I arrived at Schonefeld airport and quickly found that comprehending the Berlin public transport system was going to be a little tricky. After quite the jaunt I found the train station and realized that thankfully I wasn't the only one who was having difficulty understanding the ticket system (what ticket did one need, what are the different lines, what's a short vs regular route, etc.). I could see that this was a bit of a tourist nightmare for many of us. And of course I didn't have wifi access so trying to look things up to help me out was not going to be a thing I could do. Needless to say I bumbled my way through using the automatic ticket machine (no human help desk was available at this station) and was able to purchase my ticket. Upon finding my platform I started up the 50 meter walkway only to realize the train I needed was leaving right at that moment. Rats! So I parked myself down and waited anxiously for the next one to arrive.
Upon boarding the train, I did the a-typical tourist thing: took a picture of the line map on my phone then proceeded to stare at it (the one on the train) with a scrunched look of "How does this work?" on my face. For some reason, to others I must look like I know what I'm doing as a lovely Irish couple asked me if this was the train to so-and-so. I blank stared back at them and replied, "I have no clue". lol. I must have a good "fake-it-til-you-make-it" look - don't let the locals smell fear situation going on. And thus the adventure began. Luckily, it was easy to quickly figure out the stops once you were on the go and I managed to get close to the end of the city I needed to be at (no thanks to the directions on the hotel website). However, this was not the end of my trip. Next it was onto the subway, aka U-Bahn, for a couple of stops. At this point all I could hope for was that when I reached street level once again, I'd be close to my hotel. Luckily, at my stop I popped right out in front of the hotel and was warmly greeted by my roommates who'd been waiting in the lobby for me (1.5 hrs later after disembarking from the plane).
Just a man, on the train, with a piece of wood and his beer. First impression in Berlin.
On the streets of Berlin
The stop man.
The next day, my first full day in Berlin, was a bit of a.....disaster, to say the least. Well maybe that's a little harsh and it did only start out that way but oh, things did not go as planned that's for sure.
A few of us decided to do a free walking tour of Berlin in the morning and after a quaint breakfast at the cafe across the street we headed back to the hotel to gather our bearings. Let's just say that the situation was against us from the start. If there was a snafu to hit us that morning, it sure did. First, we'd planned on taking the 10:00am walking tour but were confused about how far away it was (the starting point) and how long it'd take us to get there. So then we saw an advertisement for this tour in our hotel, and it said that they'd pick us up from there. Still not sure if this meant we'd make the tour we wanted we'd figure we'd risk it. So we waited.....and waited....and waited. Nothing! Even 10-15min after said time of arrival no one showed up. Getting a little frustrated at this point, as we'd now waited long enough from our original time of departure, we decided to try to make the next tour at 11:00am and headed for the public transport system.
Well..... let's just note that of all the cities we've been to, Berlin has so far to be the one that many of us found most difficult to navigate around in when not knowing how things work. First, you have to train-subway-tram hop (even lines within the same transit type) to get to most places. Second, the transit system doesn't always go where you want to go so you have to know of a close location to walk from (Brandenburg Gate is not a convenient location to get to btw). Third, the ticket system is confusing as you can use the train and the subway with the same ticket, we think, but if you get a short line ticket then you can't. And there are, what I would call "undercover", ticket inspectors on all lines ready to nail you as soon as you're on. It's actually quite fun to watch because they are in plain clothes and board as usual with the rest of the crowd. Then, when the doors shut, they whip out their id cards from under the shirts (that they wear around their necks) and their ticket pad from their jacket pocket and start checking. And there is no leeway given to tourists, as I saw many an unsuspecting soul get a hefty ticket.
Anyways, 45 minutes and a few subway and train stops later we found ourselves at Alexanderplatz Station. Fully frustrated at this point, and now realizing we were not going to make the next tour, we started walking in the direction we figured would take us to the Brandenburg Gate. Nope, 15 minutes later we were turned around and slightly lost. And confused. And extremely frustrated! Berlin = 1, Us = 0.
Not the best start to our day
At this point we'd wasted all of our morning, had to meet another one of our group in a couple hours, were not going to make our walking tour and just didn't know where to go from here. Seeing our ever reliable hop-on hop-off bus, we decided "Why not?" We were planning on taking it later that day, so we decided let's just do it now and get more than just the transit system seen in Berlin.
As in many major cities in Europe there are various lines for your hop-on, hop-off pleasure. Berlin was the same, so it was the green line we took and on this adventure we enjoyed viewing the TV Tower, east side communist style apartment buildings, wide streets & sidewalks, the East Side Gallery (largest, in tact piece of the Berlin Wall still remaining and now turned into an art project), the Oberbaumbrucke (bridge spanning the River Spree), Museum Island, New Synagogue, Humboldt University and the Brandenburg Gate.
TV Tower
City Hall
individual bunkers
East side apartment buildings
East Side Gallery
Oberbaumbrucke
Museum island
Humboldt University
Brandenburg Gate
Fun fact: the Gate is the entry into what used to be "no man's land" - the space between East and West Berlin. Now this area is filled with embassies and the infamous Hotel Adlon (where Michael Jackson dangled his baby out a window).
Hotel Adlon
Interesting embassy info:
1) The US embassy wanted a further perimeter from their building to the sidewalk but were told no. They also used bullet proof glass for their windows.
2) You can't drive by the British embassy, only walk, as the street is blocked off.
3) The Canadian embassy isn't in this area, but rather next door to one of the malls. ;)
We tried to make the letters. :s
radios
Still resembles bathroom in Italy
These two are a demanding bunch. Too bad they won't get what they want ;)
Fashion at it's finest
Trying to figure out our role/persona in East side Germany
Fun fact: There are ceramic/plastic bears all over Berlin, the city's symbol.
Fun fact: Remnants of the Berlin Wall are all over the city as there is a 2 brick/stone wide "path" where the wall originally was that runs throughout the city - it goes through parks, across streets, sidewalks, etc.
Our day ended with supper at a quaint Lebanese restaurant called Babel, with a father & son team working there who took great pride in their food and their restaurant. Service was great, and we even got a complimentary dessert.
Fun fact: It's hard to find an authentic German restaurant in Berlin as it's a city known for its variety of ethnic foods & restaurants. This was great for us as we got to try many different cuisines while here.
The next morning our day started out much smoother than the previous one. This was mostly in part to we knew how to maneuver our way around the city better. We signed up for the Reichstag Dome visit and then proceeded to the Brandenburg Gate to take the Sandemanns New Berlin free walking tour. Yep, we were suckers for punishment and decided to try this once again. This time....success!!
The tour lasted 2.5-3 hrs and had us walking all over Berlin. Berlin is quite a sprawling city and most of the tourist sites are spread out from one another.
During our tour, we saw:
1) the Jewish War Memorial, with its unique architecture
2) the location where Hitler's bunker was, which is now a parking lot - only a small sign depicts this information about Hitler
3) the finance building, one of only a few pre-war buildings to still exist in Berlin - you can see bullet holes in the façade
4) original Berlin Wall section
5) bunkers
6) where Checkpoint Charlie used to be, one of the busiest checkpoints between East and West Berlin; now with actors depicting military personnel
7) identical french and german Catholic churches built across from one another
8) Konzerhaus Berlin
I would totally recommend this tour to any one going to Berlin. Our tour guide, Lewis, was extremely knowledgeable and really brought the history of Berlin to life.
Note: There are no Hitler or Nazi memorials in Berlin (rightly so).
Note: Not only was Berlin divided into East and West but so was Germany. And Berlin was in the Eastern part of Germany. While yes, most of you will already know this, people who are terrible with history like myself may not and so since I came to understand this I thought I'd share. ;)
Jewish War Memorial
Parking lot, used to be Hitler's bunker location
finance building
bunkers
the Berlin Wall
Checkpoint Charlie location
French and German Catholic churches
Konzerhaus Berlin
After our tour we hopped on the Ho-Ho bus and took the red line to Hauptbahnhof train station where we nipped a bite for lunch and topped it off with a beautiful soft pretzel, German style, for dessert. yum!
As we continued our way through Berlin on the Ho-Ho bus we saw a myriad of sights that included the Reichstag, ruins of a church bombed in the war that has modern churches with scripted windows built on either side of it, zoo, major shopping strip, and the KaDeWe (biggest mall in Europe).
Fun fact: Berlin has two zoos. During the time of East and West Berlin, if one side of the city had something, such as a zoo, then the other side got one as well.
Reichstag
pre-war church remnants
church with scripted windows
shopping strip
bus fun
KaDeWe
Topography of Terror building
Berlin Wall
the last Kremlin flag
Konzerhaus
That evening we did a tour of the Reichstag Dome. The Reichstag is the seat of the German parliament and people can sign up, with passport identification, to tour the Dome throughout the day. We had signed up in the morning as there are only so many visitors allowed per hour per day, and you can only sign up two days before your visit max - so the line was pretty long to do this. After a security and passport check we were led into the very secure Reichstag (ie you enter in one door and the next door will not open until the previous one has been closed). First we walked outside around the dome and got an evening 360 degree view of Berlin. Then we walked around inside the Dome - it has a staircase winding up inside and you listen to an individual audio guide discussing Berlin as you walk. This was a little difficult for those of us doing a tour at night as the guide would point out places to see in Berlin, and, well, we couldn't see them. When we got to the top there was actually a hole in the roof. When it rains or snows, the liquid is caught in a large funnel type structure. What it does from then on...I do not remember.
glass dome
a view into parliament
Berlin from above
a bit chilly up here
the walkway along the side of the dome
the walk up the side was a little hairy for those of us scared of heights
hole in the roof of the dome
where the liquid is caught
Reichstag
Note: The stones out front of the Reichstag security building represent murdered members of parliament.
After our tour we found a German beer hall to have some traditional grub on our last eve in Berlin. Pork, cabbage, potatoes and some traditional bevy served by a friendly waiter who totally earned his tip as he took it upon himself to give B a hard time about her coke and soup order lol. It was great! You could tell he was great at his job and could read people well. I'd also come to find out he had been to Edmonton. That's the second person in Berlin that I've met who's been to Edmonton. Weird.
That topped off our trip to Berlin. It was then back to the hotel to pack and get a few winks in before our EARLY morning flight. (Which was a show in itself to get there since the train we needed didn't run that early in the morning, there was no U-Bahn to get there and buses,....well.....let's just say that a cab it was).
our very own red and green Ampelmanns
Overall, Berlin was quite the city. A place with sad and not always the greatest history that cannot (and in many cases should not) be celebrated, a mix of old with new, a place trying to rebuild itself, and an eclectic mesh of cultures. It was an experience not to be forgotten.
