Brussels

For Christmas last year I got a 3 day trip to Brussels for my partner. Although some would say that this is as much a present for myself than him but this is something we seemed to do regularly. 

Brussels was a wonderful city and great to visit during the Christmas break since the Christmas markets are still around, plenty of Christmas villages with other fun attractions and of course the grand place lights show has to be the most spectacular to visit.

We were staying very central, but even if you are not the metro system is a good one and doesnt cost a fortune either. The city isnt huge so you will still have plenty of time to visit everything you want. Obviously the main attraction is the Grand Place and this is one amazing place. The architecture all around you will have your head spinning. This place is has to be visited both during the day and at night. From the Grand place its only a short walk to Manneken Pis (pissing boy) which is a lot smaller than what I had expected it to be. With another short walk you can get to the royal palace. Another place of interest is park Cinquantenaire with its impressive looking arch as well as millitary and auto museums. 

A little outside of the main city (by metro) you can find Atonium and Mini Europe with is great fun. You can buy a ticket to go to both or separately when you get there its up to you. Mini Europe is a great photo opportunity where you get to see the miniature versions of all the best European destinations, even in motion. 

After this city break my legs definitely needed a day or two to recover. As i said its not small but despite that there is still plenty of walking involved and taxi’s arent cheap if you wanted that as an option. As for food, the mussels and fries are their specialty and are available at any corner and why not try the Belgian waffles with toppings of your choice for dessert. You’ll also be delighted if you are a craft beer lover as there is plenty of that in Brussels.

Berlin

My trip to Berlin was a Christmas present from my other half and it remains one of my favourite cities to this day. Its my favourite not because it was a present but simply because I didn’t realise the amount i will get to see and how thrown back into history you are and just how respectful Germans are of that history and of their city.

First and foremost what I liked was the simplicity of getting from the airport to the city. I know you can say that about a lot of different cities but it was the first thing that i noticed.

The hotel we were staying was right beside the Großer Tiergarten. It was a lovely way to start off our sightseeing by wondering through the park. In the middle of the park you can find the Victory Column. From the top of the column you can get the panoramic view of the entire city as well as the park. To get to the observation desk wont break the bank either as access is only 3euro. From the column we headed towards the famous Brandenburg gate but before we made it to the gate we came across the monument to the soviet soldiers. The Denkmal für die Sowjetischen Soldaten has plenty of reasons to visit if you are a history buff and if not there is also pretty cool large guns to pose with. From there we went onto the Brandenburg gate and then down towards the Murdered Jews memorial. Most of the memorials and monuments are all within close proximity and easily walkable. From that point though it is quite a walk towards checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin wall museum. At the museum you can see remains of the wall untouched as it stood, however there are many opportunities to see the wall regardless around the city including at checkpoint charlie.

One of the most memorable moments about my trip to Berlin was the tour we took down to the bunkers. Berliner Unterwelten e.V. do tours all through the week in different languages at different locations. We opted for the bunker tour under the railway station and it left us in awe. The feeling you get when you go down there, you can really get a glimpse of what it must have been like during the time of the great war.

As the last item on the itinerary we went to visit the Reichstag building. One thing that you must do if you are interested in going to the parliament building is you have to book it ahead of time, there is a tickets desk across from the parliament building where you have to register. You will need your passport with you too.

Make sure you do this first, if you are only going for a weekend it might be booked up. The glass dome and mirror center is amazing to walk around definitely a must.

The one thing we didn’t get to do during our trip was to go to the top of the television tower due to heavy fog. However we spent the time walking around Alexanderplatz and went up to Berlin cathedral. There is plenty to see and more than you would expect museums.

This trip for me was different to any other city break and its all about the history, you really feel like you dive into it all with everything you get to see. I cant praise it enough. People are nice. Food is great. Plenty to see. Whats not to like.