Coming back from my visit to Prague last month, I got excited to visit another European capital. And Berlin was on top of my bucket-list. I decided to spend a week in this German capital.

First few days I based myself in Friedrichshain in the former East Berlin. This area has a an artistic appeal with a lot of graffiti. Especially in the former train repair station RAW, that now is home to clubs and bars. The longest surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall is in this area as well. It is called the East Side Gallery and one side is fully covered with murals.

Berlin is a large city with a good public transport network. From Fiedrichshain I easily visited other neighbourhoods. In the central area I saw some more relics of the Berlin Wall, including the very touristy Checkpoint Charlie. I spend some time in the impressive holocaust memorial. And I was lucky to catch a free concert from the French singer Imany in front of the Brandenburger Tor.

Ofcourse I ticked the must-do boxes on the Berlin tourist map (like Reichstag, Alexander Platz, Museumsinsel). But besides that I had plenty of time just to wander the streets in the areas of Neukolln, Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg. I gave my feet some rest and chilled out in the many parks in the city. The German beers tasted good during sunset in the abonded Tempelhof airport or on the river banks of the river Spree. 

 The last days of my trip I stayed in Schönberg near the shopping-street Kurfüsterdam (West Berlin). I took a glimp in the Olimpiastadion that was home to the Olympic Games (1936) and the World Cup final in 20016. On my last day in Berlin I celebrated Christopher Street Day (Berlin gay pride) in the parade through Tiergarten Park. 

The German city of Düsseldorf lies not far from Dutch border. When I was offered a room in the seventh largest city in Germany, I asked a a friend to join me for a weekend.

We walked the old quarter of town and visited some pubs to drink the local brewed 'Altbier'. On top of the Rheinturm we got a good view on the city that is based on the banks of the river Rhine. Due to the warm weather we spend most of our time along this river. We even watched a football match of the German national team among the local supporters on the riverside.