Our final destination this holiday was Berlin. In fact, when we first began booking our holidays
we booked our flight to Budapest and a flight home from Berlin and then said ok
what do we do in between? We had visited
the Black Forest in the Western part of Germany this past spring with Ross’
parents and really enjoyed it so we were excited to visit the country again.
So we caught a train from Prague and we were off!
If you recall from my previous blog this is the train where we had to book our
seats once we arrived in Prague or we would have been standing for 5 hours in
the aisles. Seriously I am so happy we
did. When I saw all the people standing
I felt so relieved that we had a place to sit.
This was the most beautiful train ride we had
taken through our whole trip. It was through
gorgeous mountains with charming villages, past rivers, lakes and across lovely
fields covered in a light dusting of snow.
I truly enjoyed all the scenery.
One of my favourite things to do is travel through the mountains
especially in the winter when they are all snow capped.
We had planned our accommodation location well so
it was very simple to get off the train and onto the metro which then dropped
us off just a five-minute walk to the hotel.
I am so glad it was simple because it was freezing! In the five minutes we were outside my
fingers were so cold I could not even unzip my purse when we got to the hotel
front desk.
The hotel was nice, spacious, a good value, in a
great location and with a huge tub and shower that had the best water pressure
I may have ever encountered. There was
no free breakfast but luckily Starbucks was only a few minutes away and they
carried an actual vegan falafel wrap so Yay to awesome Starbucks for keeping me
fed! I would recommend this hotel as an option if you are staying in the
city. Super close to tons of restaurants
and shopping as well as the metro and busses just steps away.
Now the unfortunate part about our time in Berlin
was that we did not have enough of it.
This is a huge city with a ton to see and do so we feel like 2 days was
not even close to enough time. I think
we could have easily spent 5 or 6 days just touring all the museums and
monuments not to mention the huge parks, interesting neighbourhoods and downtown
core.
We feel like we barely scratched the surface. It
was made especially challenging because of the cold and how early it got
dark. We had two full days here as well
as the first evening we arrived and the temperature did not get above -10 and
was as low as -19. That is not fun and
exciting sightseeing weather. Also it
was pitch black at 4 pm and once it was dark the cold was almost unbearable so
we didn’t spend as much time touring around as we normally do in a city.
However, we did our best to see what we
could! We knew the Berlin Wall memorial
was the most important thing we wanted to see so we made sure to do that on our
first day. Our hotel was a 6.5 km walk from the memorial which would take us
through the lovely Tiergarten park so we strapped on our boots and started
walking.
Tiergarten park was enormous and I think would be
so perfect in the summer months for running, picnics and just exploring with
loved ones. We spent quite a lot of time
just wandering the trails and taking photos until our feet were numb from cold.
We passed the parliament building without going
in as we were told the wait was 2 hours and we just could not be outside that
long just waiting in line. It looked
like a fantastic building though so I wish we could have see inside.
The Berlin Wall Memorial was emotionally
heavy. As much as I appreciate seeing
these sites part of me always feels such sadness. For me to be in this country as a tourist and
to think ‘I cant wait to see the Berlin Wall’ – because to me it is a “tourist
attraction” – makes me feel guilty in a sense.
I look at this wall as a monument while those who lived through this
time saw it as a prison. This wall cut
people off from family, friends, life.
This wall symbolizes such oppression, fear and death and we as tourists
cant wait to take our picture beside it.
That is not to say we shouldn’t want to see these
things or to feel excited about seeing this symbol of Germanys history I just
hope that people who do have the opportunity to view such sites recognize that
as much as its destruction and memorial are a representation of change and hope
its creation was not. I hope that when
people see something so iconic they understand that it is not just a tourist
attraction but a bleak piece of human history.
When I see things like this it reconfirms my
gratefulness at being born in a country free from oppression and war. I have never had to experience anything so
awful and I am thankful for that every day. In this respect I think it is important for people to see these monuments to help keep privilege in perspective.
I was surprised to see how much of the wall was
still intact. I was under the impression
that it had all been torn down except for the memorial site but I learned that there
are pieces of it still up along the river.
We walked along it for a long time and tried to imagine what it must
have been like for those people who had to walk along it every day never
knowing if they would see the other side. It was very interesting and I am glad
to have been able to see it in person – as a tourist.
We also made a stop at Check Point Charlie which
was something really interesting to see.
This was one of the better known crossing points between East and West
Berlin during the Cold War. If you are
interested I have included a Wikipedia link to get you started on some reading.
Ross and I really enjoyed East Berlin. There were so many cool neighbourhoods filled
with bars, restaurants and interesting shops.
They had a very young, hip and artsy vibe which we appreciated. And I cannot tell you how excited I was to
see so many vegan and vegetarian shops!
There are actual vegan grocery stores.
I mean everything you can get at a regular grocery shop only vegan! Why does this not exist everywhere? I was in heaven!
We managed to get into the Berlin Cathedral on
our second day touring around. This is a huge magnificent building that you must
see if you ever visit Berlin. It was
built beginning in 1454. For only 5
euros each we got to take a tour of the cathedral including walking around the
outside of the dome. This gave us an
incredible view of the city and also made us realize just how much we would not
get to see.
In the basement of the cathedral is a large crypt
that we were allowed to wander through.
These are always quiet places and with good reason of course. It was different than any crypt I have
visited before with so many coffins of small children. It was sad but a lovely space. Well worth a wander through.
There is so much more about the city that I loved
– great food, friendly people, awesome transit system, fun Christmas markets and
interesting architecture for your eyes to feast upon everywhere. We did find the city to be different than
most European cities we have visited in that it wasn’t as pretty. It seemed cold (not just because it was
freezing). I suppose what I mean is that a lot of cities we visit seem artsy and curious where I found this city to be more serious. To be clear - I do not think that is a bad thing.
Berlin was such a cool city I would love to go
back and do more exploring. Like I said
there just wasn’t enough time to see it all and of course I should also mention
I pinched a nerve in my foot so limping around was arduous and the last day we
were there I got struck with influenza so it was a tough go. But we did what we could.
And thus concludes our holiday adventure! It was an amazing two weeks and there is
nobody I would rather have experienced it with than Ross. We have been so lucky to have the opportunity
to travel so much and see such remarkable places. These are experiences we can take with us
forever.
Until next time! Auf Wiedersehen!
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