18.4 Monday
Spending the last hours in Hamburg before taking the train to Berlin! This was a spontaneous choice. I met Kai in Bratislava and he was living in Berlin, and now not even a week from that, I am heading to Berlin to live at his place and spend some nice days in Berlin!
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| The train was really fast and in two hours I was already in Berlin! |
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| (up): at Hamburg-Altona train station, on my way to enter the train. In the beginning I was alone in the train (d.l). Getting of at Berlin train station around four in the afternoon (d.r). The station was really big, had trains going underground, S-Bahn going higher up... |
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| I was already once in Berlin so I wanted to see some other parts of the city this time, Berlin for young people, the more "living" part of the, for me, big city. Kai was a perfect "guide" during the two days, show me Berlin to me. We started with enjoying beers at the river Spree (up), having a nice view towards the museum island and the Berliner Dom (next picture). Nice start for my Berlin visit! Something special for Berlin is the Ampelmann. These little traffic men are showed on the pedestrian signals in the former East Germany. After the Berlin wall fell in 1989, these symbols became popular as souvenir items and they can be seen in tourist shops (down). I have actually seen in other cities as well, where they use these symbols in the pedestrian signals, such as in Bremen you can find one crossing with them. |
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| We passed by the Dom and walked through the famous street Unter den Linden until the Brandenburg gate, Brandenburger tor (d.r). This triumph arc was build in the late 18th century and is today one of the most famous landmarks of Germany. In the evening it looked beautiful! |
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| By visiting Berlin I can also continue my "history part" of the trip. In Berlin there is a 19 000 m2 huge area designated for the Holocaust memorial, the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. It consists of 2711 concrete blocks, which are arranged in special patterns on the field (up). When seeing the from abroad it looks small, but when getting in you can easily get lost in it, finding your way through the blocks and following the sloping field. Some of the blocks are much taller than you, some of them shorter. The feeling you get is confusing, it all seems so organized, in rows and that everything is under control, but while you get in you just go deeper and deeper and you feel like lost, not maybe understanding what is happening but finding your way out of it seems to be impossible... This is just my own interpretation of the memorial, that actually looks like a cemetery. The different sizes of the blocks represents, in my opinion, the range of age of the people, who were affected of the Holocaust, children, adults, old people... It really worth seeing! Underground there is also a museum or information place. (d.l): on the streets, in front of the houses, you can find these small tablets with names of Jews and other people, week used to live in those houses but became victims of the Holocaust. (d.r): around in the city you can see signs of where the former Berlin wall went, signs as the wall park, Mauerpark, and tiles in a line. This photo ID close to the train station, opposite of the government quarter. |
19.4 Tuesday
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| The weather was nice, a bit windy but otherwise sunny and perfect for a morning run around the Spree. It was a really beautiful route! |
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| In the afternoon I met Kai at Hackescher Markt (up), station close to a nice place at the river, where you have the nice view and can sit for a while enjoying the time. Today I got to see two different neighborhoods in Berlin. We visited the Market Hall, Markthalle Neun, which was really nice and with lots of nice things to buy. Thursdays they also have here a "Streetfood Thursday" (down). |
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| Kreutzberg, the second of the two neighborhoods we visited, is a really nice part of Berlin, where you can find the most expensive houses to live in, but on the other hand you constantly see mothers with their baby carriages. But I really like this place, colorful houses, cafes, restaurants, river... We had dinner at a really good pizzeria close by the water at Maybachufer. |
It was nice to see this part of Berlin!
20.4 Wednesday
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| (d.r): Berlin by night, you can see the TV tower. Before taking the train I took a walk close by the train station, walking along the river Spree to the other side, seeing the Reichtag building at the governmental quarter, close by the big park Tiergarten. From here you could also see the pillar Siegessäule (d.l). |
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| (u.l): in front of the Reichtag building (down) is the square Platz der republic. (u.r): Berlin main train station. |
I really enjoyed my time in Berlin!
My favorites in Berlin: sitting at the river, walking in the city, Brandenburg gate, neighbourhoods.
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