Berlin Sweet Berlin

It has been far too long since I told you of my adventures and though nothing hilariously story-worthy occurred in my latest journey up north, I did manage to find one of my new favorite cities in the entire world.  Let me introduce you to Berlin, Germany.

Inside the Dome of the Bundestag (German Parliament)

I fell in love with Berlin because there were an astounding amount of cultural activities.  Museum after museum could be found there and I am confident the city offered something that nearly everyone could find interesting. Besides playing host to Germany's legislature, the Bundestag also had one of the coolest experiences for tourists.  An audio guide played as I walked up the circling ramp telling me all about their city and the sights I saw in the distance.  The architecture alone was worth the visit.  I should also note that if you want to go there, even though it's free, you MUST register online in order to gain entrance.  For more information, visit their website - http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/visits/kupp.html

What made it so cool is that, unlike most museums where you have to plug in the numbers and press play to hear the information, the audio guide used a sensor system based on our location along the ramp to start its next recording.  So once I passed a section which had a clear view of the Brandenburg Gate, I was told to wait there for a moment, look out the window and then I learned all about its importance.

The Brandenburg Gate

 Berlin had a sort of street-punk feel to it.  Some people call it graffiti but others see it as street art.  Though I didn't really notice an abundance of "tags" I would describe as the truest definition of graffiti, there were plenty of public art displays on building walls, restaurant doors and the like.

The street art culture is strong in Berlin

My absolute favorite museum there was the Pergamon, and that decision is based on the fact that I went to a total of 8 different ones.  That's a lot of museum-ing (the official verb for going to museums). I know, it sounds a little crazy, but I had incentive because I was paid to write about most of them. I especially enjoyed this museum because they had three particular rooms which featured exhibits on the grandiose scale like below.  Full size reconstructions are awe-inspiring and there was something magical about standing in front of an original ancient object, like the altar below. It felt like I had been transported back in time more than 2000 years ago and I was about to witness the sacrifice of some poor animal to appease Zeus.

The Altar of Pergamon in the Pergamon Museum

The Berlin Wall played a major role in the history of Berlin.  To relearn all about that and see it up close really put things in perspective.  Can you imagine being forced to live between two opposing governments within the same city? If you tried to get on the other side of the wall, you would have been shot dead if you were caught. It is estimated that 600 of the 5,000 were caught in the act. Disturbing, and yet a little unbelievable that this happened as early as 23 short years ago. The Berlin Wall was destroyed in 1990.

A section of the Berlin Wall and the path it used to cover

Berlin turned out to be a multicultural mecca of cuisine.  Traditional Bavarian cuisine was considered "old-school" and I was ok with it. I saw everything from French to Spanish tapas to all sorts of Asian fusion restaurants. The street food was more like burgers, donor kebabs and curry wurst (sliced sausages in a sauce of ketchup mixed with curry powder). And then there were the amazing pastry bakeries and coffee shops for breakfast.  I also hear Sunday brunch is very popular. For me, let's just say it was nice to have a change up from all the pasta and pizza here in Rome.

In Berlin, the traditional cuisine of Germany gets no respect!

So that was my trip to Berlin in a nutshell. Have you ever been there before?  What did you like most about it?  Share your experiences!