It was my father's 70th birthday this year. Since he already has everything he needs, I thought a trip with the family was a perfect gift. With the four of us, just like the old days. We decided Berlin would be the perfect place to go.
From Amsterdam to Berlin by train.
I thought it would be fun to take the ICE (high speed train). We couldn't get on the ICE in Amsterdam, but we could get on in Hannover, so we had one transfer. Not a bad connection at all; same platform, 13 minute transfer time. And we would be saving about 20 minutes total on the trip.
But things didn't go as planned. There was a delay and we wouldn't be on time to make the transfer. We actually made a huge detour via Bremen! This added 2.5 hours to our trip. :(
Bremen Hbf
After almost 10 hours we finally arrived at Berlin Hbf.
After getting our S- and U-Bahn tickets we made it to our hotel at Alexanderplatz. Our rooms were at the 28th floor with a great view on the city.
North-west view from our hotel. Click for 14K pixel wide panorama
After getting some dinner we took a little walk around Alexanderplatz and got some ice cream.
Day 1
Brandenburger Tor
At breakfast we made some rough plans for the day. First stop; Brandenburger Tor. We took the S-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse and made a 15 minute walk to our destination. The boulevard Unter den Linden was under renovation. So no great images from there.
View from Unter den Linden.
The modern way to document where you've been.
The Ebertstraße on the other side of the Tor
Reichstag
Making a right turn on Ebertstraße we're heading to the Reichtag. Looking over my shoulder I can still see the Brandenburger Tor. Something all photographers should do; every now and then, look back where you came from.
Ebertstraße with the Tiergarten on the right.
The right corner tower.
My sister and parents at the Reichstag
I've seen way too many selfie-sticks. I'm doing it the old fashioned way; with one family member missing, me.
No smartphones here. Good old paper being put to use.
Holocaust Memorial
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in full. Or Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas in German. One of the places high on my list to see. We headed back to Brandenburger Tor through Tiergarten to get to the Holocaust Memorial.
Brandenburger Tor from the Großer Tiergarten (Simsonweg)
Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas
More than 2700 concrete slabs make up the memorial
Making happy selfies is a thing these days. But this is NOT the place to do this! Seeing young people trying 10's of times to take the perfect selfie is very painful to watch.
Potsdamer Platz
Only 350 meters from the Memorial is Potsdamer Platz. Perfect walking distance.
Topography of Terror
An indoor and outdoor history museum. More info here.
Checkpoint Charlie
Heading east from 'Topography of Terror' we end up at Checkpoint Charlie.
This must be one of the weirdest tourist places ever. Some fake American army men are there to take a picture with you, which you have to take yourself, and ask money for it. I get the significance of this place, but somehow it feels weird.
Bus 100
I've read (at berlijn-blog.nl , Dutch) that Bus 100 is the best transport to see all the famous places. So we followed that advice. The first time we did this we had to get off after about 3 stops. Apparently the start/end point was at Alexanderplatz. So we crossed the street and started the trip again.
After a few stops we got off the bus at Lustgarten with the Berliner Dom on the right. A building we can see from our hotelroom.
A few minutes walk from there is the Alte Nationelgalerie.
We were getting a little hungry. Crossing the bridge we found a good place to eat at Andy's Dinner and Bar (Heiligegeiskirchplatz).
Day 2
Charlottenburg
The first part of our second day was dedicated to Charlottenburg. We got off at Westkreuz.
What? The main building was under construction.
I had to pay 3 euros to take pictures for personal use. Not a big deal, it's worth it!
Although under construction, still a beautiful view
After visiting all the amazing looking rooms we entered the garden and ended up at the mausoleum.
Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig - 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888
We took a walk to Jungfernheide and took the S-Bahn to Hackescher Markt to get some lunch.
Boat Trip
No clue who she is, but she represents the feeling of the boattrip.
Berlin Hauptbahnhof
End of day 2.
Not so good iPhone picture
Last drink on the last day. Cheers!
The trip home was even worse than the trip to Berlin. Not going into details, but it took 3 hours longer!
Thanks for reading!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If I've made any mistakes, let me know.
Technical info:
Photo's were taken with the Sony A7RII. Most (90%) with the FE 28mm f/2. Some with the Canon nFD 20m f/2.8 or nFD 50mm f/1.4 (Which turned out to be the best FD 50mm in my test). Some of them were taken with an iPhone 6.