As part of my friend Alice’s fabulous round-the-world trip, she and I decided to spend a weekend in Berlin. I’d never been to Germany before and everyone has always said that Berlin is wonderful, so it seemed like a perfect place to visit!
The day we left (Friday) was completely harried, but we managed to get to the airport on time (just!) and sneak our two pieces of carry-on luggage past the amazingly officious EasyJet check-in guy. The whole evening felt like an absolute mish but we managed to get to the hostel eventually, where we collapsed into an over-tired stupor...
The next day the awesomeness of our hostel revealed itself – the EastSeven hostel in Berlin is pretty much the cleanest, biggest roomed, most comfortable, fanciest kitchen, nicest people hostel I’ve ever come across. Highly recommended! But, as much as I loved the hostel, that’s not where I intended us to spend the entire weekend! Our first trip was pretty important – out for breakfast! We had the traditional breakfast of bread, cheese and cold meats – the first meat I’d had in a month and it was funny, I hadn’t really missed it at all! It was so lovely and sunny (albeit cold) that it felt so luxurious and relaxing to just sit outside and have breakfast. After that we did a bit of exploring towards the town centre – finding a Birkenstock shop on the way (how fabulous, and how German!) – before heading back to our hostel for our walking tour. There were about half a dozen of us who were picked up by Theo, our Australian guide, and then we picked up another dozen and a half at the next few hostels we passed.
The tour started on Museum Island (home to a lot of museums so quite aptly named), before heading around the main sites of the city – Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Reischtag and Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, and Bebelplatz among others. The most moving thing for me was the memorial to the victims of war and tyranny – a sculpture of a woman cradling her adult son in the middle of this empty room. It’s open to the sky so when it rains, snows etc. it falls on her as well. I just thought it was so haunting.
Theo was a great guide – giving us all sorts of stories and tips as we went along. After the tour, Alice and I went back to the hostel and got flashed up before heading out to dinner and drinks and employing nearly every tip Theo passed on! First we had a traditional German dinner (Alice with Berlin meatballs and me with butter spatzle and veal – talk about an intense way to break a month of vegetarianism!) and a couple of glasses of the local beer. After that it was off to a couple of other places for some sweet German riesling at a place called Alta Europe and then a cocktail in a bar called Pony. It was quite funny that while we were there and Alice was drinking a White Russian, she was also getting chatted up by a white Russian guy...ironic.
The next day we had a fantastic long sleep in and then mustered the energy to head north to explore a bit more of our neighbourhood (Prenzlauer Berg). First we had croissants and coffee sitting outside in the sun – a much warmer day thank goodness! – and then went and explored the Mauer market. That’s a big flea market north of town and was absolutely amazing! So many people selling so much stuff – I got a scarf and a pair of shoes for 3 euro each, and we had the most delicious spinach and cheese filled pancake thing filled with hummus and lettuce...mmm... There were heaps of people just milling about, either sitting in the sun and eating and drinking, or getting on with the serious business of shopping! Once we’d had our fill it was down to the Kaiserallee (our local main street) to have a plate of Lebanese food, then back to the hostel and back on the plane! Alice stayed on for a few more days – actually going inside places and visiting West Berlin as well – and I definitely think I only gave Berlin a very cursory glance and absolutely need to go back.
It was so laid back and chilled out – it seemed to be all about sitting and eating and drinking – and the city itself was quite beautiful. We caught it at a really good time too, with all the beautiful Autumn leaves set against the pretty apartment buildings with their balconies chock full of hanging baskets and other plants. Once I see other bits of Germany I will be definitely booking my next trip back to Berlin!
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