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Hauptbahnhof |
My time in Berlin was much less eventful than Budapest or Prague. The fog that had haunted me in the Czech Republic seemed to dissipate on the five hour train ride to Germany's capital, but upon arrival at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, it had stubbornly reappeared (and would not go away for the remainder of my trip). Upon arrival at the hostel, an old brewery building, I began to notice the onset of the sniffles and a slight cough, so I decided to rest up for the evening.
My first stop in touring Berlin the next morning was Alexanderplatz, one of the main squares of the city where the iconic TV Tower is located. I had wanted to take the trip to the top for a bird's eye view of Berlin, but again, that pesky fog disrupted that idea.
Rather then try to figure out the tram system, I decided to walk down past the the Berliner Dom, the biggest church in Berlin, through Museum Island, and along the the cities main thoroughfare "Unter den Linden" to the Brandenburg Gate. Hovering around the area for a little to take some pictures, just a short walk away was the famed Bundestag: the German Parliament building. Again, another place that I would have loved to explore further and head up to the Dome observation deck, but the fog ruined that plan again. The Bundestag itself was an impressive sight, and a lot of the government buildings in the immediate area were designed with really progressive architecture in mind.
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Brandenburg Gate |
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Bundestag |
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Government Offices |
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Government Offices
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I proceeded to take the Metro back to the Hauptbahnhof to head eastward towards the old Soviet controlled area of the city and take in the Berlin Wall and the gritty Kreuzberg area of the city. You can see pictures of the wall on the post below this one. Kreuzberg was where experienced my first (Berlin version) currywurst. I had tried it in Cologne back in 2009 when I visited there but Berlin is known for their Currywurst. It was delicious.
After wandering through Kreuzberg, I caught the tram a few stops up and walked on up to most likely the number one over-touristed place in Berlin: Checkpoint Charlie. I imagine it has come quite a long way from its days during the cold war, but this place was your typical, lets take pictures with the "guards" and pay two euro for a passport stamp (which I proudly did).
At this point, I had about two hours of daylight left to explore some of the remaining sights. I decided on the Charlotteburg Palace.
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