Germany: Part Three

If you’ve stumbled onto this page, while it says part three above, it’s just part three of a trip to Germany, however it’s also part seven of a series of blog posts chronicling my solo journey through Europe to the places my ancestors came from. You can start here to get caught up.

may 10, 2026

I booked a train from Munich to Leipzig, and this was my first long-distance train ride in 20 years. Despite the punctuality of German culture, their trains have a reputation for having long delays. Thankfully, I didn’t have any connecting trains, and everything went smoothly anyway without any delays. I booked myself a first class ticket on an ICE train and reserved a single seat, and it was a very comfortable ride.

I arrive at the Leipzig main train station, and from there it was a quick walk across the street to the bus station, and a short ride to my hotel, INNside Leipzig, which I’d recommend if you’re ever in Leipzig. (If you’re a Hanson fan reading this, they’re owned by Melia, the same Melia that owned the 2018 – 2020 BTTI resorts, but this staff was a lot more friendly.) The hotel is right across the street from Thomaskirche, a church where the Johann Sebastian Bach was once the Director of Music. I was there on a Sunday, so I didn’t go inside at all, but the outside was beautiful and it was neat knowing some of its history.

I took a few photos from the outside and then made my way over to Kaffehaus Riquet for lunch. The company was started in the 18th century, so I like to think that my great-great-great grandma, who was born in Leipzig in the 19th century, also ate there at least once before immigrating to the U.S. They had a sign promoting their Leipziger Lerchen, which translates to Leipzig Larks because it’s a treat that was originally made with minced lark meat. Nowadays, it’s made with almonds and cherries. It was a yummy treat along with a simple sandwich for a light lunch.

Most things in Germany are closed on Sundays, so I imagine it’s typically busier than when I was there, as there were lots of high-end looking shops all around the old town. The one place I knew for sure I wanted to visit in Leipzig was the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum, a museum that is dedicated to the history of Germany after WWII. It was interesting to learn about how the end of WWII led directly to the division of Eastern and Western Germany, as the American and Russian armies and governments had their own ideas of how Germany should move forward as a country. I suppose common sense leads you there, but it’s something I was never explicitly taught. I also learned that the protests which led to ending the division began in Leipzig. While I enjoyed learning more about Germany’s history, what I am still most interested in learning about is how they dealt with reconciliation amongst themselves as citizens, and re-taught the nazi youth. If anyone knows any good resources about this, please let me know.

After leaving the museum, I walked outside to a couple of street musicians who were performing some classical song, I couldn’t tell you which. But it was so fun to sit and listen to them, as that’s not something I’m used to hearing at home, though we have plenty of street musicians. During my German lessons on Duolingo, I learned about a German treat called Eiskaffe, which is basically what we would call a cold brew float. I knew I wanted to try one, but I was surprised that Leipzig was the first place I saw somewhere serving one, and there were so many places there serving it. I ended up at an ice cream shop that had all kinds of fun ice cream treats, including one called Spaghettieis, which is vanilla ice cream “noodles” with strawberry sauce. I had a hard time deciding which to get, but I ended up with the coffee treat since I had been wanting to try it for so long, and the boost of caffeine was a bonus.

After my treat, I went back to my hotel and made a Mother’s Day phone call to my mom, and then made my way down to the south end of the city center for dinner at Gastätte Kollektiv, a charming restaurant full of nostalgia for the former GDR. I hadn’t had schnitzel yet on the trip, so I ordered it here and learned that the former GDR had its own version of it that was served with a tomato sauce rather than a mushroom sauce, and I loved every bite. It was fun walking around the neighborhood surrounding the restaurant too, as it had such different vibes from the old city and everywhere I had been in western Germany.

I honestly felt there wasn’t very much to do or see in Leipzig, even if it had not been a Sunday. I had a hard time finding things when planning my trip, but knew I wanted to go anyway since one of my ancestors had lived there. However, this was one of the places where I wished I had more time to just sit and people watch and to wander off the beaten path and get lost on purpose. Something about the city drew me in, and I would love to go back sometime, even if there isn’t anything specific to go back to.

may 11, 2026

My last stop in Germany was a day in Berlin, where I stayed at another Melia property. It was another great hotel room with friendly staff and right next to an S-Bahn station. My first priority was once again lunch, and I knew right away I wanted to try Currywurst, or sausage with a curry ketchup sauce. It’s a popular German street food and I had plenty of opportunities to try it, but it got its start in Berlin so I saved it for once I was there. There are lots of takeaway shops all over the city, but I found one with really high ratings, simply called Curry 61, and it was so tasty.

I spent the day following the Rick Steves City Walk tour, and again I chose to read through the script rather than walk around with earbuds all day. I didn’t have great weather, it was off and on rain and pretty windy, but I’ll always take that over being too hot. I started at the Reichstag, though there was a lot of construction happening in the area which made it difficult to see the dome. On the plaza, there was a row of vertical stones commemorating the members of parliament who were murdered by the nazis. It’s hard to see in the photos, but their names are on the top edge of each stone.

Just around the corner from the Reichstag, at the entrance to Tiergarten, there’s another memorial – a row of white crosses dedicated to victims of the Cold War who were murdered while attempting to cross the Berlin Wall. Across the street from this memorial is the Brandenburg Gate, which was built in the 18th century, but during the cold war was part of the border between East and West Germany. On the eastern side of the gate lies a large plaza, where most embassies are located, as well as the Hotel Adlon, where my fellow xillennials and older friends will probably remember Michael Jackson was seen holding his baby over the balcony.

I walked about a block beyond the hotel to the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. The memorial is itself about block large, and full of blocks of various heights, but all the length and width of coffins. As you walk through it, the ground goes up and down so many little hills, it’s easy to get lost in there, which is the point; it seems there is no end. From there, I made my way to Bebelplatz, a public square with a small memorial to where the nazis held many book burnings, and then next I walked down to Neue Wache, which has been a memorial for Germany’s Liberation Wars, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the first World War, and since Germany’s reunification, a “Memorial to the Victims of War and Tyranny”, as inscribed by the statue of a mother and her dead son inside the building.

My next stop was Museum Island – a literal island in the Spree River that is home to five museums, a park, and the beautiful Berlin Dom (a surprisingly Protestant cathedral). Just across the river was the next stop on the Rick Steves City Walk, the Marx-Engels-Forum, an old town quarter that was destroyed in WWII and then became a park with a statue of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but it’s now closed due to subway construction. Across the street from where the forum would be was St. Mary’s Church and the Berlin TV Tower. From there, I continued on to Alexanderplatz, the main public square. There was lots of shopping to be done in the area, but I’m not a big shopper and I was getting tired, so I enjoyed some time just sitting on the edge of the fountain and people watching. Eventually, the wind and rain picked back up, so I went back to my hotel for a rest instead.

My feet were ready to call it a day, but I knew I couldn’t leave Berlin without seeing Checkpoint Charlie and part of the Berlin Wall. I was also ready for dinner, and while there are lots of other German foods I didn’t get to try, the one thing left I wanted to try the most was döner, a Turkish version of a gyro that’s popular in Germany thanks to all the Turkish immigrants. I had a chicken döner sandwich from Subway in Munich, but I knew that didn’t count and I wanted to try the real thing. There was a well-rated shop simply called Meat Kebab Döner just around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie, and it really hit the spot.

There is a bit of the Berlin Wall left standing covered in murals, but this section of it was quite a bit out of my way. Instead, I chose to visit the memorial where there were poles lining the street where the wall used to stand. There was also a small chapel nearby, with a statue depicting the reconciliation amongst the German citizens. Across from the bus stop, in the intersection, I noticed there was section of the wall and what looked like a watchtower still standing. On a few nearby buildings along the cross streets, there were images of what that section looked like before the wall fell.

The gloomy weather really fit the somber day of visiting so many memorials of such a sad history. I’d love to return to Berlin sometime to see what the city is like on a nicer day when focusing on more fun sights, but I really enjoyed my time there. I’m always sad at the end of a vacation, but I still had one more country to visit on this trip so I was surprised by how sad I became over the idea of leaving Germany, and I cannot wait to go back someday.

To be continued…