Day 5

Jet lag is finally loosening its grip—we managed to sleep through to 5:30 a.m. today, just in time for the 6:00 a.m. breakfast downstairs. Judging by the number of early risers in the dining room, we’re guessing our hotel also caters to a crowd of business travellers (or fellow jet-lagged tourists).

Before leaving for Europe, I’d sketched out a detailed list of landmarks and neighbourhoods we didn’t want to miss. After a few days of trekking across Berlin, we decided to slow the pace slightly and check out a few final highlights. Berlin is a city of extremes—gritty and grand, sharp-edged and soft—and today’s destinations captured that contrast perfectly: the bold colour and raw emotion of the East Side Gallery, followed by the chandeliers and cherubs of Charlottenburg Palace.

We began our morning at the East Side Gallery, a 1.3-kilometre open-air art exhibition painted on the longest surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall. After the Wall fell in 1989, artists from around the world came to Berlin and transformed this once-feared border into a living canvas of peace, protest, satire, and remembrance. Today, it features over 100 murals and stands as both a vibrant creative space and a solemn historical monument.

It’s hard to believe this slab of concrete once split the city—and families—in two. We took our time walking along the wall, admiring both the iconic pieces and the lesser-known works. We stopped at the famous Fraternal Kiss mural of Brezhnev and Honecker, which somehow remains both hilarious and unsettling. Further along, the wall explodes with symbolism—stick figures dancing, doves breaking chains, cosmic visions. Some works call for peace or environmental action; others are simply playful, abstract, or defiant. It’s a vivid reminder of how art can transform even the bleakest structure into something deeply human.

We passed the Oberbaum Bridge on our way out—a neo-Gothic icon that connects Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg across the Spree. Sadly, heavy traffic and a coat of less-than-artistic graffiti meant we didn’t get a great photo, but even through the chaos, its red-brick arches and towers offered a glimpse of old Berlin charm. Maybe next time, at a quieter hour.

From there, we navigated Berlin’s (surprisingly manageable) public transport system and made our way west to Charlottenburg Palace. It took a bit of figuring out, but we made it—and I was pleasantly surprised by how many German words I could still read from childhood. Speaking them is another matter entirely, but I’ll take the small wins.

Our visit began with a bit of drama: a tourist having a very vocal disagreement with an older German man who wanted her to move so his wife could take a photo—from what looked like a full ten metres away. Nothing like a heated photo dispute to remind you you’re in Europe.

Charlottenburg Palace, built in the late 1600s for Queen Sophie Charlotte, is the kind of place that takes opulence to another level. Gilded cornices, frescoed ceilings, embroidered walls—it’s all very “if Versailles had a younger cousin.” One ballroom in pastel tones was absolutely stunning, filled with cherubs, chandeliers, and enough decorative flourishes to make your head spin. Another room, in rich reds and golds, felt like it could host a royal meeting—or a very fancy board game night.

It’s hard to imagine living in such grandeur without feeling like you were trapped inside a frosted wedding cake. Unlike some European palaces that feel cold or roped-off, Charlottenburg was elegant but approachable. It may not have the imperial scale of Versailles or the grandeur of Schönbrunn, but we loved wandering through its rooms and peaceful gardens.

Afterwards, we caught a direct train back to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, picked up some lunch from the station, and returned to our hotel nearby for a break before an evening with family. First, we visited Simone, my cousin on Dad’s side, who’s been living and working in Berlin as an opera singer for the last ten years. We caught the tram to her place and had tea and cake in her cosy apartment with her kids, Clara and David. It was relaxed and a great way to start the evening.

Later, we took the train to Friedrichstraße to meet my mum’s side of the family—Sandy and Roman, along with Sandy’s husband Martin. To be precise, Sandy and Roman are the children of my mother’s cousin—so technically my second cousins, but either way, family is family. Roman had kindly booked us a table at Hans im Glück, a well-known burger chain named after a Grimm fairy tale about a man who trades away everything he owns in search of happiness. Thankfully, no one had to part with their wallet or phone for a side of chips.

Even though I saw Sandy and Roman just last year, it’s always a joy catching up—and it was especially meaningful that Ted could join too. It was his first time meeting Roman, and his first time seeing Sandy and Martin in over 18 years. He also hadn’t seen Simone since her wedding in Australia, so it felt like a mini reunion on all fronts.

Plenty of laughs, a few beers, and suddenly it was after 10 p.m. Tomorrow, we leave Berlin behind and cross the border into Poland. But for now, we’re grateful for a day filled with murals, monarchs, and familiar faces—and for a city that somehow makes it all feel perfectly natural.Baca selengkapnya