Berlin 10th April 2011

We woke up at 9.15 and started to get ready. We went downstairs to the lobby at 10am, used the free wifi and had some tea. A good tip is to get as many tea bags as possible whenever you stay in hotels or hostels on your travels so then you just need to ask for hot water when you want some tea instead of paying for tea. That's what I did everyday on this trip for breakfast. We decided to go on a paid tour, there are several free tours you can go on but I would recommend this tour as the guide was friendly, very knowledgeable and worth the money. We used Insider Tours, there were several leaflets and information about it and other tours at the hostel so they will also be able to help you. There are also tours in other languages if English isn't your first language. The tour was €10 if you are under 26 and €12 if you are over. We went to the meeting place at Hackescher Market at 10.30 to meet the tour guide, she introduced herself and told us a bit about where we would be going on the tour. It was a nice day which also helped.

In the beginning of the tour we saw Museum Island, the book burning square, Berlin University, a famous chocolate store Fassbender & Rausch at Gendarmenmarkt which had monuments of famous Berlin landmarks in chocolate in the windows. It was quite amazing.

Fassbender & Rausch Chocolatier
Berlin Wall remains
We then took a break at a nearby coffee shop for about 15 minutes then we continued walking and came to the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. This section of the Berlin Wall was barricaded and on the sides had information about the war and testimonies. There was also the bricks in the ground of where the wall used to stand and you could see where the East and West was separated. The tour guide told us all about the history which I found very beneficial as I wasn't really aware of what had happened during the war, the different sides, why the wall existed etc. We also saw Checkpoint Charlie which was in the American sector. The American sector was just that, truly American. There was a Starbucks and McDonalds straight as you enter, very hip indeed which was quite ironic. We passed through a Holocaust memorial which was like no other as it was several vertical rectangular blocks at different sizes and heights to represent each person. It was quite creative and different from any other memorial I've seen. Peter Eisenman was the architect for this. We then saw Hitler's offices which is now a tax office and Paris Square. The 4 hour tour ended at the Brandenburg Gate where there a few coffee shops and international embassies. It's quite a busy square and the tour guide happily showed us the hotel where Michael Jackson held his son out of a balcony window a few years ago. It's Hotel Adlon if you're interested.

Hitler's former offices
Holocaust Memorial
After the tour we were quite hungry so we walked back to Checkpoint Charlie and got a currywurst then went to a restaurant nearby. Christine and I both got beef stroganoff which was absolutely delicious, the rice was cooked to perfection and was a tad oily but had the perfect amount of moisture. The beef was very tender and flavoursome, I ate everything on my plate and some of Christine's food too. We then walked back to the Berlin Wall, took our time to take photos and walked around the area. Next we went to Alexanderplatz, I didn't really know what to expect from it, it was merely a tall thin statue type building with stores at the bottom. Not that exciting in my opinion, even missable I'd say. We then went souvenir shopping and went back to the hostel. I wrote some postcards and had some Bulmers cider there.

Beef Stroganoff
We relaxed at the hostel for about an hour then asked the people at the hostel a good place to go for dinner. One of the employees showed me on the map so we left to go there. We got a bit lost but eventually found the restaurant, it wasn't quite what we expected. It was more like a pub/restaurant but nice food all the same. I had Schnitzel and Christine had pasta. After dinner we walked back to the hostel and went to bed, there was still no one else in our room which was nice. Bring on day 3!

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