Berlin is poor but sexy!

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Berlin is poor but sexy!
(Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor, in a press interview, 2003);
The best introduction you can use for Berlin version 21st century. In July 2008, I was going for my second time in Berlin. My first was in 2006, with my old time fella Amine and that was the best 5 days of the trip.
This time I would spend 9 days in Berlin, in a trip that I planned with my parents. I would meet them at hauptbahnhof the brand new gigantic train station (I was really proud to see the logo of Bombardier a company from Quebec that participates to the project).
First part:
I got to Berlin in late afternoon, like the previous time I had book a 2 night stay at the Heart of gold hostel (www.heartofgold-hostel.de). Which is a very nice and clean budget hostel located in the Mitte (part of East Berlin during the wall years), one of the most popular area of Berlin today and only 5 minutes of S-Bahn from the main train station. After a well deserve shower I start my night with a German beer at the hostel pub. I was looking forward for a partying night at the Cafe Zapata www.cafe-zapata.de , 5 minutes from the hostel. This cafe is well known in Berlin, located in a building that was partially rebuilt after ww2 bombing. It contains an awesome art gallery where they create from everything they can find in the street. Look for the special events who are scheduled every weeks with local band, very respectable prices for entry and drinks.
Second part:
Now let’s explore the city, Berlin is rich in history, the faith of the world has been decided more than one time in this town. I went out on a walk to the Brandenburg Gate, which is 15 minutes walk from my hostel, there every day, 2 times a day, you have the Berlin Free walking tour that I recommend, they offer a lot of different tours, me and my father enjoyed the Third Reich Tour, that explore the dark side of Berlin during WW2. I also went to see the Reichstag (German parliament) and learn that you can visit the entire complex for free every day, I also learned that we have to come at the opening hours 8am to avoid the legions of tourist (trust me I was there at 8am the next day and waited 5 minutes at the entrance, when I was done with my visit(approx: 10am), the waiting time was around three hours), it’s a really good activity with an extremely nice panorama of the city when you visit the dome on top of the facility and it’s FREE (we backpackers love free stuff, don’t we?). Speaking of panorama, if you want to see the best view of Berlin head to Alexander Platz and get to the top of the TV tower for 9 Euros you will have some breathless pictures of Berlin skyline. Right beside the entrance of the tower you’ll find a bike shop that offer at really decent prices some bike renting and bike tour of the city. You soon understand that using a bike is the way to move in Berlin, the city made it very easy with a huge bicycle circuit that crosses the entire town. If you go at that bike shop around 8 pm between Thursday and Saturday, you can take place in a Pub-crawl from an organization called Insomniac Tours that I recommend, I did it both times I went in Berlin, and I’ve meet friends and experienced the nightlife at his best. Trust me there is lot to see and like they say: Berlin never sleeps.

I recommend a visit of 2 very specific museums if you want to learn more about Berlin and its history: The Wall museum and the one called: Story of Berlin. The first one is located at check point Charlie and I suggest you allow a good 5 or 6 hour, it is rich in knowledge and testimony from Berliners who crossed the wall during cold war. The second one is located near the Zoo station, another very intense area of Berlin for shopping in big stores and nightlife, and it contains a nuclear bunker build during cold war in Berlin West that could welcome a major population of the West side.

Part three:
One the great feature is that Berlin is one of the cheapest Western European capitals; you can eat full meal in local restaurant for 8 to 12 Euros. You can also eat lunch on the go at one of many street food stands where they serve you an excellent Doner with a beer for 3 Euros, or a curry sausage which is extremely popular and cheap. Hostel are everywhere at every prices, most of the museums are free on Thursday night. A lot of free activities to help you discover the town without hurting your budget, a good thing for young backpackers.
For a short resume Berlin is a good destination, cheap, lot of culture, amazing nightlife, you will never be done visiting this place.

See ya ;-)

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Comments

[liliram]

thanks for sharing
Good entry, any photos? Will heed your advice re museums in Berlin. But did you mean 5 hours just inside one museum? Or were u talking of travel time to get there? thanks.

[Travelmax]

Sorry for the time I took to answer, just hope it's not too late, the 5 hours is in the museum. there is so many stuff to see and do, lot's video archive, etc..... To get there it's really easy just look on your map for checkpoint Charlie, it's right there, pretty central in the town. Hope you have a great time in Berlin.