Aside from being astonishingly cheap after Paris, the other facets which took some getting used to included the architecture. Both its scope - wide streets, buildings set back from the road - and its bedazzling diversity. This shot shows the way any two adjacent buildings can be utterly different in character and style. We did spend most of our time in the former East Berlin and while the Soviet architecture fascinated me, it was really the contrast with previous centuries of buildings which intrigued me most.
As everyone knows graffiti is a part of Berlin. This was one of my favourites. I thought the next day when we went past on the tram they were preparing to paint over it but no, just the other side of the wall.
This was a restaurant recommended by all-knowing Melinda. Anna Blume on the corner Kollwitzstrasse in Prenzlauerberg. The food was just about half the cost of a Paris equivalent and the outside tables had blankets on the chairs so we could sit there for hours, watching the locals on their bikes, with their dogs or kiddies, doing local things. Besides which it is half flower shop to add to the romance. This is certainly the area we'd live in if there was a move to Berlin.
And this was the milliner next door, I was tempted until I saw the 500 euro price tag for a headband.
David and I were particularly impressed by the Tiergarten. From inside one can imagine oneself miles from any city. There were literal molehills, sculpture gardens, trees and ponds and bridges. Was lovely.
Finally for part one, this was a memorial sculpture to represent the Bohemian refugees who fled to Berlin due to religious persecution. On the site was a church which was demolished by the Russians but now the space is mostly kept free with a tiled representation of the church and a minor explanation in German, English and Czech.
Find out next time what happened on days 2 and 3 for David and Alice in Berlin-town.
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