An eventful place Berlin is. You can feel many different things when walking the streets of the German capital. The things I felt the most were hospitality and the spirit of tradition and togetherness.
Berlin was not in my bucket list if I have to be completely honest, but this is one of these cases where I realise I have been wrong about something all along.

We went for a short three day, cold winter trip. My significant other, who is a fluent German speaker, wanted to see a play there, and I am just up for any travelling, any time, all the time so I tagged along.

We wore our warmest clothes (and hats, scarves, shoes) the first morning and we started our sight seeing tour by visiting their Zoo and Aquarium to see the PANDA! 🙂 Loving animals as much as I do, I was in my element there. We stared at the lazy boy while he was eating Bamboo, walking around and being in complete peace with himself, we went to see the penguins where my goal was to touch one of them and I did! (They like me!). We saw a polar bear, some seals, a bald eagle and everything else that you can think of. I got some goat friends now and a couple of giraffes are following me in Instagram!

 

We went to Berliner Dom and climbed all the way to the top, just to realise that one of us is afraid of  heights and go right back down. We climbed the old TV tower to the restaurant right on the top, where you can sit on a table near the window and watch Berlin slowly spin below you, while you enjoy the breath taking views.

 

We saw the Brandenburg gate, built during the Bavarian revolution. At this point it was already dark and very cold and windy, we had time to kill so we walked around trying not to freeze.

From there we went to the Reichstag dome. German parlament is quite futuristic and you do feel like you are in space when you enter the dome. It is this large glass sphere, with a spiral going around the walls on the inside all the way to the top, where you can climb and see Berlin from behind a large German flag.

 

I must say that during our entire visit everyone we met were extremely nice to us, if someone would see us looking at a map, they would stop by and ask if we need help getting somewhere and in general were very helpful and kind. The transport within the city is so punctual you can count on it more than you can count on your own watch!

The next day was entirely for the Berlin wall which is now covered in paintings symbolising freedom.

 

All of the above, plus the fact that we both felt so much at home and so relaxed the whole time makes me want to come back or try to hold on to the memory for as long as I can, hence my pin in the shape of tiny bear holding an I ❤ Berlin sign.

 

 

-K.