A main drawing point for us travelling to Berlin was the Christmas markets. We intentionally chose to visit Germany at this time of year to overindulge on bratwurst, German beer and other delicacies.
We travelled by train from the airport until we reached a connecting station, we stopped for food in a restaurant near the train station, and then travelled via underground to the street our hotel was on; Oranienburger Straße – a trendy district with quite a few tourists. We reached MEININGER hotel and dropped our stuff off before going exploring. 
We walked and walked looking for a bar, and the first we came across was an Irish bar – this was unintentional for once. Murphy’s Irish Bar was a quirky stereotypical Irish bar right on the River. After a few drinks here, we returned to Oranienburger Straße and went to Generator, right next to our hotel which was a bar/hostel with a more lively vibe, with mellow techno playing – I now knew for sure I was in Berlin.
(TIP: Generator have hostels throughout Europe, and if you download their app you get discounted food/drinks)
The following morning was jam packed with tourist sites, by half 11 we had visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and went up the TV Tower, and came back down.
If you walk through the Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews is about a 3 minute walk to the left – and if you walk to the right after passing through the Reichstag is about 5 minutes to the right.
We tried to squeeze in a visit to Madame Tussaud’s as it appeared to be nearby on the map – however we could not locate it, and with the temperature close to freezing point we thought that we were best heading indoors for a bit. The TV Tower was calling us.
We reached the top of the TV Tower (or Fernsehturm) and had a quick drink before bracing the cold and exploring the Christmas market below. Or more accurately, 2 Christmas markets.
There were Christmas markets either side of the Fernsehturm, with a mixture of stands serving bratwursts, cheese, pretzels, mulled wine, souvenirs etc. The bulk of this day was spent zipping back and forward either side of Alexanderplatz at both Christmas markets.
We ventured to Museum Island for a walk to check out the cathedral, and stumbled across a cool park with a statue to Karl Mark and Friedrich Engles – and as a Sociology graduate, I was star struck.
That evening we decided to check out Gendarmenmarkt, another Christmas market that wasn’t too far from our Hotel. Located at Berlin concert House, it was a far more affluent market. You had to pay inside and the whole market was walled off from outsiders, plus armed police patrolling the crowd.
Though apart from a beer tent offering different beers, the markets tended to have the same/similar items for sale at each market. I guess our entrance fee just paid for the security.
After this we decided to embark on a pub crawl. KASCHK and Mikkeller were both recommended to us by a friend who’s big into his craft beers, and both were located relatively close to one another, so we decided to pub crawl around there. Both craft bars were nice, but KASCHK probably edged it for me, however, it was nice seeing Berlin play to my Sociological roots with some pro-Marx graffiti in the toilets of Mikkeller.
The following day we headed a bit further from the city centre and visited the market at Gedächtniskirche, which was the scene of a terrorist attack in 2016. This market had little to no security presence although it was surrounded by bollards to prevent a similar attack to what happened in 2016. It was also the spot where we first tried potato pancakes (simply delicious), but it was hard to take our minds off anything but the attack which previously occurred on site. There has been a memorial added on site to honour the victims of said atrocity.
We slowly ventured back into the city centre from here stopping in a café and spent more time at another Christmas market in Potsdamer Platz – this one was a bit more upbeat featuring a winter slide; and being the children we are – we simply had to try it out!
After experiencing 5 different Christmas markets, in our 3 days, and (most of) the main sites – our stay in Germany’s capital was over – and the next day we were to venture to its’ second largest city: Hamburg.
Berlin was a great vibrant city to visit. Very metropolitan, but also charming and welcoming. I was in my element reviewing swall, and the sights are all easily accessible. The Berlin Wall was an unintended omission from our sightseeing and I wish I could have sampled one of Berlin’s famous techno nightclubs – but I can always return (and intend to catch a football match as well when I do).
If you were particularly interested in the parts about the risk of terrorism at Christmas markets – I discuss this more in this piece.
