World culture and trend information : May 2016

Berlin is one of the most famous cities in the world. In addition, Germany is the largest country among the EU countries in terms of economy, and in my opinion, the city planning in Berlin is very beautiful. In addition, the design of these buildings are also nice. Although the city is large, the number of the people is not so many, and not crowded. I love EU, especially Berlin so much.
I wrote this blog in English. But English is not my mother tongue. So, if I make some mistakes in my blog in terms of English, I'm very sorry.

1 Sightseeing spots in Berlin

A 　Siegessäule

In center of Berlin, you can see the “Grosser Stern”. It means “Big Stars” in 　　　　　English. It is the very big rotary in Berlin. In the center of “the Grosser Stern”, you can see the “Siegessäule”. On the top of it, the statue of Victoria is standing.

To go there, you get on the bus “100” at the “Zoologischer Garten”(Of course, you can take this bus at the other busstop other than Zoologischer Garten.), and get off at the “Grosser Stern”. It costs 3 Euro to go up the tower. The heights of it is 67 m. You have to go up the 285 upstairs. When I went to the top, I was very exhausted. And you can see the great scenery from the top of the tower. But the space of the top is very small.

This is Siegessäule in Berlin. very beautiful.

The top of Siegessäule. Beautiful !!!

It was early in the morning. There were no cars. But I was very sleepy.

B　 The Berlin Wall

Many sightseeing spots are in Berlin, of course you can see “the Berlin wall”. Some pieces of the Berlin Wall are existing in some areas.

These are the parts of the Berlin Wall in Potsdamer Platz

C　 Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate)

The gate was constructed in 1791.

And it is one of the best-known landmarks of Germany now.

It is built on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from

Berlin to the town of Brandenburg an der Havel.

During the post-war Partition of Germany, the gate was isolated and inaccessible

immediately next to the Berlin wall. It takes about 1 minute from the station

Brandenburger tor”. I recommend you to visit there early in the morning for pictures.

This gate is one of the symbol of Berlin

D　 The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust 　Memorial, is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The place is covered with 2,711 concrete slabs. It takes about 10 minute from the Potsdamer Platz and about 5 minutes from the Brandenburg Gate on foot. I think you may get lost in the middle of the place. The place was larger than I had expected.

E　 Potsdamer Platz

　　Potsdamer Platz (Potsdam Square) is an important public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin. The place is very convenient, so you can find many kinds of shops and German restaurants easily. So you can take a rest after long walking. In addition, the designs of these buildings are very stylish and cool. It’s near the Tiergarten and the Brandenburg Gate. I often visit there for shopping. You can go to Alexander Platz from this station very easily, there are many kinds of shops around Alexander Platz.

F　 Sony center

It's in the Potsdamer Platz. The design of the building is cool. Many kinds of restaurants are in the Sony center.

G 　Berliner Dom

As for the access to the Berliner Dom from the Zoologischer Garten, you take the bus “100” or “200”, and get off at the “Lustgarten”, it’s near the bus stop.

This is the Berlin Dom.

Main entrance is very large. You should take pictures.

H　 Museumsinsel (One of the world heritage)

Museum Island (Museumsinsel) is the name of the northern half of an island in the Spree river in the central district of Berlin. It is so called for the complex of five internationally significant museums. It’s near the Berliner Dom, and “Pergamonmuseum”. It is better to make reservation for the ticket online, if you go into the Pergamonmuseum. Many tourists visit there. One of the museums in the “Museumsinsel” is Bodemuseum. You take the bus”100”, “200” and get off “Lustgarten” (Adult:10 Euro, Student: 5 Euro)

I Gendarmenmarkt

The Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin and the site of an architecturalensemble including the Konzerthaus (concert hall). The atmosphere is very comfortable, and the buildings look very nice. You can take a rest at the outside cafe near the Gendarmenmarkt, and get relaxed.

This is the Konzerthaus

J Hauptbahnhof

Berlin Hauptbahnhof (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. The station is very convenient to go to the other area in Germany. In addition, you can enjoy shopping in the station. The station is near the spree river, so you can enjoy the spree river cruise and take a rest along the river. In summer season, many people spend the time along the river. I enjoyed the spree river cruise last year in April, but a little bit cold.


You can enjoy the Spree river cruise near the Berlin Central Station.

K Altes Nationalgalerie

The buildings are very nice. This is very near the Pergamonmuseum.

It closes on Monday. (Adult:10 Euro, Student: 5 Euro)

L Altes Museum

This Museum is also near the Berlin Dom. You can find it very easily.

(Adult:10 Euro, Student: 5 Euro)

In front of the main entrance, there are 2 types of statues, look very strong.

2 Restaurant

You can find many kinds of restaurants near the sightseeing spots above. Especially around the Sony center, you can find good restaurants, I think. Of course, I’d like to give useful information for the travelers whose travel time is not so long. That’s why I show you some restaurants around the Sony center today. But I’d like you to understand that I can’t show you all of restaurants near the Sony center only one time. So, I’d like to let you know the other restaurants later.

① 　Josty in Sony Center (Bellevuestr.1, 10785 Berlin: 030 2575 1105)

The restaurant is in Sony Center and the design of the restaurant is very nice, in addition, customer service etiquette is nice, friendly. You can eat pizza, hamburger, potato soup, tomato soup, steak, etc. Steaks are around 25 Euro~35 Euro. On the day, I ate one hamburger with French flies (12.50 Euro), and Pepsi (2.90 Euro). In total, 15.40 Euro. The taste of the hamburger was good for me, the quantity of the dish was normal. But if you want to spare money for lunch or dinner, the restaurant might be a little bit expensive. Anyway service was excellent for me.

② 　Maredo (Potzdamer Platz 1, 10785 Berlin: 030 23005362)

You can find this restaurant everywhere in Berlin. But the taste is good for me. In addition, the price is not expensive. (It depends on the kinds of dishes.) I ordered Lunch Menu (Small beefsteak and small chicken steak and French fries) and Pepsi. the quantity of the dish was normal. In total, it costed only 10 Euro. And you can order salad bar additionally (3.90Euro).

③ 　Mommseneck (Alte Potzdamerstr.1 : 0302529 6635)

You can eat traditional German dish there, and enjoy more than 100 kinds of bier. I ordered there potato soup (4.90 Euro) and boiled cauliflower with cheese and white sauce (5.50 Euro). The service was nice, and comfortable atmosphere. The quantity of the dish was a little bit large. I was satisfied with it.

3 Sightseeing bus

If you want to enjoy your trip in Berlin very easily and smoothly, one of the best way is to take the bus. You can have many chances to find the bus.

4 Transportation

One of your concern is transportation, I think. In Berlin, you can use many kinds of transportations like bus, subway, tram etc. And you can use ticket for bus, train and tram. Surprisingly, the ticket is not expensive. If you take them several times, it’s better to buy “One day ticket”. I hope this information would be helpful for you.

5 Accommodation

Actually, there are many hotels in Berlin. And I think time is the most important thing during the trip. That’s why, I think Hotels around the “Zoologischer Garten” station are very convenient for tourists who visit the places above. Because you can go to the Tegel airport directly from the “Zoologischer Garten” bus stop by bus. And you can go to the main station Berlin “Hauptbahnhof” from the “Zoologischer Garten” station by S-Bahn. Of course you can find many kinds of buses at the “Zoologischer Garten” bus stop.

6 In case of Emergency

If you lost money during your trip, you can get money from your family in the other country through the Western Union very quickly. But the passport is necessary when you get money in that case. It is near the Brandenburg Gate.

(①Hansastrasse 236 Berlin, Berlin 13051 +49-30-97996514,②Behrenstr 29 Berlin, Berlin 10117 +49-69-85098373). I think you can have access to that easily.

Today I explained about Berlin, but it is impossible to write all of Berlin only one time. So, I will write it several times.

See you next time.

Potsdam is one of the city in Brandenburg, and very famous and important in the history. But the city is famous as sightseeing spot in EU countries also. Especially in summer season, many people visit the place. I think one of their purposes of visiting Potsdam is to see the Sanssouci palace. It was constructed in 1745 by Frederick the great. The palace is very beautiful, and the park is very large. So I recommend you to have enough time to visit there. Of course, you can see the inside of the palace, if you buy the ticket.

New Palace

1 How to go to Sanssouci

If you go there from “Haupt Bahnhof Berlin”, it is very convenient to get on ”S7”. (“S” means S-Bahn) And you get off the train at Potsdam Haupt Bahnhof. After getting off the train, you get on bus”695” or “X15” bounding for “Schloss Sanssouci”.
As for ticket, you buy "A-B-C ticket". You can transfer to bus with the ticket, if you transfer within 2 hours.

In case you go there by car, there are many parking lots. It costs about 2 Euro per hour. (It depends on the place.)

You buy train ticket with this machine.


You select "A-B-C".

After buying ticket, you need to insert the ticket into this machine to stamp the date.

2 Ticket for the palace information

If you don’t go into these buildings, you don’ t have to pay the fee. If you have plans to go into these buildings, you should check the closing date before you go there. I heard it is closed on Monday (But you can see the buildings from outside.) . Anyway it is better to check before you go there. The fee of entrance is 12 Euro (8 Euro for student.). In some cases, you have to make a line.

3 Tips for the trip

Almost all of the supermarkets are closed in Germany on Sunday. So, it is better to buy drinks in the supermarket “Kaisers” in the Haupt Bahnhof Berlin before you get on S-Bahn train, if you want to spare your money. The supermarket in the Haupt Bahnhof Berlin opens on Sunday. Especially in summer, you should take some drinks, so you don’t have much opportunities to buy reasonable drinks around Sanssouci palace. That’s why it might be better to buy it before you go there, if you spare your money.

4 Restaurant

Fortunately I found a restaurant around “The new palace”. The dishes tasted very good !!