Berlin, Germany

Dan and I were long overdue for a visit to Berlin so we decided to take a road trip over Columbus Day weekend.  On Saturday we took a six hour bike tour of the city and saw all of the major sites like the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and the site of Hitler’s Bunker. 




















After learning a lot of history (Berlin is full of it!) and seeing what’s left of the Berlin Wall, we visited a beer garden for lunch where I got to try Berliner Weisse mit schusse, a sour wheat beer flavored with raspberry syrup.  We witnessed two demonstrations (which delayed our tour a bit), visited beautiful churches and squares, and pedaled down Unter den Linden, which was once Berlin’s premier promenade.    On Sunday we toured Berlin’s Parliament building, the Reichstag.  The Reichstag is topped with a giant glass dome that allows people to look down over the parliamentary proceedings and gives incredible panoramic views of the city. 




Next we stopped by Fassbender & Rausch, supposedly the largest chocolate shop in Europe.  We bought some goodies, of course, and visited the upstairs cafe for a fancy hot chocolate and some dessert.  After that I felt like seeing more of the Berlin Wall so we headed to the East Side Gallery, a 1.3 km long section that has been painted by artists from all over the world.  Pretty cool!

We ended our weekend in Berlin with two of its most popular culinary traditions, currywurst and döner kebab.  Yum!

We really enjoyed our whirlwind tour of Germany’s capital; we only wish we had more time there!