Berlin has been on my bucket list for quite some time. One of my best friends is from Berlin and spent his summers in the US, where we met. I have always wanted to pay him a visit and I was amped up all the more by three years of German courses in undergrad. When Jordan and I began planning a trip to Europe, I found any way that I could make Berlin happen.
At first I was hesitant to squeeze Berlin into our trip since it is a bit far east from our other destinations, but upon seeing how affordable flights in Europe are, I was back on track. Jordan and I scheduled a flight from Paris to Berlin on Air France for around $60/ticket. We also scheduled a flight for the end of the German part of our trip from Berlin to Amsterdam on easyJet for about $40/ticket. We were pleasantly surprised to be served free sandwiches on our hour and 45 minute long flight on Air France. That is something that would never happen on a flight in the United States!
If you are planning to fly easyJet while on your own European vacation, keep in mind that they only allow a small carry-on and no personal item. Jordan and I were able to plan for this by making sure that we could stuff our backpacks inside our carry-on while still remaining within the size limit. We packed very light but knew that in the second half of our trip, we could buy all the souvenirs and extra clothes that we wanted.
We were very lucky to have a Berlin native to help guide us in Berlin and speak German on our behalf. However, he still had to go to work during the day so we were still on our own navigating the city and speaking rudimentary German for most of our trip. Thankfully, most Germans speak wonderful English and were able to bail me out when they saw me floundering.
If you are planning your own trip to Berlin, I highly recommend getting a Berlin WelcomeCard. We got one for 72 hours and it gave us unlimited rides on the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, and the bus for only EUR 28.90. These can be purchased online or at any kiosk in any station. We were really impressed by their public transportation system. It was really easy to navigate and understand, it was extensive, and it had free wi-fi at every station. This made it easier not only to look up information at every stop, but to communicate and make plans with our local friends.
Our first stop, on recommendation from my friend’s parents, was Mauerpark. This is the park that commemorates the Berlin Wall and those that died attempting to cross it.
Mauerpark had some remaining portions of the wall, murals depicting a timeline of events, and signage explaining the history of East and West Berlin. It was really powerful learning about a city divided. There were also tall posts representing the other part of the wall and the “no man’s land” area. The most vivid depiction of this, was where there was an old guard tower. The lower floors were a museum and at the top one could look below at a recreation of what the division would have looked like.
We found that it was pretty easy to walk between a lot of the big sites in Berlin. Museum Island, unsurprisingly, is densely packed with incredible museums. In that same area you will find the Berlin Cathedral or the Berliner Dom. Jordan and I were immediately drawn to this beautiful 19th century church. Admission to the cathedral was EUR 7. If you want to get an audio guide that is another EUR 3. We didn’t bother and that ended up being fine because there was plenty of education information throughout the Berliner Dom, including freestanding audio stations where you could learn the history of the cathedral through provided headphones.
The chancel was incredible. From the windows, to the altar, to the ceiling, to the pews. Everything was so richly decorated. The Sauer Organ was absolutely nuts. With 7269 pipes it was easily the largest instrument I have ever seen.
From the gorgeous sanctuary we went downstairs to the underground tombs. In the dark basement there were lines of sarcophagi containing princes, princesses, queens, and kings. Most were gilded and decorated with great detail. One had large holes blown in it from WWII.
We climbed our way up the winding stairs to the top where we were treated to a fantastic view of Berlin and the River Spree below.
From there we were able to walk to Alexanderplatz and see the TV Tower. We were pretty hungry at this point but we were in a tourist heavy place. Everywhere we looked were overpriced tourist traps. We were in the wrong place to be so hungry. We grabbed a salad to sustain ourselves and kept on our way.
We made it over to the Brandenburg Gate, where we saw lots of people wheeling carts full of pretzels. We were tempted to buy one but remembered that our friend told us that pretzels were a Southern German food and didn’t give in to the craving.
Just around the corner from here was the Reichstag Building or the German Capitol Building. Jordan has an obsession with capitol buildings. He is always game for a visit to the Wyoming capitol building in Cheyenne when we are home. We didn’t end up touring inside because at that point in the day the lines were pretty crazy, but we did sit outside in the grass for a while. At this point in our trip, my feet were really hurting. Turns out, if you plan on walking for most of your trip you need something better than a pair of white Keds.
After our brief rest we walked through the Tiergarten. The park is massive and we were only fortunate to see a small portion of it because it was on to the next activity. We wound our way through the park until we made it to the Mall of Berlin. We walked around there a bit and indulged J’s Levi’s obsession and bought a bag of licorice for me to take to my mom. Germans are known for good licorice. I’m not a fan of the candy but it is my mom’s favorite. Jordan grabbed a currywurst while we were there and cracked a few “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this mall!” jokes.
We hopped back on the U-Bahn and headed east. We wanted to see what kind of secondhand shopping Berlin had to offer. This brought us to Friedrichshain. This is a former Soviet neighborhood that has an edgy punk rock vibe. It is also where we fell in love with Berlin. We stopped at the Humana thrift store and the Trash-Schick secondhand store, as well as a few small boutiques. Jordan ended up buying an olive-green utility coat to combat the chilly March weather.
We bought some beers at a liquor store in Friedrichshain and walked around the neighborhood. We really enjoyed the novelty of getting to drink outside. We then took the train over to Kreuzberg, another neighborhood that was our style, and went to a couple bars. Jordan found a place called Hopfenreich that advertised itself as a craft beer bar. The bar was cozy and adorable. There were old Singer sewing machines that were turned into beer taps and an extensive beer list. I immediately noticed that they serve Smuttynose, a New Hampshire beer I have when I visit family in New England that I can’t even get back home in Wyoming. I resisted the temptation to drink one and only drank beers brewed in Berlin.
We met up with my friend when he got off of work in the same neighborhood at his favorite döner kebab restaurant, Tadim. We got heaping orders of döner and dug in. This was the food I was most excited to have in Germany because despite being Turkish, this dish was actually invented in Berlin.
The next morning Jordan and I got up and grabbed coffees. In France we mostly drank café au lait since regular coffee there is espresso. In Berlin the coffee was more like what we had in the States but much darker and heavier. It was difficult for me to resist the urge to put milk in it, as I usually take my coffee black. Drinking coffee there was a big adjustment!
After coffee, we headed to the Holocaust Memorial. For much of my undergrad I researched resistance during the Holocaust and the historiography of the Holocaust, so this was a place we absolutely had to visit. We shook our heads at people taking duck-face selfies at such a somber memorial, and I cried in the museum reading letters written in concentration camps.
We walked from there to the Sony Center. I was reluctant to go because I didn’t know what would be cool about the place, but we were instructed to check it out. I am glad we did, because the place was very modern in a really cool way. I found the Sony Center to be pretty impressive.
On our last morning in Berlin we stopped by a restaurant called La Femme, a Turkish breakfast place. We had a sesame bread called simit. I highly recommend eating this bread in Berlin as I could not get enough. I still think about simit sometimes and wish I could get it at home!
From breakfast we hopped on the train for our flight to Amsterdam.
