nippontrip: Berlin 2-Day Itinerary

Day 1

Prague --> Berlin

We took the 8:30am train from Prague to Berlin which took a little less than 5 hours. It cost CAD$160 for three tickets. Since we were only taking one metro trip, we bought a day pass for the second day in Berlin but only a single journey ticket to our hotel. Single journey tickets cost EUR 2,70.

Hello Berlin!

We walked to Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church which was damaged from a bomb raid in 1943. There is a memorial hall inside with a small gift shop section. Across from this original church is a modern octagonal structure.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

Octagonal structure

Day 2

For Day 2 we purchased an all day group pass to use the metro (EUR 16,90 in total.)

The German Bundestag is a traditional looking building with a modern twist at the top. The glass dome houses a roof terrace and garden restaurant. We only walked around outside and didn't go in. There were many school tour groups in the area.

German Bundestag

It was about a 10-15 minute walk from the Bundestag to the Brandenburg Gate. On each side of the gates were embassies with important partnerships with Germany. It was interesting to see all the embassies and international organization offices along the way.

Brandenburg Gate

The following photo is the Jewish memorial. Sadly, many people did not bother to read the sign on the sidewalk about what this was and thought it was some type of public art that they could step on. There were people posted at each corner of the sight reminding the public to not step on the stone rectangles but they couldn't catch everyone.

Jewish memorial

Berlin is a metropolis and it really shows that modernity is more valued than old architecture as compared to the previous cities we went to on this trip. Potsdamer Platz was an important square that was growing before the Berlin Wall was erected and it flourished again after the wall came down.

Potsdamer Platz

My main goal for coming to Berlin was to see the Berlin Wall because I had studied the Cold War quite a bit in university and wanted to see the wall for myself. I spent a long time reading the signs at the Berlin Wall Memorial. If it is too cold to stand outside, the signs with the same information are located inside the grey building in the left of the photo below.

Berlin Wall Memorial

Other than the Berlin Wall Memorial, at the East Side Gallery there were more pieces of the original wall still standing. Though it felt less "authentic" here with the art covering its surface.