Skooks and Laurie Adventures

Berlin, Germany, Three Days in the Capital – Day 21-24/63

We’re learning not to rely on German train schedules. Up until Boppard we had been pretty impressed with the German train system. We even mentioned this to our taxi driver on the way to Oberwesel, and he did not share our enthusiasm. With that in mind, and knowing we had tight transfers ahead, we decided to play it safe and catch the 9:30 a.m. train from Oberwesel to Frankfurt.

As soon as we arrived at the Oberwesel station, I received notification the train was delayed by almost an hour. Ten to twenty minutes later, it was simply cancelled.

Thankfully the DB app (Deutsche Bahn) is actually quite good, and we found another route that would get us to Ingelheim with an easy transfer to Frankfurt. What started as a plan to give ourselves two hours to get from Frankfurt(Main) Hbf to Frankfurt(Main) Süd turned into thirty minutes, just enough time to catch our ICE high‑speed train to Berlin.

Berlin Hbf (Berlin’s main train station) is huge. The original plan was to use public transportation to get to our Airbnb, but Uber was cheap, and after a bit of back‑and‑forth figuring out where to meet the driver, we made it to our place in the Mitte neighborhood. We noticed a nice‑looking restaurant/bar around the corner as we arrived. After getting settled, we made a beeline for Tor Bar and had our first good old‑fashioned cocktails since coming to Europe.

Day 1 — Berlin Highlights by Bike

We kicked off our first full day in Berlin with a 2.5‑hour bicycle tour. Our guide was Irish and has been living in Berlin for eighteen years. He took us through Mauerpark and the Berlin Wall Memorial, then across to Neue Wache and Museum Island. We stopped at Bebelplatz, the site of the Nazi book burning, and continued on to Checkpoint Charlie.

From there we visited the location of Hitler’s bunker. Today just a cement‑filled parking lot. The only recognition of it is a small 1 × 2 meter sign with basic information and history. Berlin has chosen not to memorialize the site.

We continued on to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, then to Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, and the Government District. It was a great overview of the city’s history and layout.

After the tour we visited the Altes Museum, then made our way up to the observation deck in the Berlin TV Tower for views over the city.

Day 2 — History, Art, and Photography

On the recommendation of our bike tour guide, we visited the Topography of Terror Museum, located on the former site of the German SS headquarters. It’s a lot to take in, with many parallels to what is happening at home. The cruelty inflicted not only on Jews but also on the mentally ill, disabled, and Gypsies was gut‑wrenching.

After a nice Italian lunch to decompress, we made our way to the East Side Gallery — the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall. The east‑facing side is now an open‑air art gallery.

While Laurie wrapped up the day at Tor Bar with wine and chocolate mousse, I did a sunset and evening photography walk with Fabian, a local photographer (travelpixelz). Learned a few new techniques and had some great conversations along the way. If you’re into photography and ever in Berlin, make sure to connect with Fabian

Day 3 — Technikmuseum and the Spree River

For our final full day we visited the Deutsches Technikmuseum, on a recommendation Laurie got from the bartender the night before. Very cool museum — we should have planned for a full half‑day.

We wrapped up the afternoon with a 2.5‑hour Spree River cruise. Fun fact: Berlin has more bridges than Venice. We sat next to Elmer, a local Berliner being a tourist in his own city with his wife and another couple. Great conversation and always interesting to hear different local perspectives.

After a short S‑Bahn ride back to our Airbnb neighborhood, we shared a meal at another Italian restaurant, sitting street‑side and people‑watching. Then we moved on to Tor Bar for a cocktail and a chocolate mousse.

Berlin is an interesting city — a place with a tumultuous past, huge changes, and constant evolution. It’s not the “prettiest” city, and while it has some classical architecture, many of those buildings are surprisingly new. We’re glad we visited.

On to Munich…