Backpacking Europe: Berlin

Belin is the city which according to me has the most twisted history in the world. But, even after all those turbulent days, it has now become the most popular cities in Europe. It has the right mix of old and new. One can see the ruins of WW2 along with some of the most iconic skyscrapers in the city.

Read other Eurotrip Blogs:

• Backpacking Europe : Lucerne and Zug
• Backpacking Europe : Zurich
• Backpacking Europe : Versailles
• Backpacking Europe : Paris
• Backpacking Europe : Manchester
• Backpacking Europe : Liverpool
• Backpacking Europe : Munich
• Backpacking Europe : Bled
• Backpacking Europe : Ljubljana
• Backpacking Europe : Innsbruck
• Backpacking Europe : Darmstadt
• Backpacking Europe : Bratislava
• Backpacking Europe : Vienna
• Backpacking Europe : Budapest
• Backpacking Europe : Prague
• Backpacking Europe : Milan
• Backpacking Europe : Rome
• Backpacking Europe : Berlin
• Backpacking Europe : Amsterdam
• Backpacking Europe : Trek to Herzogstand

Berlin Footprints

Morning Vibes

Breakfast in the Park

The flixbus dropped me somewhere outskirts of the city. The weather was a bit cold and the sun had still not come up. I reached a nearest U-Bahn station and bought a Day ticket to the city. From various blogs I had read that it was not advisable to go to Alexanderplatz in the night. So, My first stop was Alexanderplatz. Alexander Platz is like the city centre and it had major attractions like Fernsehturm Berlin, Neptunbrunnen and World Clock.

Sculpture at the top of a building

World Clock with Fernsehturm in the background

Fernsehturm

Neptunbrunnen

Scluptures at the side of a bridge

The next stop was Museum Island and Berlin Cathedral. The Museum Island in the River Spree houses five museums built from 1830 to 1930 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Because so much of the history is painful and tough to swallow in Berlin, the city has made many of their museums free in order to help as many people as possible learn about their troubled past. The Belin Cathedral was an ambitious attempt to create a Protestant counterpart to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It looked absolutely stunning in the morning glory. However, we cannot compare it to Grandeur of St Peter Basilica.

Berlin Cathedral

Museum 1

Sculpture atthe museum

Wandering around and bumping into amazing statues

Museum 2

From Alexander Platz I went to the Brandenburg Gate and joined a Walking tour. With the tour, explored Reichstag building, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and Holocaust memoria.

Brandenburg Gate

Reichstag building

River Spree

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Topography of Terror

The bulged files are the only convicted Nazis amongst all.

Leaving the walking tour I went to Potsdamer Platz, Which stood between the old East/West Berlin wall. Potsdamer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995 after the Wall came down. And skyscrapers are Magnanimous.

what Nazis wanted

What it became

Tour Bus

Now it was the time for the most interesting part of the city, The East side Gallery. The Gallery consists of 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, painted in 1990 on the east side of the Berlin Wall. The paintings at the East Side Gallery document a time of change and express the euphoria and great hopes for a better, more free future for all people of the world. Some of the paintings grip you in astonishment and some in confusion. One can see the stark difference in the composition of cultures in East and West Belin.

Somewhere in East Berlin

An Alternate History?

Satire ? eh !

It was 4 pm now and I headed toward the Tiergarten. In the centre of the garden is Berlin Victory Column. It hosted an interesting night show in the evening over looking the Branderburg Gate.

At TierGarden

Victory Coloumn

Sculpture of Roon

My bus was to leave at 9 pm in the night. and I still time so I visited the other less known places in Berlin including Checkpoint Charlie, Museum of sound, Gendarmenmarkt, Soviet memorial and other places.

Gendarmenmarkt

CheckPoint Charlie

Soviet memorial

Music Museum

I came back at Alexanderplatz. This time it was flocked with people. Got the train to the bus station after missing 3 buses. Berlin was Amazing. For me it was reliving the history books and WW2 Docuemntries.

Adios Berlin

Trip Cost Breakdown Per Person