Day Trip to Berlin (Germany)

My day at Berlin started with the Berlin Wall. Since I reached Berlin at Schonfield Airport, my first stop was the place nearest to me, on the way to Berlin city - East Side Gallery. From there, my next stop was, Museum Island and Berliner Dom.

It was post noon by this time and we were terrifically hungry. After a lunch at a Thai takeaway near Friedrichstrasse Bahnhof, we set off to Reichstag Building which is essentially the German Parliament. The specialty of this building is that it has a transparent dome. The idea behind it is to signify that all the decisions taken and all political matters are completely transparent to the general public. This was built in 1894. It was originally a stone dome which got destroyed in bombing and in 1999, it was replaced with glass dome.

And yes, it is open to public to view and its free of cost too! However similar to Big Ben, application has to be sent atleast a month ahead I guess. I tried to get it done 2 weeks and it wasn't available!!! It is possible to book it then and there, but the queue is way too long and the booking can be done only 2 hrs in advance.

From there a 5 min walk took me to Bradenburg Gate which is similar to Brussels' Arcade du Cinquantenaire or London's Wellington Arch or Paris' Arc de Triomphe. This was built under King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and by architect Carl Gotthard Langhans in 1791. However just like the Parliament, this too was damaged heavily during the World War and was renovated 2002.

Again, a 5 more minutes walk from there took us to Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This was designed by architect Peter Eisenman from New York. This was one surreal place. It was a very simple, minimalist architecture. But on a sunny day, the way light falls on it, its just surreal!!! The ground is smooth, but not in the same level, its wavy with varying heights and so are the pillars, making them vary from just 2 ft tall to 10 ft tall!!! This isn't a graveyard or tombstone, as the name suggests its a memorial. I don't know weather its allowed to sit or stand on these pillars, as I was unaware of the sentiments of the locals regarding this, though I did see many doing the same (again I'm unaware if they were locals or tourists). Just mesmerized by the architecture and how light & shadow created such an interesting pattern, I clicked some pics posing here!

My last 2 spots were Topography of Terror and Checkpoint Charlie. I wrapped up my day sitting on a street side seating near Checkpoint Charlie where there was a musician making our evening, just spectacular.

On the way something we could just see was the TV Tower. Its the highest building in Berlin and it has a spherical rotating restaurant atop. It takes 1 hr to complete 1 rotation and sitting on a window seat atop it watching Berlin while having your lunch or dinner must be one heck of an experience. Unfortunately it was fully booked on the day we went!

There are 2 types of transport cards when it comes to tourists & cities. One is the regular public transport card and the other is the Hop-in Hop-off bus. I hate that Hop-in & Hop-off thing, coz it gets so difficult to track the timings and routes (usually they have 2-3 routes), esp when you're more of a traveler than a tourist. Thankfully in Berlin, as a part of Berlin Welcome Card, the public transport is covered. It comes in 2 region options AB & ABC (that C covers Potsdam and Schonfield airport). It also comes in 2,3,4 and 5 days validity options. The 3 days one alone, has the option of adding in the Museum Island. The transport card has to be punched with date & time on the first travel undertaken at any metro station or within the bus. After that, there's no swipe-in swipe-out complication.

To Get There:
Bradenburg Gate: Nearest metro station - Berlin Brandenburger Tor
Entry Fee: Free at all places
Timings:
24hrs at Memorial for Murdered Jews & Bradenburg Gate
Pre-determined time slot at Reichstag Building & TV Tower restaurant

P.S: I was invited by Visit Berlin - Welcome Card to experience the city for review purpose, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.

Dedicated to Venkat

Day Trip to Berlin (Germany)

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