Geeks on Tour Blog: Berlin

Monday, June 19, 2017

Berlin - days 31-32

Because we flew Air Berlin to and from Miami, we were given the option to stopover a day in Berlin for no extra charge on the airfare. For the record, our airfare was $1,640 round trip for both of us combined. Not bad. Thanks Dolphin Travel!

Air Berlin flew over the Alps between Milan and Berlin

We landed in Berlin and Google Maps showed us how to get to the hotel with a combination of bus, subway and walking. This was the most modern hotel we've had yet.

We checked in then went out for a walk. Hey - if we're going to get 7 miles in today, we've got to get going! LOTS of construction going on in Berlin! It's a very active, vibrant city.

Berlin is a growing place

We found the famous Brandenburg Gate on our walk, not too far from the hotel.

I knew that another of my fellow Google Photos support experts lived in Germany somewhere but I had not made contact before our trip like I had with Paolo in Milan. I didn't know what kind of time we would have in Berlin anyway. But, I decided to take a chance and text Alex to see if it would be possible to meet up. Yes! I'm so glad I did. The Geeks on Meetup Tour continues! It was great to get to know Alex a bit. Putting a face and a personality to the people you only know on the web is a major benefit.

Then we had a bus and boat tour scheduled for the afternoon. We stopped to see the "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe" - aka the Holocaust museum. What an innovative design for a memorial, dozens and dozens of massive concrete blocks. You feel their weight, you feel masses of unnamed people they represent. You feel chills.

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

The actual museum was underneath.

The hop-on hop-off bus tours are great ways to get an overview of a city for the first time. We didn't have time to hop off though, so we just stayed on and went all around Berlin.