We reached Berlin by later afternoon. Finding the hotel with the maps and directions I had, was slightly tough but we managed and checked into Meininger at Senefelderplatz.
Almost a month back, I had booked for a free guided tour of the German Parliament - Reichstag scheduled at 8.30pm for about 90 mins. We put our bags, showered and quickly left. We took a bus numbered 100, apparently the only bus which takes you through all major attractions (other than the hop-on-hop-off). We did one round on that bus and then got off at Reichstag. The tour was well organized and the guide gave us very deep insights and stories about the building, its architecture, and impact from the war.
The next day we had a huge debate rather a fight about whether we should do a free walking tour or not. We decided to do a walking tour. We were told that there would be a pickup at 10am from our hotel. We were ready by 9.30 but apparently that 10am pickup was to just collect people from different hotels and make bring them to the Brandenburg gate. The tour was going to start only at 11am. I realized it was an utter waste of time and we wanted to cover a lot in a single day. The walking tour was just going to be Berlin highlights. So we ditched the tour and started off on our own. We took the train to the Berlin Ostbahnof to see the section of the wall that was still intact. From there we reached the Judisches Museum. This museum had everything about Jews right from history, evolution whatever to concentration camps until 1945. We spent many hours at the Museum and then walked towards Checkpoint Charlie - the crossing between east and west. There was an exhibition about the wall very close to the checkpoint. More about that in the photos. Next destination was the Topography of Terror. This place was a treasure trove of information about the book burning, arrests, holocaust, hatred and the cold war. The day almost got over and we managed to make a quick visit to the Berlin Wall Memorial.
The next day was the highlight of our vacation. The tour of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This camp was a model camp. SS officers got training in this camp before being deputed elsewhere. The location of the camp was at the end of one of the train lines and the camp was very close to residential areas which meant that everyone living there could see camp prisoners being walked to the camp. If you don't plan to visit Dachau near Munich or Auschwitz near Krakow, then this place is a must. I have enough photos that divulge the details of the camp. On our way back we were talking to our guide on the train about various things - India, culture, yoga, travel etc and then our conversation was interrupted by a lady who was sitting on the other side. We started talking to her and realized that she was very much around when the wall was built. Her family later moved to the US and she started working with the UN. She is now retired and lives in Berlin. Towards the end, she told us that her mother was in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. We were speechless after that.
The rest of the evening was spent repenting not continuing on the train with the lady. But then, there was also this thought that we should not be triggering such sensitive conversations with someone we just met on the train.
There was so much to see and learn in Berlin that just 3 days was absolutely not enough. We vowed to come back here.
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