Wednesday 8 April 2015

Taking A Trip To Berlin




You might say "Why Berlin ?"

I'd say "Why not " 

No travel place is off limits to myself unless it is a no go war zone or warned away by the foreign office. We choose to go to Berlin through Expedia , we had previously used Expedia when we went to New York.

We found the experience easier and stress free , the flights were more than the accommodation but at short notice this is usually the case.

We made sure that the build up to our stay was as stress free as possible from organising the cattery to arranging airport parking and hotel  which we did with APH. The Berlin hotel  we went for was the Movenpick hotel which is in the Postdamer area. 




and is about a mile from the Bradenburg gate and Checkpoint Charlie and the Topography of Terror are literally round the corner.



The hotel had a industrial heart and was a former Siemens building and there is a sympathetic nod to its industrial  past and heritage .



The Berlin Wall divided Germany from 1961 to 1989 and growing up and seeing the end of this era was breathtaking and poignant. Especially so when you go off the grid free stying in Berlin wherever our feet took us was where we ended up.










There's a danger you can overload with museums in Berlin there's no sense in trying usefully there are a plethora of museums on the aptly named museum island ( which sounds as if it is part of a Scooby Doo mystery)  We concentrated on the Germany history museum .


An Enigma machine

Pjamas worn by Jewish prisoners of war.

Which was just to take us through Germany's past in all its various guises.



Who can resist a cute little East Germany car with a happy smiley face! 


And walking back from museum island  towards brandenburg gate keep your eye of for signs of the East Germany.



Bradenburg Gate


Disclosure: Holiday was paid by myself partially assisted by giving up eating so much cheese.

20 comments:

  1. What an interesting trip. I must admit Berlin has never really been a place I have thought I must visit but after reading this I think I would enjoy it x

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  2. A very interesting trip, almost surreal too I would imagine, given the history. You've got some fab photographs here, and it looks like it would be something I would enjoy seeing in real life x

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  3. Sounds like you had a very interesting trip. The pictures are amazing. Quite a few of my friends have been to Berlin recently and say its worth the visit x

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  4. Gorgeous photos! It looks like you had a great time, you know that I love Berlin but I can see that there is plenty there that I still need to see!

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  5. my dad was there as the wall came down. We even have a few chunks of it!

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  6. I would love to go to Germany, it is so full of history!

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  7. That sounds a really interesting trip - I would love to visit Berlin. A city break to an arty, highly cultural place with a lot of history to whet my appetite.

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  8. Berlin is not somewhere that would immediately spring to mind for a city break but it looks very interesting. I love that you paid for part of it by foregoing cheese! That made me smile :-)

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  9. Berlin is always a country i have wanted to visit. I lived in Germany for a year when i was a teenager near Essen. I love all the street art in the city :)

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  10. we took the two younger kids to Berlin in 2006, it was -26c for the week but the kids loved it. Our purpose was to visit the Panda in the zoo as the youngest has a life long wish to work with them, sdly the Panda has since died. We also went to take the other child to the Olympic Stadium where Hertha Berlin play as he is a huge football fan and wanted to go to the World Cup, so 2nd option was to take him to where the World Cup would be played later that year, we had a tour of the stadium and when they games were played he knew where it was

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  11. So many wonderful things to see in Berlin - I've only been once and didn't get a chance to see that much, so I'm keen to go back.

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  12. Hubby is desperate to go to Berlin but he wants to do all the historical bits and bobs so am hoping to surprise him with a weekend away without children

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  13. It sounds like you had a very interesting trip, ive never been to Berlin, but it sounds fascinating x

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  14. Wow what an interesting sounding time it seems like you had. I would love to take time out and go around Berlin. x

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  15. Sounds like you had a fascinating trip, I can remember watching the wall come down

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  16. Oh this looks amazing - your photos are gorgeous and as a massive history nerd I just love the sound of all of those museums. I'm going to have to plan a trip!! (I love your disclosure!!)

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  17. Looks great and I agree museum island sounds like something from scoobydoo but it sounds like you had an great time. The smiling car is cute.

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  18. Wonderful pictures Claire, it's not somewhere I've thought of going before but you've made it sound fun

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  19. love this post, I found Berlin very moving and I was surprised by how industrial and wartime some places still felt. The wall is incredible isn't it x

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  20. I would actually love to visit Berlin. Museums and history is what do it for me. Loving your photos.

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