Christmastime in Germany

Even though I'm busy preparing for my trip to Costa Rica, I want to take a minute to update you all on my most recent trip, which was to visit my sister, Danielle, in Germany in December. I spent two weeks there, and we went to Berlin, Hildesheim (where my sister goes to grad school), and Hamburg (where my sister's boyfriend, Maxim, lives). We saw and did a lot of different things, so I will try to be brief and just mention the highlights.

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

According to Berlin.de, a tourism site for Berlin, the "Brandenburg Gate is Berlin's most famous landmark. A symbol of Berlin and German division during the Cold War, it is now a national symbol of peace and unity." It reminded me of other monuments I've seen around Europe, and I loved the grand architecture and design of it. You don't see much of that kind of thing in the US, which is one thing I love about Europe. 

Bundestag building, Berlin

The Bundestag is Germany's parliament and they meet in this building in Berlin. Again, more very grand architecture that I love. It is possible to get a tour of the building and go up in the dome to see the view, but unfortunately all the tickets were reserved when we were there so we weren't able to go in. I guess that just gives me an excuse to go back to Berlin. :)

The Berlin Wall

This doesn't require much explanation I assume. We went to two different locations where you can see remnants of the wall. The first one was a long section of the old wall that was still standing and is now used as an art installation where various artists have each painted a mural along the wall. 

Before visiting the Berlin wall, I didn't know that the wall was actually two walls with space between them. In this picture I'm standing in the "no man's land" between the two parts of the wall

One of our favorite murals on the wall

In addition to this section, we also visited another area where the wall used to be. I didn't take any pictures there because it was dark when we got there, but it was very educational. There were outlines on the ground of where the wall and the buildings around it used to be, and lots of info panels about the people who lived on the dividing line of East and West Berlin. Before the wall went up, people used to jump out the back windows of the houses on the border to escape from the East to the West. There was also a reconstruction of the full defense system around the wall and inside the no man's land so you could see what it would actually be like to contemplate trying to escape across the wall, which many people were killed trying to do.


Holocaust Memorial, Berlin

The memorial is made up of many different gray stone blocks of different heights set up in a grid pattern. As you went towards the middle, the ground sloped down and the stones got taller and it felt like you were sinking lower and lower in a grim, monotonous stone forest, so it seemed an appropriate feeling for such a memorial. There was also a visitor center but we didn't go in because there was a line. 

Memorial from the inside

Memorial from the outside

Memorial from the outside

Vegan food in Berlin

This time in Germany, unlike last time, I managed to remain vegetarian, although not fully vegan (I ate a good amount of cheese as well as some great cheesecake). In spite of my cheating, my sister and I actually did pretty well with eating mostly vegan, including finding a few vegan restaurants while we were in Berlin. By far the best one was a vegan crepe restaurant called Let It Be. We got two crepes, one vegetable curry and one apple and cinnamon, and they were delicious. I wouldn't have guessed they were vegan. But the winner of this meal by no small margin was the vegan mac and cheese. It was without a doubt the best vegan mac and cheese I've ever eaten, and it was even delicious by dairy standards. I wish I could eat this mac and cheese all the time, and I would go back to Berlin just to eat it!

Our delicious meal of vegan crepes and mac and cheese

Miniature Wonderland, Hamburg

I don't have any pictures for this but it was one of my favorite attractions in Hamburg. It's a huge exhibit consisting of two floors of miniature scenes inspired by various countries around the world, including Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and the US, among others. It was so beautiful and detailed, and we spent a couple hours wandering around looking at all of it. One of my favorite parts was a newly added scene of an airport, which had automated airplanes taking off and landing every minute or so. All of the scenes included some element of lighting and movement, but that one was the best in my opinion. Another neat aspect of the exhibit was that every 15 minutes, the lights would dim to simulate sunset and then darkness so you could see all the little lights of the buildings as if it were nighttime. This was the most expensive attraction I went to during the whole trip (I'm still almost painfully frugal most of the time when I travel), but it was definitely worth it. I would go again if I get the chance, especially because they are constantly adding to it so there is always more to see. I would highly recommend it for anyone going to Hamburg.


#1 highlight: Christmas Markets!

I loved the German Christmas Markets! You can find them in any city in the country around Christmastime, and they will all have most of the same food and drinks, as well as various stalls selling hats, gloves, ornaments, and other gift-y trinkets. Much of the food was not vegetarian, but I did get some roasted nuts at the Hildesheim market that were delicious, and my favorite part was the drinks. It was so great when we were cold from walking around to stop at a market and have a hot drink to warm us up. The most common drink was gluhwein, a hot spiced wine, which I really liked. There were also various other drinks, most of which I tried at least once.

Christmas market in Hildesheim

A stop for gluhwein at a market in Hamburg with the gang (L-R: Maxim, Danielle, me, and Robert)

I thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas season in Germany, and I hope that I can continue to visit at that time of year in the future. There's just nothing like it here in the US, and even though I complained about that while I was in Germany, I'm not sure I would like it any other way. I like that those markets are something that I have to travel to see, because it makes it all the more exciting when I get to go. I'll save my gluhwein indulgence until I can do it right, in Germany. :)