It wasn’t the best of starts. My sister and I stepped off the packed bus into Berlin’s horizontal rain and biting wind. Suddenly my decision to only bring a thin leather jacket to save room in my suitcase was looking less than wise. Walking to our hotel through a wind tunnel, we had to admire the way the miserable weather served only to enhance the inescapable Soviet-ness of this eastern part of the city. No-one could argue that this area, with Alexanderplatz, the TV Tower (the top of which was shrouded in clouds for most of our visit) and Karl Marx Allee, is pretty. But it certainly is evocative of its socialist past and you can’t help but be transported back in time by the stark concrete buildings and open spaces.
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L - The DDR museum by the river
R - TV tower in Alexanderplatz |
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| Street art showing the TV tower and railway station |
Our first port of call after dropping off bags was the DDR museum - unfortunately due to the crap weather about 200 other people had the same idea. However it was really interesting and if you’re new to Berlin or want to find out more about the wall, and what life was like for people stuck on the East side, it’s a must.
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| The Alexanderplatz U-Bhan was pleasingly turquoise |
The first day was massively improved by the reason we braved a Berlin visit this late in the year – seeing PiL (fronted by ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon) play live at the Colombia Theatre. Every inch of the Modernist building was filled with a 98% male audience, most of whom were wearing big coats and smoking (Germans didn’t get the ‘no smoking indoors’ memo). I’m not a massive PiL fan but I really enjoyed their performance – Lydon’s vocals were great (if you only know the Pistols-era sneer, give some PiL songs a try) and my sister even blagged a copy of the set list.
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| Our ride for the day (note squealing truck behind) |
The next day was a touristy adventure - a Mustang ‘safari’ self-drive tour around what was the American sector. I was relieved that I wasn’t in the driver’s seat as the Mustang had 3 gears and a bad attitude, and the guide’s Corvette that we were following through this strange town seemed to see stopping at red lights as a suggestion rather than a command. After 2 hours sitting in an unheated car I snapped and bought myself a big puffa jacket - obligatory winter wear in northern Europe and I can totally see why. Best 39 euros I’ve ever spent. While we were in the shiny new Mall de Berlin we also tried delicious potato pancakes (traditionally served with apple sauce but we had chive-y Quark topping too as we’re renegades).
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L - pink manhole showing the TV tower, why not?
R - pink Trabant with the famous Die Welt balloon behind |
On Saturday we travelled up at 6 metres a second to the 203m high viewing platform of the TV tower in the middle of Alexanderplatz. The queue to get in was rather slower than 6 metres a second. They bravely attempted crowd control by giving you a ticket with an allotted time, but tiny lifts and (necessary but annoying) security measures held everything up.
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L - 'nice work, are you here with Uni?' girl: 'no I'm on a school trip' *feels 100 years old*
R - one of many views from the top of the TV tower |
Next was Berlin zoo, which covers a huge area and seems much bigger than when I last visited over 10 years ago. It has a lovely open feel that tries to minimise the fences and railings between you and the animals. We found a touching memorial to the most famous resident – Knut the polar bear. If you need a cute fix, check out the videos of him as a cub.
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L - imperious goat
R - dreadlocked orangutan |
On the last day we took the U-Bahn to Postdamer Platz as I wanted to check out the Dali exhibit. I was looking forward to seeing some of his surrealist masterpiece paintings, but sadly this exhibit only had lithographs, sketches and a few small sculptures, so I would say suitable only for hard-core Dali fans. The gallery was right next to the Spy museum which we’d heard good things about – I loved the interior design but didn’t think the 18 euro entrance fee was entirely justified.
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| Interior of the Spy Museum - concrete chic |
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| The church damaged by WW2 bombs is nicknamed"der Hohle Zahn" (The Hollow Tooth) |
Overall, after my second trip I still feel like there’s so much more to see in Berlin. Some things haven’t changed – huge areas are still building sites, soft pretzels are still the best cheap snack ever and people still smoke indoors. I can’t wait to go back.
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| Mural outside the huge pink Alexa shopping centre |
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L - posh Mall de Berlin with massive rotating pen for some reason
R - The Clock of Flowing Time at the Europa Centre |
