Berlin Blog Day 1

Glasgow food blog Foodie explorers travel Berlin Alexander Platz

When you find £20 return flights to your favourite city it’s a no brainer.  So off we went to Berlin for our 6th time (though Mr Foodie has been 7 times the lucky ******).

It was our first full day in Berlin and we had time for a walk from our digs to breakfast.  We always seem to end up in East Berlin. I think it’s the mix of the architecture, people and cheap accommodation!

Over the years I’ve become a fan of clunky modernist buildings and there’s no shortage of that in East Berlin.   Plattenbauten is the name given to the pre-fabricated housing which were built in the 1960s and are found all over Berlin. We stumbled across a derelict example on our morning walk.

Glasgow food blog Foodie explorers travel Berlin

I really like the cup motif on the side.

The next 1960’s building we passed was  Haus des Reisens which was built for the GDR Interflug travel agency.

Glasgow food blog Foodie explorers travel Berlin

We were soon at Alex, seeing the TV Tower and Park Inn by Radisson Berlin Alexanderplatz  The hotel was built and operated by Interhotel who were the hotel chain for the GDR.

Glasgow food blog Foodie explorers travel Berlin Alexander Platz

Our breakfast spot is Father Carpenter Coffee Brewers and is located in a beautiful courtyard, so no 60’s architecture here!

Glasgow food blog Foodie explorers travel Berlin

Brunch was a skillet of baked eggs, chorizo and tomato with sourdough toast on the side.

Glasgow food blog Foodie explorers travel Berlin Breakfast

Plus warm banana bread with rhubarb and peanut butter afterwards – mmm, delicious!

Glasgow food blog Foodie explorers travel Berlin Breakfast

Properly filled up, it was time to explore. We headed off to the German Russian Museum in Karlshorst. This museum shows history from the Soviet perspective.  The building is famous as this is the site where the unconditional surrender of the German Army was signed.

Glasgow food blog Foodie explorers travel Berlin

The actual room where the German surrender was signed is above.

Glasgow food blog Foodie explorers travel Berlin

The museum has an excellent exhibition and is well worth visiting. Entrance is free and photography (without flash) is allowed.

We hadn’t had our fill of history yet and within travelling distance was the ex-Stasi Prison at Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen.

Glasgow food blog travel blog Foodie explorers Berlin

Here you can receive a tour of the sprawling complex and see what the Stasi remand Prison was like.  We saw the cells and interrogation rooms and learned about interrogation methods.   Here’s a photo from one of the interrogation rooms.

Glasgow food blog travel blog Foodie explorers Berlin

Entrance is €6, check their website for times/dates of English tours. Ours started at 2:30pm and was supposed to last 90 minutes but didn’t finish until nearly 5pm due to all the questions being asked!  Again, this is well worth visiting if you have an interest in history but be prepared for a lot of standing as there are few points to rest along with the way.

Returning to the city centre, just five minutes away from Alexanderplatz is Nicolaiviertel, the reconstructed 12th century quarter of Berlin.

Glasgow food blog travel blog Foodie explorers Berlin

By this point of the day, the tourists were heading home so it was quiet and peaceful.  For dinner we retired to Am Nußbaum, the hazelnut-bar, which could’ve been Berlin’s oldest pub, had it not been destroyed and reconstructed after the WWII.

Glasgow food blog travel blog Foodie explorers Berlin Boulette mit speigelei und bratkartoffeln – a minced  meatball with fried egg and roasted (fried) potatoes.

Glasgow food blog travel blog Foodie explorers Berlin On the walk back home we had a quick look at the U5 underground extension construction work hoardings….according to two books we read the new underground station would ready in 2013 or 2016! (So it’s not just the U.K. where infrastructure projects fall behind schedule!)

Glasgow food blog travel blog Foodie explorers Berlin

…and then it was time for bed.

 

 

Emma

Emma

Hello!

I am Emma and with my husband Mark write Foodie Explorers, which is a food and travel website.

I am a member of the Guild of Food Writers and British Guild of Travel Writers.

We have a wide range of judging experience covering products, hotels and have judged, for example, for Great Taste Awards and Scottish Baker of the Year.

Along the way Mark gained WSET Level 2 in Wine and I have WSET Level 2 in Spirits as well as picking up an award with The Scotsman Food and Drink Awards.    

Usually I can be found sleeping beside a cat.

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