Berlin 2018

Berlin - Spending time in the German Capital

  When I was younger, I often spent time in Berlin to visit my aunt and cousin, so I could also see the main important sightseeing places quite often. But it has been a while, since I've stayed in Berlin, so I finally decided to visit a friend in November and make some sightseeing in Berlin. We started our tour with a walk along the Spree river, until we reached the Museum Island, which was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1999 and the Berlin Cathedral, built between 1894 til 1905 in a Neo-Renaissance style, which is the biggest protestant church in Berlin. From there, we continued our tour and went to the Brandenburg Gate, the typical landmark of Berlin. It was built between 1789 and 1793 as triumphal monument on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II. Another highlight was the German Reichstag, the official building, where the German Bundestag is holding their meetings since 1999. Close to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, there is also "The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe". It was designed by Peter Eisenman and Buro Happold to commemorate the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

   Berlin is a city full of history. It's not only the German capital, it's also known for the Berlin Wall and the Checkpoint Charlie, the crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.

   A few metres away from Checkpoint Charlie, there is the Gendarmenmarkt, a square, which includes the Concert Hall and the French Cathedral, opened in 1705 in a Neoclassicism architecture style. In the centre of the square is a statue of the German poet Friedrich Schiller.

   On the way to the Victory Column, constructed between 1864 and 1873 as monument to remember the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, I really enjoyed the beautiful autumn atmosphere with the colored leaves at the "Tiergarten" park. There was also a "Soviet War Memorial" for the victims of the Soviet Army during the Battle of Berlin in 1945. Moreover, we passed the Bellevue Palace, the official residence of the German President. After having enough from sightseeing, we decided to take a break in the cozy "Kame Japanese Bakery", where we ate a piece of matcha brownie and matcha cheesecake.  

  On Saturday evening, we went to the "Asian Hot Noodle Festival". There were many food stands with different Asian dishes. But at first, we just walked around to see everything. I was quite impressed by the beautiful Asian style lanterns and the Asian music and geisha dance performance. After watching the dance performance, we started to eat many dishes: We decided to start with "Laksa", a spicy rice noodle soup, which is popular in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The second dish was "Pad Thai", another rice noodle dish, which is stir-fried with eggs and chopped tofu and is flavored with spices like tamarind pulp, garlic, red chili pepper and roasted peanuts. It remembered me to the street food, I had during my time in Thailand in 2014. The third dish was a Vietnamese "Bún Chả", a dish with grilled pork, rice noodles and herbs, served with fish sauce. Before we went home, we also tasted a Japanese dessert called "Taiyaki", a fish-shaped cake filled with bananas and chocolate cream, and a Japanese lemon "Sake" as nightcap. In summary, it was an amazing evening with a lot of delicious food!

   Even if the time in Berlin was quite awesome, my biggest intention to come to Berlin was the visit of the "Harry Potter Exhibition" in Potsdam. Since I'm a big fan of Harry Potter and I never stayed in London yet to see the original Harry Potter Studios, I had to take this chance and I really loved it to see all the movie props and costumes. But if I'll have the chance to visit London someday, I will definitely go to the Harry Potter Studios there as well.