Jun 13, 2006 - Germany Part 2: World Cup Fever in Berlin

Berlin is Hot! (And I don't mean temperature... although it was the first warm place I've been in Europe). No, Berlin is a really amazing city... I wouldn't be surprised if 10 years from now, it is the Paris or London of Europe and the place everyone wants to go. Yes, it is already a big tourist destination, but considering the Berlin Wall didn't come down until 1989, I think the city will continue to make big strides. Why did I like Berlin? Well, it's very trendy and fun. Germany is really a lot like the U.S. (maybe more than any other...

May 14, 2006 - berlin

so i think berlin is my (erins) favorite city so far. we had a blast here ..... had entirely too many things i wanted to do to fit into just 2 days, but we managed to do most of them - we even went to the zoo! shopped on the ku'damm, saw the broken church, had a beer at potsdamer platz, went to the pergamum and the altes museum, saw check point charlie, the reichstag and toured all over the freaking place - we also met up with a family friend stephan too and his girlfriend andrea, had a great dinner at their house and then met up with him...

May 6, 2006 - Berlin, Germany

By far our favourite city so far. The way that the old history is mixed together with amazing modern architecture is really amazing. If you ever go to Berlin take the free walking tour. We had a guide named Doron and he was the best. The tour was full of Canadians and he knew so much about everything. It was only his 4th tour group too since he moved to Berlin. The tour lasted 3 1/2 hours. He pointed out things that you would never know if you just had a guide book. For example we stood over Hitler's bunker where he married and killed...

Apr 28, 2006 - Berlin II

Der Freischutz was OK, some of the singing was excellent, some not so. Some of the acting was the worst we had ever seen (and we have seen more than our fair share of bad acting). The production was all a bit amatuerish, bits of the set falling over, little accidents... But the second act was fantastically gory - Kaspar sits astride a dead boar and guts it with his bare hands (very effective blood and organs). Glad we went, as we will probably not get another opportunity to see this opera again. Stu had a puncture so we spent quite some...

Apr 26, 2006 - Berlin

Arrived last night on the train, after more adventures. Amazingly (for Germany) the train was running late, and we had to catch a connecting train. But contingency plans were in place and we got to Berlin as planned. Dinner locally at an Italian place, where I could communicate much more effectively in Italian rather than German. Berlin is a lovely city, it has some strange dichotomies though. Many monuments to Prussian military successes and many other monuments strenuously apologies for war atrocities and nazi-ism. Also strange to finally...

Mar 1, 2006 - long day of travel

No one will believe this day... all that matters is that I made it home to Siena. We ended up having 4 hours to kill at the airport in Berlin (this is after we had just taken a five hour train ride) and we still had to go to Pisa and take the train from Pisa to Siena.

Feb 27, 2006 - Berlin

So we stayed the night at this really cool hostel that Kris had found then woke up and did Berlin for the day. I was in love, it's so rich in history which is so recent that every constrution zone and change is due to the cold war or the previous world wars. I also was able to find a subway and a starbucks as well as three H&M's even though we didn't have time to go shopping really.

Jan 9, 2006 - Cold, Cold Berlin!

Berlin was cold, colder than anywhere else we had been but so fascinating. The history here from the war was surreal. We did a 3 hour guided walking tour which included the Topography of Terror, Checkpoint Charlie and stood on top of where Hitlers bunker had been and where he committed suicide. It included the New Synagogue, the Reichstag building, Unter den Linden, Brandenburg Gate and the Soviet War Memorial. There is a 365 metre high television tower in the middle of the city and we managed to find a Beer House in the Mitte for lunch...

Dec 30, 2005 - Berlin

The trip from Amsterdam to Berlin was a memorable one. We got to the train station with no hassels - and then found out that the train was delayed 50mins (just for something different!). When it arrived we walked around trying to find our carriage that we had reserved seats on only to find that it didn't exist. Turns out that the temperature inside the carriage was the same as that outside. So everyone had to cram into 2 first class carriages. Although it sounds great there wasn't enough seats for everyone and luggage was everywhere....

Dec 11, 2005 - Berlin

My one abiding memory of Berlin is that it was COLD. I spent 8 hours on a walking tour and no amount of hot chocolate or hot food seemed to relieve me of being chilled to the bone. Even 4 layers of clothing including thermals did not do the trick! Add to this the fact that I only spent two days there, a source of regret now, and I find I have come away without an overall impression of the city. It seemed cold and deserted. I was told by our tour guide that Berlin is depopulated both due to the impact of the 2nd World War and the subsequent...

Dec 5, 2005 - Berlin -- Too much to see, not enough time!

Four days in Berlin was definitely not enough. We can see why Berliners love their city. There are shows, museums, pubs, zoos, and other gazillion things to do here. You could statistically go out and do something different every night of the week for a year and not cover everything. We stuck mainly to the stuff having to do with World War II and the Berlin wall. Only 16 years ago, the wall came down!! There were still many traces of the old Communist part of Germany, including many a gray slab of building and unemployed people. We visited...

Nov 26, 2005 - One day in Berlin

We arrived in Berlin at Schoenefeld Airport at 11:30 pm. We took a taxi to Berlin Mitte (central) to look for a hotel. An Den Linden Hotel was full up, but the Meritim around the corner had 1 room left and gave us the weekend rate inclusive of breakfast.