StephCar

While spending a month in Cambridge England, we decided to leave the kids with my mom and spend a weekend in Berlin. We also had a short weekend trip to Dublin if you want to check out my trip report, here is the link:

http://tinyurl.com/eocyw

I am still working on my very long post on how much I love Cambridge, England. After spending three summers there the city holds a very special place in my heart. It will have to be completed when I have a few extra hours.

Anyway—this was my first trip back to Berlin since 1992. As I told my DH, if someone had plopped me down in the middle of Berlin and asked me to guess where I was I would not have said Berlin. It has changed so much---to put it mildly!!! It really blew my mind. That and I forgot how big it was—I think I read somewhere that Berlin is five times the size of Paris. After trying to walk a lot of the city I must say I believe it.

My DH selected our trip to Berlin because he wanted to see the Charlottenburg Palace (built in 1695), which was frequented by his favorite philosopher, Willem Gottfried Leibniz. (DH is a philosophy professor and hosted a study abroad trip of 23 college students in Cambridge—hence our ability to travel on the weekends.) I was thrilled with his choice, as a student backpacker in 1992 I remember being moved by Berlin and always wanted to go back.

We decided to stay at the Hotel Art-Hotel Charlottenburger Hof in the Charlottenburg area, since the palace was our primary area of interest. I made reservations about 2 months in advance. Well, that meant diddly-squat, I discovered. When we arrived we were told that someone had decided to stay longer so there was no room for us. (???) But we were told that they had made reservations for us at another hotel that was just across the train tracks (uh oh, read flag number one) and less than 4 blocks away. We said okay and politely left—shaking our heads in disbelief. Well, after walking under the train tracks things got much, much worse. We passed two, then a third, “Erotica Superstore.” And this was in a 3-block radius, mind you!!! Then we passed a nude dancing club—which is exactly what it was called. I don’t know if that meant you went there and got nude and danced or what, but my imagination of the streets at night was working overtime. Next thing you know, we are at our hotel. The area was a dump, and that is being kind. My poor DH was in shock at how “down and out” Berlin was. I kept telling him “THIS IS NOT BERLIN!” and I am not sure he believed me. When we got to the hotel we were told no room was available for a few hours. I chose NOT to leave our bags there for obvious reasons. I told my DH we were going to walk to the Zoo area and find something else. I mean, I knew there was something better out there and there was no way I was staying in the Berlin Ghetto!! For some reason, probably because we were alone and not with our kids we found the entire episode hilarious and could not stop laughing at our luck. I guess this means we were really on vacation and just enjoying the ride.

Things started to improve dramatically. After about 5 blocks the streets got cleaner and nicer. When we were close to the Zoo area I saw a huge, expensive Hotel Savoy and went in and asked for a recommendation of a B&B type hotel for around 100 Euros. After she laughed, she pointed me one block down the street to the Hotel Astoria. That is when our weekend in Berlin really took off, as this hotel was the most amazing hotel. The rooms were fabulous and the service was impeccable. They provided maps, suggestions, and the ability to purchase any bus or train day passes. I simply cannot say enough about this hotel---and it was literally three blocks from the center of the Zoo area. I posted the hotel link below. Ask for Arnold the concierge. He was unbelievable. The best part is that the hotel was only 85 Euros a night, 92 /night if you got breakfast—which was 5 Euros CHEAPER than the hotel in the slums. (?) Also, I highly recommend the buffet breakfast, it was one of the best I have ever had with a great selection of fresh cheeses and meats. A great way to start the day!

Hotel Astoria in Berlin
http://www.hotelastoria.de/index-e.html

Since we arrived early Arnold suggested we take the 100 and 200 bus loops to get acclimated to the city and get a great view of many of the attractions. Since we purchased the all day bus, metro and train passes at the airport we were all set!

Which leads me to a sidebar point…Berlin has to have one of the most amazing public transportation systems I have ever encountered. It is so easy to buy an all day pass (and cheap, less than 6 Euros/day) and you can hop on and off anywhere. The bus stops were so high tech too, you could see when your bus was coming down to the minute! I loved the ease of travel. I will say, however, we had a hard time figuring out the underground subway, which I hate to admit, as I pride myself on mastering any subway from Paris to NYC.

So…after taking our own little bus tour around the city, we decided to hop off at the Bundestag, which was formerly the Nazi headquarters during WWII (and was called the Reichstag.) Okay, so I had seen this building in 1992 and it was not in use. It looked totally different and new and shiny. Back then you could still see bullet holes on the wall from WWII. Now, it is totally changed with a huge glass dome and all these other buildings around it. I was in awe. There was a 45-minute line to enter and tour what is now the parliament for Germany but we decided not to wait. I am sure it was great but we had ants in our pants to see more of Berlin!

We walked to Brandenburg gate. Again, I was struck by how different everything looked in this area. There were so many new buildings. I remember when I last visited, just three years after the collapse of the wall, you could really tell a difference between East and West Berlin. Not so anymore. There are new buildings everywhere. It is such a modern city with historical elements intertwined. I can’t really explain it, but I found the juxtaposition between the past and the present fascinating.

DH wanted to learn more about the wall and so we decided to go to the Checkpoint Charlie museum. It was a bit of a walk but boy did we discover a lot on the way. The memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe was amazing. It was just huge. You didn’t really grasp how big it was until you walked in. We also saw two areas were parts of the wall were left standing and an outdoor exhibit on the Nuremburg trials following the war. Seeing all the WWII items made us very reflective, of course. As much as you think you know there is always more you discover that makes you wonder how mankind can be so destructive and horrible. In a way Berlin is a serious city that forces you to think about historical travesties.

The Checkpoint Charlie museum was disappointing, IMO. DH thought it was so so. It was expensive to visit, then crowded, small, and poorly organized. Don’t get me wrong, I am not sorry we went, but we were just a little disappointed.

Afterwards we headed to the Potsdamer Platz area. Outside of the Ritz there was a huge crowd gathering. Of course we had to find out why and it turns out they were waiting for Robbie Williams (the huge European rock star) to emerge. I guess he had a concert there that night. I haven't seen that many teenage girls screaming since my friends and I went to Def Leppard in 1989, lol.

Potsdamer Platz was happening and hip. And very new and shiny. I did not feel like I was in Germany but instead some modern place. It was interesting! Two seconds later a gigantic protest against America regarding Lebanon started coming up the street. They were chanting “George Bush is a murderer.” We ducked into the subway and tried to escape. Then we could not figure out the subway and decided to get out and catch a bus. As luck would have it, we exited on the other side of the street by accident and ended up in the very middle of the protest. Although we sort of laugh about it now I have to admit I was a little scared to be an American at this point in the trip. I don’t think they were violent but the anti-American sentiment was very strong.

Which leads me to another point I forgot to make…I love that not everyone spoke English in Berlin. It really made visiting feel like an adventure. I liked the strange signs, the strange foods and just feeling like an outsider. There were a lot of people from Poland and other eastern countries visiting as well. I know this because we often asked strangers to take our picture and half the time they were from Eastern Europe. It was cool.

I also loved the fact that Berlin was cheap! We ate and drank like kings there in comparison to Dublin and Cambridge. I think we spent about 100 Euros the entire weekend—although we may have charged a few meals.

We ate authentic German food and it was so fun. My DH and I shared a “curry-wurst” simply because we had to know what it was. I still don’t know exactly what it was but I will say it was yummy!!!! But we pretty much like curry anything.

So back to the report….after Potsdamer Platz we were tired and needed to refresh. We headed back to the hotel, showered and decided to go to dinner. We ended up at a café just off the expensive Zoo area sipping delicious German beers and discussing the complexities of Berlin, her history and legacy. Berlin really made us think about the world in a good way—I loved the vibe there, which I cannot really explain. After several pints of beer we ended up back in the Zoo area eating some Thai food that was pretty good. I think we fell asleep before our heads hit the pillow that night!

We got up early to tour the Charlottenburg palace. This was somewhat of a pilgrimage for my DH…he has been dying to see it ever since he started studying Leibniz. So much of the palace was destroyed in WWII and later rebuilt. The before and after pictures were just amazing. We paid for the full tour and all access to gardens etc. I really enjoyed it. It was strange to keep hearing that most of this or that was lost during the war, destroyed during the war, hit by the bombings, etc. But some things managed to be safely hidden and saved so there were some relics from the 17th century when the palace was built. And they have done a good job at least finding furnishings that existed during the same time period to keep it somewhat authentic. Also, the biggest surprise was seeing the portrait of Napoleon Crossing the Alps, by David. I nearly died when I saw it, it is a very famous painting that I had studied in art history classes and I had no idea it was housed in Charlottenburg Palace. (I thought I had seen it at the Louvre too, which made me wonder if there were duplicates, although the audio tour was very specific that it was an original.) Napoleon apparently spent a night in the palace and the queen at the time refused to sleep in that room again—it was a pretty good story.

The palace was modeled after Versailles, which was totally obvious. Of course, Versailles is much more grand in many ways. I liked the gardens, lake and surrounding things to see at the palace and would recommend it to others, as long as your expectations are realistic. By this I mean any visitor should know most of the palace was destroyed and rebuilt and not all of the furnishings are real. But then again, with so many empty and sparse rooms there is plenty to ignite your imagination.

After the palace we hopped back on the bus and hoped off at St. Hedwig’s Cathedral (built in the 18th century by Frederick the Great, King of Prussia). I loved this area. It was so pretty and the little bridges remind me of Prague or Paris in a different kind of way. Then we walked to the Nikolaikirche area—a very historical and old part of Berlin. It was like walking back in time! It also has the oldest church in Berlin: the 13th century Nikolaikirche. It just boggles my mind that a city can be so old and yet so modern at the same time. That is what I loved most about Berlin.

Then we were pooped. Berlin is a big city and we needed more time. We felt like we barely scratched the surface. So much to see and so little time.

Our concierge recommended a fabulous German restaurant (and they did not speak English) around the corner. We sat outside, watched the French and Italians stroll by and just remarked about how much we loved Berlin. And yet it is so hard to explain! I think part of the allure was feeling like we were really foreign—there were few Americans (I actually didn’t see any that I know of) and few people that spoke English. It was historical yet modern, and it was very moving as well. Thanks Berlin for a great memory—we will definitely be back!!!

Dukey

Thanks for posting this and glad to hear others enjoy Berlin and all it has to offer as much as we do....AND that you didn't feel compelled to "stay in Mitte" to have a satisfying experience!

StephCar

Dukey--thanks for reading my trip report! And yes, we did love Berlin. I don't know how you couldn't--it is so unlike any other city in Europe. We will be back someday!

Danna

I think you described the vibe quite well. Danke!

LoveItaly

StephCar, I have read so much about Berlin but your report is so much more interesting than any article I have read. I truly enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing your time in Berlin with us. BTW, I am sure glad that you got a wonderful hotel. I can imagine what you two were thinking when sent to that substitute hotel, lol. How a few blocks can make such a difference in cities. Thanks again for the wonderful read!

gomiki

Steph, thank you for a great report. I love Berlin too. I was there a year ago in May. The Holocaust Memorial was opening the next day so we only saw it from the perimeter. We had a private tour of the Bundestag. It was fascinating. I love Ku'Damm and my very favorite church is the Kaiser Wilhelm and next to it the small one with the walls of small blue glass tiles. And the food floor at KaDeWe is out of this world.

Then there is Museum Island and Sans Soucy (in Pottsdam).

We were there five years ago and the changes in that time are amazing. I agree that you see very few Americans. Perhaps that will change with glowing reports!

StephCar

LoveItaly--Ahhh, gee thanks! You made me blush even behind my computer....

poutine

I really enjoyed your post. My only visit to Berlin was in 1992, however DH and I will be back in April (with kids thanks to a "crazy low must be a mistake" fare from Continental). I expect that we will notice many of the differences in Berlin that you have pointed out. Thanks!

hsv

Let me join in the praise. Nice report, Steph!

Ani

Great report, Steph!

StephCar

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.

poutine, I am excited for your trip next April. Please post back. I think the changes since 1992 will knock your socks off. (In a good way though.) We kept saying that Berlin is a triumph! So much to see and do, I know you won't be bored. I just wish we had more time, more energy, and less desire to drink German beer when we are away from our kids. (ha ha)

ForeignFool

Thanks for the info. I am new here but planning a trip next summer. Berlin is on my list.