My (latest) trip to Berlin

I am half German, and my mum's family still lives over there so as you can imagine I have been to Berlin several times. Over Easter my boyfriend's family very kindly invited me to go with them on their first visit and we had a lovely time! We obviously saw the important sights, like the Brandenburg Gate and the Museum Island, but we also did lots of fun things I'd never done before. I particularly enjoyed the almost brand new Mall of Berlin which is in Potsdamer Platz where the no man's land between wall boarders of east and west once stood. Great shops and a lovely cheerful replacement for a previously pretty morbid site. KaDeWe and Bikini were also highlights for me as far as shopping was concerned! 

But the shopping was really a minor part of the holiday. As I mentioned, we did some sightseeing, and one of the things we saw that was new to me was Checkpoint Charlie. I'm not really sure why I've never been before but it was fascinating to see and there was a pop up museum next to it which was free to go to and really good at giving context for the importance of the site. My mum lived in Berlin while it was still divided so it's a big part of my family history as well as the history of the city so it was fascinating to see from that point of view as well. It's so different seeing it in real life than just hearing about it from my grandparents.

Since we were there over Easter weekend, we were a bit limited for things to do on the last day and we ended up going to both the sea life centre and the aquarium but I didn't mind as I love fish. Although overall I preferred the aquarium because it had lizards, frogs, alligators, turtles and insects as well as just fish the main highlight was at the sea life centre. They have a lift that goes all the way up the middle of a fish tank (as you can see in this picture). There was an array of beautiful fish including Royal Blue Tang (otherwise known as Paracanthurus or Dory fish) which have been my favourite since I saw Finding Nemo! We were lucky enough that we got to see them being fed on our way up because we timed it just before lunch time. At the bottom of the lift there was a fantastic American diner too so after we saw the fish have lunch we got to have ours too. It's something that I've always wanted to do as a kid so finally being able to was like 5 year old me's absolute heaven!

Another new thing to me was the TV Tower. I've seen it from a distance many times, and my uncle used to work there so my family would always point it out when we visited but I never went up. The viewing platform which we visited is 203 metres up, and it's pretty cool to get a 360 degree view of the city. Above that, there is a rotating restaurant which I would love to eat in some day. I'm sure my family would be happy to go, and if not I'll just have to drag my boyfriend along with me! He definitely wouldn't complain. It's a really cool thing to experience, I'd recommend it to anyone planning on going to Berlin.

Just down the road from my family's flat is this beautiful palace called the Charlottenburg Schloss. It's beautiful, and I love to walk around the gardens there if I visit in summer or go to the museum inside if it's cold or rainy (as we did this time). It's beautiful and has a great display inside, complete with free audioguide which tells you all about the palace as you walk around. I especially love this palace at Christmas, as the Christmas market outside is one of the best I have ever been to. It's huge and has both indoor and outdoor market stalls or food, jewellery, trinkets etc. for a variety of prices!


Overall, a really lovely holiday! I love this city so much and I'm already looking forward to my next visit.