Berlin

Last weekend Lesley and I went to Berlin for a short trip. Neither of us had been there before so it was a first for both of us. The weather was pretty bad, with lots of snow and later rain, so walking about the streets looking at the sights wasn’t as much fun as it could have been, but this was February.

The biggest impression a visitor to modern Berlin gets is its history – and most of it from the last 100 years or so. It’s everywhere – from the bullet-holes in buildings to remnants of the wall. There are lots of museums to visit, and Lesley and I went to the Story of Berlin (including a visit to a cold-war nuclear bunker) and the Holocaust memorial. We also managed to get into the Reichstag building (first thing in the morning to avoid the long queues to get in) and walked up the new dome for a great view of Berlin. We also saw Brandenburger Tor, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche and Berliner Dom. We had planned to take a trip to the top of the Fernsehturm, but it was in clouds the whole time we were there.

This was all pretty heavy stuff (and some of it depressing too) so we cheered ourselves up by exploring the Berlin nightlife, eating loads of traditional German food (currywurst, schnitzel, bratkartoffeln, boullete, kohlroulade with speck sauce) and drinking a lot of excellent Pils.

You can see all the photos I took on this trip on my website here.