Trip report: an enormously enjoyable week in Berlin (+ 2 nights in Cologne)

Guidebooks/Maps

art/shop/eat Berlin, put out by Blue Guides was, hands-down, the best guide book we had (and we bought several). It was wonderful for all three of its focus areas: we found it indispensable for the art museums, and it put us onto some wonderful little shops. It’s arranged by section of the city and includes little maps and information about museum, galleries, other major sites, eating/drinking, and shopping in that area. It is pocket sized and we carried it around with us every day.

The dud book, in our opinion, was the Time Out Berlin. It steered us wrong a few times and we ended up tossing it so we wouldn’t have to carry its weight any longer.

Red Map Berlin
I swear by this map company (and no, I have no financial connection with them!). The Berlin map is superb. To order, you call (212 255-4645) and they send your map with an invoice, which you pay by check. I’ve also seen their maps at our local Barnes & Noble. The company publishes maps for several major European cities and about a dozen in the US.
Here’s what I wrote about it in my previous trip report:

”I cannot say enough good things about the Berlin Red Map: it is durable, extremely legible, covers almost everywhere we went, shows all major sights and sites, and has the U-bahn, S-bahn, tram and major bus routes clearly overlaid on the streets. Going from walking on the streets to hopping on one of the transportation modes is a seamless process with the Red Map. Color coded dots indicate the exact locations of U-bahn and S-bahn stations. The best part is that each of the transit lines can be traced easily to its end or where it leaves the map, and there is a label of what that terminating point is. This is important for Berlin as you have to know which stop is at the end of the line in the direction you are traveling (knowing that you are heading north or west on a line is not enough.) This map made that quick and painless, and really saved us a few times when we arrived at the station just as a train was pulling in. We had a few other Berlin maps, but this was head and shoulders above the rest. Our hotel gave us a paper map that we used for the once or twice we ventured off the edge of the Red Map’s coverage.”

Museums and Monuments

The museums in Berlin are of superb quality and wide variety. 3-day museum passes (€15 each) were a great value for us. We ended up going to 6 or 7 museums, so we saved quite a bit over individual admission prices. We bought the museum passes when we bought the transit passes at the visitor center in the main train station. The museum pass is valid for three consecutive days, beginning with the date of first use.

The guidebooks make a big deal about the museums all being closed on Mondays, but in truth the most popular museums are open 7 days a week. We had no problem filling our time on Monday with visits to the Altes Museum (currently housing the Egyptian collection), the Pergamonmuseum, and the Bode Museum, and could have visited more if we so chose.

All the museums we visited were included in the three day pass (or free admission), unless noted.

Stasi Museum (not included in the 3 day pass)
At the site of the former Stasi (East German Secret Police) headquarters, there is a museum documenting the history and activities of this police force. Several of the rooms were preserved just as they were in the Stasi’s heyday (conference room, office, canteen, etc). A woman was dusting the furniture in one of the period rooms, and after confirming that we understood German, she took great pains to make it clear to us that she did not work there prior to 1990 (when communism fell)!

There were some fascinating exhibits of how the Stasi portrayed itself to its members/employees on the occasions of its anniversaries. There was a good bit of information about the fall of communism in East Germany.

Unfortunately for us, the only English was on a few introductory signs and three books in the tiny bookshop. My German comprehension was strained to its limits in trying to decipher the captions for the exhibits. The headquarters took up an entire city block, and just walking around this enormous complex gave us chills.

We’d seen the movie “Lives of Others” (which I highly recommend) and much of what we saw in the museum looked familiar. A memorable scene is when the protagonist, after the fall of communism, joined a line of people for his turn to see the file that the Stasi had maintained on him.

Altes Museum
This museum is temporarily housing a portion of Berlin’s collection of Egyptian art while the Neues Museum is being renovated (to be completed in 2009). The huge draw for this collection is the amazing bust of Nefertiti. The audioguide (included in the 3 day pass) was very good, and we explored at some of the other Egyptian art before being wowed by the Queen. Across the façade of this museum is a cool neon sign installation that says “ALL ART HAS BEEN CONTEMPORARY.”

Pergamonmuseum
We used the audioguide to tour the “Big Three” at this museum: the Altar of Pergamon, the Market Gate of Miletus (under heavy scaffolding right now) and the totally amazing Babylonian Processional Street.

Bode Museum
I was excited about visiting this museum because it has the Byzantine collection, and European sculpture from medieval through the 19th centuries. The building itself is quite lovely, and I enjoyed the medieval altarpieces and sculpture. The Byzantine collection was smaller than I expected, however, and I was disappointed that there were no icons on display.

I was hoping to find some sculptures by Donatello, but when I asked the guard in my very best German, this is how the conversation went:
Me (in German): “Where can I find the Donatello”
Guard: (blank look)
Me: “Don-a-tel-lo” (slowly)
Guard: “Oh, the toilets?”
Me: “no, Donatello. He is…” (trying in vain to remember the German word for sculptor, or even artist. All I could remember was “painter” which I figured might confuse things)
Guard: “The café?”
Me: (giving up) “Thanks anyway.”

The excellent museum bookstore is run by the bookshop Buchhandlung W. Koenig, and the fellow that assisted me was unbelievably helpful. He was quite familiar with all of the art in the Bode collection and in which books it (or similar art) was featured, including out of print books. I was totally amazed at his knowledge. From this fellow I found out where the Donatello sculptures were located (the gallery of small bronzes). I also learned from him that the Bode does have any icons on display in its Byzantine collection - they are on (indefinite) loan to the icon museum in Frankfurt. I ended up buying 6 art books that he arranged to ship to me in the US for a total shipping charge of €30.

Neue National Gallery
We might have been the only people in Berlin that were disappointed that the Neue National Gallery was hosting a blockbuster special exhibit of French Impressionist art from New York’s Metropolitan Museum. The entire museum was filled with the special exhibit, admission was solely via a timed ticket, and there were long lines. We don’t like Impressionism (yes, it’s true), and I grew up in New York visiting the Met, so this was not something of interest to us. We had really wanted to see the Neue’s own collection, especially of 20th c. art.

Kunstgewerbemuseum
I had a great time in this museum of applied arts, where I concentrated on the medieval galleries. There were lots of gold and jeweled reliquaries and crosses and other religious items. Additionally, I did a quick walk-though of the Art Nouveau rooms.

Luftwaffenmuseum (admission is free)
My husband went to this museum, which is on the outskirts of Spandau. He was very eager to see some of the German World War II planes, but it turns out that there was very little of that era represented in the collection. To get to the museum, he had to take a bus from the Spandau Rathaus station (U-bahn or S-bahn), then walk about 15 minutes onto the airfield – the museum is housed in the former RAF base. On balance my husband didn’t think it was worth the effort to get to this museum because it didn’t have what he was most interested in (although he bought some cool souvenirs in the gift shop). He had a very tough time connecting with the return bus. While he had this adventure, I explored the old parts of Spandau (which I’ll describe later in this report).

Deutsches Historisches Museum
This museum is located in the former armory building, and I M Pei designed a huge addition behind the original building (Bloomingdales’ fall 2007 catalog included a photo shoot in Berlin, particularly at this new building). The only things we stopped to see inside were the amazing bookshop and the sculptures of the Dying Warriors that are located in the courtyard of the old building. Pei designed a glass canopy to cover this space, and I found it quite effective. The sculptures themselves are very cool.

Technisches Museum
My husband visited this museum while I was at the applied arts museum. He enjoyed it, but it did not knock his socks off.

Berlinische Galerie
This museum was closed at the first part of the week for installation of the annual contemporary art exhibit. We went back on the evening of the exhibit opening, and it was packed with people – there were bicycles all over the plaza outside and many entire families were there. We had a great time people watching as well as checking out the art. On the upper floor we were able to tour a good bit of the permanent collection, which is quite nice. As far as the special exhibition, some of the art was great and some was a bit predictable or pretentious. This evening it was a highlight of our trip.

Jewish Museum
This new museum is housed in a very large, very architecturally interesting building. Entrance to the museum is through an old villa type building then through an underground passage). The displays were engaging and there were a variety of activities and ways to experience the information presented. With all the different types of interactive exhibits, I found it hard at times to actually connect with the actual story.

House of the Wannsee Conference (not included in the museum pass)
This is where the Nazis approved the "final solution" to the "Jewish Question" in January 1942. The house is on the edge of the Wannsee lake, and the park-like grounds were lovely, complete with resident foxes. The interior of the house was filled with exhibitions about the history of the oppression of the Jews, details about the Wannsee conference, and the concentration camps and death camps. It was powerful and sobering. The material was very well presented, with most things in English and German. We stayed for 6 hours, and would have stayed longer, but the museum was closing.

Monument to Murdered European Jews (outdoors, free)
This is a striking installation of regularly spaced rectangular columns of stone, of varying heights. It covers about a city block, and there were plenty of people walking among the stones. There were a bunch of kids running around playing hide and seek. The physical set up is certainly conducive to such games, although I think there may have been a sign (in German) requesting no running.

noe-

I'm so jealous!!! It will be my ideal vacation to spend a week in Berlin just to visit the museums! Love your tip on the guiddbooks. I think you're the one who told me about the Blue Guide to London's galleries and Museums.

I wonder when the Pergamon will be done with all the renovations work. I kind of want to wait until everything is finished.

Never heard of the Stasi Museum and now I'm interested! I also saw the movie Lives of Others and thought it was excellent. I wonder how much I will enjoy the visit if I don't understand any German. Did you buy the English guidebook from the bookshop? Will one be able to tour the museum using the guidebook to help decipher?

And very funny about your exchange at the Bode Museum.

I assume this trip report is not finished yet? Did you go to Gemäldegalerie on this trip?

The museum pass €15 for 3 days seems just ridiculously cheap! I need to go there before they raise the price.

thanks for posting!

Thanks for posting this. There is a lot of great info. I love Berlin. It certainly doesn't seem too high on the list for Fodorites though.

I hope you post after your next trip in two weeks. Have a great time with your daughters!

Thanks for this excellent report. Your exchange with the Guard is priceless! LOL

While I don't care much for Berlin I like the museums. Incredible collections.

I.

What a great trip. And you definitely had just about the best locations possible in Berlin and Cologne.

Thanks for the report. I wonder if the scaffolding will ever come off the Gate of Miletus. There was scaffolding in August 2003 and October 2006. I thought about going to check on it when I was there two weeks ago, but I didn't have time in the end.

There's an underground exhibition for the Eisenman memorial. I'm not sure if you went there. But if I recall, there was a "roll call" of the Holocaust victims. It was quite chilling.

I actually haven't been to most of the museums on Museuminsel. But for people looking for more museums in Berlin -- for contemporary art there're also the Hamburger Bahnhof and the (private) Sammlung Hoffmann.

Thanks for all the replies! I will continue to post sections of this report, including, I hope, Cologne. (Although that has yet to be written...)

To answer a few questions:

There are a few things in English in the Stasi Museum, but the vast majority of the info is in German only. I don't think there was a guide book in the bookshop - at least not in English. Some of the things in the museum are self evident: the surveillance equipment (especially the hidden cameras!), the model holding cell, the offices of the officials. Other things are pretty obscure. Just seeing the building - its location and vast size - is interesting. So, I guess I'd say it would be worth it with no German, but I'd also understand if somebody disagreed with that!

I did not get to the Gemäldegalerie this time, although I went twice on my previous visit. My guess is that I will stop by on my next trip, to at least visit my favorites.

Thanks for the tips about the contemporary art museums. We will make sure to check out more art this next time around. The Neue Nationalgalerie is displaying its own collection of 20th c. art, so we're excited that we'll be able to see it.

Meals

Most days we found ourselves eating a solid breakfast, skipping lunch (or maybe a snack) and having dinner on the early-ish side.

It’s always good to remember that the waiter will not bring the check until asked. We got quite proficient with our “die Zahlung, bitte!”

BREAKFAST
Breakfast was not included in our room rate, and would have cost €22/person. That’s just too much for me to shell out for a morning meal. Our first Sunday (our first morning) I insisted that we go to the main location of Café Einstein, since it had been my daughter’s and my favorite breakfast spot in March (located near the Tiergarten, just a few blocks north of the Nollendorf Platz U-bahn station). It was wonderful as usual, and although I vowed to return one more time later in the week, we didn’t get back there. My husband ate at one of the smaller Einstein satellite locations later in the week and liked it but it didn’t have the full menu.

One morning we tried the bagels at Saloman Bagels in the Potsdamer Platz Arkaden (mall). The breakfast was nice – we had very good bagels and other breakfast items – but it was a little odd to eat breakfast at a table in the middle of a mall.

Our usual breakfast spot became the Opera Café. It is only a few blocks from the hotel, right on Unter den Linden, and the buffet breakfast was €12,50, including an omelet station. There was a good variety of food and everything was delicious. And this meal functioned as breakfast and lunch for us.

We also stopped by the Opera Café for torte and coffee several times after dinner. It really reminds me of the coffee houses in Vienna. The selection of sweets is astonishing. And delectable.


DINNERS

Twelve Apostles
We ate (twice) at the branch near Friedrichstrasse Bahnhof/ Museuminsel. The first time we were seated at a great table in a quiet raised corner overlooking the main dining room. Our waiter was superb and the food quite tasty. The menu features 12 different pizzas named for the 12 apostles. The second time we went there, it was like a different place. Table was so-so, we were in a less atmospheric room, and we had a terrible waitress. Several of her girlfriends were in the restaurant and she spent most of her time hanging out with them, including sitting at their table. The food, when we finally got it, was not as we had ordered, but we ate it anyway. “Uneven” is how I’d have to describe our experience of this restaurant.

Malatesta
This restaurant is right on Gendarmenmarkt, just a short walk from the hotel. It has a wonderful menu, the service was impeccable, and the food was delicious. There were a wide variety of nationalities in our fellow diners, including some native Italian speakers.

Zur Rippe
We enjoyed the grillhaxe special at this atmospheric pub/restaurant in Nicolaiviertel. It is a great value, €8,50 for the meat, black bread, mustard and choice of beer. The serving was huge.

Sophieneck
This was another cozy pub/restaurant, located 10 minutes walk north of Hackesche Markt. I had the grillhaxe (a tiny bit dry, but still good) and my husband enjoyed a herring dish. The place was quite busy and fun and we really enjoyed our meal.

Hi noe-- So glad you are posting this now! I'm enjoying your travels.

Thanks!

<b<Other Sites

Karl Marx Allee
This is a long, broad boulevard in the former East. It was the showpiece of the GDR’s reconstruction after World War II. The 8 story buildings, mostly built between 1952 and 1960, were designed in the classical soviet “wedding cake” style.

Sony Center
I was pretty impressed with this commercial and entertainment complex. We just walked through, but enjoyed the modern soaring canopy overhead and the bustle of the people.

Reichstag
Because we had lunch reservations at the rooftop Käfer restaurant we were able to enter without standing in the queue. We enjoyed our meal, and spent a good bit of time walking up and down the pathways of the dome and exploring the exhibits under the dome. The views are great, and the dome itself is very cool.

Alexanderplatz
We took our pictures under the very retro looking clock (circa 1969) in this huge square. It was a traditional meeting place in East Berlin, and seemed to be performing the same function nowadays as well. There are lots of construction projects in and around the square.

Kulturbrauerie
We walked through this extensive complex of culture and entertainment related venues. It looks like a great adaptive reuse of an old industrial complex.
http://www.kulturbrauerei-berlin.de/kulturbrauerei/20_ENGLISCH/location.php

I don't know Kulturbrauerie. Will have to remember it for the future.

I tried to visit Karl Marx Allee around 4 am two weeks ago, but I took a turn too early and walked down the wrong street. There's always the next time also.

Thanks again for the interesting report!

I am so glad you are finally writing up your report! I enjoyed reading about the trip with your daughter last spring too. We went to Berlin (and other parts of Germany) this past summer and I am enjoying reliving the trip again through your report!

I too am glad to be finally posting this. It's been 80% written since September. I've been waiting to organize the photos, but that's not happening so I decided to just get the report out there. The Fodor's site is not letting me edit, so I apologize in advance for any major formatting errors that may happen (like the small one at the beginning of the restaurant post).

At the end of our week in Berlin later this month my older daughter will fly back to school and my husband will fly home. I will travel somewhere in Germany for 6 days with Jen, the daughter from last March's Berlin trip. We've had a rudimentary plan for the week, but it all appears to be up in the air right now. We might be winging it. I'm sure that will be good for another report!

Oops, that should be: "the small [formatting error] at the beginning of the Other Sites post."

Enjoyed reading your report noe. It's good that you finally convinced your husband to go to Berlin with you. We'll be returning to Berlin this summer with friends, your list of places to visit helps me think about where I should take them.

I'm curious to hear how your experience was in Cologne? Hope you'll continue the report with Quedlinburg and Cologne. It's been a while since my wife & I went to Quedlinburg and I am considering doing a daytrip there if your experience was comfortable & really worth the effort.

Hmmm, DAX, you might spur me on to write a little account of both Quedlinburg and Cologne (which were about to get very short shrift).

For now, here's my 2-cent assessment:

Quedlinburg was well worth the day trip for me. I went on my own and it would not have worked if my husband had come (because of the early start, fast pace, no coffee!).

Cologne was an interesting experience. I hadn't prepared for the city, had guidebook issues, and we spun our wheels a bit. We didn't find tons of charm at first, but the things we loved we REALLY LOVED - the Cathedral was truly amazing and the Romanesque churches are real treasures. We would have been happy to have gone back on this coming trip (Easter Sunday services at the Cathedral), but couldn't get the Dusseldorf flights to work.

Various Shops

Pro qm shop (Almstadtstraße 48-50)
This is a terrific book store specializing in architecture, design, photography and culture. Many of the books are in English.

KaDeWe
We spent Friday evening in the vicinity of Ku’damm, the famous shopping street in the former West Berlin. Many of the stores had extended hours on Friday. We toured KaDeWe, the 100 year old department store. It has the largest food hall in the world, and we bought some pastries for the next day's travel to Cologne and some wonderful assam tea bags in a KaDeWe wooden box.

Trippen outlet
We had a great time poking around the outlet for Trippen shoes (designed in Berlin and made in Europe). The outlet is in two shops on a courtyard in Sheunenviertel, several blocks north of the Tacheles art compound. We each found several pairs of shoes to squeeze into our luggage – at prices a good bit below retail. These shoes are beautifully made and very comfortable, although some of Trippen’s styles are a bit outlandish.
http://www.trippen.com/en/index.html

I’ll admit that I was excited to find H&M right around the corner from the hotel, and bought some great – and cheap – jeans.

noe847 - enjoying your report, but wondering why so many trips to Berlin?

travelgirl2, that's a good question. We tend to be "serial travelers", returning to our favorite places for a re-visit. It's kind of like coming home when we get back to a place that we've been and enjoyed.

My first trip to Europe was 2 weeks of cross country skiing and train travel to Germany/Austria back in 1983 (my husband had been to the region previously). We each could speak a tiny bit of German.

It turned out that both my daughters studied German, so we took them to Germany/Austria for 2 Christmas breaks while they were in high school. All of this travel was to Bavaria and Austria (and Prague), and we'd never been north of Frankfurt/Aschaffenburg (where we have relatives).

My younger daughter has continued her study of German, and that is her major in college. She spent last summer in an immersion program, and is quite proficient in German, so Berlin seemed a natural choice for her spring break last year.

We found Berlin to be an energetic, vibrant, cultured, interesting city. It is so big and so spread out that it really takes several days to get a good feel for the place. We knew that the other 2 members of our family would also enjoy Berlin.

My husband and I decided to have a get away trip in September and we had several options on the table: Scottish highlands and islands, Norway, Italy, or Berlin. He chose Berlin and I was happy to go back (and very happy to be traveling with him).

When we realized that the girls' spring breaks would be the same week this year (for the first time in 4 years) we decided to take one last family trip (the oldest is graduating in May). Again we talked about several possible destinations, but Berlin won out. We really want our older daughter to see the city, and both my younger daughter and my husband had finished their respective one week visit to Berlin wanting more. I'm the only one who will be visiting for the third time and I enjoy it enough to be happy with that. They will all find it relaxing to stay for a whole week in one spot, and Berlin has plenty to keep us occupied.

I'll add that I have been other places in Europe, including a "roots" trip to Romania. I've been to various parts of the UK seven times. 2008 will bring me back there twice more: to London in April for a quick getaway with my husband and to Scotland in August with my younger daughter.

I have several other destinations on my "short list" for future trips, but I know I will always enjoy returning to my favorites.

noe-- I always love returning to my favorites too. It's fun to feel at home and yet discover new things.

Out of curiosity, where did your daughter do her immersion program? How did she like it?

On another note-- we've found that our kids still want to travel with us, so don't worry that this will be a last family trip! As long as you go somewhere they want to go, they'll manage to come!

<We purchased a first class Eurail Twin pass at the airport train station, good for 5 train travel days in a 30 day window. €380/$530.>

380 euro x 1.55 = $595, figuring in charges for foreign exchange, etc.???

Surie, I do hope the travel with the girls will continue because they are the most fun travel companions. They do have more time at their disposal while they are still in school.

My daughter was in the Middlebury program last summer. They do an excellent job in their language schools and she emerged from her 7 weeks much more confident in her German. Middlebury has a 'language pledge' where each student pledges to speak, read, write only the chosen language for the entire time. This extends to computer, tv, etc.

PalenQ, I'm pretty sure this was the rate in September when we traveled. I think I took the $ amount from my credit card statement.

probably - i neglected reading Sept and just honed in on 03/02

even at current rates a great deal - i'm sure you saved tons over regular walkup flexible fares

and i would always say first class IME is infinitively finer than 2nd class as 2nd class can get quite crowded

i was on trains in Germany in Jan with a pass and loved just hopping on

i always enjoy reading about one of my very favorite cities - Berlin

thanks

We too are train travelers - have always used the trains exclusively on our 5 trips to Germany. On this upcoming trip I will probably rent a car once we leave Berlin because we are planning to visit some pretty small villages.

Old Bits of Berlin

Chapel of the Holy Ghost
This chapel is the only remaining part of a medieval hospital. It was small and fairly empty but did have some nice sculptures on the arches. It is located in Mitte.

Marienkirche
This medieval church is adjacent to the communist-era TV tower, the steeple and the tower make an interesting juxtaposition. It’s worth going inside to see the late medieval wall mural of the Dance of Death.

St. Nikolaikirche/Nikolaiviertel
This is another medieval church just a few blocks from Marienkirche. Nikolaiviertel is as close to an altstadt as Berlin gets. It is a lively area of winding streets, attractive shops, and fun restaurants.

Old Town Spandau
Spandau used to be a separate town but is now part of Berlin. The s-bahn brought me right to the center of the old town, where I walked the streets (some half-timbered structures) and explored the following:

Farmers market
In the middle of the altstadt I picked up food for a quick picnic

Old town wall
There is a fairly small section of intact medieval town wall.

St. Nicholas church
14th century gothic church in the middle of the old town

Renaissance Fortress
This is said to be the best preserved Renaissance fortress in northern Europe. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Havel and Spree. It is a fairly large fortress complex built in the Italian style.
http://www.berlin.de/tourismus/sehenswuerdigkeiten.en/00175.html
or
http://www.bfr.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=39

Julius Tower
Built in 1230, it is part of an earlier castle which was incorporated into the Renaissance Fortress. The tower is 30 meters high, and gives great views, including of Potsdam and Berlin.

Gothic House
This is the oldest structure in Spandau. You can see some fabulous old rooms, including some original painted ceilings, and a cross section of the wall. There is a nice little museum upstairs

St. Mary’s Catholic church
This 19th century (iirc) church has some stunning painted walls. I almost didn’t stop here, but am so glad I did. It is a beautiful church and the volunteers/guides I met there were some of the nicest people I met on the trip.

One fun family activity that your family may enjoy doing is karting in Berlin. It's different than the ones we have in California. My kids and I had such a blast racing each other in Berlin, while my wife had a drink at the bar. We've only been to a couple but here's a complete list:

Kart-World und Freizeitpark Am Juliusturm GmbH - www.kart-world-berlin.de -
Go-Kart und Freizeitzentrum Niedergörsdorf
JFK Jugendfreizeitkart GmbH -
Kartland - www.kartland.de
EFK Kart- und Eventcenter Berlin
Mobi Grand Prix Kart - www.mobi-kart.de NEW & SUPERFAST 9 PS Honda racer
Andreas Straube - www.straube-motorsport.de
ROK Kart Hallenbahn Indoorkartbahn Rokitta - www.rok-kart.de

Like you, we also thoroughly enjoyed Berlin, this upcoming summer visit will be my 9th or 10th visit. We were supposed to venture out to Budapest or Krakow but everyone expressed that they'd rather hang out in Berlin.

noe-- your report is great. Very interesting to hear about Spandau. I've been curious about it and it sounds like it would be a good excursion.

Your daughter's summer at Middlebury sounds idyllic, and a good idea to do that before her semester abroad.

Hope you keep going on the report!

DAX, thanks for the kart info. My husband is intrigued and we will bring the list with us.

Surie, Spandau's altstadt is definitely an anomaly when you consider that it's part of Berlin now. It feels like a small town. Depending on how many days you have in Berlin, it makes for a nice excursion. I wouldn't make it my top priority for a first trip, but it was great as part of my second visit. But I am especially susceptible to very old buildings (I have a special soft spot for Romanesque).

I have a few more posts before I finish this report: next will be the Quedlinburg day trip. After that Cologne (which is not written) and then maybe a wrap-up and a picture link.

Day trip to Quedlinburg

I had a long list of potential side trips from Berlin, but the promise of 1600 half-timbered buildings lured me to Quedlinburg, a UNESCO World Heritage site 3 hours from Berlin by train (including one connection). I left on a 7:30am train and returned to Berlin in time to meet my husband for dinner. That gave me around 6 hours: time to walk all the streets in the altstadt and poke into several shops and churches. I took a million pictures.

At one point as I was walking with my very obvious SLR camera in hand, a local woman pushing a stroller beckoned to me and led me to one of the towers in the old city wall – the Sternkiekerturm. I fed in some coins to open the turnstile so I could climb up 3 or 4 stories for a great view over the town. The tower, which had been heavily altered over the years, was on the grounds of the Schlosshotel “Zum Markgrafen.” (It was actually one of two medieval towers on the hotel’s grounds).

The half-timbered houses were pretty wonderful. They spanned several centuries, and were in various stages of repair. Some were spectacularly restored, many were under scaffolding, and lots more stood in crumbling decrepitude. Many had no plaster, and I absolutely loved seeing the different patterns of brickwork between the timbers. The weather was very cloudy and gray for the first part of the day, and my pictures are moody and a little somber. Eventually the sun came out and the houses really sparkled in the brilliant sunshine.

The oldest half-timbered house in Germany, from the 14th century, is now the Fachwerkmuseum Ständerbau, but it was closed on Thursdays.

My very favorite part of Quedlinburg was the Romanesque church of St. Servatius on the Burgberg, a former hilltop convent complex on the southern edge of town. The sanctuary was simply amazing – huge, heavy and still. Treasure rooms adjacent to the choir (up some stairs behind the altar) are filled with jewel-encrusted bibles and reliquaries. The oldest knotted tapestry in Europe was displayed in a room above the gift shop. There are some other buildings on the hilltop, including the Residenzbau which contains a Schlossmuseum. I didn’t have time to tour this, although the collection sounds interesting and eclectic (ice age fossils, regional costumes, etc.).

I ended up running for the train, which I made with less than 30 seconds to spare.

I don't remember doing this, but apparently I uploaded the pictures from the Quedlinburg day:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8DZsmzZuzUQwg
And, btw, I guess there were three medieval towers on the hotel property.

Thank you for this enormously helpful and well organized trip report! Filing away both for my future trip reports and for my upcoming trip to Berlin with my husband and in-laws.

xxx

If you want to sample some pretty decent Thai food, try "Good Time". Located on Hausvogteiplatz, just one block east of Gendarmenmarkt.
For lunch, most main courses from the daytime menu are 10 Euros or less.

The 12 Apostel is indeed a place where quality of service (and food) can change a lot from one day to the next!

Wonderful report. I was just thinking about going to Berlin. Must be ESP.

Enjoyed your pictures of Quedlinburg, it jogged my memory of the place. In some ways the renovations are too perfect that some of the natural charm is lost. They ought to replant the vines and brushes around some of those timber buildings. Thanks for sharing your picture album.

Thanks, Cowboy1968. I'll make a note of the Thai restaurant - all 4 of us love Thai food and the price is right!

Just a quick update: I called Red Maps to get another copy of the Berlin map and found that they now accept credit cards. Makes the ordering even easier. (212 255-4645)

We are just finishing our family week in Berlin. I want to thank Cowboy1968 for the Thai restaurant tip. All 4 of us loved Good Time. The food was great, the restaurant was full and had a fun vibe, and we were happy to have just a short walk to our hotel.

Unfortunately we have had COLD weather the whole week (including some snow and hail), and it will get even colder in the next few days. It hasn't slowed us very much, however.

Here is a link to the first batch of our Berlin pictures, including Unter den Linden, Stasi Museum, Karl Marx Allee (formerly Stalinalee) and some of the museums:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8DZsmzZuzURLQ

Here's the second batch - Old Town Spandau and the Luftwaffenmuseum:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8DZsmzZuzURPA

I walked past the 12 Apostles several times as I stayed at the Melia on Friedrichstrasse. It looked interesting, but I did not venture in.

Loved the Gemaldegallerie. Loved Galleries Lafayette!!!

I was looking at your photos and I couldn't help but laugh when I remembered drinking GLUE WINE (and yes, it tastes like rubber cement) on the bridge in front of the Bode Museum.

Half of the wine was spit into the Spree and off I went to drink a bottle of Veuve Cliquot.

Thingorjus

Did I miss your trip report, Thin, or should I keep holding my breath?

(gluhwein is definitely an acquired taste)

No, I never posted a trip report. No one seemed interested.

I had a really great time, though.

I LOVED the glass dome on the top of the Reichstag.

Thin

You might be surprised at the interest, Thin. But it's hard to actually know because people read and don't often comment. Berlin could use a trip report such as you would write, imo. I mean, Paris reports are a dime a dozen...

I agree about the Reichstag dome; I've now been up there 3 times and it's still cool to me. Next time, I plan to go up at night.

Here is a link to the remainder of the Berlin pix:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8DZsmzZuzURSw

I hope to write a bit about our time in Cologne, and post those pictures.

Now I am laughing again as I look at your photos of the Sony Center because I would sit up on the second floor of the Dunkin Donuts and look down at the area you photographed.

We obviously walked in the same footsteps.

Thin

noe and Thin-- I hope you both will post your reports! There are many devoted readers out here!!

noe-- I'd love to hear what you and your daughter did for your second week.

Thin-- I thought maybe your trip was more of an introspective, personal journey so I didn't want to pester you, but now I will beg-- please write!!

bkmk for may trip.

Hi noe- Finally got around to look at your photos. I want to jump on a plane to go to Berlin now! Hope you'll get around to write a TR on your more recent trip.

Hi Noe, not sure how I missed this!

you said you hated the Time Out Berlin--what was it that you hated, out of date or just bad choices in it?

sorry to be a pain--am going to Berlin in May and am having a serious no- planner at this point--I have that book and the shortlist lonely planet guide to Berlin.

Frankly--I've barley looked at the 2, but if there is something better...

Thanks!

yk, given how much you like museums, you will LOVE Berlin! Leave yourself a minimum of 5 days, including Potsdam. You'll still be running.

Surie, I have to finish this report (Cologne part) before I begin a report of the third trip! For the second week, my daughter and I ended up following the general route I outlined in my planning thread:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=35110910
(The last night we stayed in Mainz instead of Frankfurt.)

cherrybomb, we have lots of Berlin books at this point. Most are decent. The best guide we had was a little book called "art/shop/eat Berlin", put out by Blue Guides. I bought it online somewhere (Amazon?) and it has great recommendations for restaurants and shops. It covers most museums, and picks some for in-depth coverage. It's arranged by region, so if we found we'd be somewhere late in the afternoon, we could just check the descriptions of nearby restaurants. We carried it with us all the time (happily it's very small).

Also, the Red Map has a nice list on the back of museums, attractions, and shops, with locations.

There were a lot of things that we didn't like about the Time Out book. The last straw was when we used it to go to a restaurant that turned into a minor fiasco, and we ended up leaving before we ordered.

hi noe847-
I actually have been to Berlin before, in 2003, for 6 days. This was before I discovered Fodors forums and trip reports. On that trip, I went with my parents because my Dad lived in Germany for a couple of years in the '50s and he visited Berlin for a few days. It was a very tense time back then obviously. He really wanted to return to see how things are now. We also did a day trip to Potsdam. But there was so much to see and do in Berlin that I really feel that I need to return for another visit.

Wonderful report, noe847. When we were in Berlin in 2005, many of the museums on the Museuminsel were closed, disappointingly. Now I want to go back!

I just checked amazon.com and here is the guide book I like:
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Shop-Berlin-Simon-Garnett/dp/039332785X
It says there is 1 left in stock. I hesitate to say that and cause a stampede! ha ha.

yk, how did we ever plan trips before Fodor's Forums? (or have a life, it seems sometimes!)

QueScaisJe, I think you'd enjoy going back. Besides the wonderful museums on Museuminsel, we went to lots more on this visit. It's simply amazing the quantity, variety and quality of Berlin's offerings. I'll detail these when I ever get to the next Berlin trip report!

And now it looks as though I may be in Berlin again in the fall. My younger daughter is going to study there for 10 months next school year. My husband and I are hoping to combine a little visit to see her with an excursion to Poland (both of us want to travel there.)

It doesn't surprise me that there weren't a lot of WWII aircraft. I did an exchange with the Luftwaffe back in 2001 (I was at Jagel Air Base near Denmark on 9/11). I found the German's tend to downplay that part of their military history. When I left, the officers gave me their squadron poster with everyone's signature. It had the WWI fighter plane going into a cloud on one side and a current Tornado fighter-bomber on the other with a barely perceptable WWII fighter inside the clouds. Germany has a proud military tradition but the Nazi's are a stain on their history that they would as soon forget.

noe-- how fun for you to have your daughter study in Berlin!!
What program is she doing?