You had me at Hallo: Berlin 2022 Day 2

[debojahh]

Hello again!

Today is a walking tour, drink & sunburn followed by the Reichstag!

We were up at 7am today and had booked walking tour by Alexanderplatz so knew we had a time to keep to!



We realised there are train stations at either end of our road(Potsdamer Platz and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy-Park) so we found a breakfast place near Mendelssohn this morning!

We left the hotel at 8:30 and walked a few minutes up the next road and went for breakfast at Pinch.



It was a really small cute and German cafe where we had to improvise ordering...I speak some German but I panic

I ordered a cappucino and crepes with apple and cinnamon and ice cream! Jess ordered a chai latte and crepes with Nutella. Mine was 6 Euro which I thought was reasonable. She was making everything just behind the counter as there are only maybe 4 table in the cafe.





Mine is the one like a little parcel! These were really nice and not too big which was good as we didn't want to get really full.



We were done here around 9am and we bought a 4 trip ticket each for the transport, these are 9.80 Euro for Zones A and B and they can be used whenever. Each is valid for upto 120 minutes on onward travel.
We just got the U2 from Mendelssohn to Alexanderplatz. We had got the VBB app which I would recommend as it tells you closest, price, changes etc and was super helpful!





We had a little bit of time before our tour at 10am so we wandered around abit more and spotted another bear.





We popped into the EspressoHouse here and grabbed a couple of bottles of water for about 5 Euro. Luckily the lady behind the counter said 'did you want sparkling' so we had time to swap it over!

We booked a free walking tour which said the meeting point was the Park Inn by the Burger King entrance. But we were stood at the main entrance and wondering where our guide was.

We met a German girl called Valerie and a Canadian called Emma here, who were waiting for the same tour. I decided to investigate after about 15 minutes and realised there was another entrance(which is opposite a fountain so surely that is a better landmark to use as a meeting point?!).

Valerie went to speak to the concierge and he started shouting at her saying it wasn't his fault. Very bizarre as she only asked him a question!

Anyway, Emma realised there was a Sandemans tour that left from the Brandenburg Gate at 11am so we agreed to walk across Berlin to attempt to catch this tour

I have no photos from during the walk to the gate funnily BUT we made it there! HUZZAH!

Me and Emma were taking the lead and during this I learnt that she had met Valerie in Cologne the previous day and they had travelled back together. Emma was touring Europe, having done Dublin, London and Paris, she still had Prague and Vienna to do before going back to Alberta!

Having successfully got to the tour I want to say our guide was called Hannah and she was Californian! She has been living in Berlin for 4 years and was actually great.



She was telling us how the Brandenberger Tor was one of multiple gates that allowed access into the centre and that it is why there are train stations with Tor in them.

She also pointed out the famous hotel where Michael Jackson dangled Blanket out of the window(Jess will kill me if she ever sees this)



I thinks he said it is one of the nicest hotels in Berlin with £18000 a night suites!

We then walked to see the visible bricks on the road which show where the wall used to stand, it is neat that you can see the actual divide.

We next ended up in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and we were given a few minutes to make our way through on our own.



Here we were told that Peter Eisenman who won a competition to create the memorial, has said on many occasions that people can interpret the memorial however they choose as the number of blocks does not symbolise anything specific.
Our guide was saying that lots of the blocks are breaking and there has been a theory that he did this intentionally as the government have to discuss the upkeep of the memorial once a year to decide of if they maintain it or leave it to crumble. So far they have decided to maintain it(there are reinforcements on some of the blocks).

It was a very sombre experience and she explained that the museum downstairs goes into much more detail about the individuals, but we were continuing our tour.

We ended up next to a block of flats and a carpark. This was where Hitler's bunker had been and it was decided to not memorialise anything here so other than a sign there is no other information and the bunker was filled in.

We walked from here down to Wilhelmstrasse.





We got walked to Typisch Berlin for a break and some got food and snacks in our little break here.

We stayed in the area by the Die Welt balloon and heard more stories of what happened with the wall when it originally went up and all the attempts to cross it through windows, by boat etc. She was a really engaging host.

To end the tour we ended up at Checkpoint Charlie.



We were aware this is quite touristy and the actual checkpoint is not there! The photo is of an American man who actually was just in the band and never fought, he and all other photographed military did not know their photos were used. Crazy.

We all paid Hannah, I paid 10 Euro for the tour as did Jess. It was 1:30 now so we decided to try and find lunch!

We walked a few minutes and came across Auf die Hand which looked like exactly what we wanted, I had a chicken and rosemary foccacia thing and a lemonade for 8 euro+



This was really tasty, it reminded me of Pret but with homemade quiches and bits too. We were done in here at 2:20 and had a look into we walked back to the Brandenburg Gate and found one of Jess's favourite shops Weekday.
They had some nice stuff so Jess bought a new tshirt(you will see it in the next days report!)







We had a bit of time to kill before our booking at the Reichstag so we decided that because it was SO warm and nice we would find somewhere to sit. We ended up at Ganymed on the Spree.





We ordered 2 x Aperol Spritz...I tried to ask in German but the waiter said 'did you learn at GCSE' Rude! Turns out he spent 2 years in London in the 1990s. There was a man here with a beautiful King Charles Spaniel who was a regular, had 2 glasses of wine and wandered home. Dreamy.





We got a 2nd drink and I moved because I could feel myself burning. It was too late so I look abit red from now onwards.



We settled up with 20 Euro each(2 x drinks and tip) at 4.55 and walked towards the Reichstag.







We arrived a little early but they let us in 30 minutes before our reservation which was nice. When I booked it insisted on masks but today it had changed to not be compulsory. So Jess kept hers on but min ewere new and kept hurting my ear/nose.













We walked upto the top of the Dome but the views are hard to photograph up there because it is panes of glasses rather than a traditional dome.

We came back down and sat on a bench on the roof for a while. It was actually such lovely weather so was nice to just enjoy the sunshine and the views across Berlin.

We were down and looking for dinner at 6:40. I had pencilled in German food but we could not find the restaurant we wanted so Jess did a quick Google and found a little Italian place called Dolcini.





I got a Fanta and Jess a Coke, ansd we got some free bread.
I ordered the tri tip, mushroom, rocket pasta and Jess got meat, tomato and onion.







This was actually really good and super cheap. It got a little chilly sitting in the shade but they blankets on all the chairs.

I paid 18.50 Euro and Jess 15 Euro and we left sometime before 8pm.
We walked a little bit then we got the U Bahn from Mitte Strasse to Potsdamer Platz.



Being the sweet toothed people we are we popped into Espresso House and both got a chai latte, I also got a chocolate ball which was kind of coconutty.



Thats us for the day, we got to the room at 8:20 and watched The Voice Kids Germany!

[CrispyA]

Looks like another great day and Berlin lends itself well to a walking tour. Hope your sunburn wasn’t too sore

[steel1203]

Visiting in 10 days time so really enjoying your report 👍💕

[debojahh]

Originally Posted by CrispyA

Looks like another great day and Berlin lends itself well to a walking tour. Hope your sunburn wasn’t too sore

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Ha luckily not sore. I just look abit stupid in all future photos!
Yep I agree it's a super walkable city and lots to see in a short space!

Originally Posted by steel1203

Visiting in 10 days time so really enjoying your report 👍💕

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Oo let me know if you have any questions at all. I will try to get another day up over the weekend! 😊

[Goldia]

The walking tour sounded good. The photos of the Reichstag are great, we had similar weather when we went, perhaps a bit cooler, but the blue sky with little clouds in the photos looks great.

[debojahh]

Originally Posted by Goldia

The walking tour sounded good. The photos of the Reichstag are great, we had similar weather when we went, perhaps a bit cooler, but the blue sky with little clouds in the photos looks great.

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Yes, I'm glad we did a walking tour opposed to a bus one!

And such lovely weather, even still about 19 degrees while we were up there at 6pm which was unexpected

[smithlane]

We did the Sandemans tour too, they're fantastic aren't they? We never would have known half the facts if it wasn't for our fab guide! We even went with him to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp the following day as he was so interesting.

[debojahh]

Originally Posted by smithlane

We did the Sandemans tour too, they're fantastic aren't they? We never would have known half the facts if it wasn't for our fab guide! We even went with him to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp the following day as he was so interesting.

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Really great and especially after the first tour went so wrong!
I think we may well have done another one if I hadn't mapped out a more chilled itinerary.