I just came back from an amazing 7-day trip to Berlin, the capital of Germany. Here is a summary of what I did and saw during my stay.
Day 1: I arrived in Berlin from Buenos Aires, Argentina, after a long flight with a stopover in Madrid. I checked in at the hostel I had booked online, which was called «The Cat’s Pajamas». It was a cozy and clean place with friendly staff and a nice common area. I met some other travelers there and we decided to go out for dinner and drinks. We walked to a nearby street full of restaurants and bars, and had some delicious German food and beer. We also enjoyed the night life of Berlin, which was very lively and diverse.
Day 2: I joined a free walking tour that started from the Brandenburg Gate, one of the most iconic landmarks of Berlin. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining, and he showed us many interesting places and told us stories about the history and culture of Berlin. We saw the Reichstag building, the Holocaust Memorial, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Museum Island, and more. The tour lasted about 3 hours and it was a great way to get an overview of the city.
Day 3: I decided to explore some of the museums that Berlin has to offer. I bought a day pass that gave me access to five museums on the Museum Island. I started with the Pergamon Museum, which had impressive exhibits of ancient civilizations, such as Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. I was amazed by the Ishtar Gate, the Pergamon Altar, and the Market Gate of Miletus. Then I visited the Neues Museum, which had a collection of Egyptian artifacts, including the famous bust of Nefertiti. Next, I went to the Alte Nationalgalerie, which displayed paintings from the 19th century, such as those by Caspar David Friedrich and Edouard Manet. After that, I checked out the Bode Museum, which had sculptures and coins from various periods and regions. Finally, I ended my museum tour with the Altes Museum, which focused on classical antiquity and had statues of gods and goddesses.
Day 4: I took a day trip to Potsdam, a city near Berlin that was once the residence of Prussian kings and German emperors. I took a train from Berlin Hauptbahnhof and arrived in Potsdam in about half an hour. There I joined another walking tour that showed me around the beautiful palaces and gardens of Potsdam. We visited Sanssouci Palace, which was built by Frederick the Great as his summer retreat. It was a stunning example of rococo architecture and had a lovely park with fountains and statues. We also saw Cecilienhof Palace, which was where the Potsdam Conference took place in 1945. It was a more modest building that resembled an English country house. We also walked through the Dutch Quarter, which had charming houses with red brick facades.
Day 5: I joined a guided tour to Sachsenhausen, a former concentration camp located outside Berlin. It was a sobering and emotional experience to see the conditions and hear the stories of the prisoners who suffered and died there. I learned about the Nazi regime and its atrocities.
Day 6: I went back to Berlin and visited some of the places that I had missed on the first day. I went to Alexanderplatz, which was a large public square with a TV tower that offered a panoramic view of the city. I also went to East Side Gallery, which was a section of the Berlin Wall that had been turned into an open-air gallery with murals by various artists. Some of them were political, some were humorous, some were abstract. I enjoyed looking at them and taking pictures. Then I went to Hackescher Markt, which was a trendy area with shops, cafes, and street art. I bought some souvenirs there and had a coffee break.
Day 7: This was my last day in Berlin and I wanted to make the most of it. I went to Tiergarten Park, which was a huge green space in the middle of the city. It had paths for walking and biking, ponds for boating, statues for admiring, and benches for resting. It was a nice place to relax and enjoy nature. Then I went to KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), which was a famous department store that had everything you could imagine. It had eight floors of products ranging from clothes to books to electronics to food. The food hall on the sixth floor was especially impressive with its variety of cuisines and delicacies.
After that, it was time for me to pack my bags and head to the airport. I took a bus from Zoologischer Garten station to Tegel Airport. There I boarded my flight to Warsaw, Poland.
