Berlin

This past weekend, Martin and I headed to Berlin, one of the few remaining cities I wanted to visit, for a weekend of history and relaxation. From the moment we arrived Friday night at the stylish Hotel Q, in Savignyplatz (which we subsequently learned is known for being home to some of Berlin's most popular restaurants and cafes) I knew it was going to be a good weekend.

Saturday was spent Griswald style, “ticking the box” off the main sites, including the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, a trip to the top of the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz (going against my normal rules of travel and paying money to enjoy the view, but happy I did) and climbing the 285 steps to the top of the Siegessäule, Victory Column. However, although the sites and historical references were amazing, and the main reason for wanting to see Berlin in the first place, my favorite moments were those you would never find in a guidebook. They included wandering through an art gallery in Hackescher Markt, a walk through the Tiergarten, enjoying a beer, currywurst and pommes with the locals on Friedrichstrasse, sitting in a local café drinking coffee and sharing a home made apple strudel, getting lost in an eclectic German bookstore and finding (and buying) the most ridiculous book on ceramic garden gnomes, and seeing Martin’s German pride show through, not in front of the capital building, Reichstag, but rather when noting the efficiency of his people by putting a change machine next to the 50 euro cent pre-pay WC. And, of course, the exhausting day was perfectly wrapped up with a hard earned German dinner at Florian’s near Savignyplatz.

With an afternoon flight out on Sunday, we found just enough time for a full European breakfast, a stroll through the flea market near Bernauer strasse (located in the death zone on the east side of the Berlin Wall) and one final currywurst and pommes. Like all trips, this one definitely left plenty of reasons to return.