Berlin - A Review 1

Okay, I admit it: I haven’t been blogging for a long time – for two reasons: This has been a very long and busy winter and (maybe because winter was that long) I wasn’t really inspired to write anything for my blog. Now spring is finally arriving (in April...) and I was inspired to tell you something about a trip I went on some months ago. This first entry deals with the sights.

I spent New Year’s Eve 2012/2013 in Berlin. We were 6 people, stayed 3 nights and it was quite low priced if you keep in mind that this is a very popular travel season: We paid about 100 € for the flight (with Austrian Airlines) and 150€ (per person) for the three nights in the hotel (Ramada – Berlin Alexanderplatz), which was situated right at the Alexander Platz. Thanks to this perfect central position of the hotel, we were able to combine the three things we wanted to do in Berlin: sightseeing, party and shopping.

We started right after our arrival with a walk through the historical centre of the city, the Nikolaiviertel. Some houses here were built in the 13th century and you feel a bit like in little a town. On the opposite side of the Alexanderplatz, you cross the Berliner Dom and reach the Museumsinsel, an island were many museums are located. We only took a look at them from the outside. We continued with the Hackesche Höfe, 8 little connected courts of houses. I was really impressed by the first court, which is designed in the style of Art Nouveau. There are also some nice shops, like the Ampelmann-Shop, where you can buy souvenirs with the symbolic person shown in traffic lights that is typical for Berlin.

Nikolaiviertel - historical centre of Berlin

Off course, we also wanted to see some of the classical sights, so we took the underground to Brandenburger Tor next. We walked along the „Silverstermeile“, a party area for New Year’s Eve around the Brandenburger Tor, which one should avoid on 31st of December because it is very crowded here. We got to the Holocaust-monument next and continued with the museum „Topographie des Terrors“ (free entry!) and Checkpoint-Charlie in a quite historical manner. We finished our first day with a visit of the Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt, which is open until 31st of December. Even if there is no event you should absolutely visit this place because it is one of the most beautiful spots of Berlin.

Brandenburger Tor

On New Years Day, we took a brief look at Schloss Charlottenburg. If the weather is fine, one can also stay longer because the streets and parks of Charlottenburg are very nice. In the evening, we went to the Reichstag to see the amazing dome of the government building. Since we ordered the tickets in advance, we didn’t have to wait as long as usual. You definitely have to see this if you are in Berlin!

"Goldelse" or "Siegessäule", another sight we only walked by

Before we started our shopping-tour on the last day, we took a walk along Spreeallee and got to the house of the Nordic embassies, where we had a guided tour. Even if you aren’t connected to Scandinavia at all, this is definitely worth a visit because of the interesting architecture.

For me, Berlin is a coulourful, modern and impressive city with incredibly many interesting sights!