Four years ago, we decided to spend Easter on Berlin. It was quite an awesome trip, and not only were we planning on return someday, we also thought of bringing some other family members with us.

The return was finally planned and made real this past Easter. It was a tough time to travel, just two weeks after the attacks on Belgium, but we did it anyway and we don't regret it. Quite some ups and downs happened, like almost always during trips to foreign countries, but overall it was a pleasant journey that my family enjoyed very much.

Not everything was new for me, but still being able to relive memories from four years ago was very special. The new things we did or visited were also amazing, so much so that we're already planning yet another return to see more things we missed!

It all started on March the 25th, Friday. Our flight was scheduled for 6 AM, which meant being in the airport at 4 AM (and at least to me meant no sleep at all). It surely was the setting to a very tiring day, even if you manage to sleep a bit during the flight.

The day was rainy in Berlin, but nothing special. We spent the day visiting the more traditional sights, which are the reformed Russian neighborhood, the Brandenburg Gate, the Jew Memorial and Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous point to get past the Berlin Wall.

Since we didn't have our camera available that day for being inside our baggage, and the baggage being stored in the hotel because the rooms weren't ready, I'm recycling the pictures from 2012 for Brandenburg, the Memorial and Checkpoint Charlie.





While we were at the Brandenburg Gate, the rain started to become heavier, so we rushed a bit to at least find a shelter for the meantime. When the rain stopped, we passed through the Jew Memorial and on to Checkpoint Charlie to call it a day. The very few hours of sleep took their toll on all of us.

On Saturday we aimed for something different. We went to Humboldt Garden, one of the parks Berlin has, which was also the place where a mountain was built with the debris from the Second World War. It was also the place where the four Flak Turrets were placed during that period. Two of them still remain, and simply because they are so resilient nobody could take them down!

Here you an see the stairway to the top of the "mountain", which also serves as one of the few oriels Berlin has.



This is the top of one of the turrets, and in the image below you can see a partial view of it.




The Humboldt Garden also had a special sector reserved for several kinds of flowers. However, being Winter, the sector was rather empty.



Berlin is also very friendly in letting wild animals roam free through their parks and streets. We spotted a couple of rabbits (because it's Easter!) during a nightwalk through the Russian neighborhood on Sunday, and in Humboldt Garden we spotted squirrels and several kinds of birds.





It would have been amazing to visit the turrets. You even need a helmet because of the state they are preserved. However, during this season, it serves as shelter for bats to undergo their mating season. Here's reason #1 to return to Berlin in the future

We instead took another tourist trip through the makeshift refuge the underground station served as during the war. It was an spectacular visit, but sadly they don't allow to take pictures. Still, it's a very interesting visit, so I suggest you feast your eyes with their website: http://berliner-unterwelten.de/home.1.1.html

We also took the chance to visit another of the roads the Wall crossed. Here you can see a map with the Wall and the many vigilance towers it had alongside said road.



This point was famous for escapes. People used to jump from the adjacent buildings or even build tunnels to go under the Wall to the other side. Here's a collection of images on display at the place.





This particular image describes the horror of the Wall better than anything else: a soldier jumping the Wall while under construction after knowing what they were up to.



One of the vigilance towers still stays tall. It's hidden from normal view, but seemingly all the equipment to avoid escapes are still there on display.




But enough with the Wall and the War, because Berlin has many other things to offer. Casual sights like the underground station at Oslo Street, for example, is worth a picture.



Oh, and here's the coffee we had at the Biergarten we had lunch. The glass besides it seems very huge, and it technically is because it has a capacity of 0.5 liters. Still, the difference in size is spectacular. We laughed so much when we saw them, they're almost the same size of my thumb!



We spent Sunday away from Berlin, in a city named Potsdam. Not far away from Berlin, just less than one hour by train. It's a special location for a few reasons, and it also has beautiful sights like the "entrance", the cathedral or a bar with a very special name.





The main motive of our visit, though, was to go through Sansoucci, a complex of castles and palaces that belonged to Kaiser Friedrich the Great. This is the main one, followed by a picture of the garden just in front of it. As you can see, the garden almost seems like a forest, and it really feels like one because of the many trees and the great distance between some palaces (even nearing a mile in some cases!).




Here shall be explained the history of Friedrich the Great. During his tenure, the populace was starving, and they weren't willing of planting potatoes because by that time they didn't trust a foreign product. Seeing this, Friedrich decided to put guards on his plantations, and the populace, thinking what the Kaiser placed guards for should be something very good and important, started to plant potatoes as well, which eventually put an end to the massive starvation. As such, many people bring potatoes to his tomb, right of the main palace, to show him their gratitude.



More sights from the Sansoucci complex: here's the back of the main palace, the oriental palace, and the palace he used to receive his guests.





Having such an immense garden, Sansoucci also has a very colorful scheme in Spring. A glimpse of it is in these flowers we saw by the river's side.




It's also home for many animals, including ducks. However, besides common ducks, we also spotted these Mandarin ducks. The colorful male was glamorously posing by the river bank while the female watched as he took all the spotlight for himself. It really is a rare sight, and I'm glad they were so calmly posing with so many people around.



Before leaving Potsdam, we tried to pay a visit to the Cecilienhof Palace, the place where the reunion to determine what would the allies do with Germany unfolded (since 80% of Berlin got obliterated during the war). To our dismay, it was closed, and also subject to some maintenance, but still we managed to be there.



To close the Potsdam episode, here's the very special Easter decoration the train station had.







Monday was the day of our return. During the morning, we took our family to a ride on a boat through the Spree, seeing the city from another perspective. It also took us up to the political sector, with buildings like the Bundestag, home for the head of the government.



After we were back in the ground, we spotted the statue dedicated to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. I don't know why, but we missed it in 2012, and honestly I doubt it was placed there in the time gap.



I also stumbled upon a strange signal. While it's meaning seems pretty clear, I wonder what drove the authorities to create it. Probably the Ice Cube Challenge, but there wasn't anything bad about it, at least that I know of.



After it came the best moment of the whole trip: eating a currywurst sold by a hawker. Currywurst is the traditional meal in Berlin, but they aren't sold like the hot dogs in 'Murica, because the hawker carries with him the "kitchen" to prepare them right in your face. A traditional sight, a traditional meal and a smile for the kid we all have inside.

After it, only one place remained: the Victory Column. It serves as a good place for sightseeing the whole Berlin, if you manage to go up the +250 stairs it has!




The "forest" you see in the picture above is the Tiergarten. Yup, it's a park within the city, and it has that size no matter from which side of the column you watch. It is said that a lot of fauna is also present there, more than in Humboldt Garden, but our walk through it was brief and couldn't find anything important. Just one last meal, recover our luggage from the hotel and on to the airport to return.

In the airport, we had one last adventure. Three of our family members were given direct access to the control point, while the rest were being guided to another terminal because of an excess of people. It was quite an odyssey trying to search for the other group, but we ended up meeting at whichever gate we were assigned. Like half an hour later, we saw the gate being announced, and we were able to safely reunite to take our flight home.

Well, I guess I ranted a bit too much, but it was necessary. Experiences like this are treasured forever. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Vanelan :
gamerforlifeforever2 :

You guys asked for this, and a promise is a promise! (sorry for the delay, getting the pictures was a hard task)

Thanks for the summon. I'm glad to hear that your trip to Berlin went well. It stinks that it was raining when you got there. Still, I'm glad to hear about all the sites and places in Berlin you visited. How does your trip to Berlin compare to other foreign trips you've made in the past?

gamerforlifeforever2 : Well, a couple family members would have done better staying in Barcelona, but outside that, I have no qualms.

Since this was my second trip to Berlin, I'd have to put it on the bottom of my list since I mostly knew what we were going to see and do. The first time is always special, even more if we attend certain events. 

Still, I think I'd put this trip above London, even if that was my very first foreign trip. Overall, what we got to do and see in London wasn't as special or interesting as what we did this Easter. I also think that our trip to Portugal wasn't very special at all, so my bottom 3 are pretty much decided.

That question has let me realize I can hardly remember all the trips I've made, and we still have more planned (the next one being just two weeks from now). I'll be sure to remember this Easter for the discovery of the Unterwelten and the many tours they have available, I'll recommend them to anyone that wants to visit Berlin.

Thanks again.
There are really great pics. :3

How many days did you spend there?

Vanelan : A total of four, from very early in the 25th until late into the 28th. It seemed more than just four, considering how fast everything happened. At 9 PM it was almost late to have dinner, while here 10 PM is early for that, so it's quite a change in our mindset that only adds a bit more of fatigue to the body.