There’s a pretty stark difference in the various cities located throughout Germany. We live in a very small town where everything closes at 6:00 p.m., they take 2-hour lunch breaks (where they shut their doors during this time) and most everything is closed on Sundays. Talk about an adjustment from the ever-convenient American lifestyle. Although I’ve come to terms with this slower paced way of living (most days!) and enjoy it, I do crave the city life and all it has to offer!

Berlin was next on our Germany short list and decided to head there for the weekend. We ended up driving down on a Friday and coming back on Sunday (about a 10-hour roundtrip).

After checking into our hotel, we took an Uber to one of the shopping districts. We had just experienced a serious heat wave in Germany and expected it to be relatively warm; however, that was not the case. Both my husband and I ended up having to purchase a jacket – which is crazy.. a jacket in July! Something that is unheard of to two southerners. Luckily, I was able to pop into a couple of stores and walked away with a jean jacket and a dress!

 

 

We had dinner reservations at Mine Wine which was the cutest dinner spot and the food was fabulous! My husband ordered the sea bass, I ordered the cacio e pepe and we ended the night with a homemade snickers (with peanut ice cream) dessert. We walked around after dinner and ended back at our hotel for a night cap.

On Saturday, we woke up and took an Uber to Berlin Theke to grab a quick coffee+breakfast and started walking around the city. Berlin is rich in history and we were pretty impressed with the overall vibe of the city. We took an Uber to the Reichstag Building. From there we walked to the Brandenburg Gate, Parliament, Check Point Charlie, the Berlin Fernsehturm (the television tower) and the Berlin Cathedral.

 

 

We also walked through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe which is located within a block from the Brandenburg Gate.  The memorial is in remembrance of the six million Jews that died during Hitler’s regime. 

Since the weather was perfect for sitting outside, we opted for a rooftop scene for a late lunch and drinks. The rooftop bar on top of the Hotel de Rome – Rocco Forte was overlooked Berlin’s historic city center and was one of my top choices for rooftop lounges. We ended up there for about 2 hours before our Trabi Safari Tour through Berlin.

 

 

The Trabant car was made in East Berlin from 1957-1990. After the Berlin wall fell, the cars were essentially worthless. I thought it would be fun for us to drive one around the city – a twist on the typical tours we usually go on. Let’s just say it was both a hysterical + stressful tour! The Trabant cars are manuals and the gears are near the steering wheel. My husband drove (because I can’t drive a stick shift!) and we ended up stalling out in 5 separate busy intersections. Let’s just say there were a lot of laughs had + a few choice words used during our 75-minute tour. Honestly, this is a fun way to see Berlin and it was 49 Euro a person. 

Our hotel, Hotel Amano, was rated pretty high on a couple of sites for rooftop bars, so we ended up heading back there for dinner and drinks.

On our way out on Sunday, we stopped by Brammibal’s Donuts, a Starbucks and walked along the East Side Gallery. The Gallery is incredible. Artists have transformed the remaining portion of the Berlin Wall that’s still standing.

 

 

Berlin is my favorite Germany city (to date). The shopping, food and feel of the city is right up my alley. I wish we would have had an extra day to explore the shopping some more, but we’ll just have to make another trip! I especially loved all of the rooftop bars and outdoor dinner options. It was refreshing to escape to the big city for the weekend.  Berlin, we’ll be back!

Cheers!

Amber