Our flight into Tegel Airport was early and our trip from the airport itself into town took less than anticipated. This meant that we had some time to kill before check in time at the hotel. Our plan was to leave our bags in our room and then go out to start exploring the city.
Luckily near the Stadtmitte U-Bahn (Berlin’s Underground Train System) station the Mall of Berlin is located. We slightly changed our plan and walked towards the mall to grab a quick bite to eat and warm up. I didn’t want to eat too much as I was planning to do a lot of streetfood tasting during our stay.
But I wanted to immediately eat something “Berlinish” (if that word makes sense). I found a bratwurst stand inside the mall and I had a currywurst. It was very nice but it was no match to the ones you can buy from street vendors.
What is a Curry Wurst?
A Curry Wurst is something very unique to Berlin. It is a bratwurst, to simple it down a German hot dog, cut into chunks and garnished with a ketchup based sause and curry. Legend has it that the curry wurst has its origins from the ketchup and curry that british soldiers stationed in Berlin had with them. Someone then had the brilliant idea of putting them together in one dish and there you go, the curry wurst was born.
In the mall I paid 9,55 Euro for 1 currywurst, some bread and french fries. On the street you can buy a currywurst and bread for only 3,50. Even if you add french fries to that it’ll still be cheaper than what I paid in the mall.
Where We Stayed
For our stay we chose the NH Collection Hotel at Checkpoint Charlie in Mitte. Our experience was perfect at this hotel, from check in to checkout the staff and the room really impressed me. The room was clean and spacious, we didnt have a beautiful view but that was fine. The bed was extremely comfortable, I got a solid 12 hour straight sleep, which I don’t often get.
Also at checkout staff will offer you to leave your bags at the hotel until it is time for you to leave the city so you can enjoy your last hours without carrying around heavy luggage. A very nice touch, given that you don’t need to ask but you are automatically offered.
Checkpoint Charlie
Once we got rid of our heavy luggage we were ready for our afternoon out, first stop checkpoint Charlie. This is the most famous crossing point between east and west Berlin. As the name tips off there used to be a checkpoint here were people crossing between east and west were checked.
If you look carefully in the sorroundings of the checkpoint on the footpaths you’ll notice a continuous line of bricks that are placed where the wall used to be.
Walking to The Brandenburg Door
Our next stop was the Brandenburg door, as the weather wasn’t too cold we decided to walk there. To get there we walked towards Potzdamer Platz and from there on to our final destination. From Checkpoint Charlie to Potzdamer Platz we walked along some of the remains of the wall. Seeing it physically there you really understand what it might have meant for berliners to have the wall in their life for such a long time.
A Stop at The Jewish Memorial Before The Brandenburg Door
Before reaching the Brandenburg Door we came across the Jewish Memorial, which was built to remember the murder of milions of people. It is a very simple structure but it transmits the message very clearly.
The Brandenburg Door
We weren’t particularly lucky with the weather, and as soon as we got to the door it started drizzling and then raining. Which meant we had just enough time to take some pictures and take shelter in a nearby Sturbucks. There we started planning our dinner, I had exactly in mind what I wanted to have. I was i the mood for Schnitzel.
Our Schnitzel Dinner
I was really craving a Schnitzel for dinner so we followed a friend of my wife’s advice and chose Schnitzelei. It is not the cheapest option but the quality and quantity if well worth it. As you walk in you are welcomed with a small glass of beer. I had a wiener schnitzel and my wife a beef roll we both had a side of potatoes and a small salad. I had a beer, of course, and my wife a softdrink.
The check was of about 45 euro for the two of us, but we were really full after our meal there. If you plan to eat there make sure to book ahead as it gets very busy, especially on the weekends.
That’s Day 1
After dinner we were wrecked and really in need for a good rest so we made our way back to our hotel room and called it a day.
