Nicht Bin Ein Berliner

Arriving in Berlin on Tuesday ahead of schedule meant that we had just over 3 days of exploring the city. Since we were able to park Moira up in the Tiergarten, we also gained a bonus evening on the first day. While this city was new to Danni, I had been here 4 times before and knowing where many buildings and amenities were for the first time in more than 2 months gave the city a sense of being home.

Day one: Quick wander through one of the most recognisable sites of the city: the Brandenburg gate.  The quadriga on top was taken to Paris following Napoleon's occupation of the city and returned when Napoleon was defeated.

The seat of power, and a pointy tower.

Day Two: We started with some cheery, sort of, history of resistance to the Nazis. This was set in the building where in 1944 a coup, Operation Valkyrie was organised against Hitler. Although Tom Cruise was nowhere to be found...

Further descending into Nazi history, it seems increasingly difficult to avoid now we're in Berlin, we went round the Berlin Story Bunker which was a genuine WW2 bunker built to hold 3,500 Berliners in the event of air raid attacks. The end of this bunkers life was in May 1945 when over 12,000 people (5 people per m2) were crammed in here for nearly two weeks, the last 10 days of which they had no lights, sewage pumping, or air conditioning. 

In classic Rob and Danni fashion we followed up the sight of horrendous human rights abuses with a very exciting board game shop.

Final stop of the day was a series of bars to get Rob his first German stein!

Day Three: first stop of the day was at an alternative history of Germany museum. Pictured here is Rob demonstrating the benefits of Germany adopting a constitutional monarchy post-1918. I think I'll take my chances with the Weimar!

On our way back into the old town proper we popped into the Rote Rathaus. Named such because of its red colour and being inhabited entirely with rats from 1948 to 1989.

Final stop of the day before it got too late was one of the two remaining flak towers in the city. These impressive bastions were so difficult to destroy that it took the occupying French, in this sector of the city, multiple attempts to only partially destroy this one. Unsatisfied that they had fully destroyed it the French gave up and built it into a hill with plenty of trees so it would no longer hold its power over the surrounding area.

Day Four: we started off with a cycle across the city including a walk along the impressive East Side Gallery: sections of the Berlin wall made into an art installation in 1990.

Always tempted by a bargain we were suckered into this secret packs machine. The premise: undelivered parcels with no sense whatsoever of their contents all sold in a vending machine for a flat 10 euro rate. How could we say no?

The Stasi museum delivered such treats as this nifty button camera.

Satisfied we had spent enough time in Berlin, although we certainly could spend the rest of the trip there and not get bored, we headed off to Poland!