Berlin City tour Day 1

After hopping a very early train from Stuttgart hbf, I made my way to Berlin for a weekend of education and adventure.

Well, onto my brief explanation of my time there. After getting in, I went to information to find out exactly where Brandenburger Tor (Bradenburg Gate) was so I could go on my first tour. Once again, I used SANDEMANs for the free city tour of Berlin. And once excellent. This time our guide was Claire, a hilarious and wonderful girl from the UK who is in the process of making Berlin her home.

After making our way to most of East Berlin's iconic attractions, we took one step and hopped into West Berlin.
Brandenburg Gate


the Polizei! there was a silent protest going on so the polizei were out...just in case

the silent protesters...literally as their mouths were covered with a black strip of cloth. you gotta love Germans. they always fight for their cause

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

It was a great tour actually. I recommend everyone use this company as even the tours you do have to pay for are usually under 15,00€ which is damn cheap compared to most of the other tour companies in Europe.
part of the Berlin Wall



checkpoint Charlie



After the tour, I walked around the city and took it all in. Berlin was sort of grimy but in a good and interesting way. It is just so different from other parts of Germany. I still can't get over it!
Cathedral in the Gendarmenmarkt

concert hall in the Gendarmenmarkt


a famous statue of a woman holding child. i forget the name completely. it depicts the ravage and struggle of war that Germany underwent


Berliner Dom




At the end of the trip, I asked myself the following questions. Did I like Berlin? No! But did I enjoy anything about it? Yes. Unlike other German cities I have visited though, I would not like to return to it's capital. A lot of people like Berlin and that is fine. I think the overall consensus is you either love Berlin or you hate it. There is no room for a middle ground and after being there for a few days, I understand why. One of the other reasons I didn't love my visit is because I didn't see much of anything that was beautiful about Berlin. I associate Germany with beautiful landscapes and surroundings, none of which I was able to get in Berlin. Anyway, more on Berlin to come in my next posts.