Top three sights in Berlin

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I've been to Berlin so many times that I've begun to think of visiting my favorite sights as 'pilgrimages.' My favs have almost taken on distinct personalities like old friends I've grown to know and love with all their warts and foibles. My dearest 'old friend' in Berlin is the ultimate tourist cliche--the Brandenburg Gate. I somehow feel the necessity to launch each visit with a trip to this enduring monument to the strength of the German spirit. I feel the need to say 'hi' and 'bye' to the Gate. It's a silly ritual, I know, but no visit to Berlin would be complete without it. I'm always a little frustrated when I get to the Gate to see that it never seems quite finished. There often seems to be some sort of construction project surrounding it. On the rare occasion when this isn't the case, an exhibition or a sporting event is either being erected or removed from the square in front of the Gate. When I stop fuming over my view of the Gate being obscured, I realize that the Gate is a living, breathing launching pad for so many exciting things in Berlin. It's not static like Paris' Eiffel Tower or the Collosseum in Rome. It's cluttered with the trends and fads of its citizens. What better use is there for a monument!
My second favorite sight in Berlin is Viktoria-Luise Platz. That's where one of my favorite restaurants, Potemkin, is located. Potemkin serves 'Russian food light'--mainly blintzes--not the heavy Borscht variety. The food is good but the location is the real reason I keep coming back. Viktoria-Luise Platz is the most beautiful platz in Berlin. It's a circle of a dozen pastel buildings plastered with all kinds of ornate detail. There's a tiny park in the center of the circle. Whenever I visit the park I remember the time I stood there talking to my son in the U.S. via cell phone, crying because it was obvious he needed to have our beloved Pomeranian, Chloe, put to sleep. She was old and having trouble breathing because of a cancerous obstruction in her tiny throat. The beautiful buildings in Viktoria-Luise Platz reminded me that life is short for us creatures but the beauty of many of our creations can last forever.
I'm embarrassed to tell you the last of my three favorites because it's so commercial but here it is: the Starbucks in Berlin's Zehlendorf district. It's the best Starbucks I've ever been to, bar none. It has two floors as well as a wonderful terrace full of umbrella-ed tables. From the floor-to-ceiling second floor windows you can see all the busy shoppers scurrying along Zehlendorf's main street, all toting their environmentally responsible cloth bags full of hearty German breads, rolls, and wurst. You will often find me reading on the comfiest velvet sofa upstairs, eavesdropping on the conversations of the American students from a nearby international school. It's the place where they hash over their day, sharing their triumphs, failures, and the ups and downs of high school love.
So there you have it--the confessions of a selective, but some might say, not very discriminating traveler. More to come . . .
Your Berlin Mom

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