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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Berlin Pics and Commentary

I'm already done (mostly anyway) with editing pictures of Berlin, so I thought I'd go ahead and do a post on our two days in Berlin.

First of all, the hostel we stayed in was amazing. Probably my favorite place that we stayed on the trip. It's called Circus Hostel and was on the east side of Berlin, near most of the places we wanted to stay. It even had a bar in the basement with some great drink specials. The link to it is here.



A view of our room



The Hoff Shrine in the bar in our hostel. How awesome is that?!



The Reichstag (the parliament/government building in Berlin) Normally you can go up in the dome and the building itself, but it was closed off and no access was allowed while we were there.



This was a monument to political leaders that Hitler had killed while he was in power.



One of the few things we saw the first night we were in Berlin was the Brandenburg Gate. One of 14 original gates that used to surround the area. Usually in each city I go to I have one landmark that I really love taking pictures of and the Brandenburg Gate was my obsession in Berlin.



The next day we wanted to see what was left of the Berlin Wall, so we headed to Museum Mile, which features different artists work on a long stretch of the wall. It was very interesting to see all the different pieces of work.



Next up was Checkpoint Charlie, the infamous checkpoint between East and West Berlin. There's supposed to be a pretty good museum that is all about the checkpoint and methods people used to get over into West Berlin, but since it was kind of pricey, we opted not to go in.



In some parts of East Berlin they have kept the stoplights from the communist era. I think they are awesome!



We stopped in Fassbender and Rausch, the most awesome chocolate shop EVER! They have chocolate sculptures of the landmarks around Berlin and a chocolate volcano. Sean chose some chocolate covered nut bark and I got five truffles of various flavors. They were all amazing, though I think my favorite was pina colada.



Museum Island was also on our to-do list. Our two museum stops were the Pergamon Museum and the Neues Museum. The Pergamon has the Pergamon altar, pictured above and some other artifacts like the Gate of Ishtar. That was my favorite thing about the Pergamon Museum. The Neues Museum holds the famouse statue of Nefertiti. I have no pictures of that though, because they weren't allowed.



The Gate of Ishtar



Some of the Egyptian collection at the Neues Museum.

The last night we were in Berlin, we decided to eat at a Rick Steves recommendation for Georgian food. I've never had Georgian food, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was delicious. We shared a menu that came with about 5 courses and it was amazing. My favorite thing by far was cheese bread, but there were great soups, dumplings and lamb kebabs as well.

Overall I really enjoyed Berlin, the downfall was that it was super cold while we were there, but otherwise it was great. If you want to see more of my pics from Berlin, click here.

14 comments:

  1. Lovely photos! Looks like you had a great time there!

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  2. Hahaha, that little man that's used in the "walk" light is too cute!
    Anyway, glad you had a great time on your trip! I can't wait to see more pictures. :)

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  3. Thanks so much for sharing the photos!

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  4. Awesome picture of Brandenburg Gate! That was also one of my favorite things to photograph when I was in Berlin a few years ago.

    And mmmmmmmm, Fassbender and Rausch! I got a dark chocolate Brandenburg Gate when my friends and I stopped there. I could have stayed there all day!

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  5. Love the B&W of the checkpoint. Makes it seem even more historic.

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  6. I so much want to visit Berlin. Good for you for making it there! I know you were freezing your little tush off at this time of year.
    Looking forward to seeing what it next!
    d

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  7. the shrine is sick and so was the communist light. Your photography is amazing,looks like you enjoyed yourself. saw many wonderful things! thanks for sharing

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  8. OMG!!! I can't wait to go to Berlin. I was born there, so I just have to. Thanks for giving us some insight. we'll definitely look into that hostel!

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  9. Great photos! I was wondering if we should take a trip to Berlin while we're here, but I've been getting mixed reviews from people. We might just have to go now!

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  10. I would like to go to Germany very much. Berlin sounds like a really interesting place to visit. Daniel's mother is German and there is a whole side of his family who lives there and I have never met. Someday!

    I'm excited to see your travels via photos!

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  11. Great pictures! Sounds like a fun city to visit, steeped in history.

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  12. What an awesome hostel! I swear by hostels but I think we are getting too old for them. Haha!

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  13. All of the photos look amazing!! I must stay at that hotel because I love the HOFF!

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  14. Your pictures are just stunning! The Hoff one is hilarious!!

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