A weekend in Berlin

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Berlin

...is one of the younger European capitals with the river Spree running through it. First it was a successful trading city, then the capital of Prussia and finally the capital of Germany. The Potsdam conference in 1945 divided Berlin in four sectors occupied by Soviet, US, British & French troops. In their attempt to staunch the flood of refugees, the GDR (German Democratic Republic) decided in 1961 to surround West Berlin with a wall and shoot anyone attempting to cross it. The Berlin Wall finally came down in 1989 and in 1990 Germany was officially reunified and Berlin once again became the capital.

Trouble at Standstead..!! ....Saturday 2nd Sept and we arrive at the airport on time....no problems so far... obviously should have known everything was going far too smoothly...... for a cynic like me..... well with all the cheap flights on offer from Ryanair.... there's bound to be some problem someday n guess this was it........ after a massive long queue we eventually get to check-in n guess what woman tells us we cannot get our boarding cards untill we pay for our checked baggage......well that's the new policy from "Ryanair" and guess with the new hand baggage restrictions in place from London our bags were tooo big for handluggage.......!!! anyways we have to now join another queue which is even longer and the rude staff dont exactly make it easy...!! nevermind we eventually pay up an hour later n make our way thru security only to find that the flight is delayed......... !! Finally land in Berlin Schonefield .... make our way to the train station and make our way to the S-Bahn (the slow one instead of the airport express------- obviously.... its cheaper..!!) not many passengers... and eventually get to the hotel around mid-night....!! i am starving and so after leaving our bags in the room.... interesting (the bathroom has all glass walls..!!) we headoff in search for some food. We'r a little out of town and in the ethnic area.... so get some Turkish delicacy n chips from a Turkish cafe as they'r othe only places that seem to be open that time of the night..!!! anyways its been a long day and we head straight for bed.......... its gonna be a later startto tomorrow i can see..!!

A Long Day Ahead......!!! .......We decide to have a lie in today...and eventually make our way out of the hotel around nearly mid-day in search from some breakfast. We head towards town but its a bit quiet and many places open on a sunday, we find a bakery which is doing the most delicious looking cakes/breads and also coffee so that'll do ..! While we stopped for our brekkie we see a lot of people coming into buy the various different varieties of bread and they all look like they've just got out of bed and headed straight there.......guess its a good idea to have the freshest bread for ur breakfast table on a sunday...!!! Also i notice its a very bicycle friendly city, already in the few hours we've been lots we seen most people are on their bikes...! We carry on walking toward the centre stopping by various places of interest on the way. Its a very grey start to the day and doesnt get better as the day goes on. We stop by the centre for Culture which is closed for refurbishment but the building is interesting from the outside and is also called "the Pregnant Oyster". Next stop on our route is the house of the German Chancellor and the govt offices a very modern looking building on the river bank.... the river "Spree" runs across the city. Haufbanhoff station (one of the largest in Berlin) has only just opened this year and we head off to have a nose into the very modern building........and amazed at the sheer scale of it...3 floors of shops n restuarants and 2 floors underground for trains is one of the biggest i have seen..! Lunch Japanese style at one of the many places to eat there (and who says food in Germany is boring...!!) By the time we get to the "ReichStag" its raining and there's a long queue to get upto the glass dome - designed by Sir Norman Foster (it replaced the old one that was burnt down in the Fire..!!). The Reichstag has always been the seat of the German Reich.......!! it now houses the Parliament. The walk up and the views over the city from the dome are pretty cool. "Brandenburg Gate" is always in any picture u see of Berlin and reminds me of similar arches in other European cities.... this one is a memorial to the soldiers who died in the war....!! There is lot of construction work going on everywhere in the city, guess they'r still building to replace the buildings that were destroyed in the war and also building the east since the fall of the famously infamous Berlin Wall. There is a lot of interesting architecture in the city.....!!! The "Holocaust Memorial" is a very unsual place... grey concrete slabs.... not sure what the thinking behind the concept is.... but guess it was designed to be grey n to remind everyone of the horrors of the Holocaust...!!! The museum beneath sure is depressing and reminds u of that..!! After a long day we were getting very tired.... stopped for a coffee n a lovely cheesecake.... Berlin sure has its share of cafes......... n oohh the gorgeous cakes.... i think i've put on a few Kilos in a couple of day.... :-)) I think all this history was getting a bit much and we needed a rest... so we headed to Potsdamer Plaza to enjoy a very continental atmostphere... of outdoor cafes n restaurants and as it was sunday eve all the locals were out for a stroll around the square in the many art shops...!! Its nearly dinner time and we find a nice Italian restaurant ....... its a bit diff in that you get like a card on which you put all ur orders and all the pizzas and pastas are made for you while you wait ...! Its a bit like a Japanese canteen concept.... the seating areas all have lots of herb pots in the middle and you help urself to fresh rosemary/thyme/basil....... we liked it so much that was to be our favourite haunt for the remainder of the days...!! We take a stroll to see the city by night and head back to Brandenburg Gate for some night time shots.. and some more of the grand buildings......!! Finally we have no more energy to walk n decide to take a bus back to the hotel........ and it certainly has been a very long day......!!

Another day of History&Architecture ......... A surprisingly early start to the day today.... well i thought it was later but only when we left the hotel that Sadiq told me that the alarm went off at 7:00am instead of 8:00am that he told me it was when it went off... anyways we'r ready n off for some breakkie..! Same place again... only busier today as its Monday and people are off to work... unlike some of us lucky ones.. :-)) First stop to day is the Bauhaus Museum - built to the design of architect Walter Gropius(and started on the principle of integrating technology & art) it houses works from the time Bauhaus was still a working institution and modern designers too... alongwith a history of the school. Today my feet are already killing me and its slow long walk to our next destination.... Potsdamer Plaza... we head straight to the Sony Centre (Sony's european headquarters) n marvel at some of Sony's latest gadgets n one of largest plazma tv's i've seen...! Gadgets n gizmos aside there was still more history to be learnt and we head off to "Checkpoint Charlie" - which during the cold war was the only crossing point for foreigners between East & West Berlin. During the time it represented a symbol of freedom for many East Germans trying to escape from the GDR's communist regime. On the way there we stop by at the open air exhibition "Topographie des Terrors" that documents Nazi crimes. Dont think i can walk any longer and so take the underground to the old part of town.... its actually not very impressive at all i think and brings a reminder very much of other German towns further south. We stop by in a cafe and continue onto the newer parts of town via Galaries Lafayette on Friedrichstrasse.... taking in some window shopping at what seems to be equivalent of Bond Street of Berlin...! Another coffe and cake...... n a few souveniers later we get the train back to Potsdamer Plaza for some dinner.... and we'r back at our favourite spot in town..! Dont think either of us are in a state to walk today so we take the underground to the hotel thinking it will be quicker than the bus....... well if only, we ended up on the train to the wrong station (ok it was my mistake but then someone else shud've spotted it..!!), we take another train in the reverse direction n then a bus n still end up walking for ages to get to the hotel... what can i do all the maps are in German... thats my excuse :-)). Tomorrow i'm having a lie in.

Last Day in Berlin.....!! ... today we have lie in and by the time we checkout its nearly mid-day.... we take our bags n head off towards the centre.... we take a diff route hoping it wud be more lively but no.... it seems to be dead... and after walking for ages we take a train to our favourite location - Potsdamer Plaza..!! We get some coffee n cakes from the local Starbucks (everything in the shops is a replica from the American chain) We make ourselves at home in the square and Sadiq decides to go online using the WiFi from the Sony Centre...... (we'r not the only sad people there's several others doing the same...!!) well we've got the whole day to while away, our flight home is not untill 9:45pm. Networks a bit slow but i manage to check my emails...... Sadiq tries to log into his office before the battery dies on us......... so we go a nearby mall i need some retail therapy (sadiq isnt too keen but he follows..!!) i browse around some of my favourite european shops....... they all seem to be getting ready for winter....! Sadiq is bored now and so we wander down to Starbucks (we hav to try out Starbucks in every city we go to...!!) we make ourselves comfortable.... people watching is great fun..!! Its late afternoon and we make our way to the one last sight...... this is the longest remaing continuous piece of the Berlin Wall that is still standing (about a mile long) and has been turned into an opend air canvass........ with a variety of art work..! Time for us now to make our way to the airport.......... we take a train to Berlin Schonefield and join the check-in queue. Just our luck the flights delayed again and we finally arrive back in the UK and get back home....... around 1:30am.... pretty tired as need to be at work in the morning...!!

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Photos

Reichstag
Housing the German parliament ..!

Holocaust Memorial
A tribute to all those killed in the Nazi crimes....!!

Potsdamer Plaza
The roof designed by Renzo Piano...!

Berlin Wall
the remains of the wall which are now a protected heritage..!

Reichstag Dome
Designed by Norman Foster