Berlin - more than just a wall

  

Berlin, not only the capital city of Germany but a city steeped in history. Parts of which happened in my lifetime.

I was only 5 in November 1989 when the Berlin Wall was pulled down but I do hold vague memories of watching the TV and seeing people cheering and climbing over this huge wall. A 5 year old could not understand what those images meant but my 30 year old self was exciting to head to Berlin to brush up on my history and experience more of Germany.

I spent a wintry weekend in Munich last November so summer in Berlin was so appealing.

Trusty Air B n B was our go to choice for accommodation and we found a sweet looking ground floor apartment in Bergmannkiez for around £45 a night.

With a U Bahn station less than a 5 minutes walk away we felt pretty central to everything and would highly recommend Doerthe's apartment if you are looking for a place to stay in the city.

My yoga teacher Hannah recommended we book a free walking tour to get an introduction into the city and this was a great shout. Choosing to do this on our first day gave us a feel for the city and meant we could then re-visit any highlights for a closer look during the rest of our trip.  

Sandemans offer free tours and then give you the tourist the choice as to whether to tip your guide or not dependent on how much you enjoyed your experience. We ended up tipping 10 euros each to our Scottish guide - Georgia and it was worth every penny for her knowledge and insight into her home city.

Day One kicked off with the free tour starting at 2pm and covered the Brandenburg gate, the holocaust memorial, and a random car park where owners take their dogs to do their daily business. This may seem like an ordinary car park upon first inspection however its what lies underneath that holds more historical value. Underneath lies the bunker in which on April 30th 1945 Adolf Hitler took a cyanide tablet and a pistol to the head. Irony at its finest that this place is now used for dogs to urinate in.

Other tourist spots along the way included one of the last remaining sections of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, which for me was a little disappointing. Now it is simply a replica checkpoint with actors dressed in US military uniforms who charge tourists for a photo. 

However the great thing about the free walking tour was that Georgia helped us to understand what the original Checkpoint Charlie was like and how the area was used during the occupation of the Soviets.

Day two we headed to a grey and cloudy Alexanderplatz and took a trip to the TV tower which is 280m above the ground and offers up panoramic views of Berlin. The cloud cleared as we made the top and the sun came out to give crystal clear 360 degree views.

After lunch we walked down to the River Spree and to the DDR museum which came recommended in the Lonely Planet book. This touchy feely museum allows you to get up close and interact with many items and historical artifacts from the Cold War and for 7 euros this was a well worth trip.  Seeing the old fashions, toys and home interiors gave me a history lesson and a reality check all in one.

 

 

Beers on the River Spree before heading over to the East Side Gallery and probably the most photographed area of Berlin. This is the largest remaining section of the wall still standing and the walls are covered with expression of art in all forms. Loud and provocative to dark and disturbing. On a Friday night though this side of town has a great atmosphere with local buskers gathering crowds and beer drinkers swilling straight from the bottle. It felt like a great place to spend a summer evening.

Day three we decided to stretch our legs and take a walk through the Tiergarten and Englisher Garten which was peaceful and relaxing. We even stumbled upon a naked area of the park where locals were basking in all of their naked glory. 

A short walk from the Tiergarten is the Sony Centre in Potsdamer Platz. This complex of restaurants and cinemas was a welcome rest-bite and pit stop from a morning of walking and for Dave to have his second Curry Wurst of the trip. The ceiling in the Sony Centre is an attraction in its own right.

For dinner on day three we headed to Kreuzbeurg. Now the guide describes this neighbourhood as gritty and I would tend to agree. We were offered drugs 3 times no less than 2 minutes from stepping off the U Bahn. However we meandered through the streets looking for somewhere to people watch and drink a few glasses of wine. We eventually found a wine bar and bought a bottle of red for 7 Euros and sat outside on some old food crates and chatted rubbish to each other for several hours.

On our final day of our trip we were told we had to go to the Mauerpark flea-markets as Sundays in Berlin are apparently renowned for them. The sun was blistering and there were swarms of people exploring the stalls selling everything from textile crafts to old cameras and Lego figures. After seeing enough tat in the flea-markets we bought a couple of beers and followed the sounds of loud cheering only to come across the 'Bear Pit Karaoke'. Again another thing Sundays in Berlin are famous for.

This place was packed in a gladiator style arena and we found a spot ready to watch. The highlight had to be a long haired German guy rocking out 'air guitar' style to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody with air flicking and everything. So much fun.

 

It was soon time to catch the train back to the airport but not before heading to the highly recommended 'The Bird' restaurant about a ten minutes walk from the flea-markets/karaoke.

My boyfriend can testify to the fact that this place serves up some of the most incredible burgers and he was literally salivating as the plate was placed in front of him.

Burgers and a gin and tonic later we left Berlin with full stomachs and slight heatstroke but great memories from another awesome city break.

Thanks for reading.

I am off to China on Saturday so stay tuned for more travel related posts in the next few weeks.

Nic x

A Weekend in Munich

So I have been a very bad blogger of late. I blame the festive season and the copious amounts of food and drink I have been consuming. However now we are in a brand spanking shiny new year, I've decided its time to give my blog a bit more TLC.

I love Christmas, love, love, love it. So it has long been on my travel bucket list to visit Germany and take part in the festivities at a traditional German market or Christkindlmarkt as they are more traditionally known.

I had heard a lot of great things about Munich and the surrounding Bavarian area, which helped to make up my mind about my chosen destination. So on the 28th November my boyfriend and I flew out for 4 days of beer drinking, pretzel eating and gluwhein drinking. Pardon the pun but I am not a fan of the funny looking white sausages they sold in Munich, so I tended to stick to more traditional food.

Whilst staying in Munich we booked into an Air B'n'B in the small town of Norbad, which is really central to the main tourist spots in Munich and has very easy access routes via the cities local tram and bus networks, (albeit we did hop on the wrong trains a few times, but hey that happens to me in England).

Our apartment was owned by a lovely Canadian guy called Michael and the place was perfect. Clean, warm and cosy. I have added the link below in case anyone is ever thinking of going to Munich and looking for a place to stay. I cannot recommend this place or Michael s hospitality enough. https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/994168?s=bzkE

Now, on to the Christmas markets. Munich has an array of markets to choose from but the most popular one is in Marienplatz, which is the main square in the city centre, and also home to the beautiful St Peter's Church. It is also between the 27th November until Christmas Eve, home to the Christkindlmarkts, where you will find endless wooden chalets offering gluwhein in every shape and form, gingerbread hearts iced with messages to your loved ones and traditional wooden trinkets. It's worth noting that the Gluwhein tastes different from stall to stall. From the very sweet, to the boozy versions with added Jagermeister!!

There was something about this place, perhaps it was the hustle and bustle, the twinkly lights adorning the huge Christmas tree in the main plaza, and also the large amount of Gluwhein that I drank, but you couldn't help but feel all Christmassy inside.

Munich and the Bavarian region is also famous for its Beer halls and we visited two of the most popular in Munich. The first being the Augustiner beer hall which is a 5 minute walk from Marienplatz and offers a great selection of Bavarian beer. This was our first pit stop on day one and after tucking into a monster pretzel and drinking a pint of white beer we were ready to do more exploring. Definitely worth a visit and swift pint if you are in Munich.

The second beer hall and probably the most famous in Munich is the Hofbrauhaus. This giant beer hall has beautifully hand painted ceilings and 2km of wooden benches serving litre sized mugs of beer (steins), and has a brass band and dirndl with lederhosen clad servers.

This place has a real buzz and atmosphere to it from the moment you step through the door, and the benches mean its easy to get chatting to other beer swillers and share stories. Be warned though, you will need strong arms to hold up your litre of beer. In my case (being the little weakling that I am), I needed two hands. :)

A few other highlights from this trip was also a visit to the Olympic Park which in 1972 played host to the games which were sadly marred by a horrendous terrorist attack which left eleven athletes dead. However it was great to wander around the park and try to imagine what it must have been like in the height of Summer '72 and the thousands of spectators and athletes that would have been wandering around. The place is still largely used for music events and the swim hall was a welcome warm up-rest bite from the sub zero temperatures we were experiencing outside. The ticket booths now look a little sad and lonely, but this place still has lots of characters and history and well worth a visit.

Next to the Olympic Park is the BMW museum and a great way to spend an hour or two wandering around the museum and looking at the classic and modern vehicles.

The final highlight of Munich and something which we had planned before we went, was a trip to Neuschwanstein Castle through Viator. I had taken a trip with Viator before when I had visited Washington DC 2 years ago, so I knew they would offer a great tour.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The small guided tour takes you two hours outside of Munich to the small town of Fussen, and from there you make your way by foot up to the castle. The town even has its own maypole. Our tour guide was a guy called Jeff and he really knew how to tell a good story about the history of the town and the castle. It was like a short history lesson with added spooky voices and hand gestures.

I was so excited before hand as the castle really does look like something straight out of a Disney film and is even rumoured to have inspired the artists behind Disney's Sleeping Beauty's castle.

However, it seemed the weather was playing against us on this particular day and the castle itself was shrouded in this blue ethereal fog which meant the castle was only visible from right underneath, and that the picture postcard view from the bridge didn't exactly offer me the photos I would have hoped for. 

Nevertheless the trip was fun, informative and the castle itself was grand and ornate and gave a great insight into the taste and personality of King Ludwig the Seconds home. Sadly the King never lived to take residence in the castle as he died in mysterious circumstances shortly before it was finished completion.

Overall, Munich was everything I hoped it would be. Steeped in history, friendly locals, tasty beer and Christmassy vibes.

I hope you enjoyed reading and hope it inspires some of you to take a trip there in the future. I recommend downloading the Trip Advisor Offline city Munich app before you go, as this helped us to navigate our way around.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year x