Berlin is my favourite European city.
It’s sprawling, it’s alive, it’s memorable, and it’s different.
It was once one the darkest place earth, and few will forgot that.
But now, it’s a place for everyone.
Our kids loved it’s many playgrounds while Yashy and I could not get enough of the food
and drink we discovered.
We spent 10 days in Berlin this past summer but started out modestly, using our first
afternoon to do a little reconnaissance with the help of the Berlin City Circle Sightseeing
bus tour.
Quickly, we were reminded of the city’s dark past as we drove past the Memorial to
the Murdered Jews of Europe.
It is a jarring sight, fittingly, and a place that we would return to a few days later.
Along the tour, we encountered the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament as well
as Tiergarten, an enormous public park in the heart of the city, both places we would
revisit in the coming days.
We eventually passed Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous crossing point between East and
West Berlin during the cold war.
Our last stop was the Gendarmenmarkt, site of the Berlin concert house and, as we discovered,
a fantastic place to chase bubbles.
The area was one of the better places in the city to explore on food and we ended our day
walking walking along the Friedrichstraße, one of the main shopping areas in Berlin.
On day two, we signed up for a boat tour along the Spree River.
A surprising number of waterways flow through the city and the tour gave us the opportunity
to see some of the impressive buildings that define its landscape.
Even though it was raining, we still had some pretty good views from down below.
The kids, as usual, were content to eat all the snacks while trying to figure out the
audioguides.
By day 3, we met up with some friends to participate in a Sandeman walking tour of the city.
First, and most importantly, we took advantage of Germany’s amazing portable hot dog stands
and its limited regulations on open alcohol.
"We are in a souvenir store."
"What are the souvenirs we bought?"
"A double smoked red ale"
"Nice!'
The tour gave us a chance to visit many of the
sites we drove past on the bus tour, starting with the Holocaust memorial and its 2711 concrete
slabs, unevenly arranged to give visitors a sense of unease and confusion.
"Do you know what this is about?"
"Cause a lot of people died?"
"Yeah, that's right. A lot of people were killed.
"And this is to remember them right?"
Across the street, we found the world’s least fun playground, located above the bunker
where Hitler killed himself in 1945.
It was time to leave the city’s morbid history.
"OK guys, we are standing in line
"at the famous Mustafa's Kepab shop"
"Let's see if this sandwich is the best I've eaten?"
It took us an hour to reach the front of the line at the famous Mustafa’s Vegetable
Kebabs, and thankfully they had a chicken option.
It was pretty delicious and I then managed to coral our well fed group to Hopfenreich,
one of the city’s best craft beer bars.
After a few brews, we walked through Görlitzer Park to give the kids a change to burn of
some energy and caught a nice view of the Landwehr Canal on our way back home, through
we did save some time to take advantage of the empty playground in our neighbourhood.
(Kids Chatter)
On Day 5, we did a lot of walking.
Starting with a visit to the Topography of Terrors, which features an informative array
of pictures and summaries from World War II.
We then took the subway to Alexanderplatz station, where we caught a view of the Television
Tower.
After a late lunch, we headed back across town towards the Tiergarten, which seemed
like the best place to grab a beer and enjoy the lush greenery of the beautiful park.
With all that beer energy, we ended our day outside the Brandenburg Gate, which attracts
as many visitors at night as during the day.
We got a late start on Day 6, though the kids still had lots of energy.
Our first stop was at the Berlin Bunker Story, which allows visitors to experience life underground
in 1945.
We then spent the evening at Eschenbräu, a fun brew hall near LeopoldPlatz.
it was nice to sit down after so many days of exploration.
The beer there was affordably priced and very good.
Our Day 7 adventure started at the Südbrunnen outside Bahnhof Wittenbergplatz, where we
caught the United Buddy Bears.
"So I've wanted to come see these bears since Day 1"
The kids really loved the colourful display, which was created as a means of promoting
tolerance and understanding for different cultures.
We quickly found Sri Lanka and then eventually Canada.
"Canada"
"Oh, I was looking for it in "C" but of course Canada is with a "K" in German
"That's the Canadian bear guys."
Later that night, we visited the Reichstag.
"We're at the rooftop of the Reichstag Building here in Berlin"
"and it is free to enter the parliament building here"
"as long as you sign up online"
"We got a confirmation pretty much the next day after signing up."
"And I highly recommend climbing it around sunset for the best views in the city"
The roof of Berlin’s parliament building was
a great place see the city.
I noticed dozens of cranes across the skyline, which reminded that Berlin is still growing.
The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 occurred in my lifetime and the healing is taking time.
A multimedia show just outside the Reichstag brought us through the history of the city.
Given our love of food, it was only natural that we should take part in the Bite Mojo
Food Tour, a self-guided adventure through some of Berlin’s dining hotspots.
We definitely ate well that day.
We made the rest of the week about the kids, visiting the International Garden Festival
of Berlin as well as the Machmitt’s Children’s Museum.
Click the links to follow along with our visits to those two great attractions.
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