Bustling in vibrant Berlin

Having been bitten by the travel bug severely this summer, and with just enough time and money (for once!), I wanted to book a holiday somewhere remote and unexplored. I wanted to discover the sights, sounds and smells of a foreign land for myself without feeling obligated to visit all the suggested attractions in a travel guide. However, after realising a return flight to anywhere “remote and unexplored” would involve spending at least a month’s rent, I felt that ignoring Ryanair’s mid-season sale would just be cutting off my nose to spite my face – a city break in Berlin it was.

Consulting my Berlin RoughGuide mere minutes after landing at Schonefeld airport (a good ten miles or so away from the actual terminal, but who cares about that when you’ve landed on “yet another on-time flight” as I was informed by the spectacularly cringe worthy Ryanair jingle), I was struck by how much like hard work this holiday was going to be, if we were going to fit in all the must-sees/eats/dos - and at times it was. Yes, I had a great time, but were there sights I wish I hadn’t wasted time on? Definitely. So here is what I would limit my efforts on were I to re-do my time in Berlin, in order to have a perfect (but probably culturally ignorant) three days.

A perfect place to relax in the summer

Berlin is famed for its many (read: over 150) museums. Even after having narrowed that list down to about ten, we struggled. My feet almost died and I developed a temporary distaste for any form of culture put on show. In hindsight, if I could only visit one museum, I’d make it the Hamburger Bahnhof. This is an especially good tip for any museum-phobe out there. It’s a converted railway station now used to exhibit contemporary art, but you really do forget that you’re in a museum and not the old station as it was. I found myself spending as much time studying the infrastructure of the building as I did the art itself. The massive steel arches that hail you at the entrance, the cavernous rooms, and the underground passages - all of these lend an uncanny eeriness to some already eccentric and extraordinary displays of art, many of which are in video or audio form.

Making your way around this entire building would make for an agreeable half day at least, if not longer for the keener art fan. In a creative mindset upon exit, I then headed to the Tacheles, an ex-Nazi prison. The building has been taken over by a group of artists since the fall of the Berlin wall and has been painted over on all possible surfaces with an impressive array of artwork. Within the building, artists hold workshops and sales of their work which include sculptures, posters and jewellery. Finally, the East Side Gallery - a long stretch of what is left of the Berlin wall that has been painted with politically themed murals - is categorically worth a small detour to East Berlin.

Now, the way I’ve tailored my second day may not appeal to everyone - but as a huge history buff, I couldn’t help but dedicate a serious amount of time to the remnants of World War II in the city where it all began. The best way to see historical Berlin is a walking tour, and I would recommend the Original Berlin Walks Third Reich Sites Tour (www.berlinwalks.de). The English-speaking tour guide knew every detail of every story of every site we visited so well that not only did I barely notice three hours go by, but I felt like I’d absorbed as much information in that space of time as I had all year at university. Following up this walking tour with an afternoon at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp just outside of Berlin completed an enlightening and exceptionally poignant day.

The final day of any holiday always ought to be the most relaxed. The beautiful Schloss Charlottenburg, the largest palace in Berlin, is set in absolutely stunning grounds and backs onto the Schlosspark: “a perfect place to relax in the summer”. Within the palace itself, you can take an audio-guided tour through the rooms. If you find you still have time left after exploring this magnificently restored 17th century structure, or even if you’d rather spend your last day engaging in less intellectually demanding activities (i.e. you save the last day to shop like me) and it happens to be a Sunday then make time to pay a visit to the Mauerpakt flea market in Prenzlauer Berg. It’s a market you could spend hours meandering around, with amazing finds in almost every stall - an excellent place to spend your last euros. Lastly, if you are able to jump through the necessary hoops to land yourself on the list of permitted visitors to the Reichstag then certainly do so - but don’t sweat it if you can’t.

I’ve saved the “eats” for last. While in Berlin, we discovered possibly the best frozen yoghurt in the world. If you do not visit Berlin for any other reason, then stop there just for Wonderpots, please. I could have spent hours sampling the many flavours and toppings available at this kitsch frozen yoghurt café situated on Friedrichstrasse, the metropolitan hub of the city. There was one aspect of Berlin that all the planning in the world could not have made up for though - the currywurst. Even before I tried it, I had trouble understanding the appeal of the concept itself (seriously: frankfurters, curry powder and ketchup?) and perhaps my culinary-inclined mind had raised my hopes too high for this German delicacy; excellent post-night-out kebab substitute maybe, but nothing much else.