deutschland rules!

after 3 months, we are finally setting foot on the capital of germany – berlin, as well as one of the country's biggest and most populated cities, hamburg.

our first venture into the unchartered lands of carpooling, we were both excited and apprehensive. however, the lure of a mere 25eur to get us to our destination prove to much to resist, so we took up the offer. we were glad to see tim, our driver, outside the hauptbahnhof of frankfurt, as promised, and that, was the beginning of our wonderful adventure to the heart and soul of germany.

18 Mar, Tuesday

as we have discovered, carpooling is probably one of the best ways to travel. cheap and it brings you to the centre of the city – which means saving on random shuttle service (think 11eur from mainz to hahn airport)

anyways, we arrived at around 8pm at night, after which we took a train from messe to our respective places. yinghao left us at the zoologischer garten, where he finally reunited with his bondue mates, while huifen and i continued on with our journey to rosa-luxemburg-platz, where we checked into our nice wombat hostel. traveller’s tip to people going to munich/berlin/vienna. stay at wombat. it seriously rocks.

since it was late and we were tired, dinner was a simple (and cheap) affair, at an italian restaurant down the street. but it was also after that meal that we swore not to do italian for the next few days coz we were getting so sick of it. haha

19 Mar, Wednesday

day started at portsdamer platz, home to the sony centre. Let’s Go recommended a walking trail which allows us to cover most of the sights, as well as admire the architecture at the same time.

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berlin wall remnants on display


DB Bahn Office Building


sony centre


legoland! which we so badly wanted to go in, but was closed both times we were there

Next up was the Denkmal Fur Die Ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe) the museum below was really good, with all the documentation and stuff about how the jews suffered during the time of WWII. We even caught a TV crew filming an elderly man on the wheelchair, who probably was a survivor of the war.


Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe



Next up is probably one of the most prominent landmarks in berlin – the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) albeit filled with tourists, the gate was still a sight to behold, and we just spent our time happily snapping away.


the famous bradenburger tor







Hotel aldon, made famous by Michael Jackson, who dangled his baby over the balcony, was right across the brandenburger tor, separated by the pariser platz




wonder which lucky window it was?

At around noon, we arrived at the Reichstag, which is not the parliament house. The first and only solar powered parliament house in the world also happens to be one of the most visited places in berlin. So what does that mean?

1 ½ hours of queuing, just to get in. and that’s when the weather started to turn cranky on us, as it began to snow. But im glad we somehow made it through those 90mins, and finally got ourselves into the Reichstag. And it was worth the wait. The spiral walkway leading up to the top literally provided a 360 deg view of the city and although there was snow, the sun was also shining, casting a beautiful picture of the surrounding.


the crazy queue




for the people of germany






view from within the reichstag

glass panels to allow for the sunlight to shine in and provide the solar energy needed

solar panels

the dome from the outside

As we walked down unter den linden, we caught many other sights such as the Staatsbibliothek and the University. However, it was what we were heading towards that did not disappoint – the berlin dom. Having been to so many churches and cathedrals the past few months, its amazing how we can still be awed by them. but the berlin dom was really huge and pretty, so we didn’t mind the entrance fee we had to pay.

inside the berlin dom

atop the dom via the spiral staircase

check out the 2 pictures below. they are taken a mere 30 seconds apart. this was how crazy the weather was

before

after

deutsch musuem

tree lined avenue

caught in the snow storm

Having see I.M Pei’s works when I was in paris 2 years back (he was the one who designed the glass pyramid entrance to the lourve), I was curious to see his work of the Deutsches History Museum. It was kinda disappointing, but den again, maybe I just couldn’t appreciate it.
Not wanting to spend more money on museums, we headed down to the Radisson hotel, to see the aquarium. Turns out the aquarium is owned by the aquadom down the street, so we cant take the lift to see it upclose, unless we pay the hefty entrance fee.

the aquarium in radisson hotel

In the end, we just walked along the street and popped by the rathaus before it closed for the day.

posing with the berlin icon - ampelmann

berlin rathaus

directions to los angeles!

inside the rathaus

After some random wandering and exploring in alexanderplatz, we finally met yinghao and frens for dinner at – ta dah! An Italian restaurant. but we have to admit that the cartwheel pizza was really good (not to mention, huge) so it was ok with us (:

easter market at alexanderplatz

mushrooms with garlic sauce

the giant cartwheel

seriously, no picture can do justice to the size of this pizza

20 Mar, Thursday

What ensued the next morning was a situation of much hilarity. The night before, over dinner, the bondue people were shocked (and probably disgusted) by the number of places we visited that day, while they only managed to cover the concentration camp and a damn atas shopping mall (think paragon) which was not even in our itinerary. Hence, their decision was to join us on our travels the next day, since it was their intention to check out the berlin wall as well. However, knowing us, our schedule was to start the day at 8am and reach east side gallery at 9. and considering the fact that they only woke up at 11 the day before, we took their promise of joining us at 9 an empty one.

So imagine our shock when yinghao called at 9.03, asking where we were. We took our own sweet time that day coz we knew we had time, so by the time he called us, we were still waiting for our train. And we still had to go to our new hostel to dump our stuff, before reaching east side gallery. And after some lost in translations, we finally found them (we were at 2 different macdonalds) at by then, it was already close to noon.

Turns out their (or more specifically, tim’s) competitive streak struck and he decided that they did not want to be outdone by 2 smux girls. So he rounded up his troop at 8 and with much efficiency and leadership, commanded his troop to wake up, wash up, pack and even take breakfast, only to arrive and found out that we never bothered taking on the challenge.

still, east side gallery, despite its hype and criticism, was still a place that everyone who goes to berlin should visit.

east side gallery

elizabeth and phuong, who are doing their exchange in vienna were there too!

more murals

But all was good, as we continued on to the docuzentrum, when everyone happily scribbled on their postcards to send home to their loved ones.

from here, one can see over the wall and catch a glimpse of what east berlin used to be like, and understand why people there wanted so much to come over to the west.

Next up was the “Biggest Sex Musuem in the World”, which should by right have excited any guy. But you know its really boring when they were falling asleep 5 minutes into entry of the place, and by the 15th minute, where all sitting down waiting for the girls to be done. It was disappointing, but oh wells, at least we’ve been there.

We parted ways outside the museum and as yinghao left with them to copenhagen, huifen and I continued on our journey in berlin.

we went into the kaiser-wilhelm kirche, and were awe-struck to see the entire church covered in blue stained glass

the new church was built after the old one was badly damaged by the war

That night, we wanted so much to catch a movie, so we went back to sony centre – the only place where u can get original English films, and managed to catch sweeny todd. As usual, Johnny depp didn’t fail to impress and it was a great end to our 2nd day in berlin.

cinema in sony centre

21 Mar, Friday

We spent the entire morning in Checkpoint Charlie, which was the passage way during the berlin wall era. I personally found it one of the best museums I have been to so far, and we even caught a film based on a true story of how a man managed to build a hot air balloon and brought his family and neighbours to west berlin.

That afternoon, we visited the famous berlin zoo, and yeps, we saw knut – the celebrity polar bear – who really looked quite normal if u ask me.

zoo in the heart of the city

the famous elephant gate entrance at the zoo, which reminded us of a chinese temple

knut - in real life!

We then headed to siegaussale – the victory column, before meeting sin cheow and Kelvin for dinner.

Overall, berlin was great, despite the weather, but for me, I know I cant wait for hamburg.

22 Mar, Saturday

Early in the morning, we took the happy weekend ticket to hamburg. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel at altona, and proceeded to check out the michaeliskirche and some traditional easter market outside a museum. But the easter market turned out to be just 2 stalls selling fruits and veggies, so we were kinda appalled, and decided to leave. Haha

the newly built (in 2005) berlin hauptbahnhof

streets of altona, hamburg

kmpg, hamburg

In the end, we went to get tickets for dirty dancing, only to realize after we have purchased the tickets that the musical is going to be in deutsch. Oh wells, there’s always a first time I supposed? Headed back to altona for some window shopping as it was snowing heavily outside.

We decided to brave the snowstorm and pop by another let’s go recommended museum – the miniautur wonderland. It was so crowded that we had to queue for at least ½ hr to get in. but it was all worth it coz the displays were just so fascinating.

queue @ miniatur wunderland

mount rushmore

fire!

nordbank stadium

miniatur ice hotel!

That night, we went to the Hamburg Dom – which we initially thought to be another church (Dom = cathedral in german). But what it really was, is a giant carnival. Hamburg, has officially captured my heart.

The bright neon lights, the silly rides, the loud music, the laughing children and the happy faces of their parents.

with my pommes

Anyways, when yinghao arrived, we made him take the roller coaster ride with us, and it was pure madness. Not the scariest I’ve taken (I cant seem to remember where else I have taken something more extreme) but still good nevertheless (:

Oh! And just as we were nua-ing in the restaurant in which we were having dinner, we heard fireworks outside. Managed to catch the last few fireworks go off before the display ended. I was happy.

i love this picture - the old loving couple


easter bunnies

23 Mar, Sunday

Early in the morning, we hit the fischmakrt which I have been hearing so much about. the place was touristy alright, but still very very nice. The outdoor street market was filled with hawkers selling fresh seafood, sovenuirs and fruits, while the indoor market is transformed into a mega food place, with restaurants on the upper levels and the ground level was filled with benches and tables. We ate from one of the stalls at the side, grabbed a seat and enjoyed our heavy brunch while listening to the live band play away.

bunnies on sale

fresh fruits

plants on auction!

fresh fisch!

our greasy brunch

After that, we walked along the st pauli landungsbrucken stretch, which overlooks the harbour. And because the weather has finally turned good on us, we continued walking, until we reached the U434 submarine, which was our next stop.

eating ice cream in the cold!

walking along the harbour

strawberries which we bought from the market

The submarine was cool, just that I never knew that it could get so cramp inside.

strawberry tasting in the submarine

We den hit the Blankenese Steps, which is the place where the rich Hamburgers (i.e. people from Hamburg) stays. People there really do dress differently, but I guess I expected the houses to be prettier.

After a quick dinner, we proceeded to watch Dirty Dancing. Maybe it was coz I had so much expectations about it, or maybe it had to do with the fact that I cant understand most of what they were saying (and they spoke soooo much) I was kinda disappointed. Expected more dance moves too. but oh wells, it was still a pleasant performance.

That night, we braved the cold to go back to our old hostel to use the internet as our new one didn’t provide and we needed to find another carpool back badly (the original guy basically played punk on us) in the end, as luck would have it, the guy at the hostel reception didn’t charge us and we found out that he’s actually coming to Singapore for exchange later this year! It was nice talking to someone who was well-travelled and open-minded. To lennart – remember to look us out when you come to Singapore!

24 Mar, Monday

After a tiring day, we decided to stay in for the morning. Luck was on our side as we managed to get carpool back home, and the guy, Vincent, spoke really good English. Anyways, we checked out by noon and spent our afternoon in the hauptbahnhof area just exploring and taking pictures.


covered in snow

The drive back was met with bad weather conditions but we were still glad that we managed to find the carpool within such a short period of time and that our driver was a really nice and interesting person to speak to.

lousy weather during our drive back

All in all, I couldn’t be any happier with our berlin-hamburg trip. I would definitely love to return to hamburg, although by some strange forces of nature, I still feel the strong affinity with munich. Maybe it’s the beer halls (: