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Published: November 12th 2011
Our trip started with a Lufthansa flight on the new A380 airbus from JFK to Frankfurt. It was operated with German efficiency and was an enjoyable and comfortable 6 hr. 30 min. flight. We disembarked quickly and excellent signage led us through the airport on foot through immigration and on to our connecting flight to Berlin. We were greeted with complimentary coffee, latte or cappuccino at the gate while waiting to board our flight. The A300 Airbus was also brand new and whisked us to Berlin in 50 minutes flying time.
Berlin TXL airport was one of the most user friendly airports I have ever been to. The plane disembarks directly into the baggage claim area for your flight and the luggage was quickly dispatched within 5 minutes of landing. We exited into the arrivals area where our pre-arranged driver was waiting.
We enjoyed our 30-minute drive to the airport past Tiergarten Park and the Victory Column. We also saw the police setting up barriers for the papal visit the next day. We drove underneath the Hauptbahhof and River Sprague in the new tunnel system and arrived at our Scandic Hotel in Potsdamer Platz. We got a kick out
Pergamom Temple
The entire temple was taken from Turkey and reassembled hereof our taxi driver when I asked him where the Pope came from (as in which town in Germany was he born) and he answered me “Rome, of course” with a puzzled look on his face as to why I didn’t know that.
The hotel lobby was open and airy and decorated with these jigsaw puzzle moose heads hanging on the walls. Stephanie checked us in and kept our bags so we could go out and explore the city until our room was ready.
The hotel is conveniently located within a 5-minute walk to Potsdamer Platz where several S-bahn and U-Bahn trains run, or the Mendelsohn-Bartholdy Park U-bahn stop adjacent to the hotel.
We walked to Potsdamer Platz and caught the S-25 to Fredrickstrasse (2-stops away). It was a 15-minute walk from there to the Pergamom Museum on Museum Island. A 10 Euro entry fee was well worth the price to see the High Altar and other pieces that used to stand in the ancient city of Pergamom in Turkey. Free Audio guides included with the museum admission help bring the displays to life. The next room contained one of the original Roman markets from Pergamom and
walking under the markets entry gates, leads to one of the most spectacular wonders of the ancient work, the blue tiled Ishtar Gates of Babylon. They also have an amazing collection of Islamic art from across the Middle East. You can easily spend 3 to 4 hours here if you choose to listen to the full descriptions on each piece. We chose the 45-minute highlights tour which was a very efficient way to sample the museum’s primary pieces.
We walked along the river bank to the tour boats and hopped on the 1-hour highlights tour (9.50 Euros per person) that took us along the Museum Island sights and up to the new government building district. It showed off the best of Berlin’s new and old architecture and its numerous green spaces (it is considered Europe’s greenest city with over 1/3 of the land area set aside as free use parks and gardens). Some of the most interesting buildings were the Humboldt Box (temporary modern art exhibition space), the glass domed Reichstag and the glass government buildings connected by open air glass bridges called “civil servants walk”.
We headed back to the hotel and enjoyed a complimentary welcome beer
Humboldt Box
Modern Art Museum in the lovely chic bar area that had lots of indoor comfy seating and an outdoor terrace. We also sampled their curry moose sausage which was quite tasty. Our room was finally ready for check-in at 2:00 PM. We loved the clean, open feel and IKEA like design of the furniture. A bright colored poppy design glass panel decorated the bathroom and bedroom. A large sliding door closet and ergonomic work desk and seating completed the rooms furnishings. A 29-inch flat panel TV also served as the controller for the thermostat, alarm clock and express check-out. The beds were very comfortable with memory foam toppers and big, fluffy pillows. 300-thread count linens and wood flooring completed the hypo-allergenic design. A complimentary 1-liter glass bottle of still water was delivered to the room. All items used at the hotel are recyclable materials and has been awarded the green status. We found out some of the rooms had see through bathroom doors with a mirror across from it,that allowed one to see into the bathroom while sitting on the bed. Could be kinky or unsettling, depending on your point of view!
After a quick cat nap, we headed down to the
Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz to the Lindebrau Braueri. We enjoyed their Pilsner and Dunkel (slightly sweet dark) beers. They had a traditional German Food menu of Weiner Schnitzel, Curry Wursts, Gulasch Soup and salads. Everything was delicious and our dinner bill was less than 20 Euros per person for dinner and drinks.
We got a good night’s sleep and enjoyed an extensive breakfast buffet at the hotel. The room is large and there are different stations around the room to ease traffic flow at the buffet, but because the hotel was completely full with Pope enthusiasts and a conference, the room was a bit zooey at the peak time of 8:00 to 8:30 AM.
We headed out to Hackescher Markt to meet our guide from Insider Walks Berlin. We used a wheelchair for one of our group members and found the metro to be very accessible friendly, once you figured out the signs of where to catch the elevators at each station. The hotel supplied the use of the wheelchair free of charge and it was equipped with large wheels in the front which made it easier to ride over the cobblestones.
We met our guide
Barnaby and joined in as part of a 40 person group. He explained how the Markt used to be the Farmer’s Market which is now an area of mostly flea market stalls and cafes. We continued on to Museum Island and stopped in front of the Altes (old) Museum to see the columned portico and stone steps where Hitler used to give his famous speeches.
Barnaby then drew a map in the dirt to explain the history of Berlin City and Eastern Germany. He did a great job of explaining how West Berlin was cut off overnight and turned into an isolated western enclave of Democratic Germany during the Cold War. He explained the main reason for putting up the wall, was that the Americans were offering cash, work and housing to anyone who fled which created a brain drain from Eastern Germany.
We continued along the streets of Eastern Germany to the famous University where Einstein, Freud and some other famous Germans studied. It was also the site of the largest public book burning by the Nazis. We also visited the famous war memorial Mother and Dead Son statue left open to the elements under an oculus,
symbolizing the suffering of civilians during the war.
The church square was interesting where the French Huguenots built a protestant church for the Germans and then the Germans built an almost identical catholic church for the Huguenots. In between the two churches was a beautiful art museum of neo-classical design. Barnaby explained how these buildings were “accidentally” bombed by the British during the war and his interpretation that the year “1776” was highly overated (can you tell he was British…LOL).
Barnaby pointed out the two rows of bricks inlaid in the streets around Berlin that represented the location of the outer wall. We stopped at a point located between the inner and outer walls that used to divide the city and could view the remains of the inner wall covered in graffiti that was drawn on the western side of the wall. Barnaby explained how 88 people lost their lives trying to flee East Berlin to the West and also told us about some successful escape stories, like the woman who was sewn inside the car upholstery and served as the driver seat, when her friend drove her across the border. Trying to climb over the wall and
Trabi
The Cold War era Commie car escape was sure suicide since there were trip-wire
explosives, land mines, tanks and several sharp shooter guards posted at various points around the wall’s perimeter.
Next to the largest remaining stretch of wall, is located the Topography of Terror Museum which Barnaby said was one of the most informative and well designed museums about the cold war era. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for it on this trip.
Our next stop was the ultra tourist trap of Checkpoint Charlie where you can pose for pictures with German strippers moon lighting as US soldiers in front of a phony checkpoint. The funniest thing about it, is that a McDonald’s is behind it showing a contrast in Communism to Western Capitalism.
We continued through the streets on the West German side passing several places with Trebant cars that were considered “Commie Cars” during the cold war era. Barnaby told us a new one had a 14 year waiting list, but you could buy a used one at the time for four times the cost of a new one.
Our next stop was at the former site of Hitler’s Bunker where a car park for an apartment complex now
stands. Barnaby told us the story of Hitler’s last days, when he married Ava Braun and then they both committed suicide. She died by cyanide capsule and he shot himself. Their bodies were then covered in gasoline and burned beyond recognition. When the allies and Russians moved in on Berlin, they scraped up the charred remains that were later verified by DNA as being Hitler. They tried to blow up the bunker, but the walls were over 18 feet thick and impervious to destruction. The bunker was eventually dismantled and filled in with concrete when the existing apartment complex and car park were built.
We continued on to the Memorial of the Murdered Jews which was quite interesting in its design. A series of black marble blocks of varying heights and sizes provides a labyrinth maze to walk through that can be disorienting and isolating which does a great job of relaying the emotions families must have felt when being separated and sent to concentration camps. There is a museum underneath that provides an emotional history of the Nazi era and the Jewish tragedy that occurred during Hitler’s time in power.
From there it is a short walk
to the Brandenburg Gate which depicts Victory on the top. This is the sight all conquering armies used to march through when coming into the city. Napoleon actually stole the statue on top and put it in the Louvre Museum until he was conquered and the Germans retrieved it. There is a lovely garden square and fountains that frame the gate. The Adler Kempinski hotel is also located here, most famous for the Michael Jackson baby dangling incident where his balcony room faced the square.
Our tour ended at the Brandenburg Gate. Because of the papal visit, we were unable to get near the Reichstag Parliament Building. We bid a fond farewell to Barnaby. He was a fabulous guide with a great sense of humor.
We headed back towards Potsdamer Platz to the House of 100 Beers for a well deserved refreshment and snack. The square was a beehive of activity because the gay community of Berlin was staging a protest here along the route where the pope would supposedly pass on his way to Olympic Stadium where he was scheduled to conduct mass.
We headed up to the Panorama Punkt on the top of one of
the buildings in Potsdamer Platz. It boasts the fastest elevator in Berlin that travels 100 meters in 20 seconds. It had a great outdoor terrace where we could appreciate the views over the city.
A late afternoon respite followed at our hotel, before venturing out to one of the many sidewalk cafes in Potsdamer Platz. We chose an uber modern one with German and International specialties with an extensive wine and beer list. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a local supermarket across the street from the hotel in the underground shopping mall where we grabbed some local snacks and drinks for the next day’s train ride to Prague.
Overall, we loved Berlin. The city is beautiful, clean, chic and full of things to see and do with lovely people. We will definitely be back one day soon.
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