (only for certain people), one of the most famous ones being Checkpoint Charlie that connected the American and Soviet sectors. There are still American soldiers marching in front of the border post and images of Russian soldiers are suspended from a pole. Both, the Wall and the Checkpoint, are worth a visit, especially to think about the not-too-distant past.

Potsdamer Platz is home to a large building of glass and steel, called Sony Center. This is the part of the city where high, modern structures and commercial buildings were erected side by side. Legoland, a huge children’s playground (where the youngest visitors can have fun), is located right next to Potsdamer Platz, and Spionagemuseum Berlin is right across the street. That’s where we spent an afternoon, forgetting that we were two grown-up tourists, and enjoyed the interactive museum. We dressed into spies, deciphered a secret code, “chased down” listening devices in a room and learned about espionage throughout history all the way through to the present. We really enjoyed it.

Since we practically spent the whole day in the city (from breakfast till late evening), we took a long coffee break in the early afternoon, warmed up a little, recharged our batteries and had something sweet to eat as well. That’s how Balzac Coffee became our regular stop. They serve good coffee and hot chocolate, as well as freshly baked cakes and muffins, and on top of all that the café has a cosy interior and a relaxed atmosphere.

A friend, who lives in Berlin, suggested that we should visit the Babylon cinema; they play free classic films a minute before midnight on Saturdays. We were really lucky because Charlie Chaplin was playing during our stay in Berlin. We bought the tickets online and picked them up just before the film started. Going to the cinema in Berlin is far more relaxed than in Slovenia – we bought some beer and popcorn before going in to enjoy an hour long black and white film, which made us laugh like crazy.

Even though Berlin is famous for its Bratwurst, I have to admit that it’s also home to so many excellent international restaurants that we opted for Asian and Italian cuisine instead, though we also ended up enjoying a burger every now and then. In pubs, you order your drink at the bar where you pay for it and then carry it away. You also have to pay a fee for the glass in most pubs, which you get back after returning the empty glass. The best pub for an evening beer, which is also popular among younger people, is definitely Mein Haus am See. It’s full of shelves laden with books and adorned with graffiti, while red lights create a cosy atmosphere at night.

We were amazed by Berlin. It’s a city where the past cuts right through your soul and a city where new future trends emerge. A city of culture, fashion and art. On the one hand a reflection of wonderful classic buildings and on the other hand, right down the street, a home to the most alternative scene there is. It’s a cosmopolitan city of millions of people and a city of freedom, yellow trams, delicious food and countless places that are worth visiting.