Day 1 – Remember that feeling you used to get as a kid when you were getting on a plane? The excitement of being in the air was more of a thrill than actually getting to wherever it was you were going.
Maybe it’s just because I’m older, but I f*****g hate the thought of it, and was thankful that the journey from Manchester to Berlin wasn’t a long one to endure.
We arrived on a very cloudy day, mild temperature, which suited us just perfect. We dropped the bags off at our hostel and went straight out, even though most of the day had already passed.
First thing that struck me was how quiet it all seemed. Were we in the right place? This is supposed to be a big city, right?
We found ourselves near the Bode Museum (which was closed), and followed the river along to the Berlin Cathedral.
What a majestic site it is. Seriously it’s beautiful. Even the construction work around the area couldn’t help but flatter this astonishing piece of architecture.
After a brief stop (and many photos), we backtracked and headed for the Reichstag. Still nobody seemed to be around, meaning we were left to take on these attractions for ourselves!
The rest of the evening consisted of simply wandering the streets near to our accommodation, although that was partly down to the fact we were dreading going back to meet our roomies.
A quick supermarket stop, and we were back. Only one evening in and I was hungry for more. Berlin seems very promising indeed.
Day 2 – Now, don’t get me wrong, our hostel is very nice, it’s clean and tidy. But believe me there is nothing worse than being woken up by your noisy roommates at 6 in the bloody morning. No no. Not for me.
Alas, onto exploring.
You can’t come to Berlin and not see the Berlin Wall (although maybe that’s because there’s fragments of it everywhere around the city). I won’t give you a history lesson on the whole charade, but it did make me think, in Britain, we talk about the Germans as these strong, industrial, and good people, yet for the most of the 20th century, they were an enemy to everyone (including themselves) for a good part of 80 years.
Yet now they have this very well respected reputation, despite the fact just 7 years before I was born, the Wall separating East and Western Germany, was still up and dividing friends and families.
It was eye opening stuff, although the vast emptiness of no mans land that is still in place (for historical purpose) is quite haunting.
For the rest of the day we went up two very significant towers in Berlin. First, the Großer Stern, which lies on the road to the Brandenburg Gate, and later the TV Tower, which you can literally see from anywhere in the city. We thought the magnificent place was incrsvlie from the ground, but from up high, wow.
An exhausting day had done us in, so we headed back home to be greeted by some new roommates. Well, I say greeted, barely a word was shared…fine by us, I’m off to bed!
Day 3 – our last day here mainly consisted of museum tours, so instead I’ll just give you a summary of Berlin.
If you get the chance, I urge you to visit. For me it’s a place like no other. The locals blend in with the tourists, to the point where you can’t tell them apart. The attractions have reasonably small crowds so you can take it all in for sure!
But most of all, it’s a city that isn’t ashamed of itself. It takes the good and the bad and creates for itself an astonishing charm. Graffiti for example, its scattered everywhere. I challenge you to walk two blocks without seeing any. Yet it doesn’t bring the streets down. Graffiti is just another way for the locals to express there culture.
I don’t doubt there was more to see, but we must move on to the next stop. All I can really say at this point is, thank you Berlin, from the bottom of my heart, never change.
