My first time in Berlin, 2014

I'm particularly drawn to cities where one can breathe and feel history. Although most of it was destroyed during WWII, Berlin certainly falls in this category.

My first time visiting Berlin was in September 2014. It was a quick night stop and our delayed departure from Lisbon almost ruined my intentions to see most of the main landmarks/tourist sites. Since the hotel had bicycles available for free, I decided this was the best way to visit the city with such a short time available.

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Tiergarten

My first sighting was the Victory Column. This monument was originally located in the old Königsplatz (now Platz der Republik) near the Reichstag. In the late 1930s, the Nazis moved the column to its present location in the Tiergarten following Hitler's plans for the new Welthauptstadt Germania imagined by the architect and Nazi official Albert Speer. Ultimately, this relocation saved the monument from destruction during WWII since the Reichstag was an obvious target for bombing.

Second monument, also in the Tiergarten, the Soviet War Memorial built with marble taken from the rubble of the Reich Chancellery.

Bike lane across the Tiergarten towards the famous Brandenburg Tor.

Modern architecture seen in Galeries Lafayette:

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Checkpoint C

Another inevitable tourist site in Berlin, a symbol of the Cold War: a divided city in a divided country after WWII.

The city of Berlin is dominated by the Fernsehturm, a television tower built in the 1960s, on the East/Communist side.

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East Side Gallery

And my first visit to Berlin couldn't end without seeing the longest continuous section still standing of the old Berlin Wall, now transformed into an open-air art gallery.

After having dinner in a indian food restaurant it was time to return to the hotel. On my way back, I couldn't resist to stop for a night picture of the Brandenburg Tor and its beautiful quadriga sculpture.