During our 2o hours in Berlin, we managed to pack in quite a lot of sightseeing. It helped that we only spent about 4 hours of that sleeping. :)
The Brandenburg Gate is magnificent in person. You used to be able to drive through the slots, but the ground underneath was becoming unstable, so now traffic is rerouted around the gate. Amusingly, there were men dressed up like German officials providing ‘passports’ stamped with East and West insignias. Oh, and break dancers too.
One block north is The Reichstag, home of the German Parliament. Uli took this lovely photo of us so we have actual proof that we set foot in Germany. We will definitely visit the rooftop on a future visit as you have a bird’s eye view into the building from above through the dome.
Unexpectedly, one of my favorite experiences was the Holocaust Memorial. From the sky, it doesn’t look like much but on the ground, it’s like a sea of unmarked tombs spreading out over a city block. The plain slabs are at different heights with the tallest in the middle but all the rows are straight and narrow, allowing one to get completely within the monument but never lost.
Pieces of the Berlin Wall are standing at points all over the city, but this spot by the Sony Center was particularly informative and well-done.
A large demonstration closed many of the roads near Alexanderplatz, so we found a great parking spot in front of the Berliner Dom and walked around Museum Island before heading over… and after snapping a few photos of course.
Following lunch we planned to go to the top of the Fernsehturm (aka the TV Tower) for a cup of coffee but the hour delay was more than we wanted to wait and it was drizzling, so the views weren’t going to be that great. Next time we’ll know to pick up our timed tickets in advance.
On our way back to the car we peeked inside the Pergamon, vowing to spend at least half a day there on our next trip and watched some local teenage groups perform jump routines in front of the Museum of Modern Art.
