72 Hours in Berlin, Germany Part II
Welcome back to my Berlin guide. Today, I’m going to tell you about all the other places I saw when visiting the city a month ago, and I want to emphasize once more that everything I tell you this time and told you last week is easily done in 3 days.
Let’s start today with the most famous monument in Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate, the Brandenburger Tor. It’s located just a few metres from the Reichstag building I mentioned last week and the perfect place to start your sightseeing trip through the city. I guess all of you have seen a picture of this pretty gate and I just loved how at the time of my visit a city-run was going on and later all the runners passed through the gate and were cheered by a large crowd.
Just a few metres from the Brandenburg Gate is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas. The memorial was finished in late 2004 and was one of my favourite places to visit when I first travelled to Berlin years ago. The monument is composed of more than 2700 concrete blocks with long and narrow alleys between them. Somehow, the memorial resembles a graveyard, but it still feels very uplifting to go through, and it truly fascinated me once more. I think it’s a must-see in Berlin and deserves so much more recognition!
From there, I decided to go for a walk through the Tiergarten Park. The park stretches from the Brandenburg Gate to the Victory Column, the Siegessäule, and even farther. Along the way, which lasted for several kilometres, I walked past a magnificent memorial for Soviet soldiers and the Bellevue Palace, the residence of the German President. It was very calming and the most relaxing part of the day. On my way back, I walked alongside the runners of the city-run who were just about to pass the Brandenburg Gate.
After cheering the runners for a while and having a coffee next to the gate, I decided to go for a rather long walk until the Berlin Cathedral, the Berliner Dom. I passed lots of tourist groups that were on their way to the Brandenburg Gate, which is why I highly recommend you visit it first thing in the morning if you don’t want even more people in your picture than I already had. The cathedral is beautiful and most importantly has a big garden in front of it, where I decided to rest for a while and enjoy the sunny weather. There were lots of people simply enjoying the sun, children playing, and it was a very welcoming atmosphere. I heard it’s pretty from the inside as well, but I was never one that had to see churches from the inside. From there I even went on to the Alexanderplatz, I told you about last week.
Later that day, I spontaneously decided to book tickets for the Blue Man Group show in Berlin. I did so while relaxing in front of the Berliner Dom, and it was a great decision. I know that kind of play is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I had lots of fun, and if you rather enjoy funny shows than musicals, this is definitely a good idea. But of course, there are various different musicals in Berlin, so whatever you are interested in, it’s almost impossible to leave the city bored.
Honestly, everything I’ve told you today, I have done in a day, and it was not a bit stressful. I got up early so there wouldn’t be too many people at the Brandenburg Gate, had time to rest once in a while and truly enjoyed myself. I highly recommend all of these places and hope you have a fantastic time if you visit Berlin.
