Just want to put it out there that Berlin is one of my favorite places on earth 🙂
We took the train from Prague to Berlin. It’s relatively close. Only a 4 hour ride. We booked it through this website http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/
It was actually my first time ever taking the train. I was a bit nervous so I booked first class ahead of time which was only about $20 more than the regular economy seating. What a great decision it was. It was on a Sunday and the first class section was nearly empty. The attendants were so kind and the seats were super comfortable. Smooth ride it was.
We finally got to Berlin and took the cab to our airbnb place in Kreuzberg (only $25 per night!). I immediately fell in love with this place. This city is definitely meant for biking and walking, everything is very accessible by foot, metro, or bike. There are so many good restaurants all around the area and almost all have outdoor seating. Throughout the day, there are always people out and about. AND best of all, everyone is so freaken nice. It’s a blessing in the skies.
So, there are 3 places I always ate it when I was in Berlin: Cocolo Ramen, Mustafas Gemuse Kebab, and some random Turkish Restaurant (I don’t remember the name! :*O ) Fast service and it’s really good. I don’t think I ever had bad food in Berlin. The price range for a meal at a casual restaurant usually starts at $12 USD.
During the day time, we rented bikes for free from the DB bike stations that are located almost every other 4 blocks or so. Keep in mind, it’s only free if you get the basic rate and park the bike every 30 minutes. Moreover, we biked from Kreuzberg and into Mitte (nice ritzy neighborgood). This way we surprisingly stumbled upon many of berlin’s landmarks like the berlin wall, Brandenburg Gate, Alexanderplatz, Tiergarten Park (awesome park!), Holocaust Memorial, and so forth. Biking is a great and safe way to see everything. The biking lanes are all part of the sidewalk which makes it much more safe to bike than compared to biking in NY or SF with bike lanes being in the street.
During the night time, we partied with our Airbnb host. He took us to a rock club in mitte, a 80’s theme party in some unknown club, and we ended up at Cookies the last night in Berlin. Cookies is the only name that I remember lol. It’s also a great semi fancy nightclub with 2 dance floors one hip hop and the other disco/techno. There are a bunch of other random rooms to hangout throughout this place. When I was partied in Berlin, everyone was so friendly. I had several unplanned dance battles aha! It was great.
Overall, I had such a great time in Berlin that it made me think about moving there lol. Most folks speak English which makes it easier for me since I don’t speak German, it’s incredibly safe, and it’s festive all the time! I love it.
Traveling Photographer 