Berlin Itinerary

Friday, Day 1:

Morning – fly from Kaunas to Berlin

Afternoon – Pergamon Museum on Museum Island

One of several museums on a small island, the Pergamon Museum is internationally known for its collection of classical antiquities.  The main floor houses three halls each with installations of original buildings and walls — the Pergamon Temple from Greece, the Gate of Miletus from Rome, and the Ishtar Gate and Processional Way from Babylon.  Truly an amazing sight.  The exhibition of Islamic art was also beautiful.

Evening – drinking beer and having interesting conversations in a mix of English, Lithuanian, Russian and German with a group of 2 Americans, 3 Lithuanians, 1 German, 1 Latvian and 1 Russian.

Saturday, Day 2:

Morning – Berlin Zoo

The weather was pleasantly warm and we wanted to be outside, so we went to the zoo.  A few blooming trees and the baby animals made it really feel like spring.

Afternoon – Wansee

In the afternoon, a Lithuanian acquaintance who lives in Berlin took us out to Wansee, a small town outside of Berlin with lots of castles.

Evening — home-cooked dinner with an Indian German poet

The rest of the group continued on to Postdam, but I returned to Berlin with one of my travel companions, a Lithuanian-American writer.  She had been invited to dinner with a friend of hers, an Indian poet who emigrated to Germany thirty years ago.  Another evening of fascinating conversation and deliciously spicy home-cooked Indian food.

 

Sunday, Day 3:

Morning — exploring the city on foot

The young people had stayed out until the very early hours of the morning at a club, so I went off on my own to explore the city.  I returned to Checkpoint Charlie to see the Berlin Wall exhibition along the street, then walked to Potsdamer Platz, the Brandenburg Gate and the Bundestag.

Afternoon – flea market and Turkish food

We spent the afternoon at a large flea market in a field in a former East German neighborhood.  One of my goals on this trip was to eat Turkish food.  It was was tasty and spicy!

Evening – Tajik Tea Room

After a day of walking, we sat on cushions on the floor, drank smoky-flavored Russian tea and ate delicious cake at the Tajik Tea Room.  A cozy and lovely tea room, it was a gift from the Soviet Union to the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in the spirit of the brotherhood of nations.  It’s apparently a very popular place with the locals because we had to wait 30 minutes for a table and most of the people there were Germans rather than tourists.  I recommend it as a place to relax after a long day of tourist activities.

Back to Kaunas on Monday morning.  More stories and photos to come…

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