I didn't know Eastern Europe, but I was very keen to see and feel the places and the people up close, many of whom had lived and suffered under communism and Nazism, which had been forcibly implanted in the region.
Berlin, a city that still bears the marks of much suffering, was my gateway.
Vibrant, young, cultural, inventive, sporty. Berlin is a city that has been and still is forced to reinvent itself, but which doesn't deny its past; on the contrary, it makes a point of remembering it at every turn, without complaint and with a strong desire to be reborn. I identified with it. I decided to get to know the city by running. At the age of 40, I decided, like the city, to reinvent myself and run my first marathon.
The Mitte, Berlin's old central district, is the ideal place to stay. Close to the main museums and most of the tourist attractions, it is very strategic and more or less follows the route of the Berlin Wall, which, incidentally, is represented by a double row of stones that runs through the streets and sidewalks that it cut through.
Mitte is home to one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, the Gendarmenmarkt, and some great restaurants, such as Borchardt, where I had a delicious schnitzel with potatoes.
The Congress, with its glass dome (visits are free but you have to book in advance online); Brandenburg Gate, which I crossed with great emotion after running 42 km; Museum Island, home to one of the coolest museums I've ever been to, the Pergamon Museum; Charlie Point, one of the three passages that used to exist between East and West Berlin; the Holocaust monument, gray cement blocks like sarcophagi, of different sizes and which, together, form crooked paths, labyrinths and cause a certain claustrophobic and oppressive sensation when you interact with the work. All this is in Mitte.
To get an overview of the city, including the geography (I'm not very good with maps), I booked a walking tour with Brewer's Berlin Tours(www.brewersberlintours.com). For just EUR 15.00, we spent 6 hours getting to know the city's history, curiosities and main tourist attractions. Our guide, Jonathan, a very witty and knowledgeable Jewish German, showed us, among other things, the very interesting Jewish quarter, its hidden and beautiful passageways and curiosities, such as the little plaques called stumbling stones that were fixed to the ground in front of some houses or plots. With the names of the Jewish families who lived there and were taken to the concentration camps, we are forced to bend down to read them (a sign of respect) and they are made of a golden metal that shines the more it is stepped on, an allusion and homage to the Jews.
Still in the Jewish quarter, it's worth noting the Blindenwerkstatt - the factory of the blind. There, Otto Widt, an almost blind German businessman and manufacturer of brushes and brooms, employed more than 30 blind or deaf Jews between 1940 and '45. Part of the goods produced there were exchanged on the black market for medicine, food and false documents for the Jews. It housed members of the Horn and Licht families for many years in hidden chambers. To this day, the exact number of Jews he saved is unknown.
The oldest Jewish cemetery in Berlin, the old Jewish asylum turned prison where more than 55,000 Jews passed through, Die jüdische Knabenschule, the first Jewish school founded by Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn in 1778, Sophienkirche, the Catholic church where Martin Luther King gave a fiery speech against racism in 1964, the beautiful St. Hedwig-Krankenhaus, a former Catholic hospital designed by the same architect as the beautiful Cologne Cathedral and where many Jews were also saved. Finally, Die Neue Synagoge, in oriental style with its beautiful original façade and impressive golden dome that was rebuilt after the war.
For a bite to eat, we recommend the Schokogalerie, a chocolate and toy store, and the Sophieneck, a traditional café and restaurant in the area and a good place to stop for a bite to eat and warm up with a good coffee.
In Potsdamplatz, a more modern but no less interesting area, you'll find the Sony Center and the headquarters of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, considered to be the best orchestra in the world. If you can't get tickets to a concert, you can take a guided tour every day at 1pm and, if you're lucky, attend a rehearsal.
As well as being an ideal city for walking and running, because it's flat, Berlin has one of the most efficient transport systems in Europe. You have the option of the subway (U-Bahn), train (S-Bahn), streetcar and bus and you can get to any part of the city and its surroundings. What's more, it's an excellent city to explore by bike.
It was by bike that I decided to visit Kreuzberg, an area that is to Berlin what Brooklyn and Williamsburg are to NYC. Cool, alternative, vibrant, it's where most of the city's rich "art street" is and where the alternative fashion and the coolest bars are to be found. It's where everything happens, during the day and especially at night. KaterHolzig, a warehouse converted into a modern bar-restaurant on the banks of the Spree, the river that runs through the city. Arena is the place for partygoers and is close to the Badeschiff, a cargo container converted into a floating spa on the river, which in winter doubles as a sauna, with a semi-enclosed swimming pool. This place is incredible! Dulcinéia, Dulci to her friends, was the one who accompanied me on this tour. The creator of the Conexão Berlin blog, she has lived in Kreuzberg for over 10 years and knows the area like the back of her hand.
