"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" (Ronald Reagan, 1987)

We decided to spend Thanksgiving in Berlin, Germany. Berlin is the capital city and one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Many have asked us if Germany celebrates Thanksgiving…Nope!! Thursday afternoon around 12:30pm we boarded a train bound for Berlin. The journey lasted around 4.5 hours…and went as smooth as can be expected. We love training around. It is nice to have so much freedom to move around on the train and the Hauptbanhof in Frankfurt is only 2 U-Bahn stops from our flat (apartment door to train door = 15 minutes). Upon our arrival in Berlin we quickly discovered two things. It was FREEZING cold and the city is huge (7 times the area of Paris). We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in the former East Berlin (at the Spittel-markt stop on the U2 line). The hotel was in a great location and best of all…free with our legacy Marriott points. For those following along I have converted to Sheraton points due to my assignment in Amsterdam…it was a tough change for me!

Thursday evening we headed out to Oranien-burger Strasse for dinner. Our Thanksgiving meal of choice was Italian at a place called Fuoco. Shaun even forgot it was Thanksgiving until after we ate! After dinner we headed back to our hotel room to get a good night’s sleep, but not before calling everyone back home to say Happy Thanksgiving. (Mom- I hope that the potato disaster worked out and that it didn’t put a damper on the meal).

Friday morning. Raining. Freezing. Well I guess it wasn’t quite freezing because it was raining. Today we decided to do a walking tour. We’re not much for organized tours but given the rich history of Berlin and the vastness of the city, we figured it would be a good idea. We decided on the Original Berlin Walks tour company as this is what Rick Steve’s told us to do! All in all an EXCELLENT tour and we would highly recommend to anyone who travels to Berlin. We saw so many things I am 100% sure we never would have noticed and the guides were incredibly knowledgeable (a shout out to Elmar!). Our favorite parts of the tour included the memorial to the Book Burning Memorial, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, seeing portions of the Wall, and Brandenburg Tor. Ohhh..and he showed us Hotel Adlon where Michael Jackson dangled his baby off the balcony. The tour was a bit of a marathon starting at 10:00am and running until 3:30pm. The tour culminated at Gendarmenmarkt and we set off on foot to explore on our own.

Not 20 feet away was the place where all dreams come true! Europe’s largest chocolate store..and wouldn’t you know it…it is called “Fassbender & Rausch.” I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there is some relation. After purchasing some (hmm...a lot of) chocolates we strolled over to Alexander Platz where we grabbed a bite to eat and then ascended the television tower. This was one of the former East Berlin’s attempts at proving they could build something wonderful. At the top of the needle there is an observation deck, including a bar where we grabbed a drink and did a few loops around the top. It was cool…but we both agree..the EUR 8.50 per person to go up was not really worth the view. We found better views the next evening for free. After an exhausting day of being in the freezing rain we headed home and crashed.

Saturday morning. No rain. Freezing. I swear it was colder on Saturday without the rain. Saturday morning we began the day grabbing a bite to eat at Morgenland “Morning Land” a breakfast place near Kottbusser Tor. It was a great breakfast buffet, German style of course, and a steal of a deal compared to the crappy buffet our hotel was offering. From there it was off to the East Side Gallery near the Ostbanhof. The East Side Gallery is a 1200 yard-long segment of the fromer Berlin Wall that has been painted by over 100 artists. The artwork was amazing..and some of the quotes and drawings were particularly moving. From there we took the train to Oranienburger Tor and headed to August Strasse in search of some cool art galleries. We did find a few but discovered quickly that we were not in the right frame of mind to purchase (or even look at) any art. Next we grabbed lunch at the Zwölf Apostle..fabulous place with dynamite pizzas in a very cool area of Berlin called Charlottenburg. After lunch, we stopped by the Topography of Terror exhibit, an outdoor testimony to the horrors which took place at the former SS headquarters in Berlin.

The museum at Checkpoint Charlie was our next stop. We enjoyed reading the stories of how different people chose to escape from East Berlin but found that some of the translations were a bit rough and the museum was not as well organized as we thought it could be. Regardless, it is a must see and a worthwhile stop. From there our last stop was the Reichstag..the German parliament building. We waited in line for about 30 minutes in the FREEZING COLD and finally made it through the doors. After ascending to the rooftop via elevator you are able to get out and walk around the roof. The rooftop of the Reichstag offers stunning views of Berlin at night. From there you can climb the ramp to the top of the glass copula. Best of all – it was free. Also – great tip…if you have reservations at the restaurant on the roof you don’t have to wait in line..oh hindsight! We grabbed some chow at an Italian place around the corner from the hotel and then once again crashed after a hard day of sight seeing.

Sunday morning. Freezing. Snow. Yes, snow. Marylanders - we were glad to hear of your 60 degree Thanksgiving! Our last morning in Berlin was spent sleeping in!! A late-night US war movie about the USS Indianapolis was on TV and kept us up the night before..(trying to figure out the name of it if anyone knows..produced by MGM)…so we were beat. We packed up and headed out to the Hauptbanhof. It is huge in Berlin! We found a great little restaurant inside where we tried the Berlin specialties of Curry Wurst and Wie­ßbier…personally, I give thumbs down to both. We boarded our train around 12:30 pm and then enjoyed a smooth 4 hour ride back to Frankfurt.

We spent most of our time in East Germany as this had the highest concentration of worthwhile sites to visit. We highly recommend the Welcome Card..it allowed us to travel freely in zones A&B of Berlin and provided discounts on our walking tour and at the museum at Checkpoint Charlie..not bad for EUR 22/person. Berlin was an awesome city…our favorite in Europe and Germany so far. It was so cool to finally visit a city where events of historical importance took place during our lifetimes…while only 9 when the wall came down..we both saw it happen on TV. We missed being with our families for Thanksgiving, but Berlin was a close second. Check out our pics:

Berlin, Germany Thanksgiving 2007