Eastern Europe 2015: Day 2 Berlin [[ Reichstag + Brandenburg Gate + Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe + Unter den Linden + Gendarmen Market]]

Today we started our day early, with Reichstag being our first attraction of the day. Reichstag is the Deutsch Parliament house. The building is made up of entirely glass making it a pretty fabulous architecture. Within the building, there is a two way spiral slope, one leading to the top, the other to the exit.

An audio device will be issued to everyone, miraculously, it starts playing and tells the history of the attractions we passed by, outside the building, as we spiral our way up to the top.

The Reichstag is indeed a great compass point for navigating and having a bird eye view of the various attractions around Berlin!

In order to tour the main observatory building, an appointment free & easy tour is required to be booked in advanced. We booked the 2nd slot, 8.45am, since reviews around internet stated to reach before 9am.

These reviews are not to be taken lightly because by the time we ended our hour and a half self walk tour, the queue outside the building was snake long! So do remember to go early to avoid crowd!

Reichstag:
Address: Platz der Republik 1, 11011 Berlin, Germany

Train S from Potdamer Platz to Brandenburger Tor. Change to train U to Bundestag 

About 19 minutes

                                  

Next, we walked over to Brandenburg Gate. It existed since the 18th Century and is today's one of the best known landmark in Germany. Located at the former city gate, Brandenburg Gate today, is much celebrated as a symbol of unity and peace among the European countries.

The fact that the Brandenburg Gate is a magnificent looking structure, everyone wants a good shot of it. However, this is probably not possible unless its either early in the morning or late at night. There is pretty much no room for a great shot of it during mid-day. Be prepared to be photo bombed!

Brandenburg Gate:
Address: Pariser Platz, 10117 Berlin, Germany

After our short break at the nearby starbucks, we took a 5 minutes stroll to Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe. Also known as the Holocaust Memorial, it was built to honor the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

Situated on a slope, the memorial consist of concrete slabs of different heights, arranged in a uniform grid pattern all around site. It also has an underground exhibition which exhibits the names of all the Jewish victims.

Memorial to Murdered Jewish of Europe:
Address: Cora-Berliner-Straße 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany

Our walking trip continues on to Unter Den Linden. Highly recommended on various trip forums, this was unfortunately, boring and dusty as many construction works were going on. 

Unter den Linden acts like a T-junction, connecting many attractions. We unknowingly walked to Gendarmen Market. Built in the 17th century, the square consis of the Konzerthaus Concert hall and a couple of churches. The statue amidst these architectures represents the German poet, Friedrich Schiller.

We unknowingly stroll and passed by the Berliner Dom and back to Alexandra Platz. Since it was still pretty early, we headed into the various malls for some retail theraphy. My most prized mall will have to be Primark! Like OMG! The things were awesomely cheap and chic! With bargain wears going as low as €2, it's pretty hard to say no to them! :)

A couple of hours later, I got pulled out of the mall for an early dinner before heading back to our airbnb to collect our luggage. We headed to Berlin Hauptbahnhof for our overnight bus to Krakow, Poland.

Next travelogue will be on the pretty little town, Krakow. Till I'm done writing, here's a pretty sunset for you to enjoy! :)

Eastern Europe 2015: Day 1 Berlin [[ Sony Center + Toppertory of Terror + Charlie Checkpoint + East Side Gallery + Museum Island + Berlin Dome + Curry wrust + Vapiano ]]

Eastern Europe 2015 Day 3 Krakow [[ Main Square + Cloth Hall + St. Mary Church + KoKo + Galeria Mall]]

Eastern Europe 2015: Day 4 Krakow [[ Wawel Castle +  Kazimierz, Jewish District + Galica Museum + Hero Square + Oskar Schindler's Factory]]

Eastern Europe 2015: Day 5 Krakow [[ Auschwit Concentration Camp ]]

Eastern Europe 2015 Day 6 Prague [[ Leo Express + Bredovsky Dvur + Main Square + Old Town + Charles Bridge]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 7 Prague [[Astronomical Clock Show + Old Town Hall Tower + Jewish District + Powder Tower + Manufaktura + Lokal + Kredenc]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 8 Prague [[Prague Castle + Petrin Hill]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 9 Budapest [[Market Square + Chain Bridge]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 10 Budapest [[Parliament House + Memorial of the Russian Army + St Stephan Basalica + Hero Square + Szechenyi Thermal Bath]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 11 Budapest [[Castle Hill]]
Eastern Europe 2015 Day 12 Berlin