Berlin is the capital of Germany and when I visited Europe on my first solo trip I bee lined straight to the city. From Prague I took an overnight FlixBus for 8 hours and pulled in to Berlin Sudkreuz at 7am on the dot and ready for a full day. Previous to this trip I had only visited Germany during Christmas, so seeing the city alive during summertime was amazing. I loved the energy of Berlin and the random hidden gems scattered throughout the city. I loved the beer and the food, especially buttered pretzels. I loved the bus lines and the bike lanes and everything else in between. While we did a lot during my time in Berlin, I know there is so much more I still haven’t seen yet. I can’t wait to go back and explore even more!
While I was in Berlin I got to stay with my cousin’s wife, Hannah, who greeted me at the door on day one with two adorable kittens, a delicious vegan breakfast and a bike.
After my 8 hour bus ride I was ready to get out and explore, so I hung out with the kittens for a minute and then biked to Brammibals for breakfast part two. For those who don’t know, Brammibal’s is the best donuts in Berlin… and they’re all vegan! I couldn’t make up my mind on whether I wanted a donut or a bagel, so after starring at the menu for 5 minutes, I just bought both. No regrets!
After my two breakfasts at Hannah’s and Brammibal’s I was full enough to go out and explore Berlin on my own. I biked from Brammibal’s to Checkpoint Charlie and then walked around that section of the city until I made it to museum island. While I was walking around the city I got to see The Brandenburg Gate, The Rebuilt Reichstag, Charlottenburg Palace, Humboldt University and the Berliner Fernsehturm.
My cousin took a later train into Berlin and once they arrived we met up at the Berlin wall and walked up and down both sides looking at all of the murals. The original Berlin wall contained 28 miles of concrete wall running through the capital and it was guarded by dogs and barbed wire. Today the wall is almost completely gone, but what remains is decorated with murals on both the east and west sides of the wall.
After walking around the murals we went to a restaurant above the vegan grocery store called Veganz and ordered ramen, dumplings and smoothies. I’m still so shocked by the volume of vegan options around Europe. I don’t even think we have 100% vegan grocery stores in NYC!
Following our vegan feast we went back to Hannah’s and watched our first sunset in Berlin. In the corner of Hannah’s patio she had a quote painted “die menschen sind fur wunder blind,” which means “people are blind to miracles.” What a beautiful way to close out day one in Berlin.
For the rest of our time in Berlin we had many adventures and we biked everywhere.
One of my favorite restaurants we went to while we were in Berlin was the Tadshikische Teestube, which is technically a tea house. We went to the tea house and ordered plate fulls of food for the table, plus pots of tea to pass around. I loved the family style eating and the ambiance set up by sitting on the floor around a low table. This is definitely one of the first places I’ll revisit when I return to Berlin.
Berlin is home to many museums, but my favorite that we visited was the Hamburger Bahnhof. The Hamburger Bahnhof was once a central railway station connecting Hamburg to Berlin, but now it is one of the largest collections of contemporary art in the world.
