In July 2023, after going to Bad Liebenzell, I still had ~1 week before the Doist retreat, so I decided to visit some friends in Berlin and get to know the city. It was a great experience.

Stay

I stayed at Park Plaza Berlin Kudamm. The experience was great. I have to say it’s the best hotel I stayed paying with my own money (not paid by a company or conference). I usually stay in hostels or airbnbs, so any 3 star hotel has sufficient credentials to have this badge though.

That said, the hotel is nice. Decent breakfast, nice and clean room, good enough location for what I need (not that close to mot touristic attractions though, if that’s what you’re looking for). The cost was a bit more than what I wanted to pay (€1200 for 7 days) but it was the cheaper one on booking, so 🤷.

Airport

I only got to know Berlin Brandenburg while going to Pisa after spending some time in Berlin, as I arrived in Berlin by train.

The airport is not close to the city, it’s around 1h by train, but it’s quite easy to get there by buying an extended (ABC) ticket and taking the S train. Arrive in the terminal 1, and I had to go to the terminal 2, and it took me around 10 minutes to get there. The security and boarding was quite simple, but I was doing a 1-bag trip, so YMMV.

Transport

I got to Berlin by train, coming from Bad Liebenzell in a 7 hours trip. A bit tiresome, especially because I decided to work from the train, but it was fine. It was quite comfortable compared to many other similar trips I had to do. Trains ❤️.

I decided to bike much more this trip, by recommendation of a friend. I tried to register to use Next bike and it required a phone number, and I couldn’t do it (my brazilian number is not working here). A friend of mine kindly lended me his account for a few days and it was a great experience to bike around the city. Berlin is mostly flat and has bike lanes in most places, I would totally recommend it.

I also used trains to move around, they are even less expensive than renting bikes. I was usually buying 4 tickets and using from time to time. If you’re going to use the train a lot, I would recommend the weekly pass (if you’re staying a week or more, of course).

Services

  • Togo Waschwelt GmbH: This was a one bag trip for me, which limits the amount of stuff I will bring and carry, so I planned to wash my clothes in the middle of the trip. I went to this place and the experience was superb. There was a lady there who helped me navigate the whole process and it was a seamless experience. In less than one hour I was leaving the place with all my clothes clean and dry.

Places

I decided to have the “history theme” into this trip, so I’m mostly visiting places about the history of Germany and Berlin. This is a bit depressing, because the history of Germany is… complicated, but I wanted to really understand a few things.

  • Walking tour from Alexander Platz - A friend of mine recommended the Walkative! walking tour and I decided to go for it. I got the tour about Berlin under the Nazi’s regime. It was very informative (and a bit sad). I enjoyed it.
  • Brandenburg gate - Many things happened there. The statue at the top was the “goddess” of peace. Napoleon invaded the city through the Brandenburg gates, won the battle and stole the statue. After many years, they got the statue back and made it the goddess of victory. It’s also worth noting that it was also quite close to part of the berlin wall, so you may have seen footages of it online along with the wall if you searched for it.
  • Berlin wall memorial - They perserved part of the wall as it was at the time and created a memorial for it. It’s nice to understand the context and how complicated it was for people living around the wall at the time. For a south american guy, it was quite amazing to finally understand it.
  • East side galery - Part of the Berlin wall that was kept in the East (Socialist part, under the Soviet control). It’s full of nice drawing by artists from many places in the world and it’s still a place for protests in form of art against big problems in the world.
  • Topography of terror - It’s the place where the SS and Gestapo was located. It’s free to enter and has most of the story of the Nazism era. Totally recommended if you’re into getting more context of the story of that time.
  • Berlin Story Bunker - The bunker where Hitler commited suicide after losing the war. It tells his whole story, from being a teenager that wanted to be an artist, to the mass murderer dictator. The museum is great, and it was the most depressing of all. It is very detailed and shows pictures of many things that happened during that era. It was the first museum I went that I literally felt angry by following the exposition and getting all the context. I woult totally recommend people to go, but you have to be ready for that.
  • German Museum of Technology - I like to visit technology museums every time I visit a city and they have one. This was no different, great experience. They had trains from the last 100 years to show, including the Nazi era. Seeing the trains evolving to match the needs of the people was quite nice. Other than that, they also had tons of old ships and airplanes. The World war I and II airplanes were quite interesting.
  • Checkpoint Chalie - The US military checkpoint between West and East Berlin. There were many of them, but checkpoint charlie became the most famous one as it was the only to allow outsiders to cross. It was also the place where the tense picture of the US and USSR tanks facing off. It’s an interesting place to visit and imagine the whole scene.
  • I also visited some alternative places of Berlin with a friend of mine. He is into the social part of the city and it was interesting to see things outside of the touristic agenda. I’m not going to list places here, but just want to mention as a thank you note to him and also a reminder for my future self.

Food

  • Shiso burger - Didn’t eat much there, just got the sweet potatoes, but nothing to complain. I quite like the food and place.