Berlin impressions (live)

Hi there,I arrived in Berlin last night. In another discussion, I shared how much of a "nightmare" the flights from Nice were.I’ll be posting some impressions here—what I liked and what I didn’t like as much.This is my first time in Berlin. I’m staying for two weeks. For now, I’m alone, but I’ll be joined by someone in a few days.Just to clarify, I won’t be posting any photos because my camera gave up the ghost the day before I left. It refused to read memory cards, and I don’t have a smartphone—just a tablet that I leave at the hotel.Speaking of photos, a few years ago, at the Ducasse d’Ath in Belgium, I met a retired teacher who wasn’t taking any pictures of the festival. I asked her, "You’re not taking any photos?" She told me that during a trip to Nicaragua, she’d photographed howler monkeys and only noticed when looking at the pictures later that the males had huge testicles—something she hadn’t realized in person. She said, "Since then, I don’t bother with photos anymore!" I’ve thought about that often and wonder if I should do the same and stop taking pictures. Still, I’ll probably get a smartphone since it’s hard to go without one these days.

So I arrived in Berlin at night and in the fog, and today the city was still a bit misty. I'm staying near Alexanderplatz, and the top of the TV Tower was shrouded in fog—it's perfect, it matches exactly the cliché I had of Berlin: a gray and cold city!
It's not *that* cold, but compared to the Côte d'Azur, there's still a bit of a temperature shock.For those who want to come to Berlin in December, you should know that the days are very short—it gets dark before 4:30 PM.Today I didn’t do much—I took a walk around Alexanderplatz and up to the Brandenburg Gate.The Brandenburg Gate seemed small to me; I didn’t picture it like that. Was it the fog making it look smaller? Either way, I imagined it would be more impressive. In front of it, there was a huge Jewish candelabra and a large Star of David set up by Berlin’s Jewish community for Hanukkah. I wondered if other religious communities in the city do the same.In the alley leading to the Brandenburg Gate, there are photos of the war damage in Ukraine, as well as a small installation in memory of Alexei Navalny with anti-Putin messages in English. I also saw quite a few Ukrainian flags around. I’d seen a lot of them in Poland in the spring too. In some southern European countries, you see different flags—it’s interesting to see how each country rallies more for one cause or another, depending on history and geography.At this time of year, you shouldn’t miss the CHRISTMAS MARKETS. There’s one at Alexanderplatz—it’s very busy in the afternoon. You can find all kinds of hot drinks (I tried egg punch with cream—it’s not bad) and lots of stalls with big grills cooking sausages of all sizes. Near the Humboldt Forum, there’s another market with specialties from other countries (lots of Hungarian stalls).
There are counters around wood fires to warm up.I plan to go to the Spandau Christmas market, which is bigger.At a Volkswagen cultural center, there was a free exhibition on design, including German design. There was a model and a photo of the only building designed by Niemeyer in Germany—I’m going to try to find it; I’d never heard of it before.I wanted to walk along Karl Marx Allee with its Soviet architecture, but night fell so quickly that I gave up.For the tram, you should know that you can buy tickets inside, but you can only pay in cash. I only had bills and a credit card, and a woman gave me a ticket—she didn’t want the 5 € bill I offered her in payment.I hope it doesn’t snow in the next few days...TO BE CONTINUED...

Today the weather was even foggier than yesterday, and by 4:15 PM it’s already dark. I still haven’t seen the top of the Television Tower—it’s constantly shrouded in mist.Yesterday, I didn’t pay much attention to the nativity scenes at the Christmas markets: they’re multi-level carousels, and on each level, there are figures (the Three Wise Men, the Virgin Mary, baby Jesus, etc.). Some figures move, and at the very top, a propeller spins the whole thing. The tower is illuminated, and the colors change—it’s called a "Christmas pyramid," and it’s so pretty. I’d never seen anything like it before; it’s typically German.At the Christmas markets, I tried several sausage specialties, but I didn’t like them much—they were always too salty.There’s always a line at the stalls serving mushrooms with sauce or cream, so I’ll have to try those. There’s also a lot of waiting at the "langos" stands—those are fried bread flatbreads with different toppings—and I’ll give those a taste too.Otherwise, today I spent a good part of the day at the HUMBOLDT FORUM ❤️
Admission: 14 €.It houses an Ethnological Museum. For those who enjoy this kind of museum, it’s incredibly rich. The rooms dedicated to Oceania and Africa feature stunning pieces (life-sized representations of traditional Oceanic boats, ritual drums, masks, totems, etc.). Some objects are impressive due to their size or the beauty of their colors.
One small downside: the lack of explanations. Many items are displayed in cases with no description—only their origin is mentioned.There was an exhibition on German colonization in Africa. It mostly consisted of small-print texts and small photos. Back in February, I saw an exhibition on Portuguese colonization in Africa at the Museum of Ethnology in Lisbon, and I found it much more interesting—both in content and presentation.The Humboldt Forum also has an Asian Art Museum. I particularly liked the frescoes brought back from Buddhist cave-temples in China. A fascinating video shows how these caves are located in very steep areas, and some require a ladder to access. They’ve recreated a small cave with frescoes all the way up to the ceiling. There were three Chinese tourists with huge cameras, and I think they photographed every detail of the frescoes.On the first floor, there’s a permanent exhibition on Berlin’s history. It’s quite interactive, but I didn’t find this floor very interesting. Still, I saw some recent installations on Berlin issues, like violence against women (with a tree made entirely of women’s hair!) and housing prices in certain neighborhoods (with a gravestone installed in Kreuzberg). I’ll look up more info online.TO BE CONTINUED...

Hello,Sounds like a great getaway! 👍 Two weeks in Berlin should give you plenty of time to relax, even if the days are short at this time of year. Back in 2022, I spent a week there in the spring and have amazing memories of it.Fingers crossed for no bad luck with flights and your camera, though—here’s to 2026! 🤞

Hi there,My favorite spot in Berlin is the Classic Remise, and the allotment gardens nearby.
Lángos are a Hungarian specialty.
Nothing German about them.Michel

Hi Jérôme,Yeah, the days are short—I wasn’t expecting it to get dark around 4 PM! Now I get why Germans love southern Europe so much. Here, I haven’t seen the sun for two days.You’re right, thinking about it, I’ve had some bad luck with my trips this year in 2025. I told the employee in Nice on Saturday: I don’t fly often, but every time I do, something goes wrong. I’m just unlucky!Early July, I missed my connection to Guatemala because of the air traffic controllers' strike. I spent the night in Madrid but lost the first night at my hotel in Guatemala (non-refundable).For Poland, my suitcase didn’t arrive, and I got scammed by a taxi in Warsaw. They charged me 93 € for a ride that was worth 3 € max (another guest at my hotel had the same issue). Luckily, I managed to get the 93 € refunded.But I’ve also had direct flights Nice-Lisbon and Nice-Madrid that went smoothly....

Thanks for the sightseeing tip, I’ll check it out.
Tomorrow I’m going to try to visit the Spandau Christmas market—it’s the last day, and I’m not sure I’ll be back at this time of year.About the "lángos," I saw online that it’s Hungarian and very common in Central Europe. In Berlin, it’s a super popular specialty. At the lángos stands, there’s no mention that it’s Hungarian, but at other stands, it’s clearly labeled as Hungarian specialties (mostly goulash).There’s something else that sells really well—the baker is always kneading a huge amount of dough. I don’t know if it’s German, but it’s sweet, spiral-shaped, and cooked on a spit. I haven’t tried it yet, but there’s a cinnamon version.

For the South Korea project, the advantage over there is that there are no scams 😁 One less risk to worry about 🍀

Hi there,If you love medieval and Renaissance paintings, there’s a fantastic museum, the Gemäldgalerie, located in the Tiergartenviertel district.A little farther out in Potsdam, you’ll find the Sanssouci estate—my personal favorite is the Neues Palais, a stunning example of Rococo architecture.

Hi Michel,Yes, I’ve planned to visit the Picture Gallery. For Sanssouci, I saw it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, so it must be worth it.

Today the mist cleared, but it's still just as grey and getting colder.
I finally got to see the iconic Television Tower, which until now had been mostly hidden by the mist. Actually, if there's no mist, you can see it even from my hotel.I took the train to SPANDAU; it's pretty quick.The surroundings of this outlying Berlin district are nice—you cross a forest and some streams. The old town with its cobbled streets has charm; it's very peaceful.You can visit St. Nicholas Church, a Gothic church famous for hosting the first public Lutheran mass in Brandenburg in 1539. Across from the Virgin Mary, they’ve placed a small cross made in La Palma, El Salvador, featuring scenes of rural Salvadoran life. I know they export these little crosses everywhere, but I didn’t expect to see one in a Protestant church in Berlin!Spandau also has a lovely citadel.I went there for the Christmas market, but I arrived around noon, and there wasn’t much atmosphere—you really need to go in the evening.The "Christmas pyramids" I mentioned yesterday, which you find at every Christmas market (the one at Alexanderplatz is the biggest), are sold as Christmas decorations at the market stalls. The smallest and cheapest ones cost at least 100 €.On the way back, I got off at the zoo stop (I didn’t go to the zoo). You can visit KAISER WILHELM MEMORIAL CHURCH. In the old church, with its tower broken by bombings, you can see some beautiful mosaics. There’s only a very small room to see, with archive photos of the bombings.
Across the way, there’s a new church whose walls are made of blue glass blocks that really highlight the building in the evening. When I went in, there was a sort of play and singing with children.KaDeWe:Still in the same area is this department store, said to be one of the largest in Europe. It’s a bit like the French Nouvelles Galeries or Spain’s El Corte Inglés—you can find everything on several floors.
I went in for the food floor. I’d read that you can find all sorts of cured meats, cheeses, etc. Actually, there’s mostly a wide variety of coffee, tea, chocolates, and some German Christmas specialties. There are also pastas, international brands, and a few German brands. I was disappointed—I expected more products, especially German ones—but I might not have seen everything because it was packed.
Everything is chic and expensive.On the same floor, there’s a "food hall" with lots of places to eat. The clientele is very upscale.Otherwise, I tried "lángos"—it’s pretty good. The dough is thin and fried, but it’s light and not greasy.TO BE CONTINUED...

Since yesterday there’s been magnificent sunshine, not a single cloud, no more mist—Berlin has a whole new face and the buildings on Unter den Linden look even more majestic, but it’s freezing cold!TELEVISION TOWER
ADMISSION: 28.50 euros (the sign at the entrance says 30 euros, not sure why I paid a bit less since I don’t qualify for any discount).Since the weather was clear, we went up the Television Tower. Before heading up, it helps to know a bit about the city to get your bearings—otherwise, you won’t really know what you’re looking at.
From the top, you get a great view of the Soviet-style buildings in East Berlin.
Still, I think it’s pretty expensive for what you get to see.
It was quite crowded.EAST SIDE GALLERY ❤️This is a 1.3-kilometer stretch of the Berlin Wall painted by international artists on the themes of the Wall and Freedom. It’s where you’ll find the famous painting of Brezhnev kissing Honecker on the mouth—you’ve probably seen the photo everywhere, but tourists still crowd around to take pictures of it. There are other beautiful artworks too.
A must for history and street art lovers.ALTES MUSEUM ❤️
ADMISSION: 14 euros or 24 euros for a day ticket valid for all museums on Museum IslandConsidered one of the world’s finest antiquities museums, and its reputation is well deserved.
You’ll find stunning Etruscan vases, funerary urns, and magnificent statues. Plan for at least 2 hours to explore.There’s a small erotic room with amulets, vases, and more. One of the highlights is a bas-relief of Leda and the Swan, and below it, a purple panel (the color of feminist movements) notes that myths should be approached with caution, as the story of Leda is now seen as an example of violence against women since Leda wasn’t consenting.HOLOCAUST MEMORIALOver 2,700 raw concrete stelae symbolizing Death. A must-see.TO BE CONTINUED...

From what I’ve eaten at the Christmas markets: in Spandau, they cook salmon on wooden planks over a wood fire and serve it in a sandwich with sauce—it’s not bad.The mushrooms with a white sauce and herbs (tarragon?)—I didn’t like the taste, and it’s too greasy. The warm mushroom and cheese sandwiches with a white cheese sauce on top are a bit better.I tried the "currywurst" (sliced sausage with ketchup and curry powder) twice, and I really don’t think it’s good!
At the Christmas markets, there are other sausage specialties grilling on large wood-fire grills. My favorite is a big sausage in a small bun with a little sauce.TO BE CONTINUED...

GEMALDEGALERIE❤️
Admission: 14 euros or a 22-euro ticket that lets you visit other museums during the day.This museum houses one of the world’s most fabulous painting collections, featuring all the major painters from the 13th to the 18th centuries: Botticelli, Raphael, Caravaggio, Canaletto, Carpaccio—whose painting "The Preparation of Christ’s Tomb" has just been restored...All the masters of Flemish painting are here: Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Dyck, and more...
Don’t miss "Flemish Proverbs" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. There’s a French leaflet with the 119 proverbs depicted—many are hilarious (example: "putting a blue cloak on one’s husband").Every room has a masterpiece; I especially loved the Flemish painting galleries.Plan for at least 3 hours if you linger over some paintings. It’s a time-consuming visit, best for true art lovers (I’m here with three others, and two of them decided to do something else).The museum is a bit out of the way, though it’s very close to Potsdamer Platz, a Berlin square worth seeing. Like everywhere else, there’s a Christmas market with an ice rink and a sledding track.Weather update today: not a single cloud in the sky, but it’s freezing!TO BE CONTINUED...

POTSDAM❤️Allow about 45 minutes by train from Alexanderplatz; trains run very frequently in both directions (single ticket: 4.70 € to buy and validate on the platform).Potsdam is a really pretty town. It’s lovely to stroll around the city center and the Dutch Quarter (with its Flemish-style houses). Right now, you’ll find the unmissable Christmas market with its Christmas pyramid, mulled wine, sausage stands, and more...When it comes to German Christmas market food, today in Potsdam I tried "kartoffelpuffer" (fried potato pancakes) with applesauce (you can choose to have them with sour cream or other sauces). The taste wasn’t bad, but it’s a bit heavy.
I also had Schmalzkuchen, little doughnuts dusted with powdered sugar and served in a paper cone. They weren’t bad either, but again, a bit rich.SCHLOSS SANSSOUCI
Admission: 14 € or 22 € for the combined ticketBus 695, which you can catch in front of Potsdam station, drops you right in front of Sanssouci Palace.This palace, a retreat for King Frederick II of Prussia, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is considered the jewel of German Rococo.Tours are in timed groups; we arrived at 12:20 and got tickets for 12:55 (the group entered 10 minutes early).There’s no guide, but an audio guide is available in several languages, including French, giving some explanations about the 11 small rooms you visit. The tour takes less than an hour.This visit was pretty disappointing because the rooms are barely lit—there are only two or three wall sconces lighting just a few centimeters of the walls, and the rest relies on natural light from the large windows. Except today, the weather was very gray and foggy, so there was almost no light!
I’ve never visited a castle or palace with so little lighting! There are lots of dark paintings, and obviously, without light, you can’t see much. The audio guide tells you the tapestries are a certain color, but apart from the few lit centimeters, you can’t see anything!
In short, a big letdown!The park, on the other hand, must be gorgeous in spring or summer, but on a gray, damp winter day, it’s a whole different story...So, pick a sunny day to go if you don’t want to tour in semi-darkness.TO BE CONTINUED...

Too bad you didn’t make it all the way to the Neues Palais—it’s really way more interesting than Sanssouci Palace.

Hi Michel,We were so disappointed that we left!I think the Neues Palais is at the end of the park, and today, a good part of the path to get there was really slippery because it was covered in frost.Sanssouci Palace isn’t very interesting, and yet there were quite a few people, which makes the visit unpleasant since it’s pretty narrow.Anyway, this visit is really better when the weather is nice and warmer, so you can enjoy the garden, especially.

NEUES MUSEUM (New Museum) ❤️
Admission: 14 euros or 24 euros for the combined ticketThis is a fabulous museum that’s part of the Museum Island complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site (note that the Pergamon Museum, also part of it, is currently closed for renovations).A stunning building with an impressive central interior staircase.
It houses the Egyptian Museum, featuring the iconic bust of Nefertiti as the star attraction (close-up photography is prohibited—the guards keep a close eye). There are also several beautiful sarcophagi, sculptures, and more.On the top floor, in the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, don’t miss the long gold hat—only four of these have ever been found worldwide, and Berlin’s is the best preserved.A French audio guide is included in the price, so plan plenty of time for your visit because there’s a lot to see.
This museum is billed as a Berlin "must-see," and it attracts huge crowds.BODE MUSEUMThe visit is included in the combined ticket, but you’ll need to be motivated to visit multiple museums in a row (though on the plus side, it’s cold outside, and you’re better off indoors).A beautiful building housing a collection of mostly religious paintings and sculptures. There are lovely pieces by Luca della Robbia, which I personally adore (glazed terracottas), as well as impressive German altarpieces.TO BE CONTINUED...

Today the Christmas market specialties I tried: smoked sausage grilled over a wood fire, Quarkbällchen (fried dough balls made with fresh quark cheese—kind of like super soft doughnuts).For drinks: the "Lumumba"—hot cocoa with rum and whipped cream.I mentioned earlier the tables with a fire in the center to warm up: there are logs available so people can feed the fire. It’s really cozy and friendly.TO BE CONTINUED...