Traveling to Berlin. Got any tips?

Mrs. Clarkington and I are headed to Germany in about two weeks. As neither of us has ever been overseas, traveled through customs, knows a lick of German or anything else, I was looking for some tips to help with any of the aforementioned.
Found some pretty cool stuff to do near our hotel in West Berlin, but if you've been and know some cool stuff to do or good restaurants to check out, it'd be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Guerilla Scribe lives in Germany... pm him for suggestions...

 

HA! I am actually in Germany right now... in a small town between Hamburg and Hanover staying with some friends for the week. It's a great country, been here a couple times now... many people speak English, but if they don't just try using some sign language.. point at what you want... or if you want to eat chicken and they don't understand, cluck like a chicken. You'll look like an idiot, but you'll get chicken!

Customs are a breeze, just go through the "nothing to declare" line, which is usually marked by the color green. Passport control will be no problem, too. Do you have a connection in the EU on the way to Germany? If so, you do passport control there and won't have to do it when you get to Berlin.

Make sure you have wienerschnitzel. It's yummy.

 

I was in Berlin a few years before the Wall came down and it was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. I feel so fortunate that I was able to see it before things changed, although obviously I am very glad they changed.

 

One of my German friends says they should put the wall back up. For 20 years the West Germans have given the East Germans money and all they do is keep screwing up and wasting it. At least that's what he says. He's a funny guy.

 

You'll love Germany! I've been twice, mostly taking trains through the country and getting off and stopping at various places. Don't know if you're going anywhere besides Berlin but Heidelburg, Baden-Baden and some of the even smaller towns are lots of fun. Just stumble into any bar and you'll have a whole new set of friends in a few hours.

I was in Berlin in 1995 and they were still adjusting to the wall being down. As I arrived in Berlin with no hotel reservation the same day of the techno Love Festival with tons of pink-hair/tattoo-wearing music fans, I was a bit worried. But we went to the info station and they gave us a hotel out in East Berlin, a cute small inn. It was an interesting experience because clearly the innkeepers hadn't had a lot of contact with Americans at that point.

In Berlin, I'm sure it's changed a lot since I was there but I found the cabaret worth going to as a fun night out. It's kitschy but what tourist thing isn't? Checkpoint Charlie and the museum area also are worth it. And I think they still have one small section of the Wall up and that's worth seeing. The one thing that struck me (and when I was there a lot more of the wall was up) is how much graffitti was all over that thing. It's like they shot you for going over but no one ever got in trouble for spraypainting. Also, if you're going to Munich, check out the open market; it's lots of fun.

 

Don't skimp on the heroine. You think cheap tequilla messes with your stomach? Try low grade smack.

 

From what I remember of my one trip there 20 years ago all the graffiti was on the West Berlin side of the Wall. You could walk right up to it in most spots. I even scrawled my name on it somewhere near Checkpoint Charlie.

And I agree with Mizzou it was an incredible experience to cross over for one day and visit the East. The contrast was stark. One of the things I'll never forget is that we were on the other side maybe 10 minutes before someone walked up to us and asked us to sneak something back across for them. We declined.

 

He's full of scheiße.


Make sure you do the bus tour that hits all the main tourist stops in East and West Berlin. It runs continuously, so you can hop off, go to an attraction and hop back on later to continue on your way. It's really cool looking at the architectural differences between East and West. Check out the shopping in Kurfürstendamm, which is near the Zoo and the Kaiser Wilhelm church that was bombed out in WWII.

 

One of the things that struck me in the mid-1980s was the difference between east and west. I mean, it was noticeable. Food was different. Drink was different. Buildings were different. I'm sure it's lost some of that since the wall came down.

There was a museum near Checkpoint Charlie about the ways of the wall. I don't know if it's still there, but you should check it out.

 

One other must-see ... the Holocaust Memorial, especially at dusk when the pathways are lit. Truly moving sight to walk through.

 

Yep, it's still there. And you can still see strong differences in the buildings on each side of the Wall.