Well February was approaching, and that can only mean one thing, the day we celebrate a Roman priest that was brutally martyred at the hands of Emperor Claudius II. Yes none other than Valentine's Day, what does this murder of a priest have to do with love? I have no idea, but we need some day to celebrate our sweethearts, right...so why not? Anyway it had been almost a month since the M's had been away on a trip and a whole two months since they had been out of the UK, this could not stand so they decided to take a trip on this most special day to the most romantic city in Europe, Paris… NO… the home of the Third Reich, the Gestapo, and Checkpoint Charlie.. none other than Berlin. All joking aside, Berlin despite it some times sorted history is a charming city with a lot to see and do, and some very friendly residents.
LMM the undisputed master of Ryanair by this point, was looking over the deals to be had and came across a ticket to Berlin for the weekend of the 14th. The deal, £70pp, was actually quite expensive for a ticket to Berlin (considering it was with Ryanair). But for a special occasion, their fist Valentine's Day together and it just did not seem right to spend it siting in the small dorm in Edinburgh, so they decided to go for it and booked the tickets. This would also mark the start of their travels outside of the UK with no checked bags :P Fresh off their trip to London, LMM bought a nice, hiking style backpack that would 1) fit in the Ryanair carry on restriction and 2) be just big enough that they could bring a few days supplies without needing a checked bag.
Our Journey in Berlin
The trip out was uneventful; the flight is short from Edinburgh to Berlin. Upon arriving they were greeted with typical German efficiency, there was a quick s-bahn link from the airport to the center city, then just a few more stops on the u-bahn to their hotel. The hotel was after the last few trips they had been on quite pleasant. It was clean, and fairly cozy.
Infected by the spirit of German industriousness, they wasted no time and set out on the city, hitting many of the important sights: the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall (or a section of it that remains), The Reichstag, Humboldt University, and just enjoyed soaking in the culture and atmosphere of this city. They sampled some of the local food currywurst on the streets, and Berlin style pork knuckle.
The Brandenburg Gate
Berlin Wall
The Reichstag - the dome is the large glass dome at the very top of the building. The main hall of the parliament below can also be seen from the cupola, and natural light from above radiates down to the parliament floor.
By the 14th, they had seen most of the sights they wanted to see in the city, realizing they had access to a s-bhan ticket that let them take an excursion to Potsdam and look at the charming Sanssouci Park gardens. This allowed for a very scenic and relaxing stroll through the gardens and palace that was once occupied by Frederick the Great. As luck would have it started to snow this day too, not the biting blizzards that were oh so familiar to BMM, but a nice dusting of clean white snow to accentuate the already pristine grounds. They returned to Berlin that evening, had a nice dinner (of sushi, what else could you have when in Berlin :P ), took in one more stroll in the Berlin snow, and went back to relax with some German TV with a bottle of red wine.
Checkpoint Charlie
Sanssouci Park
Berlin Style Pork Knuckle
The next day it was time to go home, so they packed up their stuff and headed out to the airport, the trip back again was nondescript other than the German Ryanair staff being much more pushy making LMM prove that the backpack was under 10kg and would fit in their tiny little box for the second time. But nonetheless they got back with no problem, so they could plan their next adventure.
grt
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