Berlin Was Much Better Than I Expected

 

This was my first visit to Berlin, before then I was ready to hate Berlin a lot, this is because it has a reputation of being pretentious like other big cities, lacking culture and being full of drugs. However, what I thought about Berlin was not Really how Berlin is. It's a decent destination for backpackers as beer is cheap and it's easy to find a hostel. To say that it lacks culture or history is false, there is loads of history about the Cold War, something I'm fascinated with. 

After a seven hour bus journey across the German Autobahn, I got off the bus and had to find my way to my hostel, then I decided to find a barbers to get a haircut and have my beard trimmed which was much needed. In search of something to eat, I found the perfect place, I heard that getting a doner kebab is the thing to do in Berlin from a Drew Binsky video which explains that this city is actually where the popularisation of kebabs in the western world had originated. For five euros, I got a doner kebab and a diet coke and it was certainly different to how a kebab is in the UK. This felt like a proper kebab and is actually something you could have for your dinner.

After enjoying a great dinner, I took a walk around central Berlin, I saw the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, it's a group of blocks you walk through like a maze, however I saw that people weren't respecting the memorial, some asshole thought it would be trendy for Instagram if he sat on one of the blocks, does he realise the significance of this site?

Right next to the memorial is the Brandenburg Tor, one of the most famous sites in Germany, it's probably the most central part of the city and right through the gate is a big street full of embassies and government buildings. The two buildings which truly stood out was the extremely grand Russian embassy and the Aeroflot building right next to it. 

What Berlin is best for is the museums, there are museums for everything, a must visit for any Cold War nerd is the DDR museum, this place was awesome. The car that was made around DDR times was the Trabant and you can go inside of one and drive around a virtual East Berlin. 

The museum really makes life in the DDR seem really depressing, it was a dictatorship rife with corruption and fake elections. While every single normal person worked under permission of the government, the leaders had luxurious Volvo cars and eventually, the regime ended in bankruptcy, but the people were liberated when Germany united in 1990. The museum has a Volvo dictator car on display and it shows all sectors of life during the DDR and you can see how people lived inside of Soviet-style apartments. 

When your mum walks in on you listening to western capitalist rock music

As I came out, I headed over to Alexanderplatz, I found a great place to get some currywurst for lunch, it was five euros for currywurst and chips with a diet Coke. Then I headed to the biggest tourist attraction in Alexanderplatz, the Fernsehturm Berlin is a TV tower which was built during DDR times and can be seen almost everywhere around the city. It actually looks really cool in real life and for the price of 17 euros you can visit the observation deck, it's worth doing as you can get some incredible views all over the city. 

Of course, a famous place I have seen people go to and talk about when people think of Berlin, the so-called "Checkpoint Charlie" is a complete tourist trap as it's just a sign with a McDonald's next to it, but it's good for the photo opportunities I guess. Apparently this isn't even the real location of where Checkpoint Charlie was, thankfully it's nearby to some more interesting places. 

One of the coolest sites in Berlin is the East Side Gallery, I'm not a huge fan of art by any means, but I thought this was incredible. In the late 80s, East Germans were starting to no-longer buy into the gibberish of their regime, they started to paint on the wall, against the wishes of the police. In 1989 the wall was torn down, but this part of the wall had been maintained and is now an open air art exhibition. The most famous one is the kiss between Honecker and Khrushchev and it just so happened that when I was there, I bumped into a Russian immigrant who was impressed by my Russian I learned over lockdown and I read out what the Cyrillic text was asking him what it meant. Nearby I found another place to get a doner kebab and it was absolutely delicious, no joke if you go to Berlin, I can't recommend them enough. 

After that I took the S Bahn back to my hostel and was exhausted after what felt like a hike around the city, the next morning I went to get a coffee at a German coffee shop chain called Einstein Kaffee which was significantly better than a Starbucks. I walked over to museum island as I had wanted to go to the Pergamon museum which holds some incredible historical artefacts from ancient civilisations, unfortunately it was shut due to maintenance and I decided to go over to the Berlin Cathedral instead which was actually well worth visiting. This huge cathedral had been restored after communist times and is one of the most impressive buildings in the city. It's a long walk up to the top, but once you're at the top, you are given some incredible views. 

  

Then I went to the Topography of Terror, a must visit museum when in Berlin as it tells of the horrific atrocities of the Nazis. There's an indoor exhibition and an outdoor exhibition and it's in the location of where the Berlin wall once stood, the entry is also free. It gives you an idea of the sheer terror the Nazis struck into every aspect of life. 

When I was told about the Spy Museum in Berlin, I knew that I had to check it out, this place is definitely worth a visit as it gives you an insight into the world of espionage from ancient times, to the cold war, up until now. It shows you the intricacies of the work of a spy and exhibited are a range of guns, gadgets and even a recreation of the bridge of spies. When I came outside and headed towards the technology museum I came across a tribute to Korea, a recreation of a Korean hut in dedication to the Korean people who are currently split apart just like the Germans once were. Later on I headed out, after an hour of transporting around and drinking beer, we found an open air club which was open. After debating with some Germans in the queue I paid 3 euros for entry, but the club wasn't that good. I have to say, if you want to go out in Berlin, wait until the proper clubs can reopen. 

The next day, I ended up in a coffee shop at 10AM and brutally hungover. Berlin is a big city with still a lot for me to see, so I didn't let it stop me from seeing the sites. When I asked a friend about what to see in Berlin, he recommended the Stasi Museum and I'm glad he did. Oddly enough the Stasi Museum is located quite far away from where anything else really is, this is because it's located in the old Stasi HQ in the middle of an old DDR neighbourhood which literally looks like the setting for Brigada. Though the museum is quite a trek away, it certainly is worth a visit, the building is more or less kept in its original condition and it gives you an idea of the true terror of totalitarian rule. 

This truck was used to take dissidents away to prison

I then went over to Treptower Park, at first it seems like a normal park congregated with families, however, inside the park is a massive and impressive Soviet memorial to those who gave their lives in the Great Patriotic War. All of a sudden I felt like I was in Russia, people around me seemed to be speaking Russian and there was even some people singing solemn Russian folk music. The fact that it's been kept in its original Soviet condition is really nice and I owe my respect to those Soviet soldiers who fought and gave their lives for my freedom. 

I took the S Bahn back to Brandenburg Tor to have a look at the Soviet memorial there which was nearby, it was interesting to see and was accompanied with replica Soviet tanks. Also adjacent, is the Reichstag, if you played Call of Duty World at War, you know the significance of this building, but after the war it was restored and is now one of the main buildings for German lawmakers. If you actually want to go inside, it's free and you have to book online, but thanks to the covidiot protest which happened to take place during my visit, I missed my chance to actually go inside. After that, to get something to eat, I found a place on the street which served bratwurst at just three euros, bratwurst is another staple in German street food and it is essentially a hot dog. 

Exhausted and hungover, I called it a day there and walked back to my hostel in the rain, I felt too knackered to go out for more beer that evening, but I decided to get some currywurst for dinner as it was my last night in Germany and therefore my last opportunity to enjoy some great German street food. You can find some of the best and most affordable currywurst at a place called Curry 61, where a currywurst and chips with a beer cost me 7 euros. 

 

As you can see, I really enjoyed my stay in Berlin, it's a perfect backpacking destination in Europe, where beer is almost cheaper than water and you can see a huge variety of museums. Germany is one of my favourite countries in the world and I have to say that each part of Germany feels like it has its own vibe, Berlin isn't the main place to experience German culture, it has a very modern and international vibe. I have to say that the history of the Cold War and communism that you can find in the city is fascinating, you only need to go as far as Berlin to see places that look Soviet. As well as that, the people of Berlin are really cool, it may be true that the culture of Berlin is extremely relaxed which means that recreational drugs and drinking on the street is everywhere. The people of Berlin have a culture of freedom and this is something to be celebrated.