One day in Berlin. Crazy? Or not…

It was no contest.

Our ship, the Viking Star, would be in the German seaport of Warnemunde from early morning till night.

This would allow passengers to spend one day in Berlin as a complimentary shore excursion.

One day in Berlin (sort of )

We’ve kicked around Germany, visiting relatives in Hamburg and Rheinfelden. We’ve enjoyed bathing at the Friedrichsbad in Baden-Baden and discovered many delightful things to do in Bonn.

But we’d never been to Berlin before.

A beautiful Baltic beach… Or a day in Berlin?

Janice:  “There are so many places to visit in Berlin! Maybe we should save our visit for when we have more time. Can’t we go to the beach instead?”

We could rent bicycles and pedal out of Warnemunde along the forested coast, past Baltic beaches – some nudist! (Maybe we could get a full-body tan?)

In the afternoon, we could take a 30-minute boat ride to the medieval university town of Rostock.

Wouldn’t that be a more pleasant way to spend our time than journeying six hours on a train for only a few hours in Berlin?

Warnemunde, in fact, is one of the best day trips from Berlin! This is what Rick Steves did when his ship stopped at Warnemunde.

George:  “You’d pass up a world-class city – home to my some of my favorite spy thrillers, by the way – for a no-name beach? I may never have this chance to visit again! One day in Berlin is better than no time in Berlin.”

Berlin won out.

Train to Berlin

The train ride was actually a fun part of our quickie Berlin visit.

In comfortable carriages with lots of seats to spread ourselves out (and coffee and cookies waiting for us), we traveled through pastoral countryside, past green farmland and small lakes, where swans and ducks swam by the reeds.

Through open train windows, we could smell fresh-cut hay.

Before coming into Berlin, we passed forests with sunbeams filtering through the trees.

Dig trains? Then read next: Norway’s Flam Railway is one of the world’s most beautiful train rides!

What can you see in Berlin in a day?

In Berlin, our panoramic bus tour took us to some of the most important sites, giving us a quick overview of the city’s attractions.

The Reichstag building:

We drove by the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building.

With more time, we’d like to visit the Reichstag.

By registering in advance, you can tour inside the glass dome on top of the Reichstag. The views are supposed to be spectacular.

Checkpoint Charlie:

We also drove past former “Checkpoint Charlie.”

It’s a little hokey now – actors dressed in fake soldier uniforms charge tourists to have their photos taken.

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin:

And we stopped for photos at the massive, neo-classical 1791 Brandenburg Gate.

Gendarmenmarkt:

A short walk from the Brandenburg Gate is Berlin’s most beautiful public square, the Gendarmenmarkt.

In summer, it hosts the Classic Open Air, when for a few days, orchestras play classical music.

In winter, it’s the site for one of the best Christmas markets in Berlin.

The Kiss, Berlin Wall:

Our bus also stopped at the “East Side Gallery.”

This section of the Berlin Wall is almost one mile long.

It’s covered with 105 paintings by artists from all over the world, invited in 1990 (a year after the Wall fell) to paint on the Wall.

We had to content ourselves with shooting from across the street, hoping for gaps in between slow-rolling buses.

It was a short-but-sweet tour of some of the main things to see in Berlin.

And then we were set free, armed with maps and tips for what to see on our own.

What about Porto in Portugal? Is Porto worth visiting? Absolutely! And there are ways to avoid the crowds too

Seeking respite in the German Historical Museum

Our plan was to stroll the Berlin’s grand central boulevard, Unter den Linden, named for its linden trees.

And we did some of that before melting in the heat and making a beeline for the German Historical Museum (which we hoped would have air conditioning).

Sure enough, the museum was cool – in more ways than one…

Packed with some 8,000 exhibits, the German Historical Museum (Deutsches Historisches Museum) is considered one of the best museums in Berlin – we thought it superb.

Everything from art and armor to Napoleon’s hat to pieces of the Berlin Wall are on display.

The upper floor covers Germany’s history from the Middle Ages to the end of the First World War.

But we devoted most of our time on the ground floor – covering Hitler’s rise, WWII and then the Cold War and the divide and subsequent reunification of Berlin.

No matter how many times we’d read about the horrors associated with Hitler, learning more about those tragic times in the city where Hitler ruled made the Nazi years more immediate for us.

Seeing documents ordering the deaths of some of the 70,000 mentally and physically disabled German patients who were “euthanized” caused shivers to run up and down our spines.

Related reading: What art at NYC’s Met Museum must you see if you’re short on time?

Back to the ship

Museum exhibits depicting life in the former East Berlin – like the replica of a typical apartment – triggered an interesting discussion later with our young, liberal university student guide, Julia, who accompanied us on the return train ride back to our ship.

Not everyone who lived under the thumb of communist Germany was unhappy with their lives.

“My parents liked parts of the East German rule,” she shared.

They were born in East Berlin in the 60s, shortly after the Wall was erected, so communist life would have been the only way of life they knew.

“They liked the employment situation. Everyone knew they’d have a job. If the government planned for 20 doctor positions in five years, they’d allow 20 students to study medicine.”

It was with mixed feelings when we reboarded our ship that night.

Visiting Berlin in a day doesn’t do the city justice – we barely even scratched the surface and now want to dig deeper. But at least we had our one day in Berlin.