At least there is one good thing about friends studying all over the country – you have a reason to visit them and the cities itself. Which for my part I think we do far too seldom. We travel to all these different, foreign countries and totally forget about the country we live in. Many of us probably do not know much about the country we live in, or have seen many places within it. The last four days I took off to Germany’s capitol: Berlin.

My last visit to Berlin is a few years back, so I wanted to see all the “important” sights again.

Brandenburg Gate

This time, I saw them by night though. Meaning: Potsdamer Platz, Sony Center, Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. We also made it into the dome of the Reichstag, which gives you an extraordinary view of Berlin on top. To all of you who make it to Berlin, I really recommend you to take the time and go up there. Admission is free and if you avoid the peak-hours the waiting line is not too long either. We were there around 5pm and waited for only 20 minutes.

Berlin would not be Berlin, if it did not offer some surprises. In the Kreuzberg neighborhood there is this nice little street Bergmannstraße. It has many small, cute shops and cafés where you can get lost in for hours. And you always discover something new. A tip if you are looking for a nice place to stop: Das Café am Meer (transl.: The Ocean Café). It has a nice flair and great breakfast / brunch offers – at a reasonable price. Try the house brunch platter for two people. It is extremely yummy! For the last night in Berlin, we chose to go to this bar we picked from a magazine – 16 Doors. As a live act, they announced two singer / songwriters from Great Britain. We took the chance and were very positively surprised. Both of them are very talented and had the expected humor. For those who are interested, google them. They are both on myspace also. The music genre was acoustic rock. The first guy was Mal Skene – he seemed to be not too long in the business. That is why it was sometimes difficult to understand the words of the song, because he sung in an audibility that was overpowered by his guitar. But he definitely has potential. The second guy was Aaron Dall and not only played his own songs, but also songs from other known artists like Bob Dylan’s On A Night Like This. He also was great. Both of them seem to be in Berlin for a while, so if you have the chance: Go!

All in all it was a very nice trip :) And it surely was not my last.