2006-07-31

In the summer of 2001, my girlfriend and I stayed in Berlin for 3 days. And we actually got to see quite a lot of the great city in just a few days.

We left Kings Lyngby, Denmark at 05:30 am, and arrived in the German capital some 8 hours later.

The hotel which was to be our base camp for the next 72 hours, Apart Hotel Olivaer, was perfectly situated at the Olivaer park 50m from Kurfürstendamm (Ku' damm in short) - on the corner of Konstanzer Strasse and Xantener Strasse. We had no problems checking in, and our 4th floor room was nice and clean with high ceiling and minimalist interior consisting of white walls and black furniture (2 bedtables, 2 chairs, a small glass table, a minibar with a TV on top, and a cabinet). The bathroom (with toilet) was also quite nice, with a shower and a special heating lamp, which could almost turn the small bathroom into a sauna (there was, of course, also an ordinary lamp). Quite nice, considering how inexpensive it was (we had paid 898 DKR,- / approx USD 100,- each, for 3 nights incl. bus transport to/from Copenhagen to Berlin and breakfast).

After having unpacked we relaxed for half an hour, and then left the hotel to go for a walk in Berlin. We started by going to the Ku' damm which we followed for about 2km to the Breitscheidplatz (with the Gedächtniskirche and Europa Center) - the main square of West Berlin. The Ku' damm is packed with designer stores, restaurants, arcades and so on. The buildings all seem either newly restored or newly built. Especially the last km or so from Uhland Strasse to Breitscheidplatz is modern architecture all over.

Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirce - notice how the tower seems to be covered by a cloud, but is actually brokenOn the Breitscheidplatz is the neo-romanesque Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche which was bombed during WW2. All that remains today is a part of the church tower - it is quite a sight. It seems as if the top of the tower has simply broken off the rest of the building! Inside the tower in the Gedächtnishalle is a small exhibition of the church's history, which is at the same time is one of many Berlin memorials. Next to the tower is the new church - a 1960s octagonal hall of worship, with a fascinating interior and a blue glass exterior. If you're there, go have a look inside.

We then sat down at the Fountain Restaurant right outside the Europa Center, next to the Welt-brunnen fountain. We had a great "genuine" Italian pizza and a Spinach Lasagne. The latter was a bit too creamy, but still okay. The location considered, prices are reasonable here.

After having eaten, we left Breitscheidplatz at around 4 pm, walked down Budapester Strasse, Kurfürstenstrasse and Schillstrasse to Lutzow Platz where we walked over the Landwehrkanal to the Tiergarten - a large recreational area in the middle of the city. On the Tiergarten-side of the channel are some very "heavy" embassy buildings and the CDU headquarter. Especially the Mexican embassy is almost unpleasant to walk next to. The monumental building seems to fall down on you all the time. Near here is also the Nordic embassies, all collected in one modern house, built especially for the purpose a few years ago. This is quite interesting, both architeturally but also because of the notion of 5 countries sharing the same embassy for scale benefits!

Now, the walk up the Klingenlhöferstr. and Hofjägerallee through the Tiergarten to the Grosse Stern roundabout is nothing special. In my opinion the Tiergarten is overrated and nowhere near as nice as the Charlottenburg park, a.o. - more about this further on. On the Grosse Stern however is the 69m high Siegesäule (Victory Column) - it is possible to climb the 285 steps for a view from about 60m above the Tiergarten with a excellent view of Brandenburger Tor and the central areas of both East and West Berlin. From here we went through the English garden next to the Schloss Bellevue (official residence of the German president), which we did not see due to a wrongturn and some very tired feet. The English garden is not very big, but is a nice restplace after a long day's walk, and if you're going to the Bellevue anyway, you should stop by here.

From the English Garden we went to the Hansa Platz U-bahn, travelled from here to U-bahn Kurfürstendamm, and walked the 2km down Ku' damm back to our hotel. On the way we stopped at Butter Lindner on Konstanzer Strasse - if you're staying at Olivaer hotel or the nearby Hotel Agon, you can go and buy some delicatesses - biscuits, charcuterie and dairy products, if you need some light snack back at your hotel.

Now the time was not more that 7pm at this time, but we were quite tired, so we went back to the hotel, ate our biscuits, had some wine, and relaxed in front of the TV, in order to be fully rested for more walking and sightseeing the next day.

WEDNESDAY

We arose at 9 AM the next morning, and, after a brief shower, we had some breakfast in the breakfast lounge which was nicely situated 15m from our room on the 4th floor. The breakfast was nothing special after German standards - some hotels offers everything from traditional morning bread, butter and marmelade, to salad buffet(!) and spring rolls - at 6am in the morning!! Hotel Olivaer, however, did not, which was just as well - a large buffet may be nice and say something about the quality of a hotel, but I for one don't think of spring rolls and a salad with vinegar dressing as breakfast - give me some bread and coffee and I'll be perfectly happy!

We left the hotel a few minutes past 10, and walked all the way up Ku' damm to the Europa Center on Breitscheidplatz - the central office of the Berlin Tourist Information is situated on the Budapester Strasse side of the center on ground level. We bought two Berlin Welcome Cards - these cards cost 32DM a piece and are valid for 72 hrs. With this card you are entitled to unlimited use of the public transportation system in Berlin for these 3 days, and discounts at various museums, theatre performances, guided tours, and so on. Unless you are a family with kids (the card is valid for 1 adult and 3 children below some age), forget all about this card. We discovered later, that we could buy day transportation passes for 3 days for less than 30 DM, and the discounts almost only makes sense for people who are in no imminent need of discounts - at most of the museums we visited, the student discount that they offered was far better than the discount offered by the WelcomeCard, and it is not possible to combine the discounts. Most places also offer special discounts for disabled, unemployed and senior citizens.

The 365m high Fernsehturm viewed from AlexanderplatzFrom U-bahnhof Zoo we used this very efficient means of transportation to go to Alexanderplatz - the main square of old East Berlin: Giant buildings towering above you and that huge desolate, featureless square popularly known as "Alex". Today the square has acquired some color, in part due to all of the small cafes that have shot up here and there, but mainly because of the large neon (a.o.) commercials which the "multi-nationals" have placed all over the buildings - this actually makes Alex a "nicer place to be".

We had a beer (Aecht Patzenhofer - recommendable) and a Cola on the Cafe am Alex - the service we received there was kind but indescribably slow - there weren't all that many guests, and yet it took them about 15 minutes from they had received our order of one Bier vom Fass and a Grosse Cola, to serve it to us!! I dare not think how long we would have been there, if we had actually ordered some food as well.

Now, as I mentioned the Alexanderplatz is nothing special - there is, however, a clock of the world at the South end of the square. It looks like an giant concrete umbrella, and shows the time in all major cities of the world. If you're there, you might as well have a look.

A short walk (2 min.!) from here is the 365m tall Fernsehturm (TV-tower) - for DM12 pr. person you can take the elevator up to the 360 degrees viewpoint at 203m, and dine at the restaurant at 207m! The tower is - well, not beautiful - it has acquired the nickname "Tele-Asparagus", and it is, unfortunately, possible to see the tower from most parts of central Berlin. If you go up there, however, you have a magnificient view of the entire city of Berlin - the view does not get any better than this!

And Alexanderplatz viewed from the Fernsehturm as the restaurant at 207m - the former picture was taken from the café with the red covers at the mid-top of the AlexanderplatzOn the other side of the Fernsehturm (from Alexanderplatz) is Maria-kirche - an old church, which was under restoration, but still possible to visit (for free), and still used for services. Near here is also the Rote Rathaus (red city hall), which was the central administration point of East Berlin - the building IS red BTW, and that is why it is so named - not because of the communists who resided there for 40 years.

The Rote Rathaus lies on the outskirts of Nikolaiviertel - the oldest part of Berlin, and totally restored in the 1980s by the Eastgerman administration because of the anniversary of the city of Berlin. In the middle of this (very nice and quiet) small area is Nikolaikirche - the oldest religious structure in the city, from the 12th century (the church charges a fee to enter, so we did not go in there). We had dinner at the "Historiche Weinstube" on the quiet and charming square in front of the church - the main beer here is the Berliner Bürgerbräu which is also nice on a warm summerday.

When we left this place at around 14:30, things became a bit difficult - we headed for the Berliner Dom at the start of Unter den Linden, on the Museum Island - but encountered a major police control point instead - we heard rumours about a bomb-scare - the next day we read in the paper, that the chaos was actually initiated by an undiscovered granate from WW2, which had just 30 minutes before been discovered at a construction site on Karl Liebknecht Strasse (next to the Mariakirche).

What we did was, to walk over the Bridge at Mühlendamm, down towards the Schlossplatz, back over the Spree (Rathausstrasse), then we walked down the pier towards Liebknechtstrasse, and this was where we encountered the police perimeter.

So, we walked back to the Schlossplatz next to the Berlin Palace. The Berlin Palace (today the building on this site is named Palace of the Republic) is not really the old palace, but a very ugly and uncharming building used as (and built for) the East German central administration on the site of the old Berlin Palace which was bombed during the war. It seemed that during the 1950s it was actually possible to rebuild the old castle, but the commies decided to bulldoze the remains instead !!

We walked past this damn ugly builiding and on the Lustgarden in front of the Alte Museum and - the Berliner Dom! It was just outside the police perimeter. We sat here for 10 minutes or so and enjoyed the sun, and waited for some bombs to go of - they didn't, but we were there in time to see the Army bomb squad that arrived a few minutes after us. From here we walked over the Schlossbrücke (Castle Bridge), a few meters down Unter den Linden (which was at that time total traffic chaos, because of the closure of the bridge connecting this main road with the main parts of East Berlin) to the Neue Wache (an old military guard post, built in ancient grecian style!) which is today an Anti-Nazism/Facism memorial. A few meters further down the road is the Humboldt University - the University of Berlin, founded in the early 19th century. It is a beautiful building which was restored after the war. Hegel taught here! A tip for book lovers: When we were there there was a major book sale outside the gates of the University - a lot of interesting (used) books mostly for students and other people interested in natural & political science, philosophy, sociology, literature, and so on - they had books in German, English and French.

On the other side of UdL from Humboldt U. is another small square (Bebenplatz) neighboured by the Staatsopera, the Skt. Hedwig Cathedral (center of Berlins Catholics), and the Old Royal Library. The cathedral is quite nice, and the center of a lot of free afternoon concerts.

At this point we were tired, so instead of returning to UdL, we walked down the small streets for a few minutes to Gendarmenmarkt - a central square and site of the German Dom, French Dom and Koncerthaus. Here we had something to drink at the Französicher Hof, which has a reputation for serving quite good (upmarket, actually) food, at reasonable prices.

[I am leaving out some details from here - I'll write a more extensive description at a later time when I've re-discovered my travel notes]

After having relaxed here for half an hour we made our way down to Galleri Lafayettes - a major shopping mall on the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Französische Strasse (interesting, as G.L. is a french-owned company with malls in France as well). The interior of G.L. is quite impressive as are the stores. Not cheap, though.

At this point we really were tired, so we went down Friedrichsstrasse, past CheckPoint Charlie to Potsdamer Platz where we took a bus back towards Ku'damm..

THURSDAY

Schloss Charlottenburg viewed from the very large Schloss-gardenThis day we visited the beautiful castle and huge park of Charlottenburg situated in the western part of the city. We also went to see the Porcelain exhibition at the small Belvedere folly in the bottom of the Charlottenburg Park.

We lunched at the cafe/restaurant in connection with the castle - the bill was not very expensive, but it still amounted to one of the highest numbers on our visit to Berlin. The food was good though - very German.

Well, the time was about 12-13 now, and we continued - a bus to Zoo Station and a train from here to the Friedrichstrasse station (not subway). This was a very nice 20m journey on "high rails" with a nice view of the river and the Tiergarten seen from the north.

Famous Brandenburger Tor covered entirely by a Deutsche Telekom piece of cloth! (due to renovation, they said...)We arrived to Friedrichstrasse St., went down the street to Unter den Linden (almost where we left it about 24 hrs. before). We went up UdL to the Brandenburger Tor - both the street and the Tor were somewhat disappointing. The street itself was a fairly boring, broad street - not very many shops or cafés, a lot of large un-inviting company HQs and so on... And the Tor (gate) - was completely covered with a Deutsche Telekom sponsored piece of cloth due to restaurations. So it was actually utterly impossible to see it at all. It was, however, possible to enter the room of silence: a small room in which you have to be silent for meditational purposes... The Parliament is right next to the B.T. and is a very nice building - but it was packed with people, and the waiting line was loooong. So we didn't enter.

We went back to UdL and took a sub down Friedrichsstrasse to Potsdamer Platz where we visited the new major shopping mall. This area is really modern and impressive with a large shopping center, major cinema complex, musical theatre and hi-tech office blocks.

We walked around here for some time, had a drink at a cafe and then went back "home".

FRIDAY

Our bus were to pick us up around 14:00 - so we spent the morning relaxing and shopping on and near the Ku'damm. There really are some giant shops near here - the KaDeWe shopping center is probably one of the most famous in Europe and has a gigantic food "hall" - 100 variations of Olive Oil, 75 variations of Balsamico vinegar and so on (oil and vinegar are some of my favorite ingredients, but you can get ANYTHING here!). We also visited a giant bookshop on the Breitscheidplatz, and bought some clothes at a small outlet on the Ku'damm. We dined at the bistro next to our hotel, and then drove back to Copenhagen! The journey home was an experience in itself - the trip was scheduled to take about 8 hrs - it took 12!.