Poland & Berlin: Day 14 - Part 14: Walking tour, Berlin Wall Memorial, Topograhie des Terror museum

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 14.

3/8 Day 14: Guided walking tour. Went to Berlin Wall Memorial and Topograhie des Terror museum.

Costs
(A) Food
(1) Breakfast at  Schäfer's Brot- und Kuchen bakery - Sandwich and coffee EUR7,60 / SEK87,17

(2) Lunch at Meet Me Halfway restaurant - Hummus with bread and complimentary orange juice EUR8,90 / SEK104,62
(3) Dinner at Maximilians restaurant - Browned meatloaf (known famously as Abgebräunter leberkäs) with fried eggs and potato salad EUR15,80, 500ml radler EUR5,10, shared tip EUR8. Total EUR23,57 / SEK272,22 

(B) Transport and miscellaneous

(4) 24-hour train and bus ticket - EUR9,50 from the DB Navigator app (worth it as long as one uses the ticket a minimum of 3 times as one ticket costs EUR3,20)
(5) Tips to guided walking tour - Shared EUR15. EUR5 per person / SEK57,35

The Story
03082023: Breakfast at a nearby restaurant which is just beside the kebab restaurant. Just sandwich and cappucino. 

Then, we took the bus into Berlin town. I had booked us for a free guided walking tour Berlin with Walkative (the ones with the yellow umbrellas) at 10am till 1pm. A long walk and we tipped the guide at the end of the tour. We got a history of when Berlin was first mentioned in the documents in 1230. 

We stopped in front of a sign that illustrates the division of Berlin within Germany. Can you see a small colourful (4-colours) pattern in the pink portion (Soviet) on the picture on the right? That 4-coloured pattern is Berlin. The 4 colours are the Alliances i.e. Berlin was controlled by 4 forces. The picture on the left is the magnified picture of the 4-coloured Berlin. Blue - French. Yellow - British. Green - USA. So, the Berlin wall was built within Berlin separating the pink colour from the other colours. 

I saw the Berlin Wall and there are some parts in town that still has the Berlin Wall. The part where one can read the sign 'Berlin Wall' is west Berlin. This is our guide. 

Checkpoint Charlie - one of the checkpoints on the border between East and West Berlin. The guide said that this is not the real spot. This checkpoint was put on because everyone were asking where the border is. This checkpoint is famous because it is a visible checkpoint.

We passed by the former Nazi headquarters whch is now occupied by the Ministry of Finance.

We entered the Holocaust Memorial which was built in memory of the Jews. It felt heavy going through the memorial, thinking of the Jews who were killed because they were Jews.  We went to Hitler's bunk which is now a carpark above it. The Germans did not want to set up a special spot for him as it may attract the wrong crowd and did not want to give him any place or attention so a car park and a housing area were built there.

Our guide ended in front of Branderburg Gate. This gate is one of the 8 gates into Berlin and used only by the royalty. The gate was also part of the Border Strip within the Berlin Wall. During the walk, the guide informed us that Germans were taught in school not to be ashamed by what the forefathers did during World War 2. Instead, the Germans are taught to learn from history and not change the facts.

After the walk, we had lunch at a random Persian restaurant which was near to the Berlin Wall Memorial. 

Then, we went to see a part of a Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial. 

The wall is so high. I cannot imagine how those who escaped managed to do it.

Next place was Topograhie des Terror Museum which describes the Nazi history. All state-owned museums are free so that people can go in and learn from history. 

We left the museum as it was soon closing hours. Now, it is time for dinner and my travel companions managed to find a good Bierhaus-wannabe restaurant! I have missed radler and it was so refreshing to have radler again!