Berlin info is needed

[citizen k]

Museumsinsel

[Zanza]

Isn't the Ishtar Gate a partial reconstruction with original stones excavated in Babylon?

[citizen k]

Isn't the Ishtar Gate a partial reconstruction with original stones excavated in Babylon?

Probably, they carted a lot of stuff from Mideast and Turkey off to Berlin.

[Pedrito]

Pergamon Museum

L.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I am afraid we will have very few time for tourism stuff durin the late afternoons. What is an absolute must to see?

As you are interested in history, walk from Reichstag to Soviet Memorial to Brandenburg Gate to Holocaust Memorial to Potsdamer Platz to Topographie des Terrors in Niederkirchner Straße to Checkpoint Charlie.

Google Maps

That's a great walk. I loved walking north from Potsdamer Platz.

Places to avoid at night: Oranienburgerstrasse. Not because of crime, but because you'll be constantly annoyed by prostitutes and drug dealers (or "drug dealers"?) wanting your money. It's also where all the obnoxious foreigners go to drink.

[Josephus]

The Germans generally like the idea of foreigners walking around in goose steps with their right arm out, going "Sieg Heil."
The women especially find it a real hoot. It is in fact widely encouraged if you're at a bar.

[Zanza]

One minor addition: one of the last watchtowers of the Berlin Wall in Erna-Berger-Straße. Note that you also go by the former Reichsluftfahrtministerium, one of the few surviving Nazi style buildings in Berlin. It's on the other side of the street from Topographie des Terrors. Appropriately enough, it now houses the German tax authority.

Google Maps

[bogh]

Just came back sunday from a long weekend in Berlin. I love the city.

This time around, I didn't really do anything culturally (except see the dinosaur skeletons at the Natural Museum - which was so-so). I've seen most of the stuff there is to see (I thought the Holocaust Memorial Museum was pretty good), but Berlin is mostly for hanging about and chilling. You could go to the zoo and see Knut, the world famous polar bear.

Go to Simon Dach Strasse in Friedrichschain and Kastanien Allee in Prentzlauerberg. Have a drink and a nice dinner. Go to the Kultur Brauerei, Berghain, Matrix etc. Check out the tiny stores in Prentzlauerberg and Friedrichschain and buy some funky t-shirts.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Isn't the Ishtar Gate a partial reconstruction with original stones excavated in Babylon?

Probably, they carted a lot of stuff from Mideast and Turkey off to Berlin.

I'm sure this was all extensively covered in one of the Indiana Jones movies 

[Tamas]

Well I will go, for 3 or 4 days in mid-May. I will also be going alone.
Is Berlin's mass transit complicated/expensive/full of bums?

Also, I will have a very similar trip at the end of May to Munich. Is there anything to see there?

[Zanza]

Is Berlin's mass transit complicated/expensive/full of bums?

It's not complicated, it's 6.10-6.50 euro/day depending on where you go (or about 2 euro for one tour), normal people use it.

Also, I will have a very similar trip at the end of May to Munich. Is there anything to see there?

What are you interested in?

[Tamas]

Also, I will have a very similar trip at the end of May to Munich. Is there anything to see there?

What are you interested in?

Well I am in a hard situation tourism-wise obviously, since I will have to spend the office hours at the, well, office, learning. So that leaves me with only a couple of hours worth of sightseeing possibilities per each day, with I imagine most of the museums being closed by the time I get there. So I am interested in anything I can see under those limited conditions.

As a matter of fact, going alone, I am afraid this whole thing can actually get pretty boring unless the german colleauges will be polite enough to invite me to some pubs or something.

[Zanza]

The Deutsches Museum which shows technical and scientifical breakthroughs closes 5 pm. It's a really cool museum. If you are into paintings, one of Alte, Neue, or Moderne Pinakothek will be open until 8pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday respectively. Other than that, Munich has a couple of palaces and other old buildings (e.g. Nymphenburg, Residenz, Isartor, Königsplatz) that you might want to check out. Hofbräuhaus is a favorite among tourists, Englischer Garten if you want to relax after work. Go to a beergarden if you can arrange it. Hmm, can't think of much else, but then I don't know Munich well.

[Tamas]

Thanks.

[Tamas]

It seems I will be staying in a hotel on Nuernberger Strasse. I'll arrive tonight, and will leave on Thursday evening so that will leave me with only a few hours spread across two afternoons for non-nightlifish stuff.