Istanbul - Berlin 16 June 2011

From Changi, we flew to Istanbul and then to Berlin. We had our breakfast and walk around in Istanbul airport for a few hours before departing to Berlin.

outside the departure hall

telephone booth, something we don't see very often in Malaysia

hologram of a staff giving briefing to passengers before entering departure hall

waiting for our flight to Berlin - Tegal

the plane that will fly us to Berlin

Upon arriving in Berlin, we were brought to a chinese restaurant in Berlin city center to have our lunch. The food were nice but the portion were quite small and not really enough for a table of 10 adults. After lunch, we were given some time to walk around the commercial area. We bought a summer dress for Airin and a tshirt for myself. Then we boarded our bus to starts our tour around the city of Berlin.

Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz. Our Berlin tour guide told us this Center look like Mount Fuji in Japan. I don't really understand what he meant until I saw this building from afar

this is the building from distance

this is where Hitler's office building once stood

this is the place where the Allies found Hitler's body, a day after he killed himself in a secret bunker and instructed his bodyguards to burn his body along with his wife


Monument To The Murdered Jews of Europe,
a monument to remember the Jews murdered by the Nazis


you can actually see the remains where the Berlin Wall once stood,
along some of the major roads in Berlin

some buildings near Brandenburg Gate

Airin with the Victory Column further behind her

Brandenburg Gate, a place to go for tourists

Airin in front of a beautiful garden near Brandenburg Gate

big man, small man in Brandenburg Gate

crosses at a fence, to remember those who have died trying to cross over the Berlin Wall




Some sightings around the city of Berlin

O2 World Arena




Berlin Wall at East Side Gallery, an open air museum with a section of the wall covered by approximately 106 paintings from all over the world in a memorial of freedom

Checkpoint Charlie

the wallpaper inside the McDonald's cafe beside Checkpoint Charlie. It looks so real and alive

we bought an ice cream to eat inside the bus, but too bad, it's seems that no food are allowed inside the bus. Therefore, I had to finish the 1.5Euro ice cream in one minute. Such a waste

Cars exhibition at the side of a major road and surprisingly it didn't create any jam along the road. If in Malaysia, habislah...

Bicycles for rent

Parts of the Berlin Wall remains

The head of the statue was demolished during one of the bombing raids
in Berlin by the Allies during World War 2

This clock seems to have history behinds it, just I totally forgotten about it

A Lego giraffe near Sony Center

Ampelmannchen, the symbol for road crossing in Berlin. I was fascinated by the cute characters and decided to take photos. Never did I know it actually have it own history here




Some more sightings along our tour in city of Berlin





Siegessaule, the Victory Column


Reichstag, Diet of the Realm

After four hours of tour around the city center of Berlin, we were given some time to shop and have our dinner in a commercial area in Berlin. While most of our tour members went shopping, both of us have a leisurely walk and sightseeing around the area. We then proceed to buy some mineral water and have our dinner, which we enjoy it very much.

water fountain near a mini market


a train station near the shopping area


Airin enjoying our dinner, wurst with beer.
Wurst in German refers to both cold cuts and sausages


Another fountain near the city center

After few hours there, we headed back to our bus and proceed to our accommodation for the night, Courtyard by Marriott. However, we ended up in a hotel in a housing district. Our tour leader, Betty informed us that hotels in Germany always change their names or bought over by other hotel chains. Not sure how true it is, but because we were tired and the hotel is cozy, we didn't make a big fuss out of it. And that's our very first day in Berlin.