I MAY end up spending a week in Berlin to learn work stuff. Well me and some other colleauges. Sometime in May.
Assuming I do get to go there, I would need tips on how to spend the afternoons and nights. What neighborhoods to go and avoid, etc. I am sure the local coworkers will be happy to help, but the project is about moving work from them to us, so perhaps they will not be totally full of goodwill. :P
www.berlinfo.com
Quote* berlinfo recommends: BERLIN HOTELS *
Berlin is pretty big area-wise. Do you know where you'll be? IBM (you work for them right?) have quite a few offices in Berlin apparently.
Berlin has everything and then some. What is it that you want to do?
They have no more walls. Got a little zealous during the late 80's and tore them all down
Actually part of the wall is still around.
I was in Berlin for 3 days a couple years ago. I stayed here:
http://www.hotel-adlon.de/en/home/index.htm (http://www.hotel-adlon.de/en/home/index.htm) It's probably beyond your means though. [Other guests at the hotel included Clinton and Queen Elizabeth.]
It's beyond my means, but I was a guest of the hotel :P
Quote from: Zanza2 on April 23, 2009, 04:24:10 PM
Berlin is pretty big area-wise. Do you know where you'll be? IBM (you work for them right?) have quite a few offices in Berlin apparently.
Really? Yeah I work for them, but have no more info yet.
I am afraid we will have very few time for tourism stuff durin the late afternoons. What is an absolute must to see?
I will update the thread when I have more info.
Quote from: Josephus on April 23, 2009, 04:53:25 PM
Actually part of the wall is still around.
I was in Berlin for 3 days a couple years ago. I stayed here:
http://www.hotel-adlon.de/en/home/index.htm (http://www.hotel-adlon.de/en/home/index.htm) It's probably beyond your means though. [Other guests at the hotel included Clinton and Queen Elizabeth.]
It's beyond my means, but I was a guest of the hotel :P
AFAIK hotel will be handled by the company.
Quote from: Tamas on April 23, 2009, 04:55:49 PM
AFAIK hotel will be handled by the company.
Tell them you want the Adlon or you'll quit. ;)
It was really cool Had remote control for the window drapes.
Oh and a bathtub to die for. I don't normally have baths, but I couldn't help myself.
Oh, and I had use of a Benz to drive around in.
Quote from: Josephus on April 23, 2009, 05:03:10 PM
Quote from: Tamas on April 23, 2009, 04:55:49 PM
AFAIK hotel will be handled by the company.
Oh, and I had use of a Benz to drive around in.
Sadly some time ago a douchebag on a company mission like this totalled the rented car the company gave him, since then we can only use taxis.
Altough I can't say I mind it in my case: I hate big city traffic.
If you are approached by a middle-eastern man as you very much drunkenly zig-zag from Kurfurstendamm to Zoologischer Garten, who wants you to buy drugs, then my advice is to say no thanks. He will only give you a ball of plastic and then say the police is coming and you need to put it in your mouth and then he will disappear. Then when you open the ball of plastic and find nothing else than more plastic, he will be long gone with your euros. This, uh, happened to a friend of mine.
Don't steal anything. :mad:
Quote from: Tamas on April 23, 2009, 04:55:20 PMI 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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topography_of_Terror) in Niederkirchner Straße to Checkpoint Charlie.
Google Maps (http://maps.google.de/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Platz+der+Republik+1,+10557+Tiergarten,+Berlin+(Reichstag)&daddr=Unbekannte+Stra%C3%9Fe+to:Pariser+Pl.+to:Ebertstra%C3%9Fe+to:52.507262,13.38315+to:Friedrichstra%C3%9Fe&geocode=FRBhIQMdnRXMACGkg9C8x40yyw%3BFfBUIQMdYA_MAA%3BFZNWIQMdZCXMAA%3BFaxLIQMdOB_MAA%3B%3BFdkxIQMdWFLMAA&hl=de&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=4&sz=16&via=1,2,3,4&dirflg=w&sll=52.506296,13.387549&sspn=0.006752,0.019312&ie=UTF8&ll=52.513374,13.383923&spn=0.013503,0.038624&z=15)
Watch out for Panzerfausts and Tiergarten 88s'!
If you want to see museums, Museumsinsel is pretty cool. Pergamon museum has replica of Ishtar Gate.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia-2.web.britannica.com%2Feb-media%2F48%2F77348-004-30415E6C.jpg&hash=9a10858aeea48c29325400e6d7ce913d40592e84)
Museumsinsel
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.auswaertiges-amt.de%2Fdiplo%2Fbilder%2FWillkommeninD%2FKultur%2FMuseumsinsel%2CtemplateId%3Dlarge__blob.jpeg&hash=3a8307aff6bfa5f548762688d7641ade7c2a587b)
Isn't the Ishtar Gate a partial reconstruction with original stones excavated in Babylon?
Quote from: Zanza2 on April 24, 2009, 01:44:40 AM
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.
Pergamon Museum :wub:
L.
Quote from: Zanza2 on April 24, 2009, 12:24:26 AM
Quote from: Tamas on April 23, 2009, 04:55:20 PMI 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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topography_of_Terror) in Niederkirchner Straße to Checkpoint Charlie.
Google Maps (http://maps.google.de/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Platz+der+Republik+1,+10557+Tiergarten,+Berlin+(Reichstag)&daddr=Unbekannte+Stra%C3%9Fe+to:Pariser+Pl.+to:Ebertstra%C3%9Fe+to:52.507262,13.38315+to:Friedrichstra%C3%9Fe&geocode=FRBhIQMdnRXMACGkg9C8x40yyw%3BFfBUIQMdYA_MAA%3BFZNWIQMdZCXMAA%3BFaxLIQMdOB_MAA%3B%3BFdkxIQMdWFLMAA&hl=de&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=4&sz=16&via=1,2,3,4&dirflg=w&sll=52.506296,13.387549&sspn=0.006752,0.019312&ie=UTF8&ll=52.513374,13.383923&spn=0.013503,0.038624&z=15)
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.
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.
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 (http://maps.google.de/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Platz+der+Republik+1,+10557+Tiergarten,+Berlin+(Reichstag)&daddr=Unbekannte+Stra%C3%9Fe+to:Pariser+Pl.+to:Ebertstra%C3%9Fe+to:52.508457,13.379599+to:Niederkirchnerstra%C3%9Fe+to:Friedrichstra%C3%9Fe&hl=de&geocode=FRBhIQMdnRXMACGkg9C8x40yyw%3BFfBUIQMdYA_MAA%3BFZNWIQMdZCXMAA%3BFaxLIQMdOB_MAA%3B%3BFZIyIQMd6zXMAA%3BFdkxIQMdWFLMAA&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=4&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&dirflg=w&sll=52.509254,13.380393&sspn=0.004989,0.009613&ie=UTF8&ll=52.511311,13.384867&spn=0.019955,0.038452&t=h&z=15)
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.
Quote from: citizen k on April 24, 2009, 03:04:37 AM
Quote from: Zanza2 on April 24, 2009, 01:44:40 AM
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 :huh:
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?
Quote from: Tamas on April 27, 2009, 09:40:46 AMIs 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.
QuoteAlso, 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?
Quote from: Zanza2 on April 27, 2009, 11:14:54 AM
QuoteAlso, 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.
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.
Thanks. :)
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.
You should memorize a bunch of useful phrases in German. E.g.:
"I'm not a gypsy" or "We helped you kill Jews during WW2. Let's have sex."
The best city in Europe. What I hope they don't get rid of (though rather feel they will) is the gaps in the city's fabric which are uniquely suggestive of Berlin's history. It's a wonderful place.
Quote from: Sheilbh on May 11, 2009, 01:50:56 AM
The best city in Europe.
Waaaay too much leather and hideous architecture. Prague has all the darkness without as much Eurotrash, though more tourists per-
milkilometer.
Quote from: Queequeg on May 11, 2009, 11:37:24 AM
Quote from: Sheilbh on May 11, 2009, 01:50:56 AM
The best city in Europe.
Waaaay too much leather and hideous architecture. Prague has all the darkness without as much Eurotrash, though more tourists per-milkilometer.
I love Brutalism :mmm:
My boyfriend's german and is from there, will ask him and give you all the info.
At the same bus stop, you will be in front of the Picasso museum, the Egyptian museum, and Charlottenburg Palace. Berlin is a great city.
Quote from: Tamas on May 11, 2009, 01:22:49 AM
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.
Take the U2 from Wittenbergplatz to Potsdamer Platz and then do the tour I described above.
Quote from: Zanza2 on May 12, 2009, 12:33:31 PM
Quote from: Tamas on May 11, 2009, 01:22:49 AM
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.
Take the U2 from Wittenbergplatz to Potsdamer Platz and then do the tour I described above.
The office turned out to be reasonably near to potsdamer platz, so after getting lost, I managed to make this trip you suggested, and it was great. Thank you!
Any chance of anyone remembering a good restaurant along the general line of Zanza's Checkpoint Charlie -> Reichstag trip?
It turned out I dont like half-grilled lamb sold for me for a small fortune in the hotel's restaurant, and I feel own myself more than KFC for dinner :D
It's actually funny but I've never been to Berlin before. I always plan to go and never find a good occasion. I'd come for a Berlin Languish meet.
Quote from: Martinus on May 13, 2009, 05:22:04 AM
It's actually funny but I've never been to Berlin before. I always plan to go and never find a good occasion. I'd come for a Berlin Languish meet.
Here is the perfect sight for you: http://www.glbtq.com/arts/schwules_museum.html :P
I would be up for a Berlin Languish meet sometime.
I could not really do any sightseeing yesterday. Basically, I knew all the museums were closed, and I just could not arse myself to decode mass transit maps to go and stare on buildings from the outside.
Its too bad I won't be around for a couple of more days, I started to know my way around the inner city around Potsdammerplatz quite well, almost with no help of a map.
Found a nice central-america themed restaurant last evening, then watched the Wigan-Manchester game at the bar of the Irish pub next to my hotel. Met an Welsh bloke who have been a Manure supporter for 40 years, I felt it better to make clear while we were both sober that I wanted Manure to lose. they won :D Had some nice Guiness, Jagermeister, and light beer, then after the game listened to the live band for a while, and that was the close of my last free night in Berlin.
I definetly would like to return here, especially for a Languish meet. Prices seemed quite reasonable, the not over-the-top restaurants have only slightly highter prices than Hungarian ones for food, altough they make up for it on attrocious beer prices, which are like 4 times the hungarian ones.