Our early morning flight from Madrid to Berlin was a little rough but we made it there alright. Finding our way to the metro system from the airport was also a little rocky. It was obvious that Berlin is still a recovering city (from the late 80s when East Berlin and West Berlin were reunited). Things like the metro (UBahn and SBahn) were so much less modern than the other ones we had been on in other cities. Even the buildings and street vendors, everything was different than any of the other cities we were in. Anyways, we found our hostel and had to book it to make it on time for a free walking tour. Whew.. we made it! The walking tour took us all over, showing us some of the most famous spots in Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate was our first stop, right across from the French and US embassies, and Hotel Alton. Hotel Alton is the site where Michael Jackson dangled his baby a few years ago. We also saw the Berlin Wall, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, the Book Burning Memorial, Hitler's Bunker, and a bunch of other stuff. Towards the end it started hailing and was freezing cold.. which was weird because it fit perfectly with the depressing, dreary stories that were being told. I'm glad we did the free walking tour and glad we picked Berlin as a place to visit because it is such a different culture. I felt like Paris was historical but in a more glamorous and romantic way, Spain was full of life, and Berlin was very stern, cold, and utilitarian. Through high school I went through a phase where I did pretty much all of my projects, papers, etc on the Holocaust and WWII so I thought Berlin was amazing to see where those things really happened. I stood on the place where Hilter and his wife committed suicide...creepy but I felt such a connection to history during that time.
Berlin nightlife is quite the opposite... not dreary or depressing at all! We did the pub crawl with our newfound friends we met on the tour from The Netherlands. It turned out to be a group probably over 150 people, which was fun but hard to maneuver to 4 bars and a club. Same as in Paris, we got free vodka/orange shots before each bar and drink specials at each, it was 12 ($18) euros per person to go though. The club we went to at the end was called Matrixx and was SUCH a good time! Two rooms with music and packed with people. Towards the end of the night they started playing 70s music in one of the room.
..and that was our short, short stay in Berlin. I really would like to go back to Berlin if I get the chance, there were a lot more guided tours I would have liked to take and so much more to see there. The next day we boarded our plane and landed back in Copenhagen for the next few days.
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