There are about 70 Christmas markets in Berlin, some are on specific days, others are too far to travel to but the rest I think we have visited (or it feels like I have). There were a couple that charged to go in, so we didnt.
They weren’t as good as Nuremberg last year, as most of them I just had a few crafts huts and the rest was food, which they didn’t even let you taste first.
We did find one good market at Schloss Charlottenburg, the palace is from 17th Century, we didn’t actually go in, as that would cost money, but we did walk round the grounds and the garden, in the rain. However, the Christmas market was in the front courtyard. It has lots of stalls and they even gave away a few tasters, the schnapps was rather strong, the cake enjoyable and the cheese - well Linda had several bits! Linda liked the craft stalls there and even bought a few items.
We had landed on Thursday having caught the 7am flight and it was pretty smooth but as the plane was full we had to wait a while for the luggage. This time we were staying in East Berlin at the Hampton Inn Alexanderplatz and so we dropped our bags off and went for a wander.
There were a few Christmas markets near the hotel so I quickly walked round them and ticked them off the list. We then had a wander into Berlin Mitte past the Humbolt University and onto Unter den Linten. Bebelplatz is where the books were burned in 1933, and there is a display, the empty library. It is empty book shelves reminding us of the books lost, although it would be more difficult to do today with Kindles and the Cloud. We saw a Digital Eastery, which was a Microsoft Cafe, so we stopped for a coffee. It was then down to the Brandenburg Tor for a few pictures. There is a Starbucks opposite but no time for coffee - Christmas markets to visit.
From there we dropped down to Potsdam Platz where there was another Christmas market, so we had a look around that one and then popped along to Checkpoint Charlie, via a market. There is not much of the Berlin Wall left, not surprising as you can buy it on postcards, letter racks, decorations and even on its own - no wonder they have had to knock it down.
We then found another Christmas market - but shock, horror, it cost one Euro to get in, they should be paying me to come in. We walked past that one! However, as Linda was disappointed I did find another one on the way back to the hotel. In the evening we had dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, I had a lovely mango chicken stir fry with rice, Linda had burger and chips! I did offer to take Linda to some more markets, but she was tired. We managed to walk over 13 miles on Thursday!
On Friday we decided to buy a day travel card for the transport system, if Linda thought that meant less walking she was going to be disappointed. The weather was wet and dreary but we caught the train to Spandau and ‘to cut a long story short’ we came saw the market and left. ‘True’, Spandau was where Rudolph Hess was kept in prison until he died, although the prison was then destroyed. The streets were not painted with ‘gold’ but water and slightly slippery. There was some Christmas music, but not that which you would here at a ballet!
We caught the train to Chatlottenburg and visited the aforementioned Christmas market. We then had a race again the bus to the train station, which we won, although Linda would have preferred just waiting for the bus. We caught the train to the Zoologischer Gardens and what’s there - well a sports shop, but also another two Christmas markets. There was one by the Kaiser Wilhelm church and we looked round it and as we were hungry had a bratwurst.
It was then a walk around the shopping district and as we were slightly wet we did stop for a coffee. They we walked back towards the Tiergarten through another Christmas market before catching the bus to the Reichstag. It was still raining, disappointing as the forecast had been for just clouds, but we walked along the road till we reached Friedrichstraße and yet another Christmas market, Linda is so lucky!
Fortunately it was by the train station so we could catch a train back to Alexanderplatz and our hotel. Fortunately for Linda there is a Christmas market by the train station, so in case she got withdrawal symptoms we walked round that one too.
The good news is the day travel card was great and it saved us one mile, as we only walked 12 today!
On Saturday we had a leisurely morning and read the paper over breakfast. It is a very good feast here, cooked breakfast, yuppie breakfast (Museli Bircher), waffles, pancakes, cake and even fruit. There is plenty of coffee, although Linda has to bring her own tea bags as she is not partial to Earl Grey or Darjeeling.
We left the hotel around midday and decided to catch the tram which stops outside the hotel. The trams took us to the Hauptbanhoff, not that we particularly wanted to go there, but its where the tram stopped. We had a look around, Linda took some photos of the Christmas tree and there was even a small Christmas market for her to look at. Having left there we walked down to the Reichstag and had a look round the outside.
Although we had a day ticket, I had set a target of a minimum of 10 miles as well, so we decided (or I did) to walk through the Tiergarten to West Berlin. It was once a royal hunting ground for wild animals, but we didn’t see any. It has 15 miles of footpaths, but we only managed a couple. We walked past the Siegessaule (Victory Column) towards the Zoo. Once we had walked through the forest paths we end up at an antique market near the Charlotten Gates. Linda had a look around before we walked south towards the Kurfürstendamm boulevard and some shops, we did stop for a coffee on the way. We popped in a couple of shops but didn’t buy anything.
We then caught the U Bahn to Neukolln where there was another Christmas market. This was one run by non-profit organisations. We had a walk round but it was very busy and you couldn’t really see much. There was nothing we really wanted to buy. We then walked back via Woolworths to the U Bahn station.
The train took us back to Alexanderplatz and we had a look round the shops. There is a C&A here (remember them!) and Primark. It was very busy so we didn’t stay long and went for another walk (our miles were down), we walked around to the Berliner Dom, it look very picturesque in the dark.
The market was lit up and very busy so we avoided that on our walk back to the hotel, we got back around 8pm, and fortunately for Linda we had covered 11 miles, so we don’t need to go out again!
Not bad 36 miles in 3 days.....
On Sunday we had breakfast, a little walk and then it was time to get the tram and bus to the airport.
You can see some photos here (hopefully the link works :) )