Hello, my dearest readers!
I know; I'm late! I was in Berlin last weekend and am only writing about it now, one week later! How rude! But see, it was a crazy weekend and I needed some time to, er, recover. I think I have now, though, hence the article.
I have a friend who's studying in Berlin at the moment and I thus decided to visit her! Why not? I mean, the flights are really cheap and I haven't come in England to spend boring and empty weekends! Besides, I had never been to Berlin and I really wanted to. So many people had told me how great a city it was, and I wanted to see it for myself. Now I can add a capital city to my list; London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Washington, La Havana, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and Bern, of course, the capital of Switzerland! I need to check out Madrid and Vienna. And some others of course.
Anyway. I flew from Stansted on Thursday evening, just after my classes. I just left with a backpack. As I flew with Ryanair, my small suitcase was not small enough. But a backpack was perfectly fine. I didn't need much for just a weekend did I? My flight was delayed. Of course. I'm so damn unlucky with airports, how could it not have been! I still arrived in Berlin, safe and sound. My friend had given me a meeting point, cause she couldn't come and pick me up at the airport, so I had to take the public transports. Taking the U-Bahn was easy - a lot easier than I'd thought it'd be. I arrived at destination at about midnight. Not TOO bad.
I then settled in my friend's bedroom (she lives in a flat-share, with three flatmates (a Swiss guy, a German guy and a German girl)). We "quickly" discussed what I'd be doing the following day. We mostly talked about other things though haha. We hadn't seen each other for months, so we had things to chat about! We went to bed at around 2am. A relaxing and refreshing weekend had started my friends!
On Friday, I explored alone, as my friend had uni classes. In the morning, I visited the beautiful and astonishing Pergamon Museum. It houses ancient buildings, such as the gate of the Great Altar of Pergamon, or the Ishtar Gate. That was really amazing. I could have spent ages in there, but I had other things planned!
I know; I'm late! I was in Berlin last weekend and am only writing about it now, one week later! How rude! But see, it was a crazy weekend and I needed some time to, er, recover. I think I have now, though, hence the article.
I have a friend who's studying in Berlin at the moment and I thus decided to visit her! Why not? I mean, the flights are really cheap and I haven't come in England to spend boring and empty weekends! Besides, I had never been to Berlin and I really wanted to. So many people had told me how great a city it was, and I wanted to see it for myself. Now I can add a capital city to my list; London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Washington, La Havana, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and Bern, of course, the capital of Switzerland! I need to check out Madrid and Vienna. And some others of course.
Anyway. I flew from Stansted on Thursday evening, just after my classes. I just left with a backpack. As I flew with Ryanair, my small suitcase was not small enough. But a backpack was perfectly fine. I didn't need much for just a weekend did I? My flight was delayed. Of course. I'm so damn unlucky with airports, how could it not have been! I still arrived in Berlin, safe and sound. My friend had given me a meeting point, cause she couldn't come and pick me up at the airport, so I had to take the public transports. Taking the U-Bahn was easy - a lot easier than I'd thought it'd be. I arrived at destination at about midnight. Not TOO bad.
I then settled in my friend's bedroom (she lives in a flat-share, with three flatmates (a Swiss guy, a German guy and a German girl)). We "quickly" discussed what I'd be doing the following day. We mostly talked about other things though haha. We hadn't seen each other for months, so we had things to chat about! We went to bed at around 2am. A relaxing and refreshing weekend had started my friends!
On Friday, I explored alone, as my friend had uni classes. In the morning, I visited the beautiful and astonishing Pergamon Museum. It houses ancient buildings, such as the gate of the Great Altar of Pergamon, or the Ishtar Gate. That was really amazing. I could have spent ages in there, but I had other things planned!
On the "museum island" you can also see the huge Berliner Dom, which is surrounded by really irritating beggars. Anyway. I was still impressed by this massive building.
After this really interesting visit, I headed out to the Alexanderplatz, in the middle of which stands the highest tower of the city: the Fernsehturm (300m high). You can literally see it from everywhere in Berlin. I had great expectations, but found it quite disappointing to be honest. Yes, it is imposing, but it's not what you could call nice-looking. It's just a grey tower. With a striped-red-and-white antenna on the top. Anyway. Here is a picture anyway!
Oh! I forgot to tell you about the Ampelmännchen! They're like, the symbol of Berlin. You know? Those little guys who tell you to cross the road, or stay where you are and wait? Well in Berlin, they're cool, unlike in most other places. They're cool and you can buy them as pens, rubbers, postcards, sweets (I know, right?), everything! I bought a postcard. The magnets were too expensive haha.
It was then time to eat. Yeah people. Berlin is the America of Europe. Germans like to eat. Do not miss the famous Currywurst when you go to the German capital. It's a pork sausage with curry sauce and it's often served with chips or fried potatoes. It's really healthy hahaha. I liked it. And I was very hungry when I had it so it filled me up goooood.
After lunch, I went to the Charlottenburg Schloss (castle). It's a nice building and I wish I could have gone inside. I didn't have time though, and it was a bit expensive.
Then it was time to go south. I went to see this church, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. It's a beautiful church, except that it is now being renovated. I'm always so lucky! (<-- that's me being ironical). I went inside the new building though. It was nice, I guess...? haha
Then, I went to KaDeWe, a famous shopping centre in Berlin. It's quite expensive though. I had a nice pastry with coconut and dates. Mmmmh tasty.
And then, finally, it was time to meet my friend, buy some food, and go home!
On Saturday, I had a personal guided tour of Berlin. It's my friend's second year in the capital, so she knows it pretty well! Which is good for me hehe.
Our first stop was the government district, where the Reichstag (Parliament) is. Only, when we came out of the main station, we were surprised and swallowed by a protest. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people protesting against GMOs. You could see people dressed up as cows and chickens and giant plastic corns hovering around. The crowd was really calm and relaxed; no pushing, no shoving. I was surprised. We still needed 30 minutes to elbow our way through the marchers.
On Saturday, I had a personal guided tour of Berlin. It's my friend's second year in the capital, so she knows it pretty well! Which is good for me hehe.
Our first stop was the government district, where the Reichstag (Parliament) is. Only, when we came out of the main station, we were surprised and swallowed by a protest. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people protesting against GMOs. You could see people dressed up as cows and chickens and giant plastic corns hovering around. The crowd was really calm and relaxed; no pushing, no shoving. I was surprised. We still needed 30 minutes to elbow our way through the marchers.
Once we were out, we made our way to the Reichstag and its surroundings =)
The Reichstag (first picture) is perfectly symmetrical. That's why I took a very symmetrical picture of it haha. The German way =D
Then we wandered in the maze of the Jewish monument. I was touched by this monument, which represents tombs, getting taller and higher. It's infinite, just as the holocaust was. Really cool, but really sad too.
Then we wandered in the maze of the Jewish monument. I was touched by this monument, which represents tombs, getting taller and higher. It's infinite, just as the holocaust was. Really cool, but really sad too.
After that, we walked to the Brandebourg gate, Berlin's most famous monument (I think haha) and the city's symbol. It also symbolises the reunified Germany.
After that, we saw Checkpoint Charlie, the place where, back in the day, you'd leave the American sector for the Russian one.
Before going to our last spot, we had "lunch". My lunch consisted of a donut from Dunkin' Donuts, a café au lait, and a Berliner. It's a kind of doughnut filled with marmalade, and covered with sugar. Really nice. And really healthy. A weekend in Berlin is good for your health, trust me!
Finally, we made our way to the Potsdamer Platz, a new and modern plaza. There you can find the Sony centre, the film museum and Berlin's most famous café (sorry, I can't seem to remember its name!). We had a drink there and had to wait for like 30 minutes to get it. The waiter was really lazy!!!
Finally, we made our way to the Potsdamer Platz, a new and modern plaza. There you can find the Sony centre, the film museum and Berlin's most famous café (sorry, I can't seem to remember its name!). We had a drink there and had to wait for like 30 minutes to get it. The waiter was really lazy!!!
But the day didn't end there! We had a night out! We went out with my friend's flatmates and some of her flatmates' friends. First we had a beer in a bar. Well I didn't. I hate beer. I still had a sip, you know, to be able to say that I had a beer in Berlin. We then went to a club called "Tresor". The music was really loud, and shit. Fortunately, we were in a party mood and had a bit too much to drink, so we still had a lot of fun! Until 6am... Hahaha!!! I had a great time. Once again, I was surprised by the Berliner's relaxed and quiet behaviour. It was very enjoyable.
On Sunday afternoon (well yeah, when you go to sleep at 7:30am, you usually do not get up at 9am do you?) we had a nice walk alongside the Berlin Wall. We saw the painted part. It's like an open air gallery. Various artists painted the wall so it looks really cool! Besides, it was all repainted last year, for the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, so the colours are all bright and beautiful =D
On Sunday afternoon (well yeah, when you go to sleep at 7:30am, you usually do not get up at 9am do you?) we had a nice walk alongside the Berlin Wall. We saw the painted part. It's like an open air gallery. Various artists painted the wall so it looks really cool! Besides, it was all repainted last year, for the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, so the colours are all bright and beautiful =D
And then, I went to the airport and bye bye Berlin!! My journey went smoothly. Nothing to declare haha.
I had a wonderful time in Berlin and I'm really glad I went. It's not a really beautiful city, but the capital's atmosphere is so nice and welcoming. It's a truly charming place!! And there are still things I need to see there. I'm saving them for the next time! =)
Ach Berlin!! =D
I had a wonderful time in Berlin and I'm really glad I went. It's not a really beautiful city, but the capital's atmosphere is so nice and welcoming. It's a truly charming place!! And there are still things I need to see there. I'm saving them for the next time! =)
Ach Berlin!! =D
