Berlin Snapper

I’ve been back from Berlin just over a week now and am only just getting back in to ‘work mode’. I’ve had a great time travelling around Europe this Summer and probably have in excess of 700 photos to sort through! Here are just a few of my favs from Berlin with a few little tips thrown in just in case you end up seeing it for yourself….

Checkpoint Charlie

Make sure you do one of the walking tours. I hear there are free ones (well, you are meant to give a donation) but we took ‘THE’ walking tour aimed at the English and this was brilliant. 4 hours led by a very passionate, knowledgeable guide (Jacob in this case). As we arrived in Berlin at 8am it not only kept us awake and on our feet but it also gave us a feel for where everything was, what there was to see and what we wanted to spend more time revisiting. A MUST DO.

Memorial for Murdered Jews

The Holocaust memorial was something that I visited almost every day of my visit. This is a memorial that is completely open to your own interpretation as there is no literature around it. However, it reminds most people of graves. It’s an interesting memorial to walk around, due to the emotions it evokes. **Standing on them or jumping from one to another is thought to be hugely disrespectful** so no matter how tempting it seems, best resist!

You can see the Parliament building (Reichstag) in the background; the glass dome.

Museum Island

Although it was quite cold we had beautiful sunshine and blue skies throughout our visit, so  it made for some great photo opportunities.

The Cathedral and TV Tower

I loved the Cathedral. It was beautiful inside and out with a  good view of the city at the top of it. Plus the coffee shop in the basement did the best hot chocolate in the whole of Berlin (I do believe I tried nearly every other cafe!!).

The TV Tower in the background is something like the tallest structure in Europe so you can see it from most locations in Berlin. I loved it. It reminds me of futuristic 1980 movies (am I giving away my age!). We went up there one evening. It’s about 10 Euros but doesn’t take very long to wonder round the viewing platform. It’s an hour waiting time (but you are given a time slot, so can wander off and not queue).

Brandenburg Gate

This square must have looked very different when the wall was still standing. It’s an interesting square which is also home for the infamous hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby.

Brandenburg Gate

I’m a little surprised to have captured this photograph as successfully as I did. As you can see the light levels were pretty low. We had watched the sun set (and taken many photos) and were waiting for complete darkness to see it lit at night. However, while there was still some light left, I continued to snap; very high ISO, very slow shutter speed! Many people around me had their faithful tripods with them. I had my friend’s shoulder 🙂

Having never been to Berlin before and not having it high on my list of places to visit, I was surprised to fall totally in love with it. Why?

It’s actually pretty quiet, even in ‘rush hour’. Not a lot of people around and, coming from London, that’s a very refreshing change.

The public transport is top-notch; clean, reliable, frequent and cheap. Little weird that their train map looks like a London Underground replica!

The architecture is beautiful and varied with the old and new complimenting each other.

The people are friendly and the beer is good!

I hope to go back there another day. 🙂