Snowy, Sexy, Poor Berlin!

After such a great trip in Praha, we were looking forward to our time in Berlin! We took the train from Praha to Berlin.  While it was dark and hard to see the scenery, it was a good chance to rest and nap some :) We arrived fairly late and headed straight to the flat to rest up for the next day. We had a big day planned, starting with a 6 hour tour at 10 am!!! 

When we woke up, we found a great little surprise outside... SNOW!

This was our view outside the flat

It was the perfect way to start off the day :) Our tour covered a lot of ground and had a several nice little breaks to warm up inside. Highly recommend the Best of Berlin tour by Brewers Berlin!!!

Our first stop was in the traditional Jewish Berlin area. Here is the "New Synagogue." Our guide told us about some of the population stats of the Jewish population before 1930, after Hitler and the population today. Not a fun stat to repeat but really sobering. Our guide did a great job at painting the picture of what the reality was for so many Jews. 

We saw several creative parents pulling the kids on the sleds down the sidewalks..... Apparently Berlin is not know for cleaning the streets and sidewalks very well after snow. Later on we saw several parks with sledders enjoying the snow - oh to be a kid again! haha

The snow gave our tour an extra special touch :) 

During the course of our tour, our guide pointed out some interesting things to pay attention to. The pedestrian signals help indicated whether you are in East or West Berlin. These are the pictures of East Berlin, while the West had the normal ones that you see just about everywhere. He also said a tell tale sign of whether you were in East or West was the Tram. The tram is only in the East. 

Inside a typical courtyard, our guide expanded on the history of the city from the 1920s through, WWII and the Cold War. The shape and occupation changed over time, so he used the snow as a means to help draw a picture for our group. 

Our guide pointed out the different cobble stones throughout the tour. Here is an example of how the residents are remembering the Jewish and creating mini memorials for them. Where a Jewish person once resided, they replace the normal cobblestone with this cooper one. It indicates the name, birthday, and where they believe they were when they died and when. Once he pointed them out, we started to see them everywhere

After he told us of some of the history in the courtyard, we started to go toward some of the typical places in each period. We started with the 1920s and visited this dance hall. The 1920s were said to be very sinful and one could find some of the cheapest sex in Europe in Berlin. 

 

We wondered past an alley that had some colorful graffiti... 

At the back of the alley was one of Anne Frank. The man who used to live here was also known to have helped provide safe havens for the Jewish, so there was a Museum dedicated to his work in the back, which is where this was. 

Next stop was over to Museum Island. Interesting fact... Berlin has more museums than any other major city, including New York and London. Almost all the buildings were flattened in WWII and our guide was able to point out some of the older building that weren't destroyed. In this picture, you can see some of the damage from bullets in the columns and wall. This is in front of the Old Museum (Altes Museum). 

 

The complex of museums is listed as UNSECO world Heritage site. Here we are in front of the Berlin Cathedral. It was never used as a cathedral but was primarily a place of residence of the royals. 

Here is a fun picture to show how cold it was.... 

I don't think my nose could have been any rosier!

Following museum island we ventured over to the historical Nzai governmental area. Our guide directed us to this memorial. This woman lost both her son and grandson in the war. She was an artist and this is one of her pieces.  It is a woman holding a dead child, completely exposed to the elements and the ashes of an unknown soldier is buried beneath her. Very moving and powerful memorial

Next we walked over to Bebelplatz, the book burning square. We both just got done reading 'The Book Thief' and it has references to the book burning activity. Inside the glass, is a library with empty shelves.

Here is a fun pic of our tour group!

We passed by a Christmas Market and knew 

instantly we had to go back and check it out later! 

We went past Check Point Charlie

We saw some of the old wall. 

It looks spooky in the snow!

We went by Hitler's Bunker. It was a little lack luster though.

The only thing that indicated it was actually there was a sign that 

was posted by another underground/bunker tour company. 

It still gave me chills though

We went by the Holocaust Memorial. While I had been to Berlin and this memorial before, the experience visiting this trip has left a big impression on me. Blame it on the snow or just being older, but it was a very chilling experience to walk through the pillars and go from feeling familiar with your surroundings and company to completely lost in a matter of seconds. 

I also never connected the placement of the memorial. It is literally right around the corner from the Berlin Brandenburg Gate, one of the most well known landmarks in Berlin. Our guide was good about pointing out how Germany in general was working hard to reconcile the wrongs of the past and make concessions now. One of them is dedicating prime real-estate to a memorial next to the gate. 

What a way to end a tour!

Following our tour guides advice, we headed back to the 

Christmas Market to top off the day :) 

              

The Christmas Market was placed between 2 twin churches. The first was built by the French and then the Germans wanted one for themselves! haha

We LOVED the Christmas Market!!! There were tents to keep us warm and the mulled wine was some of the best I have ever had :) We happily spent the rest of the night here. 

After such a big first day, we took day 2 a little slower. haha 

The next day we headed to a different part of Berlin to a Turkish Market. 

On the way to the market, we saw the typical East Berlin car from the 50s

We saw the East Berlin Wall Gallery.. they say the art changes 

regularly and it goes on for quite a long stretch

One of my favorite photos from Berlin!

The turkish market was along the river side

We ended up getting this spinach, filo wrap thing from the market. 

Don't worry though, we stopped into a proper turkish restaurant to complete our meal :)  

Later that evening, we finished our trip off with a visit to a local brewery for a little dinner and brew tasting.  We got back to London Dec 31 in plenty of time to rest up and bring in 2015!

To comment on the title of the post.. Snowy, Sexy, Poor Berlin, this was something the Berliners told us.  I think it is pretty obvious where the snow part comes from! The sexy comes in from the modern art and graffiti that is all over the city. We saw some of this on our tour and also through the people we met at the Christmas Market. The poor comments stems from the economy of Germany. While the Germans have a very strong economy, it is not due to Berlin.