Berliner Weekend, Part2

I woke up quite late. In my hotel there is no proper breakfast, but at 12:30 I had the reservation at Hallesches Haus for the brunch. Very nice place with good food, the garden and friendly personnel.

For today the main event would be visiting The Berlinische Galerie, which is located in the Kreuzberg district. The museum is in a cool, modern building, and it does not look overcrowded.

The museum shows art, photography and architecture by Berlin artists from the 1800s to today, featuring works from such artists as Otto Dix and Hannah Höch.

I should admit, it is a very calm space to enjoy thought-provoking art and learn how Berlin’s history has shaped its creativity.

The rest of the day I have spent strolling around the Museum Island. I love this area so much! Surrounded by grand neoclassical buildings like the Altes Museum, Pergamon Museum and Berlin Cathedral, the whole area feels like an open-air gallery.

It was a good time in Berlin, and I would love to come here for another weekend very soon. I would say, you never really "finish" seeing Berlin. Museums, galleries, monuments, hidden bars, flea markets, rooftop views or just streets, which can be elegant or full of chaos here. So many things to see, to experience and to admire.

Full of nice experiences and with Pretzel in hands I am on the way back to cozy and romantic Prague. 

Berliner Weekend, Part1

Another attempt to pal up with Berlin. The first one was almost a year ago, and at that time I have noticed that the city was very diverse, but quite gloomy and not very friendly.

I came to Berlin with the train. I think we even do not have any direct flights from Prague. However, if you set off early in the morning, you would still most probably feel sleepy, so you can sleep on the train some hours.

The spring has just come to the city. Not much greenery and leaves on the trees.

Wide streets in the city centre. Very pedestrian-friendly, with large sidewalks, bike lanes, and well-marked crossings.

Here is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. A powerful symbol of the destruction of war and the resilience of peace. It was largely destroyed in a bombing raid in 1943 during World War II, but nowadays it is preserved in its ruined state as a memorial to remind the horrors of war.

I am staying at SORAT hotel, a small, cozy city hotel in a prime location directly on Wittenbergplatz, located in Berlin's Schoneberg district, at the edge of the famous shopping boulevard Kurfurstendamm. One of the main attractions here is the iconic KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), a Berlin institution and the largest department store in continental Europe.

The late lunch I had in some traditional restaurant. And in that traditional restaurant I tried the traditional food - the Schnitzel. To tell the truth, Schnitzel originated in Austria. But it has become a beloved and widespread dish in German cuisine too. In Germany, the most common version is Schnitzel "Wiener Art" (Viennese-style Schnitzel), usually made with pork instead of veal. The Schnitzel was served here with potato salad (Kartoffelsalat). Very delicious and very heavy :-)

The day was not finished with Schnitzel, of course. After having a nap at the hotel I had a long walking in the neighborhood of Wittenbergplatz, visiting many local bars. Yet, the night life in Berlin is more exciting than the daylight life.

Triangle. Amsterdam.

My final stop of staying in the Netherlands, the third point of the geography triangle, the jewel of lowlands is Amsterdam. It's been a long time since I have visited Amsterdam last time, and I also have a short story about my experiences here. It is time to refresh the memories.

What do we know about Amsterdam? Red light district, smells weed everywhere and Heineken. But did you know that Amsterdam is built on over 11 million wooden poles, its canals stretch longer than Venice’s and the city has more bikes than people? 

Amsterdam’s canals are iconic, with picturesque bridges, houseboats, and historic buildings lining the water. Over 100 kilometers of waterways are crisscrossing the city. There are 165 canals and 1200 bridges!

Many streets in Amsterdam date back centuries, with narrow, winding paths and charming, old buildings. And of course, most streets are designed with bike lanes, allowing cyclists to glide through the city.

But all mentioned above is not important for me at the moment. Because I am rushing to the museum of Van Gogh, where I have ordered an excursion with a tour guide.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam houses the world’s largest collection of Vincent van Gogh’s artworks. It features over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and hundreds of personal letters. 

The top masterpieces for me are The Potato Eaters (one of his earliest major works), Sunflowers, The Bedroom and Almond Blossom.

The tour guide was boring, and instead of declared 2 hours it was lasting only 45 minutes. Maybe next time I would take an audio-guide.

By the end of the excursion the hotel room is ready to check-in. At this time there is nothing special about my room, because I really wanted to have the one with the canal view, but it would be too much expensive for me.

I continue walking around the city centre and cannot stop admiring. Amsterdam’s architecture is full of unique and clever details. For example, many of the old canal houses lean slightly forward - not because they’re falling over, but to make it easier to pull goods up with a hook and pulley system. Many old houses have hooks at the top - these are still used today to move furniture through windows, since staircases inside are often too narrow. Another interesting fact is that many buildings are tall and narrow here because people in the past used to be taxed on how wide their homes were.

If one night in Rotterdam or the Hague can be enough, I would not say this about Amsterdam. So, I want to return to this city one more time and to spend at least 3 nights, but not during a weekend, because it would cost me a fortune.

Nevertheless, I am happy to finish my current trip and come back to Prague. By the way, the flight is very short - it is only 1 hour and 30 minutes, and the city is very accessible by train from the airport. Why did not I travel to the Netherlands before?

And just not to forget, here is the wish list for my next staying in Amsterdam:

• visit the Rijksmuseum;
• see the floating flower market;
• take a boat tour on the canals;
• try many variations of Dutch cheese from a market;
• relax in Vondelpark.

See you soon, Amsterdam!