Potsdam

For our two days in Berlin, we decided to stay in Potsdam – about 25 minutes from the city centre by Regional Express – where accommodation is much more affordable. Staying in Potsdam also gave me the opportunity to go for a sunset run through the Sanssouci (or “Sorgenfri" as it is known from a Malmö horizon) World Heritage castle grounds and to show the kids what used to be the residence of the Prussian kings.

Making full use of our ABC travel card with the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), we of course also explored Berlin proper – from the obligatory Brandenburger Tor photo-op to the GDR Museum for some Trabi simulator driving. As for the old East, few things remain the same, but the postmodern irony only deepens.

Instead of a Starbucks, an Espresso House (sic!) has opened in the Fernsehturm at Alexanderplatz, while the Disneyfied rebuilding of the Berliner Schloss is now complete – with three sides reconstructed as exact replicas of the Baroque castle and the fourth side (as well as the interior) designed in a starkly modern style as part of the new Humboldt Forum art museum – all replacing what was once the Palast der Republik.