Berlin-Germany again. Yay!
I was doubley looking forward to going back to Germany because my friend Nat offered me a free bed at the Marriott. Totally luxe before my un-luxe Turkey trip. How could I refuse?
I've heard alot about Berlin and although I'm not a fan of history, I was happy to join the hoards of tourists, eager to see the historical landmarks and most importantly, drink German beer and eat wurst.
First thing I noticed about Berlin is that on the east side (ie, where East Berlin used to be), the green man who tells you when to cross the road, looks like this:
Not sure why this girl wanted to jump into my photo.
And when to stop, he looks like this:
In the "West-side" of Germany, the traffic lights look normal.
The second funny thing was this guy selling wurst. Yes, he is wearing a BBQ!
In East Berlin, which was once communist, has no-frills structures. (Aside from the disco ball.) The architecture in this city is amazing. The new buildings are so clean and chic.
Like I was in the land of the Jetsons.
The highlight of the first day was visiting KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), the largest department store in Europe. It has a magnificent food hall selling every fine food you can imagine. You could feed two third world countries here. Think David Jones food hall but 20 times bigger!
Selling the most basic food items. Square watermelons.
The Berlin specialty is currywurst. Maybe I had a bad one cos it was a tasteless sausage served sliced, drowned in ketchup and sprinkled with curry powder. This is a stock photo cos at the time, I did'nt want to be reminded of what I had eaten.
Saving the real touristy stuff for when my friends arrived to Berlin, I wondered around the city by foot. By 10pm, I gave up and waited for Nat to arrive to the Marriott. My back was killing me.
We ducked into the hotel bar after we checked in. I had a beer and Nat, being in Germany for the first time, ordered a Schnapps. Surprised how the bartender poured away without asking which kind she wanted. Apple or butterscotch were the most popular, I thought.
Nat took a sip and nearly choked. A few people at the bar laughed. She said her esophagus was on fire and her skin turned bright red.
The bartender had a chuckle too. Turns out that the German schnapps is 40 percent proof and there is only one kind. The flavoured stuff is regarded as a liqueur in Germany.
He took it away and gave us a chilled shot glass of apple schnapps. Yummy. Even Nat said it tasted like apple juice.
At the end of the night, they did'nt charge us for the schnapps-how kind of them!
Retiring after a long day, I snuggled into my cloud-soft bed with satiny cotton sheets. Just like in the Marriott in Prague. Bliss.
The next day was all sight-seeing. We had another friend, Yin arrive after taking a night train from Switzerland.
Most of the tourist sites were close to the Marriott. On the way to the Brandenburg Gate, we saw the Holocaust memorial. It was a peculiar design which reminds me of a cemetery. This is what it looks like at first:
But then when you walk in towards the center:
The meeting point for our tour was opposite the hotel where Micheal Jackson famously dangled his baby over a balcony. The area was full of tourists and among them were gypsies.
I used to think that gypsies were people in travelling circuses from the olden days. Now I've learned that they are pesky people making a living begging (and often conning) tourists for money. Sadly it's their way of life and their kids are raised to do the same. While we were waiting, a gypsy's daughter walks up and asks for 1 Euro. I said no and so she jumps on my toes and asks me again. Infuriated, I mutter: "Tell your parents to get a job!"
Nat refused her also and the girl kicked her in the shins!
I learnt alot of history on the 5 hour walking tour. We had an English girl show us all the sites and tell real life stories of Berlin. Among the sites, we saw Hitler's bunker, Checkpoint Charlie and parts of the Berlin Wall.
Afterwards we walked around the eastern parts of the city. It was The Festival of Lights in Berlin and the significant buildings were colourfully illuminated.
We could not have timed leaving our restaurant from dinner better. As I was taking a photo of the mirrorball tower, fireworks started going off! It was an awesome display for the last night of the festival. The city was buzzing.
On our last day, we took things easy. We all had buffet breakfast downstairs and the hotel was nice enough not to charge us for the third person.
We checked out the East Side Gallery, which is the best preserved part of the Berlin Wall. Felt really chilled out looking at the funky murals.
A pic to show my grandkids one day.
Doing an album cover impression. Ha ha!
We walked around the Tiergarten flea markets. Lots of unique items there. I saw boxes of old cameras, fur coats, watches and jewellery. Even antique dentistry tools!
You could say this lamp stood out.
Nat and Yin were on the same flight home but I had to leave a few hours later. I killed time by reading in the hotel bar. It was relaxing and a pleasant end to my stay at the Marriott.
I've heard alot about Berlin and although I'm not a fan of history, I was happy to join the hoards of tourists, eager to see the historical landmarks and most importantly, drink German beer and eat wurst.
First thing I noticed about Berlin is that on the east side (ie, where East Berlin used to be), the green man who tells you when to cross the road, looks like this:
Not sure why this girl wanted to jump into my photo.
And when to stop, he looks like this:
In the "West-side" of Germany, the traffic lights look normal.
The second funny thing was this guy selling wurst. Yes, he is wearing a BBQ!
In East Berlin, which was once communist, has no-frills structures. (Aside from the disco ball.) The architecture in this city is amazing. The new buildings are so clean and chic.
Like I was in the land of the Jetsons.
The highlight of the first day was visiting KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), the largest department store in Europe. It has a magnificent food hall selling every fine food you can imagine. You could feed two third world countries here. Think David Jones food hall but 20 times bigger!
Selling the most basic food items. Square watermelons.
The Berlin specialty is currywurst. Maybe I had a bad one cos it was a tasteless sausage served sliced, drowned in ketchup and sprinkled with curry powder. This is a stock photo cos at the time, I did'nt want to be reminded of what I had eaten.
Saving the real touristy stuff for when my friends arrived to Berlin, I wondered around the city by foot. By 10pm, I gave up and waited for Nat to arrive to the Marriott. My back was killing me.
We ducked into the hotel bar after we checked in. I had a beer and Nat, being in Germany for the first time, ordered a Schnapps. Surprised how the bartender poured away without asking which kind she wanted. Apple or butterscotch were the most popular, I thought.
Nat took a sip and nearly choked. A few people at the bar laughed. She said her esophagus was on fire and her skin turned bright red.
The bartender had a chuckle too. Turns out that the German schnapps is 40 percent proof and there is only one kind. The flavoured stuff is regarded as a liqueur in Germany.
He took it away and gave us a chilled shot glass of apple schnapps. Yummy. Even Nat said it tasted like apple juice.
At the end of the night, they did'nt charge us for the schnapps-how kind of them!
Retiring after a long day, I snuggled into my cloud-soft bed with satiny cotton sheets. Just like in the Marriott in Prague. Bliss.
The next day was all sight-seeing. We had another friend, Yin arrive after taking a night train from Switzerland.
Most of the tourist sites were close to the Marriott. On the way to the Brandenburg Gate, we saw the Holocaust memorial. It was a peculiar design which reminds me of a cemetery. This is what it looks like at first:
But then when you walk in towards the center:
The meeting point for our tour was opposite the hotel where Micheal Jackson famously dangled his baby over a balcony. The area was full of tourists and among them were gypsies.
I used to think that gypsies were people in travelling circuses from the olden days. Now I've learned that they are pesky people making a living begging (and often conning) tourists for money. Sadly it's their way of life and their kids are raised to do the same. While we were waiting, a gypsy's daughter walks up and asks for 1 Euro. I said no and so she jumps on my toes and asks me again. Infuriated, I mutter: "Tell your parents to get a job!"
Nat refused her also and the girl kicked her in the shins!
I learnt alot of history on the 5 hour walking tour. We had an English girl show us all the sites and tell real life stories of Berlin. Among the sites, we saw Hitler's bunker, Checkpoint Charlie and parts of the Berlin Wall.
Afterwards we walked around the eastern parts of the city. It was The Festival of Lights in Berlin and the significant buildings were colourfully illuminated.
We could not have timed leaving our restaurant from dinner better. As I was taking a photo of the mirrorball tower, fireworks started going off! It was an awesome display for the last night of the festival. The city was buzzing.
On our last day, we took things easy. We all had buffet breakfast downstairs and the hotel was nice enough not to charge us for the third person.
We checked out the East Side Gallery, which is the best preserved part of the Berlin Wall. Felt really chilled out looking at the funky murals.
A pic to show my grandkids one day.
Doing an album cover impression. Ha ha!
We walked around the Tiergarten flea markets. Lots of unique items there. I saw boxes of old cameras, fur coats, watches and jewellery. Even antique dentistry tools!
You could say this lamp stood out.
Nat and Yin were on the same flight home but I had to leave a few hours later. I killed time by reading in the hotel bar. It was relaxing and a pleasant end to my stay at the Marriott.