2005 March Easter Weekend
Today, while leafing through the pages of our album, I found yet another trip waiting to be jotted down before it gets erased from our memory. It was a trip to Berlin, where the present and past are in sync once again.
We embarked on a 3-day, 2-night stay by train on Easter weekend. The sky was gloomy, and the mercury dropped to almost freezing point, but it didn’t deter our enthusiasm to explore the city as much as possible. We took an overnight train from Paris, which arrived in the early hours. Before heading to our pre-booked Novotel hotel, we purchased metro (U-Bahn) day pass tickets.
After obtaining our room key, we set out to meet Berliners, no longer divided into East or West, but just Berliners. We grabbed a takeaway breakfast from one of the bakery shops at the metro station and got off at Zoologischer Garten Bahnhof to visit Kudamm. Here, the KaDeWe, the largest departmental store in all of continental Europe, stands. If you don’t have much time to browse the whole store, at least pay a visit to the top floor, which is a Mecca for foodies. We also checked out both BMW and Mercedes showrooms, where you find designer items other than cars designed by those famous engineers and designers.
We walked to Berlin’s famous landmark, Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, which rebuilt itself without wiping away its past. The ruins of Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church stand as a reminder of the war’s suffering, right next to its hexagonal bell tower, a symbol of the present. The church is a reinforced concrete structure with blue-colored glass bricks, while the Memorial hall still has some of the surviving mosaic decoration from the bombing.
From here, we hopped onto the double-decker bus line no. 100, famous among tourists as it crosses most of historic Berlin.
Tip: Sit on the top deck for an easier view of most top sights like the Reichstag, as well as many other historic buildings on Unter den Linden.
We got off at Alexanderplatz to see Berlin’s 365-meter-high TV tower. Next to the TV tower is the gothic Marienkirche, the second oldest church (built in the late 13th century) in the historical center of Berlin. It is close to the River Spree and surrounded by a few notable buildings with red-brick roofs. Right across the street was Starbucks, where we took shelter from the chilly winds. Though I do not drink coffee, the warmth inside provided a welcome respite. From here, we walked to Berlin Cathedral, built between 1895 and 1905. We even climbed to the top of the dome to take in the panoramic view. It faces the Lustgarten (pleasure garden) and the Berliner Stadtschloss (Berlin City Palace). Lustgarten is a park on Museum Island, housing the Altes Museum (Old Museum), which we visited later.
As dusk fell, we waited in a long queue to visit the Reichstag - the German parliament near the Brandenburg Gate, a building with a large glass dome providing access to the top and offering a great view of Berlin. Although entrance is free, the extensive security check is worth the visit.
Afterward, we went to see Germany’s iconic landmark, the Brandenburg Gate, at the historical center and nucleus of the former East Berlin district, Mitte. It is the numero uno place to be seen and to see. Cafes, bars, restaurants, theaters, designer shops selling everything from shoes to scarves - day or night, places along with many other sites of historic interest are teeming with people. It is a new hangout for the young and restless. In the very heart of Berlin is a memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, which we didn’t visit as it was already dark.
Lastly, we went to the House of World Culture Center for non-European art, whose floor was superbly decorated. No doubt, it was a feast for the eyes. We had dinner at one of the Chinese restaurants near Zoologischer Garten and then left for our hotel.