Berlin is a city of contrasts! I had one free day, so I managed just a little: Bus City Tour, a visit to the Brohan Museum, a couple of shops, a Turkish-German restaurant, a prostitute quarter (unexpectedly), Potsdamer Platz and the old center. The first thing that comes to mind when I remember Germany is cleanliness.
… More ▾
Berlin is a city of contrasts!
I had one free day, so I managed just a little: Bus City Tour, a visit to the Brohan Museum, a couple of shops, a Turkish-German restaurant, a prostitute quarter (unexpectedly), Potsdamer Platz and the old center.
The first thing that comes to mind when I remember Germany is cleanliness... As one German friend said: “My house is clean, but I need to tidy up. Now the Russian order, but we need to make it German. ” Well, how can you argue??... I love Germany very much for its cleanliness, the southern countries do not boast of this, the post-Soviet ones, however, also.
Riding in a double-decker bus with headphones in my ears, an ambivalent feeling arose in me: I am at home in Europe at the same time, but for some reason where “homes” are clean, like in Europe... It was East Berlin that reminded me of my homeland - block buildings (I can’t call architecture panel houses-anthills that we are used to seeing in residential areas), there are a lot of spruces, birches and lindens from the plantations, on the facades of shopping centers of the “that” building (which is surprising) a mosaic in the style of “world-peace” and “cheers for the Soviet Union” , wide avenues, green alleys... the latter just does not look like home. Berlin is indeed a very green city, it is green everywhere - even in remote and residential areas. Despite the number of cars, the air is clean and, stuck in a traffic jam on the avenue, people breathe air, not exhaust gases (I say this as a person who traveled 2 hours in an open bus around the city center at rush hour). In Kyiv, I can’t smoke in a car while standing in a traffic jam - I’m suffocating from exhaust gases!
By the way, the idea of a sightseeing bus is wonderful, I was convinced of this from my own experience. Such an excursion makes it possible to get acquainted with the city and see the main sights (at least from the outside) in 2 hours.
I will not now describe a piece of the Berlin Wall - the largest open art gallery in the world, the Church of St. Nicholas, the Red Town Hall, the Berlin Cathedral, the "island of museums", the Reichstag, etc. , I will talk about life...
The voice from the headphones said: Brohan Museum of Private Collections, which displays the work of Pablo Picasso and his contemporaries. Out of a strong love for Picasso and a desire to see his masterpieces, I jumped out of the bus... I managed to look at my contemporaries, I liked the minor Bruno Paula... The floor with Picasso was brazenly closed.
I went out into the street, got into a tourist bus that arrived, the route was the same - boulevards, alleys, the sun over my head... and suddenly Chanel, followed immediately by Dior, well, then I realized that the stop was mine, it's time to get out! I am not a shopaholic at all and I am quite calm about clothes, but from time to time my soul asks for joy, circuses and fittings! The sightseeing bus, of course, does not stop at the click, so I still got off at Kurfurstendamm (Berlin's main boutique street), but already far from the Chanels. I decided not to return and went shopping in the direction of Potsdamer Place, so that I would go towards the “home” (I lived in Sofitel on Str. Werdersch). Moving smoothly with a small package of “pleasures for the soul”, I felt that my stomach was also not averse to a little joy... Without hesitation, I went into the first German restaurant Alt-Berlin, with tables on the street and comfortable rattan chairs. Coming closer and sitting down, it immediately became clear that the chairs were not rattan, and the restaurant was not German, but rather Turkish with a German menu.
After eating a sausage and drinking a glass of cold wine, I decided to continue walking. Finding first on the map, and then on the Kurfursten area, I walked along it. In any case, that's how it seemed to me. . . About 300 meters later, the central Fashion Street turned into a quiet gray street with deaf houses, strange buildings and a modest Holiday Inn. After another 500 meters, I saw something that I had never seen in Europe for several years - brightly made-up young ladies, stopping passing cars with their hips. Prostitutes. On the road. Frankly, I even doubted that in modern Europe this can be found walking along the streets. I took a walk: me and prostitutes - no one else. Realizing that “something I wandered in the wrong place”, I dug deeper into the map, trying to understand where I was so sucked . . ! It turned out to be at the end… I didn't finish reading “str”… Kurfurstendamm is really a street of boutiques, it is lively and full of life. Then she somehow imperceptibly passes into Kurfurstenstr. - a street of prostitutes, f-faking cars (everyone honks when they see the girls, but no one stops. I think it’s pure rudeness, honked - how a decent person should stop, there’s nothing to f-fake for nothing), 80-year-old grandfathers “God, take your strength, take your thoughts” and… a casino (a very loud name for these places)! Such a street, with a spark! And grandfathers! Lovely creatures. They were the ones who helped me get out of there. Grandpas, sitting in "cafes" (which I also did not expect to meet in Europe), watched the girls with keen interest, and here I am... in the map... up to my ears (it's scary to lower it, it's scary to "flatter" yourself, but suddenly will accept)… By common efforts, I somehow got out of the mysterious Kurfursten on Potsdamerstr. It doesn't get any easier from time to time... now the shabby buildings, casinos and kebabs have become the main attraction. And so the whole street. And this is Berlin, the city center! I kind of walked around Berlin before, but not so much informative))
After half an hour of vigorous (I would even say a runaway step), I reached the half-goal - Potsdamer Place! glass area. Several high business centers are made according to the once latest technologies (8 years ago) - made of glass. All of them are connected by a roof under which there are cafes, pubs, a cinema, a fountain, a couple of shops - such a recreation area. Seeing a familiar pub (I visited it well on my last visit), I immediately felt safe and... again in Berlin. After intense festivities and experiences, I needed 20 minutes and a latte in a cafe by the fountain.
I remember the way ahead. Through the Carlton Hotel, along Eber str. , passing by Adlona Kempinski, I walked slowly to my Sofitel.
Speaking of hotels. Previously, I had never lived in the Sofitel network, I heard that it was not bad in Paris, but somehow it never happened. I wanted to try, in fact, that's why Sofitel Berlin Gendarmenmarkt was chosen. A good rating on booking. com, nice photos, a good location - virtually everything is OK. In practice, everything is different as usual. For starters, the street and the entrance to the hotel were dug up - they changed the pipes)). A modest entrance, a small dark hall, a lobby area - one sofa and two armchairs, no bar (more precisely, it is next door - behind the wall, but the entrance is from the street) in general, a typical business hotel in a minimalist style and in dark colors. The rooms are small, but with huge French windows (which is good news)! There are “laces” on both sides of the bed, pulling which you can hear music, a beautiful classic designed to inspire sleep. Another opening was the door to the bathroom. More precisely, at first - its absence, later it turned out that the door to the toilet, when opened, transforms into a door to the bathroom, such a non-standard architectural and design solution! )) In general, a good hotel, very clean, fresh, with smooth, calm service, though the doormen themselves are not very bother, but not Adlon either. It is in Adlon Kempinsky that you will be met almost at the Brandenburg Gate, unobtrusively walk in circles, anticipate requests, feed you delicious marbled meat and will be allowed to smoke in the bar! It is in Adlon, where spacious rooms and marble bathrooms, that there is a wonderful lounge with live music, a “green” cigarette and a rich cocktail list... I remember we drank something there...
Yana Shabatina
I had one free day, so I managed just a little: Bus City Tour, a visit to the Brohan Museum, a couple of shops, a Turkish-German restaurant, a prostitute quarter (unexpectedly), Potsdamer Platz and the old center.
The first thing that comes to mind when I remember Germany is cleanliness... As one German friend said: “My house is clean, but I need to tidy up. Now the Russian order, but we need to make it German. ” Well, how can you argue??... I love Germany very much for its cleanliness, the southern countries do not boast of this, the post-Soviet ones, however, also.
Riding in a double-decker bus with headphones in my ears, an ambivalent feeling arose in me: I am at home in Europe at the same time, but for some reason where “homes” are clean, like in Europe... It was East Berlin that reminded me of my homeland - block buildings (I can’t call architecture panel houses-anthills that we are used to seeing in residential areas), there are a lot of spruces, birches and lindens from the plantations, on the facades of shopping centers of the “that” building (which is surprising) a mosaic in the style of “world-peace” and “cheers for the Soviet Union” , wide avenues, green alleys... the latter just does not look like home. Berlin is indeed a very green city, it is green everywhere - even in remote and residential areas. Despite the number of cars, the air is clean and, stuck in a traffic jam on the avenue, people breathe air, not exhaust gases (I say this as a person who traveled 2 hours in an open bus around the city center at rush hour). In Kyiv, I can’t smoke in a car while standing in a traffic jam - I’m suffocating from exhaust gases!
By the way, the idea of a sightseeing bus is wonderful, I was convinced of this from my own experience. Such an excursion makes it possible to get acquainted with the city and see the main sights (at least from the outside) in 2 hours.
I will not now describe a piece of the Berlin Wall - the largest open art gallery in the world, the Church of St. Nicholas, the Red Town Hall, the Berlin Cathedral, the "island of museums", the Reichstag, etc. , I will talk about life...
The voice from the headphones said: Brohan Museum of Private Collections, which displays the work of Pablo Picasso and his contemporaries. Out of a strong love for Picasso and a desire to see his masterpieces, I jumped out of the bus... I managed to look at my contemporaries, I liked the minor Bruno Paula... The floor with Picasso was brazenly closed.
I went out into the street, got into a tourist bus that arrived, the route was the same - boulevards, alleys, the sun over my head... and suddenly Chanel, followed immediately by Dior, well, then I realized that the stop was mine, it's time to get out! I am not a shopaholic at all and I am quite calm about clothes, but from time to time my soul asks for joy, circuses and fittings! The sightseeing bus, of course, does not stop at the click, so I still got off at Kurfurstendamm (Berlin's main boutique street), but already far from the Chanels. I decided not to return and went shopping in the direction of Potsdamer Place, so that I would go towards the “home” (I lived in Sofitel on Str. Werdersch). Moving smoothly with a small package of “pleasures for the soul”, I felt that my stomach was also not averse to a little joy... Without hesitation, I went into the first German restaurant Alt-Berlin, with tables on the street and comfortable rattan chairs. Coming closer and sitting down, it immediately became clear that the chairs were not rattan, and the restaurant was not German, but rather Turkish with a German menu.
After eating a sausage and drinking a glass of cold wine, I decided to continue walking. Finding first on the map, and then on the Kurfursten area, I walked along it. In any case, that's how it seemed to me. . . About 300 meters later, the central Fashion Street turned into a quiet gray street with deaf houses, strange buildings and a modest Holiday Inn. After another 500 meters, I saw something that I had never seen in Europe for several years - brightly made-up young ladies, stopping passing cars with their hips. Prostitutes. On the road. Frankly, I even doubted that in modern Europe this can be found walking along the streets. I took a walk: me and prostitutes - no one else. Realizing that “something I wandered in the wrong place”, I dug deeper into the map, trying to understand where I was so sucked . . ! It turned out to be at the end… I didn't finish reading “str”… Kurfurstendamm is really a street of boutiques, it is lively and full of life. Then she somehow imperceptibly passes into Kurfurstenstr. - a street of prostitutes, f-faking cars (everyone honks when they see the girls, but no one stops. I think it’s pure rudeness, honked - how a decent person should stop, there’s nothing to f-fake for nothing), 80-year-old grandfathers “God, take your strength, take your thoughts” and… a casino (a very loud name for these places)! Such a street, with a spark! And grandfathers! Lovely creatures. They were the ones who helped me get out of there. Grandpas, sitting in "cafes" (which I also did not expect to meet in Europe), watched the girls with keen interest, and here I am... in the map... up to my ears (it's scary to lower it, it's scary to "flatter" yourself, but suddenly will accept)… By common efforts, I somehow got out of the mysterious Kurfursten on Potsdamerstr. It doesn't get any easier from time to time... now the shabby buildings, casinos and kebabs have become the main attraction. And so the whole street. And this is Berlin, the city center! I kind of walked around Berlin before, but not so much informative))
After half an hour of vigorous (I would even say a runaway step), I reached the half-goal - Potsdamer Place! glass area. Several high business centers are made according to the once latest technologies (8 years ago) - made of glass. All of them are connected by a roof under which there are cafes, pubs, a cinema, a fountain, a couple of shops - such a recreation area. Seeing a familiar pub (I visited it well on my last visit), I immediately felt safe and... again in Berlin. After intense festivities and experiences, I needed 20 minutes and a latte in a cafe by the fountain.
I remember the way ahead. Through the Carlton Hotel, along Eber str. , passing by Adlona Kempinski, I walked slowly to my Sofitel.
Speaking of hotels. Previously, I had never lived in the Sofitel network, I heard that it was not bad in Paris, but somehow it never happened. I wanted to try, in fact, that's why Sofitel Berlin Gendarmenmarkt was chosen. A good rating on booking. com, nice photos, a good location - virtually everything is OK. In practice, everything is different as usual. For starters, the street and the entrance to the hotel were dug up - they changed the pipes)). A modest entrance, a small dark hall, a lobby area - one sofa and two armchairs, no bar (more precisely, it is next door - behind the wall, but the entrance is from the street) in general, a typical business hotel in a minimalist style and in dark colors. The rooms are small, but with huge French windows (which is good news)! There are “laces” on both sides of the bed, pulling which you can hear music, a beautiful classic designed to inspire sleep. Another opening was the door to the bathroom. More precisely, at first - its absence, later it turned out that the door to the toilet, when opened, transforms into a door to the bathroom, such a non-standard architectural and design solution! )) In general, a good hotel, very clean, fresh, with smooth, calm service, though the doormen themselves are not very bother, but not Adlon either. It is in Adlon Kempinsky that you will be met almost at the Brandenburg Gate, unobtrusively walk in circles, anticipate requests, feed you delicious marbled meat and will be allowed to smoke in the bar! It is in Adlon, where spacious rooms and marble bathrooms, that there is a wonderful lounge with live music, a “green” cigarette and a rich cocktail list... I remember we drank something there...
Yana Shabatina
Like
You like
• 2
Show other comments …
