Berlin, Germany, was our third stop on our month-long trip to Europe in spring 2015. We were there for four days, from April 4th to 7th, which was not nearly enough time as there was so much to see and do, but we managed to squeeze in as much as we could, and we really enjoyed all the things we did.
We did and saw:
-A walking tour with Sandemans New Europe (a great way to learn about history and see the city)
-Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp
-The Jewish Museum (it was excellent -- one of the best museums I've been to)
-The Berlin Museum of Medical History
-A brief walk through Tiergarten (I would have liked to see more, but we were short on time)
-The Topography of Terror
While I'm not a huge fan of the city itself and would never want to live there, as smoking is permitted in (some?) restaurants; the airport was one the worst airports I've been to; we had a nightmare of a commute getting to the hotel from the airport (never take transit from the airport!); and we were treated like garbage at Vapiano, there is so much history and so much to do, that I would not hesitate to go back (the first thing I'd do is see the zoo, something we didn't have time for). Although maybe I'll wait until after the new airport is FINALLY built.
A thing to note is when crossing the streets, there is no warning as to when the light will turn red. In North America, if you come come up to a crosswalk with a signal, you know to a certain extent how much time you have, and whether you should cross -- when the signal changes from the white "walk" symbol to the orange "don't cross" signal, it first flashes and/or has a countdown, to alert you that the light will change, so you better hurry up. Not so in Berlin. You come up to a crosswalk, the green "Ampelmann" signal will be on (and you have no idea how long it's been on), and then all of a sudden, it changes to the red "Ampelmann", with no warning, and you better get out of the way before all the cars zoom through the intersection!
[Yelp collections: Europe 2015; Berlin, Germany; Cities] read more