24 HOURS IN BERLIN

Obviously Berlin has changed dramatically since the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification and it felt very strange to be in a city that was once so divided and broken but that now presents such a fascinating united front. It is very hard to imagine this young, vibrant city as being once partitioned into East and West, especially with it’s relatively new transformation.

I’ve never been to Berlin before and was there for the ITB travel exhibition last week and I LOVED IT. SUCH a cool city – we didn’t get much of a chance to look around, but the bits we did see were amazing so I thought I’d put together a brief list of some ideas should you find yourself with 24 hours in Berlin in which to look around.

Visiting The Reichstag is essential. I thoroughly recommend booking the restaurant on the roof for lunch because it means you get to have a gorgeous 360 view of the city without having to queue – book in advance though as it’s very popular and go half an hour early because you have to get through quite a rigorous security process and take your passport – well, it is where Angela Merkel hangs out these days:-

For almost 40 years the Reichstag was the seat of democratically elected parliaments as well as a symbol for politics:-

The restaurant is fabulous – the views incredible. At times it is hard to define which side is East and which is West due to the rapid and continuous construction – but I was told that if you look for the sea of cranes and scaffolding that is the East side slowly re-building itself:-

The food in the restaurant is exceptional (not cheap though):-

My gorgeous goat’s cheese salad:-

My friend’s smoked salmon starter:-

My main chicken dish:-

Afterwards we walked around the Norman Foster designed Dome where you can walk up to admire the views and read about the entire history of the building and in particular learn about the German Reich surrendering unconditionally on May 8th 1945 and the devastating World War that has claimed over 50 million victims and largely destroyed Germany:-

Make sure you leave a bit of room for tea, because from there it’s a short walk to the Brandenberg Gate:-

Here’s me:-

Where you can have tea at the famous Hotel Adlon Kempinski which had fabulous service and because they were a little late with bringing our tea they gave the whole thing to us for free as an apology because they were so mortified which was entirely unnecessary but much appreciated:-

Now you really need to walk about to remove some of those calories, next stop was the very moving “Field Of Stelae” The Jewish Monument. Near there was a plaque, which read:-

“The candid examination and analysis of Germany’s past is one of the greatest achievements of our political culture and the basis for our self-image as a nation in a free Europe. In this context, the meaning of human dignity, democracy and the rule of law must always be emphasised and defended.

We had dinner that night with some friends who live in the uber cool Charlottenburg area of Berlin. Wikipedia tell me the German pronunciation is ʃaː ˈlɔt ᵊn ˌbuɐ̯k which frankly is no help at all. The whole area seemed to be full of restaurants with lovely high ceilinged mansion flats around. We went to very German bar called Lentz which was full of interesting looking people – it was where the Baader Meinhof Gang used to hang out apparently. Be warned the entire menu is in German – but to keep it simple order the steak with potatoes it was surprisingly good:-

Another evening we hung out at Soho House Berlin – a private members club with all the cool signature elements you would expect from a Soho house bar and restaurant – you can stay there too:-

The balcony:-

Here was the loft room our colleague had rented out for a few days:-

2014 marks 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, a shocking symbol of the division of Berlin and Germany as a result of the Second World War, the clearing of the ruins in the post-war period and the resulting division of Germany which transformed the area between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate into a vast inner-city wasteland. For 28 years a concrete wall over 100km long divided Berlin and the entire country, the preserved parts of the wall serve as memorials, as a stark reminder about how imprisoned it must have made people feel and the desperation it caused amongst those people separated from loved ones. Now it is one of the main features in the city and they are not afraid to confront their past. You can see relics of the Berlin Wall at Potsdamer Platz where we were staying-

A good place to eat if you’re in that area is Vapiano – good for bespoke pasta dishes and beautiful people:-

Berlin is now famous for being the cool and edgy clubbing capital of Europe. My son loved it during his gap year – I don’t think he saw anything other than the dark walls of the clubs and whatever went on in them. We even managed to go to a party in one of the nightclubs called The Drayton Bar – where I took a few photos but got in trouble.

It was a really wonderful, albeit brief insight into this living breathing modern history and I felt it was a hugely important place to visit – not only to look back and learn but also to appreciate and celebrate what is great about today’s Germany following its recovery from a dark past. I found myself fascinated by how the ideologies they’ve grown up with are shaping their outlook today and their own self image. It must be very different for them – talking to one young German recently he said that he felt it was a shame that they weren’t allowed to be proud of their nationality – even when there are sporting games, he said that if flags are erected, others come and take them down. It is a nation with a very different view of the world to ours – but it doesn’t surprise me that they are coming out stronger – more thoughtful, less arrogant than the average Brit I would have thought. Michael Morpurgo is right to suggest that “all young people should visit German war graves as well as British ones to ensure that they understand where we come from, because they were sons and fathers just as our boys were. We are all living in this world where we travel, we are European, we feel together with these people”.

I’m going to go back with my children. It’s important.

Next time the GDR Museum and the Stasi (Ministry for State Security) museum is on my list of things to do to learn more about what life was like in the former Soviet state of East Germany.