Eurotrip: Berlin - part 2 (in English)

Hello again!

If you want to read part 1, please click here. 

Se você quer ler em português, por favor clique aqui. Para parte 1, clique aqui. 

This post is the continuation of my trip report on the five days I spent in Berlin . If you have not read Part 1 , click here , and see what I did in the first two days in the German capital .


Day 3 - Museum Island


The Museum Island is a piece of culture in Berlin that concentrates 5 museums very close to each other. I bought the Berlin Welcome Card, which gave me unlimited access to all of them for 3 days and discounts on other attractions and cost 40,50 euros. 

The Museums chosen for that day were Pergamon Museum and the Altes Museum.

The Altes Museum has a vast collection of works of sculpture and Greek and Roman items. It is a great museum and I had so much fun messing with the sculptures . Really the details are very nice but several times I was laughing alone because the paintings on vases or sculptures sounded me very funny xD Type this jar from the sidelines where the individual seems to be dancing Saturday night Fever auhuahuahuahuah

I arrived at the Museum Island 10am and stayed for 2 hours . Honestly, unless the person is interested horrors every detail and fully listen to the audioguide , I do not see why getting more than this time.
Again I tried to visit the Berlin Dom but could not x.x this time it was only possible to complete visitation later because that day was going some special celebration at the moment i arrived x.x Another time than.. I had lunch a wrap delight with iced tea in a restaurant nearby, interested in wi fi place just choosing well . I took line at Pergamon , and just entering only 13:30 museum. The Pergamon left me open-mouthed ! Really exciting and fun. Enter the museum and come face to face with reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate was awesomw. And then the audioguide tells you that this only a small part of it ...shut up!


Skip this museum was a different experience from other visits to museums because the environments are not only full of relics but you feel transported to ancient times for being in an ancient environment. I love history of antiquity and the museum provides a lot of it .


I was 3 hours in this museum but I think because it interested me a lot and I heard almost every audioguides . Very much I recommend this museum to everyone .
In 2020 I come back to Berlin to see the new part of the museum which promises to be a hit (actually Berlin will be full of new things in 2020 ) . I left the Pergamon and left for Berlin Story Bunker , which is close to Potsdamer Platz . The entry cost 7 euros, reduced rate because of the Welcome Card .

I admit that I was somewhat disappointed as I entered the place because I hoped to visit a bunker but enters you see dark rooms and sound of screams. Then you will see several dolls and dark environments and some posters explaining what each room is ( Black Death, torture ..) It should be interesting to take children but for me it was pretty boring.

Then you arrive at the end of the road and tell you to climb a ladder. When I got on the second floor a group of girls was there. Then when I started to enter the next room they shouted: "Do not go there alone!" and I asked why and they explained that the next room were people who gave scare people. I called them to go with me and ended up being a very funny experience.
Again, I was very disappointed with the lure that attracts the visitor to be a bunker but until then I had not seen anything talking about it. That part was only fun because I was with these girls. If I were alone I would have been a bitch with several actors trying to give me scares .. Finally, the path has indications which should descend the stairs. After two flights arrived in a well-lit hallway with a young lady to deliver audioguides. At that moment I thought, now I got in bunkers. But not. This floor is a museum that tells the history of Germany, has miniatures and various posters and videos in each room. Then, in the last room, we have what has been kept from the bunker and the story of a survivor who, after the destruction of his family home, sought shelter there with family. The story shows the sad reality of overcrowded bunkers in Berlin during World War II, when people began to live in bunkers because they no longer had their homes. Overcrowding generated unhealthiness in local and suicidal reactions in people. An extremely traumatizing environment for adults, imagine for kids. Then the tour ended. I not recommend to visit the bunker because it does not meet what they propose but a smooth ride for those traveling with children


From there, I walked to the checkpoint charlie that was already closed :( 

But Check Point Charlie Museum was open (actually open until 22h, so there's no excuse not to go ) . 
Admission is expensive: 9.70 euros! The museum is tiring because it has millions of cards with a lot of information . People who do not like reading : do not go because will not worth for you!

But I really enjoyed it. Read all the signs , I thrilled me with one or two stories of successful escapes from East Berlin to the West. It's pretty cool also discover hidden heroes. People who could have chickened out but gave their lives to save strangers . humanity show!

I had dinner just across the street at a great Italian restaurant . I ordered a delicious pasta with wine and cost 13 euros. From there , I took the subway and went back to the hostel .

Day 4 - Day of the Tours

View of Warchauer strasse station

That day I divided into two parts: the first part was to know the " broken church " and the 2nd part I did two tours with a company .

As the three-day transport had just bought a daily ticket to the area A and B , which cost 6.90 euros. The morning was cold and very foggy but the ride was very pleasant .


The " broken church " (or Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church ) is impressive and had a really nice Christmas market outside . Inside the broken church there is only an exhibition WHAT left of it after the bombing .


I found it interesting but I was not there 30 minutes . Do not cover up anything to access the exhibition and the building immediately in front is where the celebrations take place in the area. The day was going on a violin and piano presentation . I loved it!

From there, I took the subway and I headed to Berlin Gesundbrunnen station. The company Berliner Unterwelten specializes in tours in bunkers and the Berlin underground .

I chose the tour 1 - Dark World and the tour M- Under the Berlin wall .

The ticket for the tour 1 cost 9 euros and the 2 tour cost 11 euros . 

Trying to escape xD

There are tours in German and English but care for the time for each tour and no limit of people , so you may want to arrive early to ensure your place . As the places we visit is sublet to other people , tourists can not take pictures only when the guides say they can 
. I enjoyed the tours and recommend. I had no idea how it was even a bunker and the guides show the location and tell the stories . All very interesting. The Tour M was much more interesting because the idea is to talk about the leaks that occurred in East Berlin to West by underground.

I had no idea half of ways. It was really cool to see how much people was creative couple seeking a better life but at the same time it was too risky. It was really cool moment of the tour we did a simulation of a kind of very complicated escape : escape the sewer .
Very much recommend this and have to praise the guide, I do not remember the name, but it seems Sirius Black (look the picture) xD He wore a purple coat and his hair and beard met. The man spoke quickly but I understood everything ^^ The schedule of this day is over and the plan was to rest. But being in hostel means to get there and end up going out to talk to the staff.
The Plus hostel has several types of attractions to know the city or the bars . I chose the tour of the bars , which leaves at 20:00 on certain days , and you will know and drinking from bar to bar of the neighborhood. It was an amazing experience ( not in the next day , of course).
 

Day 5 : Berlin Wall, Nikolaiviertel and Holocaust Memorial

Last day in Berlin. I left the backpack in the locker provided by the hostel . You can only leave the room reserved for suitcases or put in lockers paid within that room. I think a lot safer and recommend you spend is 4 euros for the safety of your luggage.

That day had breakfast at the hostel , I washed clothes , I was in the pool and sauna, read the book and waited forever to be dry clothes . 

Then be organized was on schedule .

I left on foot and soon arrived at the East Side Gallery - the remains of the Berlin Wall . 

The plan was to go the whole length of the wall height on leaving the hostel to Alexanderplatz . It did not happen because it took me a long time reading the writing on the wall , going on one hand and turning the other wall. 

The day was very pleasant and when I realized , my schedule was tight . Then I crossed the street and took the s- bahn and down in AlexanderPlatz . The focus in the morning was to know Nikolaiviertel , a neighbourhood that seemed to transport you to medievalism (people from internet tells that).

I walked around, and visited the Nikolaikirche . The church is quite large and beautiful . The entrance cost 5 euros and came with audioguide included . It took 1h between the Visitation church and the surrounding area .

I returned the way to Alexanderplatz and passed in front of the Berlin Town Hall ( Rotes Rathaus) and spent the Christmas market located there, along the source of Neptune and the skating rink.

After buying many souvenirs at Alexanderplatz , I took the subway and went to the highlight of the day : the Holocaust Memorial .

The site brings different emotions. I walked between the rocks for a while and then went to the exhibition entrance queue that exists on site. 

Admission is free and the audioguide costs 2 euros. I read everything, I cried and then I was a different person when i lived the place. 

I do not know if it's because I had gone to the Dachau concentration camp and read those history left everything as concrete. I felt the despair of people who were persecuted, tortured and killed, and lamented the ignorance and human greed. My day died after the Holocaust Memorial. I returned to the hostel and waited until the time to go to the airport. Important information: i bought a daily ticker that covered ABC areas because I would go to the Schönefelde airport, and it cost 7.80 euros.

#TIP: Do not buy plane ticket to early in the morning because you will need to sleep in the airport or pay a lot of money in taxi to get there. I think the best moment to go to the airport is at night, so you can sleep in the next place of your trip and be rested in the next day. Next stop: London!