So I absolutely loved Berlin. Maybe it was because I had an awesome tour guide/translator or maybe because I was happy to be done with the stress of Dublin, but whatever it was I really enjoyed myself and would not mind coming back at all ;)
The first evening we were there was pretty much a waste since we had to get from the airport outside of the southern side of town to Stephan's parents' place which is in the north-east district of Pankow. We took the scenic route using the S-Bahn (surface trains) so I could see some of the city on the way there. We made a pit stop at Alexanderplatz for authentic bratwurst and a leg stretch. I met his parents and his younger brother Martin as well as some of his neighbors. Most of them only speak a little bit of English so I was really happy to have him around even though everyone was really nice and welcoming. After some of his mom's homemade goulash, we recounted our adventures on the Emerald Isle, complete with pictures, and presented the Zimmers with my housewarming gift- a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey.
The next morning was spent having a typical German "weekend" breakfast- crusty warm rolls with butter, and nutella, jam, cheese, cold cuts, sausage, liverwurst, smoked salmon, or other spreads with fruit, yogurt, coffee, and hard-boiled eggs with kaviar cream. Then my tour of Berlin really began. First we took the tram into the shopping part of Pankow and walked along the street until we came to the best place for currywurst in Berlin. We hoped on the U-Bahn (metro) back to Alexandarplatz to see the World Clock, the Berlin TV Tower, and start the walking tour. Our first stop was Berliner Dom, a giant "cathedral" built during imperial times at the turn of the 20th century. Below the Dom is a crypt holding the tombs of the great German emperors and their families. Then we took the stairs to the top of the Dom where you can get a 360 degree view of Berlin. Down the street from the Berliner Dom we visited the main part of Humboldt University's campus, Stephan's alma matter as well as that of many famous scientists including Einstein. Since I had given Stephan a Purdue t-shirt, we though it was only fair that I got a Humboldt t-shirt. Then we got on a local traffic bus that's a double-decker and takes you past a lot of the famous sites in the middle of Berlin. We got off at the Reichstag, the parliament building, and walked over to Brandenberger Tor. They had these horse-drawn carriages and I was telling Stephan about how couples ride in them around the Circle in Indianapolis. Next thing I know, we are on a carriage ride :) I saw several embassies including the US and Russia (which is the largest one in Berlin and built on real Russian soil imported from the motherland) on the tour. We got back on the bus which took us past the statue of Victoria (Winged Victory, where Obama had his speech) to West Berlin but we were tired at this point and didn't stay for too long.
The next day was Good Friday and a public holiday in Germany so we went with Stephan's whole family (his parents, Martin and Jean [Martin's girlfriend], and Mattias [his older brother]'s family) to Tier Park, the zoo in East Berlin, for a picnic and fun day. After the park closed, Martin drove Stephan and I to the East Side Gallery, the last remaining section of the Berlin Wall for me to see. Then we went over to Mattias' apartment for "Easter" dinner with the family and searching for Easter goodies :) Both Martin and Mattias gave us lots of chocolate. Unfortunately that night Stephan got sick with a fever so we had to call it an early night and I got to play nurse.
Luckily he was feeling much better the next day! We went back into town and took a lovely 2 1/2 hour boat cruise tour of Berlin along the River Spree. On the boat I tried Red Berliner Weisse, a local weiss/wheat beer with flavored syrup. After the cruise we stopped for a döner kebab, Turkish fast food that is really only made right in Berlin and is so so good! We wanted to go to the TV tower but there was a 2 hour wait to go up so we decided to go home and do laundry instead and come back later. We went back in the evening and got our ticket for 2 hours later to go up into the tower and while we waited we had a nice dinner at a nearby Berliner microbrewery where we did a beer probe to sample four of their house brews and I had real schnitzel (which is actually Austrian). Finally we were able to go up in the tower and we managed to get the last table available in the café which rotates around the tower giving you a full view of Berlin every 30 minutes. We ordered a delicious passionfruit and coconut sundae for desert and watched the night skyline. It was late by the time we got home and we had to get up early (5am!) for our flight to Milan...phheww.
The first evening we were there was pretty much a waste since we had to get from the airport outside of the southern side of town to Stephan's parents' place which is in the north-east district of Pankow. We took the scenic route using the S-Bahn (surface trains) so I could see some of the city on the way there. We made a pit stop at Alexanderplatz for authentic bratwurst and a leg stretch. I met his parents and his younger brother Martin as well as some of his neighbors. Most of them only speak a little bit of English so I was really happy to have him around even though everyone was really nice and welcoming. After some of his mom's homemade goulash, we recounted our adventures on the Emerald Isle, complete with pictures, and presented the Zimmers with my housewarming gift- a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey.
The next morning was spent having a typical German "weekend" breakfast- crusty warm rolls with butter, and nutella, jam, cheese, cold cuts, sausage, liverwurst, smoked salmon, or other spreads with fruit, yogurt, coffee, and hard-boiled eggs with kaviar cream. Then my tour of Berlin really began. First we took the tram into the shopping part of Pankow and walked along the street until we came to the best place for currywurst in Berlin. We hoped on the U-Bahn (metro) back to Alexandarplatz to see the World Clock, the Berlin TV Tower, and start the walking tour. Our first stop was Berliner Dom, a giant "cathedral" built during imperial times at the turn of the 20th century. Below the Dom is a crypt holding the tombs of the great German emperors and their families. Then we took the stairs to the top of the Dom where you can get a 360 degree view of Berlin. Down the street from the Berliner Dom we visited the main part of Humboldt University's campus, Stephan's alma matter as well as that of many famous scientists including Einstein. Since I had given Stephan a Purdue t-shirt, we though it was only fair that I got a Humboldt t-shirt. Then we got on a local traffic bus that's a double-decker and takes you past a lot of the famous sites in the middle of Berlin. We got off at the Reichstag, the parliament building, and walked over to Brandenberger Tor. They had these horse-drawn carriages and I was telling Stephan about how couples ride in them around the Circle in Indianapolis. Next thing I know, we are on a carriage ride :) I saw several embassies including the US and Russia (which is the largest one in Berlin and built on real Russian soil imported from the motherland) on the tour. We got back on the bus which took us past the statue of Victoria (Winged Victory, where Obama had his speech) to West Berlin but we were tired at this point and didn't stay for too long.
The next day was Good Friday and a public holiday in Germany so we went with Stephan's whole family (his parents, Martin and Jean [Martin's girlfriend], and Mattias [his older brother]'s family) to Tier Park, the zoo in East Berlin, for a picnic and fun day. After the park closed, Martin drove Stephan and I to the East Side Gallery, the last remaining section of the Berlin Wall for me to see. Then we went over to Mattias' apartment for "Easter" dinner with the family and searching for Easter goodies :) Both Martin and Mattias gave us lots of chocolate. Unfortunately that night Stephan got sick with a fever so we had to call it an early night and I got to play nurse.
Luckily he was feeling much better the next day! We went back into town and took a lovely 2 1/2 hour boat cruise tour of Berlin along the River Spree. On the boat I tried Red Berliner Weisse, a local weiss/wheat beer with flavored syrup. After the cruise we stopped for a döner kebab, Turkish fast food that is really only made right in Berlin and is so so good! We wanted to go to the TV tower but there was a 2 hour wait to go up so we decided to go home and do laundry instead and come back later. We went back in the evening and got our ticket for 2 hours later to go up into the tower and while we waited we had a nice dinner at a nearby Berliner microbrewery where we did a beer probe to sample four of their house brews and I had real schnitzel (which is actually Austrian). Finally we were able to go up in the tower and we managed to get the last table available in the café which rotates around the tower giving you a full view of Berlin every 30 minutes. We ordered a delicious passionfruit and coconut sundae for desert and watched the night skyline. It was late by the time we got home and we had to get up early (5am!) for our flight to Milan...phheww.
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