The city of Berlin was the last point on our way home. And he appeared on our route purely by accident. When buying tickets from Paris to Moscow, the booking system offered a multiple flight via Berlin with a connecting time of 3 hours. And without hesitation, we decided to stay there not for 3 hours, but for a day at once, and fly away the next day. At the same time, the ticket price remained the same..
Naturally, all impressions of Germany were associated with the city of Munich, since it was the only place that we saw in this country. And then there is also the capital of Germany, here everything should be at least the same. And somehow the fact that Berlin was completely destroyed half a century ago, and after that it was also part of the GDR for about 30 years, escaped consciousness ... No, well, we certainly knew about the Berlin Wall, and remembered about the war, but how- then in my head the facts were not matched together.
On impressions of the Berlin Wall, and I will not write about the awareness of my involvement in this event. Daria wrote about this, it influenced her much more. She still watches films about the war and life in East Berlin in the post-war years, and reads articles and books on these topics. This is how it happens, you have to go to get interested.
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Where to stay in Berlin
It is better to book hotels in Berlin in advance, so I will recommend these to you - St christopher’s Inn Berlin or Generator Berlin Mitte. Good price, reviews and ratings are ok too, metro nearby.
Walking tour of Berlin
I'll tell you a little about our walk through Berlin, along its eastern part. It was in East Berlin that we did not specifically intend to, it just happened - the Schönefeld airport, where we arrived, is located in the east of the capital, and we got out halfway at some train station and walked to the city center. In fact, even at the airport, it was felt that there was a smell of Russian spirit here. Some of the names were in Russian, for example on trash cans.
It was strange for us that Berlin does not at all resemble the capital of Germany. Well, not the way it should be. Some graffiti are worth something. Everywhere and everywhere, on fences and on the walls of buildings, both on the outskirts and in the center of the city.
Sometimes it seemed that we were in a provincial Russian city - the streets were not very clean, and some houses in Berlin were just like in our country. They may have been designed by the same people.?
At the same time, it is still clear that this is not Russia - bike paths are present, as expected. And from time to time old German buildings slip by. Of course, the closer to the city center and the closer to the Berlin Wall, the more the architecture changes..
Berlin landmarks
What is worth seeing in Berlin? If you are interested in history, then first of all it makes sense to take a walk in East Berlin, as well as look at the standard sights. Suddenly, it will penetrate?
Separately, I would like to mention the monument to Jews in Berlin - a colossal structure in which many are dizzy, and the floor leaves under their feet. Probably, the author was trying to convey at least a small fraction of what the Jews experienced during the Holocaust.
After our walk around Berlin, in the evening on the way back, we met a Russian-speaking guy from Latvia Gustav, who now lives in Germany, and who also had to go to the airport. He helped us and translated the announcement of the cancellation of trains and an explanation of how to get there due to these changes. Here is the lack of knowledge of the language, if only a little more, and we would be late for the last train to Schönefeld airport.
We had the whole night ahead before the flight, and we told each other about Russia and Latvia, and Gustav was sincerely surprised that we still have such things as corruption, traffic jams, etc. After sleeping for several hours on benches at the airport, we flew home happy. And 5 days after Europe was waiting for us winter in thailand.