Wandering the streets of Berlin in summer..

Berlin..  Not exactly what I imagine.  What a fascinating city with so much things to do and see and food is so much cheaper than the rest of Germany and definitely parts of Europe.

My first view of Berlin.. at the airport..  Sunset =)

I can now understand why this is S's favourite European city.  I've always thought it's because of the night life, but surprisingly, while we were here, not once did we venture into a single club or bar.  We were so exhausted by the time we get home every night (at around 9 - 10pm), we just collapsed on the bed and enjoy the air conditioning.

We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria while in Berlin, which was just a few steps away from the train station (Zoologischer Garten) and the aquarium but seriously, who wants to be indoors when we could be outdoors, exploring the city?!

Waldorf Astoria Berlin
Hardenbergstrasse 28, Berlin, BE  10623, Germany 

I have to say that this hotel is seriously one of the best hotel we have stayed in.  Our room was in the corner up on the 15th floor.  The sunset view from here is quite lovely.  Reception staff were really friendly and they have quite a few restaurants worth checking out here.  

180 degrees view of the city, from "The Library" at the hotel, 15th floor

The memorial church

Train station

City view

The Library

Yep!  It's called The Library for a reason.. ;)

The view at night, just after sunset.. at around 8.30pm or so from our room

We took the trains and bus and walked lots.  We even took the Segway tour (4 hours around the city in the crazy hot sun.. Boy, did I burn!  Not to mention when I couldn't brake in time and flew out from my segway after I accidentally bumped into the guy in front of me =P  Yep!  My pride was so hurt, I was hiding for the next 3 hours or so )

Firstly, we explored the church close to the hotel:

The inside of the church

Outside

Our hotel is the one in the middle =)

There were quite a few shops close by the hotel, which we explored for a few hours

Seriously, Berlin is such a great city to explore.  You could bike or ride the Segway or walk.  There's so much things to see.  I just love wandering around the streets as the buildings are well maintained (Berlin is broke?  Seriously? Get out of here!) and quite fascinating as the architectures are quite beautiful.  There's lots of boutique stores (I wandered into a lot of stationery shops!  Unfortunately, more of a curiosity than to purchase anything)

Passing by one of the boutiques

Seriously, check out this apartment!!

How seriously cute is this??

Each apartment building is different from their neighbour's

I could see myself living here!

There's something so unique about each apartment building

We did a pit stop at some random ice cream joint.. Nom nom!

and watched the trains go by...

You know Berlin is a city loved by artists and musicians alike...  So much artwork all over the city..

We went to a few markets and was fascinated by this group of musicians, all speaking with an American accent =)

Were they advertising for the advertisement?

Funny guy.. I think he was pretty out of it... ;)

Reminds me of the hippy era 

oh yeah!

ok.. one last picture.. =)