Having arrived at about 12.30 am on Saturday morning, we decided we needed a snack. Hubby went off and bought Kepaps for us. These are the Doner Kebabs in Australia, but the Germans call it Kepaps. I think the German ones are much tastier and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Probably because I was very hungry by that time.
We stayed in a hotel called Hotel Berlin, Berlin. The reception area was very nicely done in a modern, techno way. The room was large and allowed us to move around without feeling squashed. Hotel Berlin Berlin was quite reasonable – around 70 pounds, or AUD$140 a night.

We started our day by visiting one of the star attractions, which is Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was the only point where international non-German visitors could cross. It is also famous for the US/Soviet armoured tanks stand-off that nearly saw the super powers engage in WWIII. There was a lot of information around Checkpoint Charlie explaining the history and how the Berlin Wall came to be. The great thing is that they provided English translations, which is absolutely fantastic. We spent the next hour reading the material on the wall, munching on our morning coffee and pastry.






After Checkpoint Charlie, we went to visit the Jewish Museum. If you’re with kids, this place is a definite must-see! This museum is extremely well designed, both in terms of its exhibits and its architecture. The internal building is like a modern sculpture. I really enjoyed its architectural treatment of large spaces, clean modern zig zag lines, windows that, of themselves, were like pieces of art. In terms of exhibits, the whole place has been well thought of. Information was presented in a very engaging way, and in a variety of mediums. You can touch and feel most things that are there. Audio-visual exhibits have been designed to cater to children with short attention spans. Your child will definitely learn something from the trip. There’s also little alcoves specially for kids to enter (harder for adults to crawl through). It means children are entertained, whilst adults get an opportunity to read some of the material. Plan to be at the museum for half a day.


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