As Christmas winds down for another year and everyone is preparing to take the Christmas tree and decorations down, I thought I would write about my recent trip to Berlin. It's never too early to start thinking about where you might travel to next year, so here's a post that might persuade you to hop on a plane and feel just about as festive as is humanly possible at Berlin's Christmas markets.
After piling on as many layers as we could fit into, Miles and I headed straight to the first Christmas market on our list, Gendarmenmarkt (Berlin is home to over sixty markets and we intended to visit as many of them as possible throughout our three day stay). The first thing we noticed during our walk to what is possibly the most impressive market of them all, was how beautiful some of the architecture we passed was. The pre-war buildings were just incredible to look at and I think it took us double the amount of time to walk to Gendarmarkt because of it!
Another wonderful thing we noticed almost instantly was how relaxed the city seemed. Although it is home to 3.5 million people, it is very spread out and you don't have the hustle and bustle that you find in London - things are much more laid back!
As you can imagine, Berlin's Christmas markets are filled with traditional sweets, festive ornaments and handmade gifts. There are plenty of food stands too, offering everything from mulled wine to Bratwurst. Most of the markets also had additional entertainment in the form of singers, dancers, petting zoos and rides. If you only go on one ride, make sure it's a ferris wheel that offers a bird's eye view of the city.
Many mulled wines were consumed and I finally got to try my first eggnog! It was a lot stronger than I had anticipated, despite the copious amount of whipped cream (I wasn't complaining though).
Going hand in hand with the easy-going atmosphere of Berlin, were the number of quaint
cafés to be found. As big coffee lovers, we revelled in the fact that no matter how cold we got, we
could always turn a corner and find a cosy, inviting coffee shop offering excellent quality coffee and
a range of cakes and pastries to accompany it.
On each day of our stay, we chose a landmark or must-visit tourist spot that we wanted to see but wandered off-piste along the way if we saw something or somewhere that looked interesting. This way, we stumbled across live music, flea markets, unique stores and you guessed it, more Christmas markets.
We of course wanted to visit the Holocaust memorial. The concrete pillars cover an area of around 19,000 square metres and can be approached from all four sides. The radical approach to a monument serves as an all consuming way of remembering the Holocaust.
We also visited the Berlin Wall Memorial, which contains the last piece of the wall and the preserved grounds behind it.
I loved learning about the history of Berlin and it really made me appreciate how impressive the city is. With all the history that is contained there, they have built an incredible city and it is now without a doubt, one of my favourites.
I couldn't fault our stay in Berlin. Although I am a huge fan of feeling as festive as possible and the time of our visit may have had an impact on the overall experience, Berlin is undeniably the most relaxed, welcoming city I've visited so far. There is so much to do, so many landmarks to see and interesting cultural quirks around every corner. The festive events made everything feel so magical and I'd really recommend it if you're looking to take a city break in the winter.
I have never really thought about leaving England and moving to another country but I have to say that if I had to choose a city to live in, Berlin would be it.
We took our trip at the very end of November and it was freezing! It may not look like it in the photo above, but it was snowing. We only took hand luggage but wore many, many layers as we couldn't have done all the walking and wandering we did without them.
If you do visit, make sure you look out for 'Photoautomat' booths. For €2, you can take a strip of four photos which are printed out for you within five minutes. It takes a little longer because they're processed in the traditional way which is such a nice touch. The booths are dotted all over Berlin (you can find a map online) and make lovely souvenirs to take home with you.
When our final day rolled around, we enjoyed brunch and hot chocolates before heading to the airport. Yes, that is melted chocolate that I poured into a glass of hot milk and sitting at home writing this now, I wonder how I actually managed to leave the country!?
So, have I persuaded any of you to book flights for next Christmas? Let me know! I'd also love to know where you went if you've already been as I hope to visit again soon,
I hope you've had a lovely Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2017!
Hayley x