“I rarely try to describe Berlin accurately. Because Berlin is weird. It brings me a lot of joy.” -Old Sean
An Intro to Visiting Berlin
After a somewhat disappointing and rainy couple of days in Munich, I went north, visiting Berlin next. The capital is where I’d be staying for the bulk of my trip to Germany.
Berlin is awesome. I can’t express how much I always enjoy this city upon arrival. Finding food is easy and there are tons of little nooks and crannies where all sorts of obscure entertainment lurks. The night-scene is impressive and the day-scene is wholesome. I find much of the architecture to be beautiful.
However, it’s important to note that Berlin isn’t exactly like the rest of “Germany.” The people are German, the culture is German, but Berlin has it’s own gravity, style and way of life that feels independent of the rest of the nation. It’s a bit like the difference between New York City and New York State. The momentum and vibes of both areas are simply different.
A First Day Visiting Berlin
When I arrived in Berlin, I spent my first day catching up on reports and paperwork. The majority of my time was spent in a small neighborhood near Reuterkiez. I had some friends in the area, so once work was done, I joined them at a beer garden. Through everyone tried their best to keep the conversation in English to include me, rapid German was spoken whenever someone got excited.
In the end, it hardly mattered. Beer mug after beer mug was thrust into my hands and conversations devolved into circular repetitions after a few hours. I ended up sleeping at a my friend Julie’s house, taking a rideshare back to her parent’s sofa.
Flogging a Hangover
Hangovers suck, but most cures are readily available and unpleasant. I woke up very early alongside my friend Julie, who had to go to work. She promptly crushed up some aspirins in an orange juice, pan-fried some sausages and eggs while grimly drinking down a heap of black coffee. Then, she poured some strange, blue powder into a pair of large water bottles, gave one to me, and sent me off into the world.
While Julie managed to head off to work with a bounce in her step, I still felt quite sluggish. I ended up heading over to Forest Grunewald and jogging through the vast, flat woodlands.
I loathe jogging. But once my legs started aching more than my head, I slowed to a walk and drank as much water as I could. Within the hour, my hangover was gone and I no longer felt so gritty.
Back to Reality
Sweaty and in less-than-savory clothes, I started walking back towards my hostel at the city center. I had my camera with me, so I decided to take some reference photos of Berlin instead of catching a vehicle straight home.
Initially, I passed through the narrow Thiel Park and paused at the giant Thielstein boulder. Thielstein is a 50 ton plain boulder and the largest whole-stone in Berlin. There are some historical markers nearby, though I’m not sure what they said.
Afterwards, I wandered through the Botanical Gardens. I adore visiting Botanical Gardens almost everywhere I go. This green space in Berlin was especially nice. My favorite section was a series of low, artificial mounds seeded with sinfully bright flowers and bulbs.
At this point, I was running late for my work day. I needed to get back into town, change and head out to an interview. I ended up catching a taxi back to my hostel, where the driver very politely didn’t mention my ruffled appearance.
Graveside Chats
I was surprised when the person I was interviewing asked to meet next to a graveyard. However, it turns out that Café Strauss is a surprisingly peaceful graveyard café which serves a great black coffee. Odd as it may sound, I like cemeteries and graveyards. I find them peaceful places to visit, especially in dense urban areas.
After my interviews were over, I had photograph and research assignments scattered across Berlin. A lot of the features I was assigned to visit were fairly plain, with a heavy focus on shopping centers, plazas, fountains and national monuments.
Luckily, my itinerary was spread out, allowing me to make small detours to check out other spaces I was personally interested in.
Throughout Berlin
I ended up in the downtown area shortly after my initial interviews. Downtown Berlin is best defined by it’s enormous, stately buildings and wide green spaces leading up to them. The Spree River cuts through, but there are so many bridges within walking distance of one another, getting across is easy.
Initially, I spent some time visiting the Berlin Cathedral, watching children playing with giant soap-bubbles in nearby parks. A few musicians played music on various street corners, spread out from one another to avoid polluting sounds. I made a point of heading inside the Cathedral to visit the Dome, which is open for overlooks of the city.
I spent a fair amount of time in this area, walking up and down Museum Island where prominent historical structures and museums stand. Museum Island alone should have taken me a full day of exploration. The island (the northern part of Spree Island) is one of the most vital UNESCO museum sites in Europe.
Museum Island is one of the most visited sights of Germany’s capital and one of the most important museum sites in Europe. It’s home to The Altes Museum, Museum for Pre-and-Early History, Neues Museum, The Asian Art Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie, the immensely popular Pergamonmuseum, and the Bode Sculpture Museum.
Normally, I would have spent a full day just ducking in and out of museums. But constrained by time, I only visited Pergamonmuseum.
Into the Cityscape
While the largest tourist attractions of Berlin are centered around Museum Island, the area to the West is also compelling. I visited the large Gendarmenmarkt central market square, the strangely specific Museum für Kommunikation (Museum for Communication), the East-West Berlin landmark boundary, Checkpoint Charlie, Deutsches Spionagemuseum (The Spy Museum) and finally, several graffiti covered chunks of the Berlin Wall.
I strode slowly along the artworks and text found at the Vestiges of the Berlin Wall. The structure seems surprisingly impotent and ominous at once.
My last few hours of sunlight led me past the haunting, incredibly stark and large Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. I passed this slowly, eventually walking under Brandenburg Gate. Afterwards, I spent the rest of my day walking through the spacious Großer Tiergarten Park, stopping occasionally to snack and watch locals lounge outside.
I eventually hopped on a bus and rode back to my hotel base.
By now, I felt wrung out, not just by the sheer number of places visited, but by the gravity of them. By ambition, fate, design, fortune and trials, Berlin has a history as a singular lodestone for cataclysmic events that will define the rest of human histroy.
Round Two Berlin
Though I definitely pushed myself on my first day visiting Berlin, I completed my company’s itinerary swiftly. Therefore, my next two days in the city were much calmer and smoother. A lot of the things I wanted to see were spread out, so I frequently used public transportation to wander around.
I first wandered north until I spotted the strange metal bunny figures for Kaninchenfeld (Rabbit Field). These metal imprints in the ground commemorate the adorable rodents which used to bounce between the empty land between East and West Berlin. They were used as a symbol during reunification following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Later on, I grabbed some pastries and rolled meats to snack on while walking before visiting Potsdamer Platz, a major shopping and entertainment hub with a towering Lego Giraffe. The entire space is surprisingly busy, even in the early mornings.
I eventually got to meet up with Julie again. We rode bikes along the river until we reached the East Side Gallery. The gallery is an outdoor venue which preserves the remaining intact sections of the Berlin Wall. Over a hundred artists have contributed to the Gallery, each artwork celebrating the Wall’s demise. Unfortunately, tourists existed in such hoards around the wall, it was more like a slow line than an actual walk.
I ended up getting dinner with Julie before making one last stop at the oddly jagged spire of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, just as the rain began to roll in. We ended up visiting the movies for the rest of the evening, where I embarrassingly fell asleep in my chair, energy thoughouly depleted.
Last Moment Visiting Berlin
The following day was my last day in Berlin. I had a couple more interviews, but spent the majority of my time finishing paperwork. At this point, I verified my ticket to Hamburg and browsed online, hoping to find another activity or two before I left.
I ended up finding tickets for a strange, underground event called the Monster Kabinett (Monsterkabinett). Somewhat apprehensive, I walked to the venue which is in a gritty alley covered in layers of graffiti, leading downstairs to an interactive, robotic musical.
Monster Kabinett turned out to be my all-time favorite activity for this visit of Berlin.
Simply put, robotic creatures prowl in an underground alley, where people can spectate and interact with the performance. The show is part comedy-show, part gruesome-kinetic-dancing-machines and part chilling-robotic-musical. There’s smoke, lights, bangs, whistles, clashes, beeps and booms. Overall, it’s a gloriously unsanctified tunnel of noise, motion, gears and pistons.
While I highly recommend it, I think hearing protection is advised. The entire show takes places in loud, booming rooms with enclosed sounds clashing back upon themselves.
I carry musician earplugs everywhere, so I was alright for the show. But I still emerged dazed and mildly shell-shocked.
Farewell Berlin
With that, my time visiting Berlin was over. The city is unique among all others in the world for it’s history, potency and current rehabilitation and constructions with the West. There isn’t anywhere like it.
Now, I’m heading further north to Hamburg.
Hamburg will be a return visit for me, since I’ve spent time there during my University travels when I was younger.
So until I’m reminiscing in an major port city,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
June 3rd 2018
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Ten years ago, I abandoned my military surplus store backpack for a Farpoint 40 Osprey Travel Pack. I’ve never replaced my bag since. Two years ago, I bought two more Osprey Backpacks for my younger siblings on their first tour outside the country. I have nothing but praise for Osprey Products. I carried mine through all of Asia, my time visiting Berlin and Europe and through South America.
