I really like Berlin as well… cycling around The Tiergarten and through Checkpoint Charlie is a great experience…I like some of the wackiness of the city centre… as with many cities the suburbs are a bit none descript.
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I have been there both as a tourist and for work and it is a very nice city. For a while the low rents in old east-Berlin attracted talent and artists from all over europe and with a very active culture scene in those areas.
And you can get close to the history - both the cold war and the nazi era. Try the old parade ground behind the OS-stadium (you can sneak in or just look trough the closed gates)where they held those mass meetings, really eerie. Another tour that got me was under the Tempelhof airport where there are several underground floors used by the third reich and a complex tunnel system said to stretch into the central city.
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I lived in West Berlin for 12 months (1975-6), in Schöneberg, with a German girlfriend. One of the best years of my life, but God, the winter was cold. On some days the ice was so thick the only way of walking outside was to wear woollen socks over your shoes! Our flat was ‘heated’ by a huge stove with an effective range of about 5’ - we were without running water for almost a fortnight as the pipes were encased in about 3” of ice. My introduction to a Continental climate!
If you’re in Berlin for a few days it’s incredibly informative to visit the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It’s a train ride out from Berlin centre, my OH takes 6th Formers to Berlin most years and this is a key part of it. History in front of your eyes. I’ve been, it doesn’t leave you like visits to art galleries or where Bowie recorded does.
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Apart from Bowie connection,that would also be on my list.Have been to Auschwits and Berkenau in the past,intensely moving,but an experience I think everyone should have.Got to get to Berlin next year !
I had a chance to see a short intimate concert in Hansa studios this year while there for the yearly IFA show. My first time in Berlin, and found it a very interesting city.
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If you go to Berlin I’d recommend the short trip to nearby Potsdam. Superb place and lots of history.
Hoping to go next year - any recommendations for the best time of year to visit and for hotels?
We stayed in art’otel berlin kudamm. Very reasonably priced. We went early November for long weekend. interesting city. Potsdam worth a visit as is Wannsee. There is a Berlin welcome card that makes travel around the city and suburbs very reasonable as well
Berlin is indeed a great city. I came here in 1988 while on a European road trip. The van broke down in Berlin and I’ve been here ever since! Despite a few attempts to leave back in those days, something always happened to make me stay a bit longer and it looks like I’m here for good now. It can be a bit gloomy in the winter (though this year is exceptionally mild), but those long, hot Berlin summers more than make up for it. Berlin in the summer is the most wonderful, laid-back city ever.
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Thanks John I’ll have a look.
Berlin ist wunderbar!
A Bowie fan, a Nice Cave fan, a germanophile, I always wanted to go. And then hitchhiked there in 95 from Dijon.
GREAT music, great food and beer, great culture.
It is highly recommended. I bet summer is fantastic.
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