Berlin!

---

Off to Berlin! We were all set with the most heavy-duty cold weather gear. Hats, gloves, scarves and thermals were the order of the day - until we arrived to find the warmest December yet! We had been warned to expect low temperatures, so when we arrived to find pleasant 8-10c degrees we nicely surprised! Thanks global warming…

Berlin was a great city to visit. Our only complaint was the fact that we didn’t have time to do all that we wanted - you need more than a few days to do this fascinating city justice.

We joined in on one of the fantastic free walking tours of the city. Our guide was great and did a good job of sharing his knowledge of the city. He really knew his stuff and we both learnt a great deal about the not-so-distant history of Germany and Berlin.

Some of the sights included the Berlin wall, the square where the book burning took place, The Brandenburg Gate, the site of the former Gestapo headquarters and the land above the bunker where Hitler killed himself (now an old car park) and of course the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby out the window a few years ago! Some of these things would have been meaningless or unidentifiable without the knowledge of the guide. He certainly deserved his 10 euro tip!

Being December, the Christmas markets were in full swing and just lovely. There were so many of them all over the city. The smells and tastes were brilliant. German sausages, waffles, pizza and lots of deep fried sweet dough things went down quite nicely. The Germans really ‘do’ Christmas in a big way. The streets were decorated in blazing Christmas lights and the vibe was very festive but safe.

Overall, Berlin was entertaining, endlessly interesting and surprisingly, very kind to the wallet! We’ll certainly try to get back to see some of the things we wanted to see.

---

Photos

Modern Berlin
Some of the amazing modern architecture in Berlin.

Berlin Wall
Can't get too close to it. It's fenced off to stop tourists from taking bits home as souvenirs.

Ampelmann!
The East Berlin traffic man!

Foodie heaven
German Christmas Markets

TV tower
The Fernsehturm at Alexanderplat.

Waffles!
Non-stop eating at the Christmas markets.

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche
Church that was built in 1895ish and bombed in 1943.

Opps
Okay, we got off at the wrong station..

Tired
Relaxing on the train before flying back to London.