A visit to Berlin

A couple of weeks ago we had a four day weekend here in Austria, so on Wednesday after university classes had finished I went to Berlin to visit my twin sister and brother, who both live there. 

Salzburg from the plane

It only took an hour to fly there, being from Australia I'm not used to flights that are that quick! My sister Rosanna met me at the airport and took me to her apartment, on the fifth floor and no lift so I walked a lot of stairs. Later that night we went to a concert that a friend of hers had written the music for. It was an interesting concert and nice to meet a few of my sisters friends. 

The next day we picked up a bike from my sisters friend that I could borrow for the weekend and rode to her garden in a shared garden allotment in Berlin (sorry I forgot to take a photo). I was able to taste a couple of raspberries and the last cherry tomato from the plant, they were all very tasty. That night I visited my brother's apartment for dinner and managed to ride back to my sister's place on my own, pretty much a Berlin local like them now (ha ha, not really).

Our bikes - I rode the red one

Then on Friday we went to the well known Turkish markets along the canal. We met my brother and ate some tasty food and took this photo on the bridge over the canal. 

Lowan, Rosanna & Kirrabelle in colour

Or black and white!

In the afternoon Rosanna and I went to the House of World Culture, where there was an exhibition and talks about radio. I also got to meet a few more of my sisters friends which was nice. The building reminded me of Canberra buildings. 

On the way home that night I was very entertained to see the Hotel Ludwig Van Beethoven, a bit of a change from all the Mozart named buildings in Salzburg. 

We also went past the famous Brandenburg Gate, which looked pretty at night time with the dark sky and lights shining on it.

My last day we went to a great cafe and had amazing vegetarian brunch buffet! We even sat outside, though we had to keep our coats on. We then did some shopping, as there are a few things I wanted and there are more shops in Berlin than Salzburg. 

That evening we went to a concert at the Berlin Philharmonie building, which is were the famous Berliner Philharmoniker orchestra is based. There is a large concert hall and a chamber (smaller) concert hall and we were going to a concert in the chamber concert hall. Both the concert halls have seating all the way around the stage, with all seats having excellent sound quality for the listener. We were sitting behind the stage which was great as I was able to watch the conductor the whole time. I took a sneaky photo before the concert started from my seat. 

The Philharmonie building

The chamber concert hall, from my front row seat behind the stage

The program was a chamber orchestra and the performers were excellent and the pieces were great (I even got to hear a piece by Beethoven).

Concert program

Siblings in the foyer of the Philharmonie after the concert 

The next morning I flew home to Salzburg for a rest after a fun weekend in Berlin. It is great to be living in a country so close to my sister and brother, it makes visiting them much easier and cheaper!