So Mel is currently working in the Dorf (Dusseldorf) for a few weeks and she thought it would be a good idea to meet up for a weekend in Berlin. Impressively the four of us (Mel, Jen, James and I) were able to organise something quick smart. I’ve always loved German cities for some reason and Berlin was definitely no exception. Our weekend in Berlin can be split up into to aspects – the touristy sight-seeing aspect and the partying aspect – both equally good for their own reasons. Photos are here.

When?	2nd weekend Jan 2007
Why Go?	Amazing history (see the wall before it is totally brought down) and fun bars/clubs.
Transportation	EasyJet
Weather	Cool, grey at first fine by Sunday
Hints	Check out Helter Skelter Hostels – but go for their apartments. Our accommodation was fabulous and a great find by Mel. For only 50 euro each for two nights we were able to get a giant apartment which sleeps up to six people. A gigantic kitchen, a nice balcony, a bathroom with both a shower and triangle bath tub, space galore and even an exercise bike – it was definitely a bargain. Perfectually situated for the social life as well.

The Experience

The best way to learn about and see Berlin at a quick glance is to take one of the numerous walking tours on offer. They normally take just over four hours (or you can do the all day one if you’re really keen) and you will cover a lot of ground but more importantly you will hear the history that makes it infinitely more interesting. The things we covered included:

– A visit to Museum Island.
– Standing in Babelplatz which is a public square bounded by the State Opera building, Humboldt University (where Einstein once taught), and St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, Berlin’s oldest Roman Catholic church. The square is best known as the site of the book burning (around 20,000 books) ceremony held on May 10, 1933 by members of the S.A. and Nazi youth groups.
– Passing through Checkpoint Charlie.
– Standing on either side of where the wall used to be and visiting the remains of the wall.
– Standing above Hitler’s bunker including sighting where his body was supposedly brought up to the surface.
– Standing in front Hitler’s headquarters which ironically is now a Chinese Restaurant.
-Strolling under the Brandenburg Gate but noting that where this was previously called the Death Strip is now where the Love Parade is held annually.
– The holocaust memorial was pretty special too.
– And my favourite, paying a visit to the Reichstag Parliament. A beautiful glass building with nice views over Berlin.

We missed out on doing some of the more touristy things including visiting the Pergamom and the Zoo but I think we had a pretty good summary of some of Berlin’s history in our walk above.

To balance out the sight-seeing we ended up going on a pub crawl. The pub crawl promises to take you where the locals go and with free shots, including free pouring into our mouths out on the street, it turned out to be a very fun night. I think we hit four bars – each distinct and interesting for their own reasons including the final bar which was actually spread across about 5 floors including an open air level. Actually, here is video of Mel dancing her way down some stairs:

After the pub crawl we ended up in some random night club where they were playing really good music until about 3 in the morning. Then it got dodgy. We met some really nice guys on the crawl too including the beautiful Lake North – can you believe that name?!, the fun restaurant manager Drew and the crazy Irish man Ronan. All really nice guys and surprisingly keen for a dance!

Definitely had a great time in Berlin although I think it will take me some time to recover from basically sleeping only eight hours over three nights! But check this out – the young ones where the ones who quit the night first! 🙂

The cathedral and TV tower	Babelplatz	The one without the Gate cut off
The boys and us	The shot we may regret	Leaving our mark in Berlin