2023 is almost disappearing.Many holidays in the month end. 25th and 26th Xmas holidays. Previous two days are Saturday & Sunday. Four days in a row is good time to have short trip close by.
When I was in Germany I had not visited far off places. Even before I attempt it deadly Corona made it impossible to travel.
So we thought why not visit Berlin for two days. From our place in Netherlands it is about 5 hours train journey.
We booked an AirBnB apartment and booked the train ticket. We were off to Berlin.
Berlin is capital and commercial city though few historical places and monuments exist. We knew not much we would expect to see. That too Dec 24, 25 were public holidays - most places like museums etc would be closed.
When we travel (other than home town) We normally stay in Air BnB rooms and carry our food stuffs and cooker etc. We get some vegetables, curd and milk in local store and thats sufficient for us. We do not generally eat out.
So, we left on 23rd afternoon by train and reached Berlin around 1800 hrs. It was already dark and raining a bit. Soon after reaching the apartment, I ran to a LiDL shop and bought some fruits, milk, curd etc. Because next two days shops would be closed.
We settled down.
Next day on 24th Sunday, we had booked a HOHO bus to move around. Around 0800 hrs in the morning we set out to HOHO stop. We had to take a local tram to reach the spot.
What I realised was that the smaller tram stations do not have ticket machines at the station, but in the bus and you need to have some coins to buy the tickets. I did not coins. i thought I would use the card. Fortunately the ticket machine in the tram was faulty. Hence we just travelled with out tickets. For next days we bought day ticket at a bigger station.
Our first drop was at the Berlin wall. Nothing special. Wall stood there reminding the history of east and west Germany.
Berlin Wall - East Side Gallery:
The wall has been painted by many artists from different parts of the world I believe.
Berlin cathedral, Altes gallery:
Next we stopped at Berlin cathedral and lustgarten and altes gallery. They were all closed. However we looked at these majestic buildings from outside.
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| The Altes Museum is a Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. Built between 1825 and 1830 by order of King Frederick William III of Prussia. Buy entry tickets before hand online. It was closed when I visited. So I could not go inside. |
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| The Berlin Cathedral, also known as the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, is a monumental German Protestant church and dynastic tomb on the Museum Island in central Berlin. A beautiful structure in lustgarten area. There is ticket for entry. Better to take it online. |
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| Sculptures in front side of Cathedral |
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| Sculptures in front side of Cathedral |
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| Another view of Cathedral |
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| Sculptures in front side of Cathedral |
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| Altes art Gallery |
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| Sculptures in Altes art Gallery |
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| Atles Gallery |
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| Sculptures in Altes art Gallery |
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| Sculptures in Altes art Gallery |
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| Sculptures in Altes art Gallery |
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| Another view of Cathedral |
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| Random sculptures near Atles Gallery |
Reichstag dome :
This another fantastic looking government building which has a high dome in the middle. One can visit (free) with prior permission. Unfortunately we could not get the permission. Hence only from out we saw the building.
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| The Reichstag, a historic legislative government building on Platz der Republik in Berlin, is the seat of the German Bundestag. It is also the meeting place of the Federal Convention, which elects the President of Germany. One can visit / enter the central dome with a prior permission online or on the spot. Better to book it online. No entry tickets. |
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| Another view of Reichstag |
Berlin TV Tower:
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| Berlin TV Tower. 368m-tall tower, opened in 1969, with a viewing gallery at 203m and revolving restaurant at 207m. Need to buy entry ticket in advance |
The Marienkirche:
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The Marienkirche is a Berlin church building, located on Karl Liebknecht strass in the Berlin-Mitte borough , near Alexanderplatz. The exact age is unknown, but the building is first mentioned in German documents from 1292. It is believed to date from the early 13th century. Originally it was a Roman catholic church, but after the reeformation it becam a Lutheran church. Together with the Berlin cathedral the Marienkirche is the church of the Bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silezich-Upper Lusatia. |
Christmas Market:
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| Skating circle in the middle of Xmas Market. |
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| Christmas Fair, Market. |
Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church:
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| Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church. An ancient church situated in the midst of modern buildings. A tall imposing structure, a protestant church.
A bit of history: Wilhelm II planned a magnificent church, in memory of his grandfather Wilhelm I, which was built by Franz Schwechten between 1891 and 1895.
The church bells were the second biggest in Germany after Cologne. During the Second World War, the chimes stopped and the five bells were melted down for munitions. It was damaged during WWII, but rebuilt again. Berlin Hauptbahnhof: |
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| Berlin main Train Station. Really huge. |
Branderburg Tor (Door)
Incredible monument. It is an 18th-century monument in Berlin, It is said that is built on the orders of the King of Prussia Frederick William II.
Sri Radha Madhava Temple:
On the last day afternoon we visited Sri Radha Madhava temple in Berlin to conclude our trip.
Hari Bol.
Conclusion:
Berlin is a nice city no doubt but may not be of much interest to some one looking for more historical places.
In any case you do not need more than three days even if you spend more time in museums and art gallery.
In Europe museums and art gallery look same almost everywhere. After viewing few such museums and art galleries, you may not be interested to see when you travel. anymore if you are a normal, common traveller like me. If you are interested in history and arts, surely you will find them interesting. It all depends on what you expect see when you travel.
I remember about some one who stood in front of a beautiful water fall and said - "what is it after all water is falling down" , Some one else said - " what a colossal loss"
Have some coins while you travel in trams. Best way to buy 24 hr daily ticket. It is not expensive and convenient.
With this we concluded our Berlin Trip. Short and sweet. If we had visited during normal days, we would have seen some art galleries if not all.
Disclaimer: The information about the monuments are sourced from Internet.
