The history of the Reichstag Building dates to 1894 as the home for the government of the then-German Empire, but the building was severely damaged by fire one month after Hitler was sworn in as the chancellor of Germany. It was further damaged during World War II and then sat in disuse for decades, receiving only minor restoration work in the 1960s. No further attempts to renovate the building were made until Germany was reunified following the Cold War.
In 1991, a slim majority of parliament members voted to move government back to Berlin, and the following year, an architect was selected to reconstruct the Reichstag Building to once again be the home of the country’s parliament. Perhaps the most notable addition during the 7-year restoration process was the addition of a glass dome to the top of the building, featuring a modern design and offering views of both parliament and the city of Berlin.
One of Germany’s most-visited landmarks, access to the dome is free but requires advance reservations. At the time I made the reservations, a 10:30 admission time seemed to be more than late enough to accommodate our large vacationing crew. Of course, I hadn’t taken into account flight delays the day before the appointment, nor that a Berlin bike race would halt service for the tram I’d identified to get to the capital building.
Despite arriving more than 45 minutes late, the crew was completely accommodating, and after a quick security check, we were on the elevator to the building’s roof and dome. The walk came with an audio guide that was difficult to follow, and we were unsuccessful in obtaining the right viewing angle to see the parliament space, but we still garnered a 360-degree view of Berlin as we walked the ramp up and down the side of the dome.
Eilidh can add “top of the Reichstag Building” to the list of places she’s been tube-fed.
Next up was a short walk to the Brandenburg Gate, one of Europe’s most famous landmarks. Constructed more than 200 years ago, the city gate has survived multiple wars and conflicts and is now considered a symbol of German unity. The area surrounding the gate was so busy it was difficult to get photos without a few dozen people making guest appearances. We did photograph Emmie, holding our street-vendor-purchased pretzel, in front of the gate.
Emmie, the Brandenburg Gate, and presumably the “Best. Pretzel. Ever.” given her propensity for the phrase on this trip.
With no Starbucks locations in Iceland, it had been nearly a week since I’d last enjoyed an iced green tea. Based on a cursory review of TripAdvisor and Rick Steves’ Berlin book, I didn’t find any local lunch standouts around the gate, so a trip to Starbucks for sandwiches and tea made our official itinerary.
Though the queue was long, Amanda quickly found a spot for her and the youngest girls to sit while Cassy, Noah, and I stood in line to place our order. The green tea sizes were smaller, and prices bigger, than in the United States, but I’m happy to report the taste was the same. Noah ordered his standard peach green tea lemonade, Cassy tried the European-exclusive blackberry mojito green tea, and I bought a few ham and cheese sandwiches to round out our order.
Eilidh may have been more excited for the green tea than me!
Emmie used the padded bench at Starbucks as a nap spot.
Noah holds a gold Starbucks chocolate coin we purchased, plus “Stretchy,” his name for the PEZ dispenser he got in Iceland.
One block south was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Opened to the public in 2005, the memorial has more than 2,700 unlabeled concrete blocks as part of an abstract design, of which is detailed in the site’s Wikipedia entry. Roughly half of the Wikipedia text covers controversy around the memorial; we took a brief look before moving onward in Berlin.
Across the street from the memorial was a Berlin souvenir shops, which drew our eyes because of the painted Trabant housed outside the store. The car was produced between 1957 and 1990 and became a sort of symbol of East Germany. Despite a reputation for being noisy, slow, uncomfortable and environmentally unfriendly, the cars were in-demand during communist governance when consumer options were limited.
We loved RITTER SPORT chocolate bars during our last visit to Europe and still occasionally purchase them in stores stateside, so I was excited to see they operate a flagship store in downtown Berlin. The two-story shop was a hit with Cassy, Noah, and Emmie, whose biggest source of enjoyment may have been picking out the mini chocolate bars into a custom Berlin box. After shopping at the store, Amanda drank an ‘iced hot chocolate’ and Cassy a strawberry milkshake. Eilidh took a nap.
Noah’s favorite RITTER SPORT bar combined milk chocolate with a Leibniz biscuit.
Thumbs-up in front of the pick-your-own-chocolate section.
Emmie’s escalator skills have improved from their near-disaster state in New Jersey and New York at the start of our trip.
Hoping to build upon our great Icelandic strawberry experience from a couple of days prior, we took a flyer on a strawberry stand along the side of the street en route to our next stop. The decision paid off as the fruit was delicious. We devoured most of the half-kilogram box before resuming our walk.
Noah didn’t eat a single strawberry but insisted on a photo with his head a part of this sign.
Another Starbucks stop and more souvenir shopping ensued before we reached our final tourist destination of the day, the famous Checkpoint Charlie crossing point of the Berlin Wall and its adjacent museum. Like the Brandenburg Gate earlier, we had a difficult time with isolated photos but grabbed a few before spending an hour or so meandering the cluttered museum.
The privilege of taking pictures in the museum required an extra cost for a photography permit, so we settled for a cell-phone photo of Eilidh as our only documentation from inside the museum. She stands in front of a car which aided in a successful escape attempt; the escape stories may have been the highlight of the museum, which felt a bit dated, disorganized, and overwhelming.
Note the Checkpoint Charlie imagery in the background as we tube-feed Eilidh near the famous Berlin Wall crossing point.
We’d been low on baby wipes all day, and by the time we returned to the hostel, our supply had been exhausted. Earlier I had downplayed the difficulty of acquiring more wipes, but with many stores closed on Sundays, the hostel receptionist recommended a two-stop subway ride for our best-bet place to buy. I took a tired Emmie along for the ride, and she powered through despite some fatigue from a snowballing lack of sleep on our trip.
Emmie helpfully pointed out the waiting time until the next train on our subway line.
A few bags of gummy bears served as a reward for Emmie coming on the journey; her desire to hold and protect them also served as an incentive to stay awake on the return journey.
Standard Pizza was on the itinerary for our first night in Berlin, but our rescheduled flight negated our opportunity for dinner in the city. Given its proximity to the hotel, we decided a takeaway order was appropriate, so Emmie and I stopped for pizza before returning to the hostel; we ate there in the garden area.
Emmie helped set the table for our pizza dinner.
The pizzas were described as serving one person each; I figured the kids could share so ordered four, probably one too many. The all-German menu, and my disinterest in asking for any translation, made for some unexpected toppings, including anchovies on one of the pizzas. The salami pizza took home the best marks from Amanda and Cassy, and overall the thin-crust pizza pies made for a solid first dinner in Berlin.
Pine nuts, tomatoes, pesto, and prosciutto were found on the pictured pizza.
Cassy, Noah, and I ventured back on the U-bahn for a quick trip to Eispatisserie Hokey Pokey, an ice cream shop which had also been on the first night’s itinerary. The place was hopping but lines moved quickly. While they served some adventurous flavors, we all stayed pretty traditional. Noah had vanilla with Smarties (European M&Ms) and marshmallows; Cassy chose strawberry sorbet with Smarties and sprinkles. For Cassy and me, the strawberry sorbet was the clear winner of the night and Eispatisserie Hokey Pokie was on my radar as a place to revisit the following evening.
