The main reason for this trip to Berlin was to celebrate my birthday. Today I’m 34 years old. Bloody old! I don’t know where all the years went.

My final day in Berlin was spent walking around Berlin, enjoying the sites, cafes, and speaking with the friendly German people. I really would like to live in Berlin one day. When I leave Paris at the end of this year I’m going to either move to Germany or back to Australia. There is not another option for me.

My birthday lunch was at a Turkish place where I had steaming hot freshly baked bread, every kind of meat they had, rice, potato, salad, drinks. The food was piled high and it was only 15 euros for the two of us. Delicious and a bargain!

Dessert was another kase sahne torte. I normally hate cakes, especially French ones, but I love German cakes! They really know what they’re doing and again waaaayyy cheaper than what you get here at a patisserie.

Our Easyjet flight was slightly delayed but we managed to get the last metro and make it safely home. I loved Berlin and plan to go back in the summer when it should be even better. So far I’ve been to Cologne, Stuttgart, and Berlin, which just leaves Munich on my list of must see German cities. Hopefully I’ll make it there this summer also.

Berlin Zoo is supposed to be one of the biggest and best zoos around. I can accept that it might be one of the biggest but I’m not sure it’s one of the best. Not that I’ve been to that many zoos in my time but I think even little old Perth Zoo is better than this. Well, not as far as the variety of animals go but in the way in which they are housed/caged.

Berlin Zoo definitely has some amazing animals, some of which I’ve never seen before. The number one attraction is Bao Bao, the giant Panda. Bao Bao is worth the admission price alone. Talk about cute!

Also amazing were the gorillas. I’m not sure if I’ve seen a gorilla before. There are at least 10 of them there and I loved them all. Their faces are so expressive. There are plenty of chimpanzees and orang utans too if you like that kind of thing, which I do.

There are lots of cats on show too – lion, lioness, leopard, puma, jaguar, tiger. Some of the cats seemed to have very small enclosures and they do that thing where they walk in repetitive circles which I hate to see.

The other star attraction is Knut the polar bear who is now all grown up. Very cute and very playful, he didn’t disappoint the crowds.

One great thing about this zoo is that there are loads of babies around. Baby giraffes, elephants, lions, gorillas, chimps, bears, and more, so they must be doing something right if the animals are breeding.

Today I just wanted to go sightseeing and eat some lecker German cakes and that’s what we did.

We took the same path as our first night here taking in the major sights and snapping lots of photos and video along the way. Places of interest:

• Checkpoint Charlie – where east once met west.
• The Berlin Wall – or what little is left of it.
• Potsdamer Platz – modern new Berlin.
• Holocaust Memorial.
• Brandenburg Gate – need I say more.
• The Reichstag – German parliament building, completely reconstructed after the war. The modern glass dome is a nice touch but not really worth the 1 hour wait to go up.
• Hauptbahnhof – the new super modern central station.
• Unter den Linden.
• Gendarmenmarkt – beautiful square with twin churches.
• Berliner Dom – beautiful cathedral, although it could do with a good clean.
• Alexanderplatz – visit the Fernsehturm TV tower if you have the patience to wait in the queue – I didn’t.
• Martin Gropius Bau
• Topographie des Terrors – an open air exhibition on the former site of the Gestapo.

All that walking and sightseeing was followed by another great meal and my favourite German dessert, kase sahne torte. Happy.

Argh, I hate shopping. I must be one of the few girls born without the shopping gene. Ferbent on the other hand loves shopping and just wants to buy, buy, buy. I feel like a mother out with a small child when I’m with him. No son, you can’t have that 5000 euro watch, it’s too expensive. No son, do you really need another 5 pairs of jeans. No son, I don’t think you’re ever going to have the occasion to wear braces.

Let’s see how our little shopping spree went.

Ferbent:

• 11 t-shirts
• 1 pair of jeans
• 1 pair of shorts
• 1 casual jacket
• 1 pair of casual shoes
• 1 pair of running shoes
• 2 pairs of socks

Andrea:

• 1 bag
• 1 pair of casual shoes
• 1 pair of running shoes

If I hadn’t been around he would have bought 5 times as much. Who knows how we’ll carry it all back home.

Places to shop in Berlin:

• Alexa
• Alexander Platz
• Potsdamer Platz
• Kurfurstendamm
• countless other places

Today started well with a lecker meal in a German bakery. A huge sandwich, a berliner (although they don’t call doughnuts berliners in Berlin), and a drink for 4 euros. I was so full I wasn’t hungry again until 7pm!

We then took a very touristy hop on hop off bus tour which gave us a good overview of all the sights of Berlin. When the guide was speaking, I couldn’t tell when he was speaking German and when he was speaking English – it sounded all Greek to me. We switched buses and then had a great guide so it turned out to be a lot of fun.

We then did a bit of shopping in Kurfurstendamm where I picked up some comfy Diesel shoes to replace the very uncomfortable boots I had on. Note to self: never go on holiday without my favourite super comfy Diesel shoes. All the regular shops are in the Kurfustendamm area as well as a couple of German department stores including Ka Da We, the largest department store in Europe, after Harrods.

We had dinner at what could have been a dodgy kebab place but turned out to be really lecker. Ferbent did manage to spill his beer over my coat, new Brontibay bag, and brand new Diesel shoes so now I smell like a drunk, but anyway, I had a good time.

This is my first time in Berlin and have 5 days to explore the huge city. We arrived in the late afternoon, checked into our hotel near Checkpoint Charlie and Potsdamer Platz, and then headed straight out.

First stop was Potsdamer Platz, a huge square where you can see modern buildings, Europe’s first traffic light, and remnants of the Berlin Wall. A short walk from Potsdamer Platz is the Brandenburg Gate. The first thing I notice is that it’s much smaller than I imagined it would be but amazing to see nonetheless. It’s then onto Unter Den Linden, the most famous boulevard in Berlin, where you pass the massive Russian Embassy, the heavily guarded US Embassy, and the modern British Embassy. Further along there are many historic buildings (often reconstructed after the war), museums, libraries, and Berliner Dom.

Over the river is Alexander Platz and the TV tower. A bit further along we stop for a tasty and very cheap Italian meal with a friendly Albanian waiter who is now Ferbent’s best friend We then made the long walk back to the hotel, taking in Friedrichstrasse and Checkpoint Charlie.

I always knew Berlin was much cheaper than Paris but was shocked that housing is sooooo much cheaper. The guy on reception at the hotel told me he pays 500 euros for a 60 sqm apartment and the Albanian waiter is paying 480 for a 70 sqm apartment. Both say they are in really nice areas in central Berlin. I’m paying over 1000 euros a month for 40 sqm. Something’s not right!