Berlin with Bruno

In order to make our budget stretch further and to get a different more local experience we decided to use TrustedHousesitters to do some house sits and look after pets whilst we were in Europe. Our first sit happened to be in Berlin for 2 and a half weeks with Bruno. We met Chelsea, Tim and Bruno outside their flat in the Schonenwide suburb area along the river spree. We went for a walk along the river with them so Bruno could get to know us and so that we could get to know how to walk Bruno (he's a rescue so doesn't do well seeing other dogs). Chelsea and Tim were lovely and welcomed us into their home, showing us the flat and treating us to a traditional German lunch of meats, cheeses, potato salad and Club Mate, a Berlin drink where the slogan is literally... You'll get used to it. After a few hours of chatting and going through details for how to look after Bruno, Chelsea and Tim left for Brazil and we were now in Berlin for a couple of weeks with Bruno!

It didn't take too long for Bruno to get comfortable with us. The first couple of days we mainly stayed around the flat so that Bruno knew we were going to be around for him. He was an incredibly loveable, cute dog that loves cuddles on the sofa and morning bed cuddles. He got very excited for walks and loved zooming around in the sand in the forest. Our general day to day consisted of taking Bruno around the local area on walks in the morning and evening, and a long walk in the afternoon to one of the local forests. It is surprising how much nature is around us in this area of Berlin with their being Königsheide forest, Friedhof Baumschulenweg cemetry and Wuhlheide forest park all within walking distance.

The house sit and looking after Bruno gave us a bit of routine, as well as a base to be able to go shopping at local Kaufland, Penny, Lidl and cook meals to keep our costs down. We did manage to fill our shopping with German staples still too like frikadellen, bockwurst, nuremberg sausages and lots of fresh pretzel bread and pastries so we weren’t missing out on treats.

Having so long in Berlin, meant that we spread out the sites so that we just went to a different area for a couple of hours each day. This actually worked out perfectly as I had no idea how big Berlin was and how spread out all its sights are. With exploring and 3 dog walks a day it was a bit of a shock to our bodies to start doing over 20000 steps a day again. Due to our location, about 20 minutes out of the main city, we used a mixture of public transport (the S bahns using the BVG app) and our motorcycle to get around. If you don’t have your own transport there are also loads of e-scooters and electric mopeds available across the city that you can rent per minute like Felyx, Emmy and Tier.

Over the 2 weeks we managed to explore lots of different areas of Berlin. Due to budget we mainly walked around and saw things for free rather than any paid attractions. Also due to this we only really ate out once for my birthday at Wen Chang pulled noodles (highly recommended even if we had to wait 45 mins in the cold inline to sit outside!) and at Belushis to be able to watch one of the six Nations games. We also only went out to a local Irish bar- The Double Inn for St Patrick's Day guiness, as we could get beer from the supermarket for 30cents. Here is where we explored over the 2 weeks by area:

Friedrichstein

As well as public transport we also used the bicycles left by Chelsea and Tim our first main day in Berlin to cycle to the East Side Gallery. This was a nice cycle past Planterwald and Treptow park, along and over the River Spree seeing the large molecule man art piece in the river. Cycling is very prevalent in Berlin and there are specific cycle lanes that have their own traffic lights next to main traffic. The gallery itself is on a long section of old Berlin wall and it was originally painted by a mix of artists to commemorate the changes that were happening as it came down. It was very interesting to wander along and see all the different art styles as well as the social commentary from the time. Boxhagaener platz & holzmarkt are also in this area and look cool but we didn’t get a chance to check these out.

Prenzlauer berg

We explored a number of sites here over a few different days. We took advantage of the nice weather to explore Kollwitzmarkt- an artisanal Saturday market. It had lots of great produce and we managed to find a nice coffee stall to have a cheeky flat white as we then walked on to the Kulturbraurei museum. Here we explored the free Life in the GDR museum which was great, very informative and had lots of bits to look at about life on the east side of the wall. After this we headed to Mauerpark through the Prezenlauer berg area. The whole area had a really cool vibe, with lots of good restaurants and cafes. It was also the same area that Wen Chang noodles was in. Definitely a place we would stay if we were having a weekend away here. It was nice to see everyone out in the park enjoying Saturday morning sun. There is also a part of the Berlin wall there that any artists can paint on, unlike East Side Gallery which were specially commissioned. There were lots of people out showing off their artistic graffiti skills- something that is very prevalent throughout the whole of Berlin.

On another day we visited the Berlin wall memorial where another part of the wall stood and is also a site of no man's land where people’s houses that were on the wall were knocked down and where secret tunnels were built for people to try and cross. There were lots of boards up spanning the whole length of the memorial which were really informative and a nice display as a memorial to the victims that died trying to cross the wall. From here we also then wandered up to Humboldthain park where we sat in the sun with some lunch before making the climb up the stairs to the top of the Flak tower- an old artillery tower that wasn’t able to be torn down. It provided some nice views of the city.

Kreuzberg

This is another really interesting and diverse area of Berlin that we really enjoyed exploring and walking around on different days to see things. We actually walked to Markethalle Neun from the East Side Gallery and this had lots of organic and delicious looking treats in it, but we were good and just looked. The building itself inside is also beautiful. On another day we wandered through Gorlitzter park, stopped at 5 elephant coffee shop for coffee and ended up with a slice of their specialty cheesecake and a streusel cake. Cheesecake was well worth it. It was nice to sit on the street outside the shop watching the world go by and look at all the various architecture of the flats lining the streets. We carried on after this pit stop to the Turkish Market which had a lots of different produce on it. Kreuzberg is definitely a melting pot of cultures in the best of ways.

Just down from Postdammerplatz, we spent a while at the Topographie of Terror- a free exhibition outlining the nazi regime, where we learnt quite a lot. From here we headed over to the Jewish Museum- the down stairs is like an art gallery and their are several exhibitions and clever pieces of design that help translate the emotions necessary for times around the war. The rest of the core exhibition is also really well done but there was a lot and we were very tired by the end of this so had a quick stop off at Checkpoint Charlie- which used to be the crossing point from the West- East side of the wall before heading back.

Also in Kreuzberg is Victoria park. This is a lovely park which had lots of people out and about enjoying the sunshine. We climbed the memorial which gave excellent views over the city. Due to it being lovely weather the whole time we were in Berlin there was actually no water in the waterfall, but it would be lovely when there was! Near here is Mustafas Gemuse Kebab- famous for being the first Kebab stall in Berlin. There was a really long line though so we opted instead for Korean Fried Chicken nearby at Gogi Boss which was delicious! Doner Kebab shops are a huge thing in Berlin/ Germany, which is something I hadn’t been expecting. We also had a wander around Marheineke Markethalle near to this which also had lots of food options, but we were stuffed by that point!

Mitte

The main tourist area we explored over a couple of days. From most places in the city we were able to admire the TV tower, which is impressive but we just admired it from the ground. From here we also had a leisurely wander around the museum island, seeing the Berlin dome and lots of classical architecture before exploring the courtyards of Hackeshoffe. We managed to grab artisanal ice cream for only 2 euros from Canal, which we took back to a sunny spot by the river to enjoy with the locals.

From the main station another day we wandered along the river, watching people dancing and sitting in the sun. We stopped at the Futurium and we explored the free interactive exhibitions exploring what future energy/technology could look like which was fun. Walking past the Reichstag dome and visiting Brandenburg Tor. Due to current world events there were lots of helpers and centres set up for Ukranian refugees by the station and a peaceful protest by the gate asking the German government to close their airspace to Russia. A lot of the buildings in the main city of Berlin were also flying Ukrainian flags in solidarity.

From here we walked around the Memorial for Murdered Jews. These are huge concrete columns that you get immersed into. It is designed to make you feel uneasy with them all being different sizes, getting lost like a maze and the floor being very uneven. I was surprised by effective this was. In the evening one day we headed back to this area as we managed to get tickets to go up to the Reichstag dome on the top of the German government. It was well worth the trip as the views were fantastic as the sun was setting and the free audio guide about the surrounding buildings and the building itself was very interesting.

Grunewald

For my birthday we decided to go on a day trip to Grunewald forest area to drive around nature outside the city a little bit. This is a lovely area with lots of trees and large beautiful swimming lakes. We didn’t go swimming as it was still March but I would love to if it was summertime! We made the short ferry trip over to Pfauenisel island (Peacock Island). It is a very beautiful peaceful place and we did manage to find a couple of peacocks after a bit of hunting. Then we had one chill with us for a good 15 minutes as we were trying to have snacks. After this we travelled along the coastline of Wanasee to Teuflsberg. I had hoped that this would be a picnic spot but on getting up the hill it was more of an old building than I thought it would be. So we had picnic items on the way back down as it was getting late and we needed to get back to the dog.

We enjoyed our time in Berlin but after 2 and a half weeks it was time to move on to a bit more of a motorcycle trip. Next to Spreewald to check out the Tropical Islands water park in a blimp hangar!

Thanks

Alex