Berlin – First city on our two month trip around Europe

I’m sure that most people know about the history of Berlin and forefront in their minds is usually Hitler and World War II.  What they probably don’t know about Berlin is that it is a really beautiful city with some incredible food and beers to write home about.

What people also might not know is that Berlin is the best place to spend a few days not spending money on anything.  That is right, Berlin is perfect for free things to do.

Let’s start with a free walking tour around Berlin.  Considering we were starting off our journey here, I had never heard of a free walking tour before.  I was so pleasantly surprised.

Let me first explain, you don’t pay for the tour, but you can tip your guide afterwards as a lot of them do it as their permanent jobs.  You don’t have to tip them though, if you really don’t have any money, or you don’t have the right currency etc; I’m sure they would understand.  Besides, we had at least 20 other people on our tour, so I’m sure they make a good profit.

Nevertheless, we walked around for 2 and a half hours and got to hear things that I’ve never heard about Berlin before.  I thought I knew a lot about World War II, but I was wrong.  I had no idea that there is a creepy playground on top of where Hitler used to have his bunker and that they mark it with a tiny pink piece of plastic (see picture below).  I also had no idea that Hitler actually killed himself in that bunker and the Russians decided to burn his body and float the ashes down the river, so that there would never be a memorial or place to gather for him, like they were worried his followers would do.

It was also so interesting to hear stories about what it was like in Berlin when the wall separated families and friends.  Apparently there was an official in the government who wanted to get his family out safely.  He worked in a building right next to the wall, so they all hid in a bathroom (which had an out-of-order sign on it) until everyone left for the night.  They threw a rope over the wall with a weight attached to one end and then their friends grabbed it on the other side of the wall and secured it.  They were going to zipline from the building to just over the wall.  They were most worried about their son, so they sent him first.  Knowing they didn’t have a lot of time, as guards were on the rooftops with guns.  They kept going, one by one and somehow never got shot.  Apparently, the guards watching had thought the man was so professional that he must be a spy on their side, so they didn’t shoot him.  This was not the only story of its kind.  Apparently there were so many.

We had wanted to try some local cuisine, so on our walking tour, we stopped at a crazy busy cafe, which is where they took all the walking tours and ordered a Kase Bretzel (huge cheese roll/bagel that looks like a giant pretzel) and also a slice of Apfel Kuchen (apple cake).  Both were delicious, but eaten in a hurry, as we only had a 30 min break.  Trying to save money has made eating out at restaurants not very big on our list, but occasionally we try something small just to say we did.  How can you possibly go to Berlin and not have a beer?  So of course, we did that as well.  I also had champagne, but that was only because it came for free with our hotel stay 🙂

Our hotel.  What can I say about that?  I only booked 2 hotels for our entire first month and it was mainly because they were the cheapest.  I soon figured out why they were the cheapest – soooo far from the centre of the city and also the train station.  So on our first night, after the worst start to a day/trip ever (read all about it on my Rail Journeys blog post to come) we had to walk to our accommodation at 9:30pm and it was a 25 min walk.  Luckily we made it before 10pm, as that was when reception closed.  Completely buggered, but at least we had stopped to get McDonald’s on the way there, so we could eat something; we passed out.  Only to be woken at 4 am when the sun shone through our skylight.  At least it had a double bed and big shower.  That is much more than we can say for the rest of the trip.

After our free walking tour, you would think that we’d have lots of time to see the tourist sights, but not really.  We went back to a few including the Holocaust memorial, Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie (don’t bother getting a picture with the guys dressed up in army uniforms- as this costs 3 euros each), Brandenburg Gate, Tiergarten (wonderful, huge park in the middle of the city) and a few others.

I can’t say that Berlin was one of the cities where we ate healthy, as there just wasn’t time.  We ended up eating KFC for dinner at like 5 pm when we eventually got back to our hotel after a lot more walking.  I’m sure with all the walking we are doing, the calories are getting burnt off anyhow.  In Berlin, we did 16 km alone.

So, what would I suggest when travelling to Berlin.  Try a free walking tour (we liked Sandemans) and also the other sights that are for free, or you can just take pictures of from the outside instead of going in.  Try to save on accommodation if you want to visit expensive sights, but if you want to be close to the sights for less walking, you can just book more expensive accommodation.  It is a catch 22.  Either you save on sights, or you save on accommodation.  If you want to get away from the crowds and don’t fool yourself, in summer there will always be crowds, try and find yourself a park nearby.  They are usually quieter and far more peaceful.

That is Europe for you!