How To Travel Berlin Like a Local | From a Local Tour Guide | EP 9
Hello and welcome to another episode of The Traveling podcast the podcast that inspires you to travel and learn about the world and in today’s episode we are going to visit one of the best cities Europe has to offer Berlin it’s going to be Fun today today I have a very special guest on the show he is a local guide from Berlin and a true Berliner we are going to discuss the rich history of Berlin and what made it into what it is today which is a fun city to visit that
Has a lot to offer to any kind of visitor hogar specializes in The Culinary tours of the city so we are going to discuss a lot about the food scene of the city and I hope you guys are hungry and hoger will share with you the must visit places of Berlin and of
Course some great hidden gems so ladies and gentlemen give a warm welcome to hogar all right hello hoger how are you hey MCH I’m great thank you how are you I’m super I’m very excited about this episode because I want to tell you I had the privilege to visit
Berlin about 10 years ago uh it’s a funny story I finished a a bicycle trip through Belgium and the Netherlands and I didn’t know what to do next and uh a friend of mine told me that she has a an uncle living in cburg and he’s looking
For someone to H house sitting house set his apartment to take care of his two cats and I said you know Berlin why not I came there you know taking care of cats is quite of an easy job it’s not like taking care of dogs or children
And uh I had a free apartment for about a month in the heart of cburg and it was super awesome I didn’t know anything almost anything about Berlin except of its history um and most people when they think about Berlin they think first thing in its history about like the
Second world war and stuff like that so that’s what I had in mind but then when I arrived to Berlin first of all I was in shock I was in shock of how this city attracts so many young people how it’s such a multicultural City I met people from all over the
World ER who came to Berlin for not just a week or two for an extended period and uh it was great it was so great I remember when I met the guy I uh you know I I kept the apartment for him I asked him so uh what is is the vibe here
How is Berlin and he said every day is a weekend yeah this is this is something you can really say yeah but you know um Berlin the city has changed so much since you’ve been here I mean the last 10 15 years have been so important for
The bin that you see today so even when you come back now after 10 11 years you will experience a different vibe and yeah every day is a weekend it’s also a that never sleeps and Berlin offers you so many things and if you if you want to
Dive into into the the recent history let’s say the last 150 years really berin offers you everything because berin always played an important role in everything that happened in those in those last years and if you want to go 800 years back there was no balloon you
Know there was there was this tiny little spot on the map nobody would consider then you go to Paris or to London or to Rome to see the history of the mid ages or or even longer ago Berlin is just you know Berlin is today and Berlin is changing every day so
Where is Berlin I mean where it is located obviously in Germany but where in Germany yeah okay you know Berlin is the eastern border of Germany so you know the Polish border is much closer than any Border in the west so I hope you didn’t Bic came bike from the
Netherlands because that’s quite far you know when you live when you when you want to live in Central Europe you go to Cologne or to Frankfurt then within one hour you’re in Brussels and then or in Amsterdam in Berlin you’re you’re closer to Poland actually you’re you’re you’re
Really uh in the eastern border of of Germany but also Berlin is the center of East Germany and Berlin has uh two rivers there the river spray and the lier River half and this is this is something also very important Berlin is not this this super Metropolitan areaa
Where lots of cities around Berlin Berlin is unique and then around it there’s nothing because it was border because of Berlin’s unique history in the last 30 years that you know West Berlin was in the middle of East Germany and then West Berlin and East Berlin together became this huge City again
Just uh 34 years ago but uh also there is no Suburbia you know that you know and that’s why Berlin you’re so close to Nature they so close to water Berlin has so much things to offer in summer yeah right now we’re in winter in Winter
Berlin can be quite cold quite gray and very dark and a bit dirty because of the the the the yeah because of the climate but you know Berlin is a summer city and what you did was completely perfect come in June spend a month here see how the
The city is blossoming up and you know everything is happening outside because we have so cold and gray Winters and then when the sun comes up and you know the the days are getting longer Berlin is a beautiful place and it’s really this is something yes we are we’re a
Little bit far away from all the metropolitan areas of Central and Western Europe but Berlin is a metropolitan area itself I remember I remember it it’s very green uh it’s very um has a lot of space um how many people live in Berlin today no we’re getting close to 3.8
Million no so it’s it’s Germany’s biggest city by far um Hamburg and Munich are coming far after Berlin but you know that Berlin used to have 4.4 million people really so uh in in the 1930s Berlin was 600,000 people more than today really wow and that all
Changed because of the war yes yes I mean of course in the second world war a lot of people had to leave and then after after second world war Berlin didn’t boom again especially West Berlin because you know West Berlin was politically very important but Berlin
Was a city without money you didn’t come to West Berlin because you wanted to make money but because we wanted to live a free life and this is what you had in cburg because where you stayed in cburg that was the eastern border of West
Berlin so in those days this was the end of the world literally and you lived in squats you lived you didn’t pay a lot of rent you didn’t pay a lot for your life and this is where West BL started and then the wall fell it was 19 1989 and um
West bin was then together with East berin a city with even less money so that was I mean this was like really the first decade after the reunification Berlin was a very free and fun city because there was so much space there was so much potential you could grow you
Could do almost everything and of course this is changing today I know that Berlin is more or less in the same size of um of London which you know it’s it’s big but H in London I think there are maybe eight or nine million people living there so it’s like the same size
Only half or even even less than half of the population of London now let’s go back and say how did the Berlin start like as a city when I mean when did it start and how did it evolve throughout history I mean you can really say that
Berlin the first time was mentioned in the 13th century it was 1273 so a long time but it was a small village of fishermen and you can really say the first hundreds of years Berlin was not that important was just in the 18th century that Berlin and Prussia you
Know there was don’t that never mix Prussia and Russia they were neighbors but not the same but Berlin was the capital of this German State you know there was no Germany then Germany just United in the late 19th century and until then Berlin was a small little
Capital and then in the late 18th century Fredick the great made Berlin a place on the map and made Prussia a place on the map but this all then Napoleon crashed everything in the beginning of the 19th century and then um Berlin started to become with the Industrial Revolution become a center
But only 1871 when Germany was United and pruss the prussians LED this unification process so Berlin became capital of this new Germany and that’s only 1871 Sunday Berlin was wow we’re here and then the boom started you know before Berlin had 400,000 people 400 450,000 people while
London already had 3 million wow and then Berlin Grew From 18 1815 1860 to the the late 1920s early 1930s from 400,000 to 4 and a half million wow what a boom so 11 yeah 11 times the people in only 80 years so you can really say that Berlin exploded and became
This capital of Europe and you can really say in the in the late 1920s it was the I always say it’s the capital of sex drugs and cabar yes no rock and roll then but also the city where Albert Einstein moved you know Albert Einstein came from from Switzerland and moved to
Berlin in the 1920s because Berlin the humal University was the only place where he can conduct his research and so you see Berlin was coming out of the the catastrophe of the first world war going into the even bigger catastrophe of second world war in between there was
This little Democratic thing we called the viar Republic and in those days Berlin was really a hub of the world yeah it’s interesting that even though the economical situation in Germany after the first world war was catastrophic uh Berlin thrived like it was a center for culture for art for
Science you mentioned Cabaret I know that the roots of the German Cinema started at that time ER and later on in the 1930s also evolved but in the 1920s directors like Fritz young ER who later moved to the US and you know became just a Hollywood director but all of that
Really like Berlin was a hustling and bustling City and uh that’s how I like to to have the picture of Berlin in my mind that’s how I remember it from my visit there yeah yeah and then of course Berlin uh comes in the 1930s with the uprising of the
Nazis and um I think I think I heard somewhere that even um Hitler didn’t really like Berlin he said that it was like a oh he hated it yeah he hated the city it was the last City where he had the majority of votes you know never
Forget Hitler got voted he got elected you’re right but you know Hitler came from Hitler came from Munich Southern Germany Bavaria was his his homeland he started in the in the early 1920s in Munich and then realized oh I have to go I can’t go against uh the state so have
To go through the institutions of the state and then he started his campaign when the when the Happy Days in the 1920s stopped you know always speak about the Roaring of the golden 1920s but that was from 24 to 29 mhm because 29 I mean before we had the biggest
Inflation that the world ever saw and then we uh in and then we had financed with American money a boom and the boom ended with the ession crash in New York in Octo and the depression in 29 and then Hitler came up and said hello I’m
Back and then he got elected because he said okay now now the people are ready for my for my messages and for the things that I have to say but Berlin was the last place you know berin was the last battlefield for him and you know
That Berlin the name is old Slavic and says swamp swamp so his Capital his capital named after a Slavic name he was the biggest fan of the Slavic culture oh of course of course he was that’s why he always said oh I have to rename Berlin into
Gmania yeah tear down the whole city and buil some yeah yeah yeah sure so yes that’s why Hitler you know Berlin was too communist to left to to poor Berlin of course during the war was bombarded and destroyed and you know I think a lot of our viewers and listeners have this
Pictures in their in their heads of bombarded Berlin and all of the destroyed buildings and the then Berlin um entered into an era a new phase that lasted until uh 1989 and that’s when it was splitted to9 in the was splitted to West Berlin and East
Berlin and I must say that um even today um fast forward years later you have that separation not in a physical sense there is no wall but people refer to East Berlin and West Berlin so can you explain to the audience how Berlin how is situated on the map kind of yeah
First uh Berlin was divided after second world war first Germany was divided in four sectors for Allied Powers Britain France America and the Soviet Union so Germany was divided in four sectors and also the capital Berlin was divided in four sectors and then the the the three Western allies they formed West Germany
So the French British and American part of Germany became West Germany and the Soviet sector became became East Germany and then also the three Western Allied sectors of Berlin became West Berlin and the Soviet sector became East berin so the wall was in the end between the three Western Allied sectors and the
Soviet sector so this was the situation between let’s say 49 between 45 and 49 I mean the years after the war the the the the Germany settled down and then 49 the two states were formed West Germany and East Germany as independent states and then Berlin became West Berlin became
This island in the middle of the Soviet of the Soviet uh sector because the Soviet yeah got the eastern part of Germany and Berlin was in the Heart Like I explained before Berlin was in the heart of East Germany so West Berlin the three Western Allied sectors were were
Isolated yeah and that’s what I said the eastern border of West Berlin was the most eastern part of the western of the capitalistic world and like the the needle in the flesh of of the Soviets and the East Germans yeah it’s important to emphasize on it because I didn’t know
It I think a lot of people think in their imagination that the border the actual border between the Soviet world and the Western world was right there at the heart of Berlin where there was a border there but Berlin West Berlin was an island State you can say or an Island
City in all of a larger area which was Eastern um Germany and in 1989 the wall ER falls down I don’t remember it because I was born in 1989 yes but good for you thank you but h i everybody knows those amazing and like moving videos of people just random people coming with
Sledgehammers and breaking the wall and uh taking pieces of the wall uh you know as a as a souvenir which souvenir exactly today one of those souvenirs cost a lot of money but everything that you can buy today is not real anymore because they’re all gone yeah but this
Is really something you have to understand that there are really two systems came together and this is why the the merge between East and West really took a long time because people grew up I grew up in West bin I’m a born west biner you know I grew up in this in
This uh in this little island and there was wall around this island and then suddenly you know I was a student I was I was 20 when the Wall came down already I was in my first semester and I was really you know there was it was a
Thursday night and you know we were out in the with the the the new colleagues the new students we were out yeah you you drink a beer you come home late and I didn’t live very far from this first checkpoint that was opening up and where all these East German cars were going
Through to West Berlin so going from East Berlin to West Berlin and I came out of the subway and saw all these East German cars coming and I said what I mean usually you don’t have East German cars in West bu so I said [Â __Â ] something
Happened that I missed it I was too late you know there was no mobile phone no Internet in ‘ 89 so just run home and turn the TV and and said oh my God it was it was really a big moment and then you you realized oh my God something is
Happening here but you have to understand everybody was afraid really hours the first days yeah because what happened in Beijing Just In Summer before you had the massacres on the ti men Square in June between June and August the same year so nobody knew what will happen somebody would grab a
Machine gun and just shoot into the crowd so like really I mean the first night the West pist were just standing there and and cheering everybody who came from east to west but then of course the movement was okay now as West said okay let’s do something and then on
The next day only we were standing on the wall and cheering and then these famous pictures come up because everybody was like oh my God will you die standing on the wall so it was it took its time but then it was like the first day the second and the third and
Then West went East East went West everybody was meeting everybody was smiling and this phase was was I mean the first year between when the Wall came down on the 9th of November in ‘ 89 and then there was the political reunification on the October 90 so there
Was one year where the State of East Germany still was there but the state was falling apart I mean there were no not really authorities the they had in March the first free elections in East Germany and then the party started and then you know everybody from
East conquered these I mean all these spaces in East Berlin and did parties in all these Courtyards and all these broken down factories and that’s the spirit that you still have a little bit in Berlin to to like explore the big spaces and explore the potential that
This uh this new city really is offering you wow H thank you thank you for sharing this it’s something uh unbelievable it’s really a point in history that uh really changed like Europe changed the world changed and uh wow that’s amazing and this is really I mean Berlin changed the city the history
In so many bad ways you know when when you see what what what happened in the first world war yes of course the Germans came out of just United just became a power inside of Europe yeah we want our piece of the cake we want our colonies we want an
Army we want a navy and the cake was already taken so the Germans tried to push in First World War happens and then Germany Fells down and Berlin starts to grow again and Berlin in the 1920s starts again showing its potential and then I mean we had inflation we had Mass
Un employment big economical disaster Hitler comes up from Berlin destroying the world so Berlin then again uh in the in the Cold War was the center of the cold war with the wall and east and west and also everybody says oh my God in Berlin is really like um this is the
Border Town of of of another conflict and suddenly Berlin turns into the most peaceful place in the world where A revolution is happening without one shot nobody gets injured I mean despite I mean nobody gets killed right nothing nothing really happens a system is just falling apart I always say it was like
Voldemort and the last Harry poter movie you touch and boo everything falls apart and suddenly you have this Anarchy in the most positive way one year at least where everybody’s just running around smiling and having the greatest party in the world you know and this is what really this is what
Berlin uh is is is is what you see in Berlin to today there are so many things coming together and now since then so many people moved to the city so you really have this thing that when you are in the center of Berlin you hear more English than German yeah I’ve noticed
That and you really have this yeah you really have the situation like in Amsterdam you know yeah that uh the the the working language in most of the companies is English today and now if you see the scene The Culinary scene the party scene everything that is cultural
Today it’s so not German anymore I mean not to say that this is something bad or good there’s no you know there’s no value with it but you know the the people that moved to Berlin in the last 30 years changed the city completely I remember like when I got to
Berlin first of all there are cities around the world that they are fun but they are also giv gives you a warm welcome they’re accepting you they’re like yeah you don’t need to be according to like a certain standard you don’t need to be American or French or German
You just need to be you and you can come here and you can work and enjoy and have a good time I remember meeting a lot of people from all over the world on a daily basis it’s like uh in in Hebrew there is a word called kibuts you know
Like a commune it’s like you you come and and you you hey where are you from I’m from Portugal I’m from Brazil oh I’m from the US I’m from France and everybody comes together and like appreciate each other and having a good time it’s something very unique that
Berlin has to offer yeah true absolutely and this is also when you when you when you go to a restaurant today I mean you most likely don’t go to a German restaurant I mean most likely all the restaurants are open that in the last 5 years maybe 5% are German like really on
The traditional German way you know it’s always this influence it’s what you have in Tel Aviv all these people all these n Nations and and and and culinary scenes coming together and mixing I always say yes what you what you see in Tel Aviv is this Melting Pot of different cultures
And this is really nice to see and you’re absolutely right the people come from all over the place it’s not it’s not the majority is American or the major you hear Spanish you hear English you hear uh Hebrew a lot on the streets of of Berlin today and it’s so nice to
See that the Jewish community in Berlin is the fastest growing in the world Berlin you know yeah yeah yeah there are a lot of Israelis living in Berlin that’s also when I I visited Berlin I met a few of them and also I had a good friend living there at that time ol
Let’s talk about the culinary scene so for people who listening H also among many things he guides also culinary tours and and uh so I want to come to Berlin and of course experience uh everything like it’s a rich history and it’s night life and food so what can I
Find in Berlin in these days so I would probably like I did last night probably take you to a night out in cburg because now right now I mean what the crb that you saw 10 years ago is already a little bit gone it’s like I mean it’s still
There you still have this rough West Berlin the poor old West Berlin everybody would consider okay West Berlin is the commercial site and East berin is the poor old communist side no it’s the other way around W the West bin part is more like the the rough part
Where we the the people without money live and the East ber part is the new money this is it this is the startup industry so um you go to cburg where you stay like really the the heart of cburg and there you have the best culinary
Scene right now now if you open up a two michar restaurant in Berlin these days you must probably do this in cburg okay and this is also like and this is also because cburg is um used to be already in the 60s the biggest Turkish city outset of Turkey because
After the wall fell they needed to replace a lot of workers in a very short time and so a lot of Turkish families moved to the city of West bin to replace these workers that were missing because the wall cut cut them off their jobs and so Berlin became this huge Eastern
Mediterranean Middle Eastern Hub and then Lebanese Syrian North African and Israeli culture so this is what is very dominant in Berlin today is like I said Middle Eastern Eastern Mediterranean food culture and this is also like the also the the the competition between syrians Arab Turkish and Israeli on a
Culinary way I call it the kumus war Theus Wars exactly yeah yeah yeah and you know and competition is competition is great for business in the end so for us it’s like really to to see like how the Turkish culinary scene is just flourishing and
You know that we have one street that is pure on Turkish hand in noran and one street that’s pure on Arab hand and this is really you know liit saying okay no no no come come to our coary world and what the syrians are doing with open fire and meat is
Just the amazing so this is one part that is so dominant and great about the berin food culture is coming from the Middle East and then also what the you know what the Turkish were for uh West berin the Vietnamese were for E East berin so we have a very strong
Vietnamese Community also guest workers that all the students that were invited from East Germany to study the new communist state of Vietnam was supported by East Germany so we have a big Vietnamese community and and still today this is one of my most actually most favorite hubs is this this old the old
Ghetto the Vietnamese ghetto in East Berlin and there’s this Donan center it’s like different Market Halls it’s like really like a kanoi market in Berlin and there the street food the the the really the Vietnamese street food still often done from Vietnamese for Vietnamese so really it’s the buzzling
Hub and it’s so crazy to be there and this is what I say first see cburg see the Middle Eastern heart of Berlin and get all these these flavors of the Middle Eastern cuisine from the Turkish from the Arab from the Israeli from the North African background and then go to
The Vietnamese Center in in lenberg go to the Donan and then you have like really two amazing mounting pots ofin culture and this is and this is just very International it’s eastern Asian and Middle Eastern culture wow I’m hungry already and you know hul I think first
We should um explain to the audience how er like what are the main areas of Berlin because you mentioned kitsberg but there are adles can we say just a word about how yeah what they are sure if we start with czur cburg is today at cburg and fredin these are the on two
Sides of the river breay cburg is old Westland FR sign is old East Berlin today they form one District but this is just on the on the organization on the organizational side from the city but these are the two party centers of east and west berin both sides on the on the
Spray connected by one beautiful bridge but this is like really you go to Burkin or you go to the AR area in frin or you go to kitat Club in cburg and these are like you know these are the the centers of blood nightlife and this is something
You just you just go there follow the people follow the masses in the end and you find the right areas and the right clubs but uh this is you know for the night life the cultural and political Center is called Center met met you know Germans in the when you hear German
Names A lot of times very practical very functional so the center of Berlin is called Center and the German word for Center is MIT so this is why the central district is called MIT and there there you have the political Center the cultural center you have Museum Island
And also this is also everything something you have to see Museum island is the the L of Berlin and this is what they are really doing these days it’s like renovating it’s a it’s a century project like renovating Museum Island and one of the UNESCO world heritage buildings or world heritage sites and
This is really the the the cultureal part the Museum Part the the operas we are the only city in the the world with three Opera Houses so we have six universities three op no five five six okay don’t want to say something wrong but you know we have
Everything because we were first one big city then two cities and this why we have everything at least double we the city of zoos actually did you know no the the West Berlin the West berin zoo is the one with the highest number of species and the East Berlin Zoo is the
Largest zoo in the world so there are two zoos in Berlin yeah two very very large zoos so this is also something if you come with your kids if you come with the family you can also have like beautiful days with your kids in the in like two very very very
Unique uh situations with lots of animal but you have like I said cburg frine and MIT these are the the the a little bit on the Eastern side like eastern part of West buin and the Heart of old East Bin FR sign and MIT and then you have the
More a little bit more residential areas then you go to prin laberg this was the the workers District of East berin today the most genified highly luxury renovated very very beautiful residential neighborhood no more party there great restaurants a great culinary scene and the really really beautiful
Neighborhood and then you could also go to the old Center of West berin and this is also very very important a lot of a lot of touristic action takes place in East Berlin and the the old Center of Berlin that became the center of East Berlin but the the relatively new center
Of West bullin charlottenberg and sherberg these are also something every every every guest of bullin should see and should get this this other idea of bullin this other picture this other uh uh yeah really like the the old west bin that was falling into a big hole when
Everybody was facing each you know everybody was going to east berin east was the thing that happens everybody thought oh West B is boring yeah but also since 5 years there’s the the little bit of a Renaissance of Old West buin and I have a lot of friends Israeli
Friends that actually all moved to the East and now they’re moving West because the East is now boring and they said okay that’s we need something new so we moved to the old city center of West Berlin the districts of sherberg and charlottenburg wow you know it’s amazing
You’re saying it cuz when I was in Berlin that’s what people Tau me oh don’t go to the western parts of Berlin because that’s the boring Place go to the Eastern parts that’s where the fun stuff is is there and it’s see the Berlin is a changing City it doesn’t
Stay the same and uh it’s good to know you know nothing is really fixed there’s a famous quote Berlin will never will never be will always become you know the city is so so Dynamic has always gone up and down you total catastrophes total destruction complete restart of a new
System and this is still Berlin is still pressing the restart button constantly and this is nice to see and and people people are really adopting it and this is nice cburg is a center for Middle Eastern cuisine and Vietnamese um can I find other interesting like food centers or like
Food hub in Berlin of and this is the point there are too many to really point out something and there’s always this important question hogga what is your most favorite restaurant in Berlin I don’t have because you know every day it’s a different one you know it’s it’s
Like if you’re in New York of course there are some places okay I go there regularly but just because you meet the right people there not because the place is the best is there a Best place not really is there you know is there one
Cuisine that I say this is the one that you really have to there are so many there’s there are places that that are really nice because they are changing con constantly there are some Market Halls there’s one Market Hall in cburg you might have seen it Market Hall
Number nine it’s a very very famous spot very hipster very busy with the people on on Thursday nights they have a street food night but it’s wonderful because it’s changing constantly always new stands new kind of street food are coming and this is and this is what I
Like you know of course there’s this one French restaurant where I used to go or I still go it’s like a a French Tapas Place small it’s actually a wine bar that’s also offering bar food but you know you come there with a big group with big friends and you order
Everything on the menu and then they bring it with wine it’s wonderful but just because you know it’s it’s the the nice thing about coming with friends to place and be surprised by wonderful food and also be surprised to go around one corner and suddenly a new place has
Opened and it’s a popup thing it will be gone in two months and uh and that’s nice I remember one of my best culinary experiences in Berlin were in cburg a friend a local friend took me to a Sudanese falafel place and I don’t know if it’s still a thing there it was
10 years ago and um you know because it’s like you mentioned before with the humus Wars that each Nation says that they have the best humus and yada yada yada so Falafel it’s a Mediterranean dish and it’s very common where I come from it’s the street food here like it’s
Something that you eat not on a daily basis but it’s like everywhere and uh she told me I’m going to take you to this uh Falafel that you never tried before you never had a fala like that and I was like girl who you’re talking
To you know like I’m a Falafel King or something like that and then she took me to this Sudan place and uh it really wow this was a whole different kind of Falafel experience it’s a really different Falafel that what I know they took a Falafel with sweet potato and the
Tomatoes with peanut butter sauce and it was wow amazing amazing that was uh so a person comes for the first time to Berlin and there are a few things that uh they want to explore so let’s go over the um main things you know in short I
Come for the first time to Berlin where should I go what should I see where should I visit now really the first thing you should do is like really doing the center because like doing the main sight there’s one beautiful walk you can start at this famous gate at the
Brandenbur gate that was the Western border of the city so there’s Gate City Gate and there is the political Center there you can see the rice T the German Parliament building and then walk from the Brandon B Gade this huge Boulevard we call it unadin Lindon under the
Lindon trees and then you have on all sides you turn um on the on both sides a little bit and there you have the main sites of Berlin and then you end at the rebuilt castle of the Prussian Kings and then you end on museum Island so between
The Brandon book gate and Museum Island you have really the main sides of the old of the of the cultural center of the political Center and there you have an idea of you know where Berlin started this are the the oldest building and then Museum Island this is something
Everybody really has to see the museum Island still is under construction so if you are not the biggest fan to go into the museums doesn’t matter just see the building building see this historical site of Museum Island and then from there you can do first the cburg city
Center start at the place called C kusur every berin has a LoveHate relationship with this Square which we call cotti you know cotti and then you are in the heart of little Istanbul and you see something completely different you really to really do this what we have this rough
Multicultural but amazing part of CR B and from there you cross the bridge there is the Uber bom the upper tree Bridge it’s one of the it’s the bridge between cburg and fredin so there you have then this connection between the two party districts and you start in
Cburg you start with the c with the Middle Eastern scene and then you go on the other side of the river you go to FR sign and maybe end in burine maybe end in one of those bars and places that are the party scene of fr frin the youngest
District that’s that in the last five five to eight years was the place when you say you move to Berlin this is where you this is where you want to live this is where you want to have your your your your first apartment and then of people move a lot
But this is only one side of the city and then from there you go to West Berlin you really you go you have you have the classic center of West Berlin you go down the K first Dam that’s the copy of the Shan you know a lot of
Things in B are copies because bin is such a young City so you walk down and see all the the Gucci and Louis Vuitton and go to cadv that’s the harits of bin so this like luxury department store and as I’m a a foodie a culinary tour guide the
Sixth floor of kivv is something you have to see go there on a Saturday afternoon have lunch there and then just explore what they have to offer with seafood cheese they have a wonderful Potato restaurant and uh really just just see this uh this I mean you have everything
You have French pastries you have wonderful oysters you have like I said very German stuff but very International lots of sweets best chocolates in the world the best brones in the world and there really there there you get an experience of what food can be and you
Know it’s a luxury department store and the high Revenue the floor with the highest revenue is the food floor really and so this is really something very yes so this is really something to to to explore a side of Bering you wouldn’t expect the food Cod of the K DV cow
House Des vest department store of the West so then you have the classic center of West berin so you have the old Border East West buland you have the classic center of East berland the cultural center and you have the center of West buland and then you really have very
Very different sides very faces of the city a three days experience and this really gives you good a good start for thank you that’s really something good it’s really narrow down to the heart the beaten heart I remember thatth when I was in Berlin there was a very famous
Attraction to go somewhere outside of the city for an abandoned um satellite like Espionage base from the Cold War it’s a place where you have these golf balls huge golf balls yeah yeah it’s you know it’s the it’s the the the devil Mountain the toils B TOS B is in you
Know yes we have a lot of forests inside the city you know berin is a big city with three big forests inside not speaking about the parks but the forest and the toit par is one mountain they build up after second world because they had to bring all this the old damaged
Building into one and forming a Mountain out of it and on top of that mountain uh the CIA was building their biggest Espionage station to to listen to what the the East Germans have to say and you know after unification after the American Army left Berlin was an
Abandoned place and it’s really still abandoned so it’s a big uh it’s very nice to go there and to see these these buildings and sometimes they’re really falling apart a lot of Street out there but also just to I mean also some of the buildings are still in use but you know
The city is still not sure what to do with this Heritage of the Cold War and why is that yeah you know Germans are slow I also remember another awesome place which is today a park but it used to be a very important um uh airport during the Cold War and the templehof
Field I think uh it’s correct it’s where they had the uh air train ni the point of uh air the airports is a big thing in berin not only I mean we had three when the wall fell we had three airports there was the old Nazi airport this is
Temple ho used to be the biggest building in the world it’s a it’s it’s a big round building it’s it’s a very strong it’s typical Nazi architecture but you know this is in the in the Heart of the City so it was clear it can’t grow it’s too noisy it’s too dangerous
So this airport was always about to close and when the wall fell in 89 it was already in in in its last Little Steps then there was the West Poland airport and the East Poland airport but also the capital needed a new airport so first they closed Temple hoof and then
The berlinist decided no we keep this open field we make it the park we keep it I mean actually we don’t do anything with it you know it’s just you you can walk on the on the on on on the field where the airplanes were starting and
Landing and you you know you it’s a it’s a big open air it’s it’s it’s a luxury to have this big open air space in the Heart of the City it’s a lot of great place for picnics but uh just to continue this airport story because it’s such a it’s such a
Shame you know in Munich a lot of people would say Berlin is a failed City a failed City because they tried to build an airport they tried to build a new airport and they tried to say okay we are closing the Western East ber airport and we’re
Building something new and uh we needed 16 years to prepare and to build and to plan and go to the courts because everybody’s suing against everything and then we have six years of building and then we needed N9 years of fixing all the problems in the airport building so
The the opening of the airport was 9 years delayed nine years disaster big yeah biggest disaster that we have in the in the uh recent history of the city so I just want to say in uh one sentence about the temple Hof that people will understand so the
Temple Hoff became very important during the Cold War because the like we said West Berlin was an Island City right it was at the heart of Eastern Germany and in order for the uh Allied Forces to bring supplies and all of that they had
A huge not huge I mean yeah big uh yeah yeah to land all of the planes in one point there were so many PL planes landing there that they counted that each 45 seconds a plane landed in templehof and today it’s just a huge Park where it’s it’s in um octanal shape
I mean it’s a like almost a circle circle yeah Circle it’s a circle it’s a it’s a circle yeah yeah and um and yeah Circle sorry it’s a circle and when you go there so you have a huge grass area where people sit with picnics and people
Are taking a stroll alongside what used to be the landing area for the airplanes and uh I remember it’s great for roller skating yeah exactly exactly it’s great for roller skating I I went there with my skateboard and I met people from all over the world coming with their skateboards um I remember
Remember I met this uh American two two American guys and uh they asked me for how long are you staying here in Berlin I said for a month it said oh wow that’s great and I asked for how long are you staying here and they said H we are here
For eight months and I asked them what are you going to do here for this eight months and they looked at me and said partying we’re going to party it’s a very nice answer yeah yeah and another thing I remember but I have a feeling that it doesn’t exist anymore
Correct me if I’m wrong I went with a friend to this abandoned theme park which was also somewhere in the middle of a forest but back then people told me it’s going they’re going to take it down so is it still there or is
It now this is the uh the plant Val this is the old uh party ground for the for East band kids and they have a feris wheel they used to have like a a nice theme park but then it closed down I think they uh found a new investor that
They say they’re going to rebuild it so I I just know that there you can have like tours through the remainings of this of the of the ferris wheel and of course you are not allowed to go in it’s much too dangerous but it’s a yeah it’s
A exciting but I’m not 100% sure about this but I think they’re going to rebuild it so that’s the thing I went there and I I know people told me that you’re not supposed to do it it because it’s a private property it’s dangerous it’s dangerous it’s dangerous things can
Fall down but we went anyhow and uh it had you know this experience was like a zombie movie experience where you go in that abandoned theme park and all of the shrubs are covering the facilities and I remember there were yeah statues broken statues of of the dinosaurs that their
Heads were tilted down it looked like like a war scene and we went to the ferris whe American Horror Story yeah exactly it looks like a horror American Horror Story yeah and we went to the ferris wheel and we touched it and it started to turn and it’s a huge Ferris wheel and
Then some guard saw the ferris wheel moving around and of course he he spotted us he came to us and said okay you need to leave now and and uh we left but that was something uh and it’s also something I remember about Berlin that is uh relating related to what you said
That the bavarians say about Berlin that Berlin is not like a perfect City in the sense of like it’s kind of broken there are many street art yeah it looks like uh very individualistic like people do kind of what they want and I think it adds to the charm of Berlin
But you know uh a functioning Administration sometimes help I mean you have to if you you know if you move to the city and you you become a citizen you know there are some administrational processes you have to go through you’re waiting for some papers and you need
These papers because you can’t get a job you can’t start your job without the paper and then you sit there and just wait for the paper wait and wait and wait and you you’re calling them three times a day and say okay you just need a
Stamp and sign it yeah yeah we will do this and after some month or so you know you can say it’s Charming yes but on the other side it’s nice when things are moving and functioning and working and especially everything that’s connected to the Ballon Administration sometimes you really say
Oh my I don’t want to say something bad right now but you you know sometimes you want to go to Munich and say yeah when things are working it’s nice it’s also a good part yes okay hoger I’m coming now to a fun part of uh our episode this part is called the
House of fun and uh yeah very important House of Fun is basically where you recommend a certain place it can be in Berlin or maybe outside of Berlin for a weekend getaway it can be like a retreat or something like that so is there a somewhere nice in the city or around it
Yeah to do like a an extended weekend of weekend I have one of those places you know when you when you think about a day you know I want to take a day off I always do it in early December you know when really you’re very stressed you’re
In high season I really take a day off and you really can’t afford really that to travel far you want to do something you have you have these 10 hours and there’s this one place called vabali Vali French go go to Bali Vali it’s French and it’s really it’s this it’s a
Spa but it’s it’s a it’s much more it’s a huge space in the middle of the city so you really don’t have to travel is just beside the Central Station and you I I spend 10 11 hours there you go from one Spar retreatment from one infusion
To the next you have wonderful food they really have I we have three meals there have breakfast lunch and dinner and you really think I go always go there alone so it’s like really really you spend this day off anything it’s it’s of course no mobile phones are allowed it’s
Just you know and this is the what I can say everybody if you come especially in Winter and you cannot spend a lot of time outside you can’t swim in all these lakes and all these you can’t really use the the the opportunities of Berlin in summer go there for a
Day and it’s really it’s it’s an amazing place it’s called vabali it’s very close to the Central Station and it’s my absolute place of fun in Berlin where you can really say it’s a full day experience wow that sounds so good sounds so good especially now in this
Time of year so I’m getting now to another fun part of the episode ER which I’m already I’m I’m already seeing that it’s going to be a bit complicated with with Berlin but we’ll go step by step there’s a lot to do there H and it’s
Just called The Bucket List okay it’s a bucket list of play faes that you recommend I will just ask you and uh shoot away whatever comes to your mind first sounds good yeah all right cool so favorite bar Victoria Bar Victoria bar it’s uh I mean we have we have these
Fancy places these places where I mean you have you know Bboy for example Bboy is from Tel Aviv is like they they’re doing a lot of show around their cocktails but you know when you have the place when you really have like the real biners and also a neighborhood that’s a
Little bit up and coming I mean they they used to have the prostitutes on the streets there but now Victoria bar in Po in in I think it’s already tiergarten it’s the border between shunar and tiergarten so West berland Victoria bar is an amazing place also with amazing bar food awesome great cocktails
Wonderful wonderful cocktails best street food in Berlin yeah between you know there’s the I love the this Donan Center this Vietnamese place because it’s so it’s we have so many restaurants there and we I still haven’t tried all of them and also Pakistani Indian so this is because it’s
Not just one place it’s a lot of Asian places and right really a lot of things to explore awesome so I would always say yes I go to this Donan Center okay best burger in Berlin Goldies Burgers nice it’s a Goldies is a place that brings you french fries with three melasta
Background so it’s really one of those I mean it’s is it the best french fries place in Berlin usually you know there are a lot of good places but gold East and they open the burger place and the people stand in line for half an hour for Burg
For burger and it’s a Smash burger place okay your favorite Park in Berlin I always would say that Garden te Garden tear Garden is the Central Park of bull um most impressive uh Museum difficult we have I mean most impressive Museum always we will will be the whole of
Museum island with these five museums it’s a this is like I said it’s the idea of the L like really giving you so much that you can’t do it in one day you need several days um but I always would also say because this is like the the classic
The older part and there is the Old National Gallery it’s part of museum idland is one of the five museums but then this is because this is old East Berlin then there is the new National Gallery in West Berlin so both National galleries they really show you a bright
A very big spectrum of arts and The New National Gallery is is a symphony of bow house it’s a symphony of modern of modern architecture and from Mis f so it’s really it’s an amazing building and I would always say the the two national galleries together are really
Really beautiful to see awesome and a must see best hotel in Berlin awesome yeah there is a actually there is the hotel tph it’s a it’s a it’s not the cheapest hotel in the world yes I know it’s a it’s uh in in Berlin MIT this Central
District and it’s an old it’s says uh it’s not part of the you know when you want to send a telegraph in the 19th century this is where you go it’s a huge building and uh what is so nice about it because the guys it’s it’s not a chain
The guys that were opening this hotel that don’t come from the hotel business they come from Gastronomy but mostly from uh from restaurants and it was their dream to open up a hotel so all these details and the hotel the bar and the restaurant are amazing but the hotel
Teaam would be my recommendation today awesome most romantic spot in the city the Rosen Garden in the tear Garden awesome there is one part in the tear Garden there is like full of there’s a special roses area and uh I was just I was asked um by friends who say okay
Where where can I propose where in Berlin I can have the perfect surrounding and that was uh was the idea yeah sounds romantic indeed okay uh best place for a picnic we said that Temple hoer failed yes Temple hoer failed because you’re sitting there with hectars around you of
Of free space yeah okay so we’re getting now to the last part of the episode which is also a fun part although all of the episode was fun and is fun but uh now we’re getting to a questionnaire it’s it’s called the Bernard Jito questionary Bernard Jito was a famous
Alpen who worked mostly in the 40s in the 50s in the in France and used to ask uh his Travelers these uh types of questions in order to get to know them a little bit so um this is more personal questions but you know in a in a good
Sense in a good taste so let’s see yes so your what is yeah what is your favorite place in the city there is a small Park just around the corner I live in shurg I live in the in this old city center West and there is a small Park
Here it’s called Victoria it’s it’s not a park it’s just a square Victoria Louisa plats it’s a very very small but there’s a big fountain in the middle and people a lot of people say oh this is one of the most beautiful squares of the
City I really love it there so you just you know when I have a free time an hour to just sit there in the sun read a book it’s PR nice your most favorite historical figure from your city’s history oh my God U that’s difficult I mean with all
These all these figures they all have so many good and bad sides so it’s always like okay I love our the old uh the mayor that we had the the first gay mayor of Berlin who came out and said okay yes I’m I’m very famous quote I’m
Gain it’s a it’s a good thing so he did so many good things for the city he was the the party mayor and in in late 90s and the early 2000s but then he he was one of the responsible guys who created the the airport disaster so it’s like
It’s um what was his name uh G Vite Claus Vite clus your favorite German word what does that mean it’s a bit it’s a bit like coziness but you you can’t the German word Gite is more like okay you you’re inside in front of a of a fire
And outside it’s snowing or raining it’s awful and you feel like you have this coziness it’s warm you you feel you’re in in a wonderful place with nice people and you just feel great and this is the what it wow it is really a a good word indeed
Uh okay your uh least favorite word in German tuck tuck I don’t know uh tuck tuck my least J word it’s not really it’s not really a word but it’s a lot of people always say okay when you want to say something bad in ger say okay okay that that works as
Well that works as well so if you were not a tour guide what other profession would you pursue a DJ nice nice ER H what other profession you wouldn’t pursued working in the Berlin Administration okay if you were a plant or an animal what kind of a plant or
Animal would you be and why I think I I would be some kind of of beautiful bird nice like a sign of beautiful bird who can is always independent and can fly I wouldn’t be a plant because a plant can’t move and can’t you know you can’t really change your thing or maybe
Maybe even uh yeah know bir hga thank you so much H this was an absolute pleasure H even I’ve even though I’ve been to Berlin I’ve learned a lot and I’m really looking forward to come for a second visit to this beautiful city so if uh anyone wants to contact you H hire
You as a tour guide where they can find you yes I mean there is uh my my company my website is the taste of bullin and the taste of Bin you have on one side it’s it’s more focusing yes it’s the taste so focusing on the on the culinary
Tours but there you have all my contacts and of course I can do any kind of any kind of Tours and but I’m going to show you around and show you the secrets of my hometown all right hoger thank you so much and see you in Berlin M it’s was a
Pleasure thank you so much for having this with me and uh yeah we’re looking forward to see you soon
In this exciting and informative podcast episode, you will learn how to travel Berlin like a local from a local tour guide. The guide takes you through the city’s hidden gems and shares insider tips that will make your trip to Berlin unforgettable. You will discover the best places to eat, drink, and shop, as well as the top sights to see off the beaten path. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a seasoned traveler, this video is the perfect guide to help you experience the best of Berlin like a true local. So, sit back, relax, and get ready to embark on an unforgettable journey through one of Europe’s most vibrant cities.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:08:10 Berlin’s History
00:13:51 East Berlin & West Berlin
00:24:44 Berlin’s Culinary Scene
00:28:58 How Berlin Is Divided
00:34:08 More Food Talk
00:37:24 Berlin’s Must Visit Sites
00:51:22 House Of Fun
00:53:49 Holger’s Local Recommendations
00:58:44 The Bernard Jeton Questionnaire