Berlin Calling
Posted: October 18th, 2012 by Scott
After Munich, we stayed in Germany, but made our way up to the North. The cold, cold North.
We got all rugged up and explored the town
Temperatures in Salzburg and Munich were cool, but not cold yet. But getting into Berlin, we knew we were getting into something different.
Cold, spotty rain and generally overcast and gloomy the whole time we were there. You’d think that might put a damper on our enjoyment. But you’d be wrong. We actually really enjoyed the city in spite of the fact that it was kinda uncomfortable outside.
Berlin we found out is a very young, vibrant city with a great art, music and cafe culture.
We give Berlin a big thumbs up!
Everywhere you look there’s an art gallery or just street art, or sometimes a street art “gallery”.
A gallery of street art on a kilometer and a half long section of the Berlin wall
When we knew we were coming to Berlin we started looking around or interesting things to do here and different ways to experience the city. While surfing the web one day I stumbled upon something called Plus 1 Berlin. Its an apartment designed by local architects in a less touristy neighborhood where they encourage you to go to local businesses.
This is the studio apartment. Simple but a bit funky and cool.
The neat thing is that they also hook you up with a local for an “experience”. Our experience was with a local, named Jeroen, who happens to be a travel writer and who has an interest in urban planning and how the city has been transformed through the eras. We went for a walking tour, grabbed lunch in a cool historic food market, admired street art in an abandoned ice factory and generally got to see a side of the city that we wouldn’t ever have seen otherwise. It was a bit pricey, but was a great experience.
There is so much history in Berlin from pre-republic times to democratic post World War I to Nazi regime to the Cold War and the wall that split the city. We were glad we gave ourselves a week to explore it all and try not to get too burnt out in the process.
One of the highlights was the Jewish memorial, which is abstract, so it makes you interpret it in your own way and really give it some thought as to what message it is trying to or should convey.
The tops of the many blocks of the Jewish memorial.
It finally did warm up our last day though and we took advantage of it by wandering through the weekly Turkish market where we sampled some tasty food and then relaxed in the warmth of the sun at a cafe along side the canal for a couple drinks.
A nice refreshing beverage to finish off a good stay in Berlin.
Next stop Asia!