My Time in Berlin
By: Kayla Vokolek
Tags: Germany, Travel, Blog, Western Europe, Berlin

My Time in Berlin

Inside the historic Reichstag. Photo credit to the author’s friend, Alicia Wong. Used with her permission.

Whenever people would ask me for travel tips in Berlin, I didn’t know how to answer. Not only because I lived there a relatively short time —just a fall semester — but also because Berlin felt far too complex to be summed up in a few points of interest. Like an array of parallel worlds: Historical Berlin, Nature Berlin, Artsy Berlin, etc. Berlin provided culture and recreation in startling depth, with only a couple flashy tourist sites. Even the kinds of places that usually seem like easy suggestions, like museums, felt overwhelming to narrow down for prospective visitors. Too many great museums, parks, memorials. Perhaps this can be attributed to its unique history; in just a little over a century, it’s been at the center of five different coalitions of power as well as a few cultural movements.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Photo credit to Alicia Wong, author’s friend. Used with her permission.

So beyond recommending eating at a döner, I can’t be too prescriptive. The döners seemingly on every block are reflective of the large Turkish population in Germany and particularly Berlin. Even as a vegetarian I didn’t have any trouble finding meals I liked, substituting meat for falafel or veggies. I think my favorite was at Rüyam Gemüse Kebab, but I never had a bad experience. Given how cheap the sandwiches are and how bland or inaccessible I usually find German food as a vegetarian, I visited my nearest döner restaurant an embarrassing amount, a frequency rivaled only by the number of Ritter Sport chocolate bars I devoured.

From a döner at Rathaus Steglitz. Photo by author.

I benefited from living with a host family, a kind couple in their sixties who has lived in Berlin for most of their lives. One of their recommendations was the Liebermann Villa, former home of the Jewish Impressionist artist Max Liebermann. Nazis forced Liebermann’s widow to sell the house for almost nothing; it eventually ended up opening to the public in 2006. Beyond exhibiting history over the house and family as well as related paintings, it includes a beautiful garden by Lake Wannsee. However, it is a bit out of the way, making it an inconvenient tourist spot.

Garden by the lake at Max Liebermann’s house. Photo by author.

Some other favored spots were the Botanical Garden, Tak Tak for its pierogis, Shakespeare and Sons bookstore/cafe, and any forest or park to go walking or biking in, especially the railway-yard-turned-park Schöneberger Südgelände. The Jewish Museum was also noteworthy, albeit heartbreaking at times.

Afternoon spent biking in Hasenheide Park. Photo by author.

Luckily, my semester overlapped somewhat with the timing of the Christmas markets. Each market provided a different experience — one was in front of a palace, another had rides and ice skating, and some were quaint neighborhood gatherings comprised of a few stalls. My weak tolerance for cold dimmed my enthusiasm a bit, but visits with friends while enjoying hot food and drinks made my last few weeks in Germany all the more special.

Christmas market at Alexanderplatz. Photo credit to the author’s friend, Alicia Wong. Used with her permission.

There are still several spots on my list for my return, whenever that will be. Four months was not enough to explore all this city has to offer. I’d even consider living there again (although I have yet to figure out how that would be possible professionally). But however much time I end up spending there, I don’t think I’d ever completely sum up Berlin easily.