Europe

Should Visiting a Death Camp in Poland Be On Your Bucket List?

I would be so surprised if “visiting a death camp museum in Poland” was on your bucket list.

It’s certainly never been on mine.

So when my daughter asked if we should visit Auschwitz Museum when we were in Krakow, it might seem strange that I didn’t hesitate one second to say “Well yes.” Of course, we’re doing that. Why had I never thought of that? EVER?

I’ve been a history fangirl all my life. Not an expert - just a fangirl. But World War II felt more a part of my life than a part of ‘history.’ Maybe because the world I was born into was still processing their collective experience twelve years after the end of the war.

Stories began appearing in books and Life Magazine from many different perspectives - politicians, soldiers, and young teenage girl’s named Anne. They told of the millions of people murdered during the war. It all felt so removed from my life and the world around me. ‘Real people,’ the adults I knew and my parents knew - couldn’t - wouldn’t - do what those evil doers perpetrated.

Not in a million years.

(This is the part where we all cast fearful side-eyes onto our present day, clenching our jaws and our coats closed more tightly.)

You may feel the same way about the horrors of WWII. They happened so far away, and in such a different world. The day I went to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, I learned there’s a vast difference between knowing something happened and standing where it happened. Seeing what the victims saw, where they experienced it - and hearing the details while in that place changed my perspective forever.

I think, my friend, you should put it on your bucket list.

To be clear - the camps in Poland were all German/Nazi Death Camps, and there were never any camps created by Poland. I make it clear further into the blog post just what the Polish people endured at the hands of the Nazi's - and for more years than WWII was fought.

I also want to tell you how difficult it was to write about this experience. I’m still chasing the right words, but it’s past time to share what I saw and felt. And I’m combining my story with the personal experience of four other writers from around the world.

Read our stories, then go - see for yourself.

Auschwitz Museum

We boarded a tour bus to the death camp site the morning after arriving in Krakow. It was a cold November day with a damp, morning fog. I was mesmerized by the wooded landscape as we traveled toward the camps. “Is this what they saw?” I wondered, but no, they were locked inside railcars.

I didn’t feel anything - which was strange. Leading up to the tour, my daughter reminded me often to prepare for the intensity of the experience. I pretended to do that, but I’d been in a deer-in-the-headlights mode since saying “Well yes” to the tour. Looking back, I know I couldn’t imagine what something so big would be like in real life.

So I just braced for impact.

And once there - the reality of what I’d heard, read and watched movies about was too much to process. I felt robotic from the moment we stood under the iron entrance gates of Auschwitz. The gates inscribed with “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Makes You Free).

It was so jarring and absurd reading that there, in that place, I thought at first it was added after the war. No. It was always there, as it was on many Nazi concentration and death camps.

After walking through the main gate, I stayed hyper alert - focused on imprinting everything in my memory. But I felt disconnected from my emotions - almost a state of shock - as the tour unfolded.

I remember thinking the red brick buildings were in good shape and didn’t look as terrifying as I’d expected.

From the outside.

All That I Remember

Our Polish guide, Konrad, told us what happened to the people who died here. How they were made to travel to this place - or another death camp in Poland. What they endured in the train cars and when they arrived.

Konrad answering the ultimate question "how did this happen?"

I wrote down one thing he said that haunted me.

“People ask all the time - why did this happen? How did this happen? It’s because they elected the Nazi’s who promised a change.” You could tell Konrad wondered why people taking the tour needed to ask these questions. His tone implied the answer was so obvious.

I took it as I believe he meant it - a cautionary tale.

As we entered the first cell Block, Konrad had us stop and read the George Santayana quote on the wall inside. “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” That is the message the Polish people want the world to know.

On the walls of the corridors hang haunting black and white photos of prisoners - one after another. All new prisoners were photographed until too many of them began arriving daily. And it got to be too much of a tedious chore for the guards.

Everywhere we went on the tour - I tried to imagine how the prisoners would have experienced it. As we walked through the barracks and I felt the cold leak through my multi-layers of clothes and down jacket - I imagined wearing only rags.

Konrad said there were over a thousand prisoners in each Block, and one latrine per building. We saw rooms with straw-covered floors, rooms with wood pulp and straw filled sacks as mattresses, and some with 3-tiered wooden bunks. They were so crammed in they had to sleep on their sides.

In Auschwitz's early days, prisoners slept on straw.

Straw-filled-sacks-as-mattress-at-Auschwitz

Straw filled sacks as mattresses in Auschwitz barracks.

And when they were forced up in the morning, they had 10 minutes to report to roll call. I knew I wouldn’t have made it to the bathroom in time to line up.

At times, roll call lasted longer than a day and a night, regardless of weather and depending on the whim and cruelty of the guards. My hips and knees severely ache when I stand too long. How would I have done it?

Within the barracks, collections of confiscated belongings are separated and displayed behind glass walls. There are mounds of suitcases, prostheses filling half a room, rusted containers of Nivea face cream, brushes and combs, eyeglasses, worn out shoes, baby shoes, and feminine heels. And piles and piles of hair.

Confiscated luggage with names and birthdates.

We silently entered the remaining gas chamber and crematorium at Auschwitz and walked through. I felt claustrophobic terror in that dark hole, the cement walls marked from clawing fingernails.

Block 11

There was so much horror at Auschwitz; it’s hard to believe any place was considered worse than the gas chambers. But that was Block 11 - used for torture and executions. I learned the Nazi’s could think of worse things to do beyond the shower/gas chambers.

To imagine what the prisoners endured, we were led single file into the cramped basement of Block 11. There, in the small cells, prisoners could be sentenced to a week either without food or without light. Or be made to stand - crammed with others into a standing room only cell all night, taken out to labor the next day, and brought back again to stand in the cell that night.

Being sent to Block 11 meant death for a prisoner. Death as a direct result of the punishment, or if they somehow survived that, they were shot or hung at the Wall of Death in the adjacent courtyard. The courtyard between Blocks 10 and 11 had all overlooking windows boarded or bricked over.

The Reconstructed Wall of Death at Block 11.

After returning home, I’ve discovered a book written by a survivor of Auschwitz, Primo Levi, called “If This Is A Man.” He says:

"Never forget that this has happened.

Remember these words.

Engrave them in your hearts,

When at home or in the street,

When lying down, when getting up.

Repeat them to your children.”

I think that can happen if you visit a concentration camp museum for yourself - one created in German-occupied WW2 Poland. I’ll never forget.

Birkenau Death Camp Museum

About 3 miles from Auschwitz I is Auschwitz II. Known as Birkenau, this is where the Nazi’s extermination plan took on an industrialized quality. Railroad ties travel directly through the main brick entrance and back into a vast complex of death. Train after train pulled up here - the end of the line.

At the peak of operations, so many were killed daily at the camps, the Nazi’s capacity for disposing of the bodies stretched to its limits. Today, it's quiet standing where millions fell from the train cars - and yet you can hear everything happening. The hysteria, barking, crying adults and children, sharp German voices.

Konrad said the Nazi’s controlled the confused and frightened crowds by having guards greet new arrivals calmly - almost cordially. Most people believed they were relocating to new homes. They were told to write their name, birth date, and address on suitcases so they could be delivered while they were processed.

Then they were formed into two different lines. Men together with older boys and women with older girls. Though frightened, they cooperated after hearing this was for modesty reasons. Next, the lines were culled arbitrarily - some to the showers, some to labor, and some for experiments.

All elderly, pregnant, sick or injured adults, small children, and infants were led to the showers directly. If someone was too ill or injured to walk, the Nazi’s brought a Wagon, painted to look like an ambulance, to help them get to the showers. Not knowing the reality of the showers, people told the guards their mother, sister, or other relative was ill to get them into the ‘comfort’ of the ambulance.

If you take a tour there someday, you’ll hear how the people calmly walked to what they thought were showers. You’ll be standing where they stood, walking where they walked. But you’ll stop at a certain point - while they continued down a steep slope leading into the underground chamber, thick smoke hanging in the air.

What Remains Today

Birkenau is in ruins. There are exploded remains of the four crematoriums (housing eight gas chambers and forty-six ovens), the building sites where hundreds of barracks once stood, guard towers, and some crumbling brick barracks.

Ruins of barracks in the fields of Birkenau.

Crumbling brick barracks at Birkenau.

The Nazi’s blew up the crematoriums toward the end, as the war began to go against them. They destroyed most of their records and killed many of the remaining prisoners before the Soviet army arrived.

Ruins of one of four crematoriums Nazi's destroyed at Birkenau.

Auschwitz appears intact - as it may have looked during WWII. The only gas chamber and crematorium is still standing, all the barracks, guard towers around the perimeter, and smaller stands that protected guards from bad weather during roll calls.

Bad-weather-protection-for-Guards-Auschwitz

At Auschwitz, guards stood inside this tower in bad weather during roll call.

A few years after the war, the people of Poland created the museum and memorial. It’s enough. Bare ground, railroad tracks, crumbling and rotting buildings, and dirt floor barracks hold the space for today's visitors and the ghosts.

I felt them everywhere.

As we ended our tour, cold and exhaustion flooded my body. I pushed myself to walk back to the tour bus, climb on and collapse. It had taken no more than 6 or 7 hours. Not even a full day in the life of a prisoner in a Death Camp.

Before the tour, I didn’t know:

That all the Nazi’s death camps were inside Poland, likely because of the existing railroad system leading there from Western, Central and Eastern Europe.
That the Polish people living in and around the town of Oświęcim were evicted from their homes and farms to keep secret the purpose of the camp.
The early building materials of the Birkenau barracks came from dismantling the abandoned farm houses in the area.
That the Nazi’s conquered and enslaved the Polish people when they invaded - before the ‘official’ beginning of WWII.
Of the bravery of the Polish Resistance movement.
That Auschwitz I was originally built as barracks for the Polish army.
That fellow prisoners fed the crematorium ovens and piled up ‘spill-over’ bodies to burn.
That Dr. Josef Mengele practiced his cruel experiments in Block 10 at Auschwitz.
That the Nazi’s created a textile business using the hair shorn from their prisoners.

A Death Camp Museum Should Be on Your Bucket List

I want so badly to believe that if enough of us visit these places, we won’t let it happen again. But people see others unlike themselves as strange and frightening - threatening in some way. Combine that with hate and horrible things happen. I traveled to Berlin from Krakow and learned more about how this happened. Check out my article here.

If it’s hard to imagine the extent that human cruelty can reach - please go and see for yourself. And read on as four international travel bloggers share their impressions of this place. If you’ve already visited a German/Nazi WWII concentration or death camp - email me or comment below and share your story.

Contributed by Clare at Travels in Peru blog. You can also find her on Facebook here and Pinterest here.

While I was visiting Krakow I knew that I had to visit Auschwitz. When I was in school we had learnt about the second world war and though being born so long after, I wanted to see the place I had learnt about.

When I first arrived it seemed so quiet and eerie, a place you cannot imagine that such terrible things happened. While walking along the train tracks towards the camp, it's so hard to imagine all the trains arriving full of people and that for a lot of them this would be their final journey in life.

Knowing how scared these people must have been, not knowing what would happen to them and being separated from their loved ones just overwhelms you.

I understood the sheer scale of it when I walked into the building showing the displays of peoples belongings, the mountain of shoes, the hair, the glasses of people and knowing that these belonged to people who came but never left this place.

The hardest part for me though was entering the gas chamber and knowing that so many people entered it and that’s where their lives ended, seeing the scratch marks on the wall. It was so upsetting, thinking about what they must have gone through in there, how scared they must have been.

I left the place with a heavy heart but believing that everyone should visit, so that everyone is fully aware of the atrocities and it becomes real to them, and it’s not just a story in a book they read.

Contributed by writer and photographer David Angel from the Delve Into Europe blog. You can read more of his visit to Auschwitz here, and also find him on Instagram here.

I always knew that visiting Auschwitz death camp would take a heavy emotional toll. I thought I was ready for it, but nothing could prepare me for what I saw in those few hours.

There are actually two Auschwitz sites to visit – the original concentration camp and the factory of mass murder two miles away at Birkenau. I found the first one so emotionally draining and exhausting there was no way I could go to the second site.

The original camp, Auschwitz I, tells you the story of the camp in meticulous, exhaustive detail. You see hundreds and hundreds of pairs of sunken, traumatized eyes staring at you from corridors lined with prisoners’ portraits. You see everything from victims’ suitcases, spectacles, false limbs, even the faded shaved hair of over 100,000 victims. There are also documentary records in abundance.

For me, the worst part was the visit to the ‘Death Block’, where thousands were arbitrarily murdered. I happened to be alone in the corridor where the punishment cells were located. Sometimes, four prisoners were forced to stand together for days on end in tiny brick cells one-metre square. It didn’t take much imagination to picture the hell all these poor souls endured.

Auschwitz would be too much for some people. Looking back, I’m glad I went and would recommend others do the same. It’s absolutely harrowing, but you need to see somewhere like this. Some of the political movements that have started to take hold in Europe are sowing the same seeds of scapegoating and hatred that the Nazis propagated almost a century ago. Auschwitz is a reminder of how these things can end up.

Contributed by Deeptha of The Globe Trotter blog. You can read more about her time visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau here. You can also find The Globe Trotter on Twitter here and Facebook here.

In 2018, we visited Poland and one of the most moving experiences was visiting the concentration camps at Auschwitz /Birkenau. These concentration camps saw the cruel massacre of millions of people during the World War and remain one of the most inescapable reminders of human cruelty and human suffering. Visiting the sites made us numb with shock. Although we had watched a number of documentaries on Auschwitz, we were shocked with the sheer size of the camp. The train tracks, the gatehouse tower, the rows of barracks - everything reminded us of the people who were brought into the camps and never managed to make their way out alive. It was also very disturbing to look at the piles of shoes, suitcases and other goods taken from the prisoners and victims. Just looking at all this had such an impact on us and we couldn't fathom the lasting impact it must have had on the survivors of these camps. As we headed back from the camps to Krakow, we were emotionally drained and overall numb. It is really difficult to put into words the mix of emotions we experienced. What I can say though is that the visit was very emotional and heart-wrenching.

Contributed by Lucy Dodsworth of On The Luce travel blog. You can read more about her visit to Auschwitz here. You can also find her on Twitter here and on Facebook here.

Dark tourism is a growing industry, with sites of tragic events becoming tourist attractions all around the world, from the 9/11 Memorial to the ruins of Chernobyl. But darkest of all are the Second World War concentration camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, sites where millions of people lost their lives. We all know the story of the Holocaust, from films and TV shows, books and school history lessons. But walking through the site, past those concrete watchtowers and lines of barbed-wire fence, makes it real in a way that no book or film ever can. Lines of huts stretching off into the distance at Birkenau bring the scale to life, and the stories and photos of individual victims turns those numbers into real people's lives. It's a moving, sobering, upsetting and powerful experience all in one. There are always going to be questions about whether people should be visiting these dark tourism sites. But as a way to help us remember and to make sure humanity learns from its mistakes, it's important that we face the past and visiting Auschwitz is something I'll never forget.

Safe Travels All,

Itinerary for the Best 2 Days in Berlin

Curating a travel plan is a big part of the whole travel experience. You can ask for recommendations from everyone who's traveled where you’re going, read travel articles, or scour blogs. And piece by piece, you create a list of the sights and experiences you’ll have when your toes hit those distant shores.

It’s so exciting!

But you run the risk of creating too long a list - packed with so many things. You already know there isn’t enough time for it all - even before your spouse asks “how do you plan on doing all of that?” Hey, thanks for your input.

Seriously - how do you cut the list down if you’ve never been there before? How can you tell the difference between an ok-to-miss museum from the most amazing thing you'll regret not seeing? If only someone would walk up to you and say, “here’s an itinerary for the best 2 days” in the city you’re visiting.

Like this one for Berlin.

Yes - believe your eyes! I'm handing you a day by day guide for spending two days in Berlin.

What to Do in Berlin - Day One

The first time I visited Berlin I stayed in Mitte, the first and most central of the city’s boroughs. Many of Berlin landmarks are in Mitte, and it’s easy to get to the ones in other parts of the city using public transportation. This itinerary takes you through some cool things in Berlin that are accessible with a little walking, a little riding, and all in a short time.

The less time spent in transit - the more time spent soaking in the beauty of the city!

So wake up, get up, and get ready for breakfast at our first stop - Barcomi’s Deli at Sophienstraße 21 in Mitte. and part of the Berlin scene since 1994. Small world: the founder/owner of this coffee roasting cafe is from New York. Everything is beyond yummy and you’ll leave ready for the 20-minute stroll to your first stop of the day.

Navigate with Google Maps

This is a good time to mention some must-have tools for traveling. Google Maps + an international travel plan from your mobile carrier. For extended trips, having a ‘local’ phone while you travel makes sense. But if you’re traveling for less than a month - this is a simpler solution.

I choose simple every dang time.

Call your mobile carrier to find out their options for international coverage. I use Verizon, and before leaving the U.S., I switch to an International plan with access to my regular voice and data while traveling. So I can access Google Maps - which opens the doors to any strange city. I turn off the International plan when I’m back home.

You can create your daily itinerary on Google Maps by saving your starting point (I recommend the address of where you’re staying) to the Map, then add/save each destination you plan to hit. Or, add in the next stop as you’re leave a location. You can choose walking, biking, auto or public transportation routes from point to point.

Museum Island

It’s an easy stroll from the Barcomi to Museum Island giving you the chance to soak in the streets of Mitte. Stop for a photo op when you reach the bridge at the river Spree. The bridge connects to the Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site, with five museums and the Berlin Cathedral Church, or Berliner Dom.

Berlin Cathedral

The museums are the:

Pergamonmuseum (Pergamon Museum)
Bode-Museum
Neues Museum (New Museum)
Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery)
Altes Museum (Old Museum)

Museum Island suffered extensive damage during WW II, with Neues Museum left in ruins. The communist GDR government began reconstruction, but it wasn’t until 1999 - ten years after the wall fell - that complete refurbishing began on all the museums.

Museum Island Berlin

How do you tackle these five museums and the Berliner Dom when you have 2 days in Berlin? It depends on your museum style - and I tend to be a slow soaker. I pick museums with exhibitions I’ve not seen and see it all. If you like making a general pass through a museum, you'll cover more on the island.

I chose the Pergamon, with its antiquity collection, Middle East museum, and museum of Islamic art. All three were incredible, but I went to see the gate. A reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate, initially built in 575 BCE by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II in the inner city of Babylon. This gate was part of the Wall of Babylon and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. HAD to see it.

Ishtar-Gate-close-up-from-Pergamon-Museum-Berlin

Close up of Ishtar Gate, Pergamon Museum, Berlin

I knew I’d spend extra time in the Pergamon, so I had a tough choice to make. What should I choose from the remaining museums? The Neues Museum has the infamous bust of Nefertiti - and I felt it calling to me - up until a few seconds before I chose the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), containing about 1800 paintings and 1500 sculptures from the 19th century.

Courtyard, Museum Island

It was a perfect choice because I'd never seen these exhibits. From the five museums - pick the ones you feel drawn to, and the time you want to spend. As a solo traveler for my two days in Berlin, I went where I wanted, stayed as long as I felt like, and stopped to rest whenever.

Paradise travel.

A little money talk before you go.

Many cities offer travel cards that bundle discounts or free entry to attractions, tours, and passes on public transportation. Here, you can purchase a Berlin Welcome Card, the Berlin Pass, or the Berlin Museum Pass. Spend time on the websites for both the Welcome Card and Berlin Pass before arriving in Berlin to see what will fit you best.

The Welcome Card offers 72 hours + Museum Island option for 46 euros, so look at what else is included with the card on their website. The Berlin Pass costs 99.20 euros and is described thoroughly on their website. Buying a ticket directly at Museum Island costs 18 euros for one day access to all five museums.

To follow my two-day itinerary, the one day ticket is the best value and, if you can squeeze it in, buy a ticket to the Berliner Dom for 7 euros when you arrive. Or commit ahead of time and buy online. If you want to add a museum on day 2, buy the Berlin Museum Pass with three days of full access at 29 euros.

I spent all my time in the museums, skipping the Berliner Dom to make my appointment at the Reichstag, home of Germany’s Parliament, the Bundestag.

Reichstag Tour

Google Maps showed a 27-minute walk to the Reichstag, but there was heavy rain when I left Museum Island. I used the free mytaxi app I learned about in Berlin - the European version of Uber. It’s fast, inexpensive, and easy to use. Great in times of heavy rain - and tired feet.

I knew I wanted to visit the Reichstag before I planned my trip to Berlin and I built my day one itinerary around my scheduled time there. You must email to request a tour day and time (find detailed instructions here.) It’s possible to see part of the building without an appointment by checking in two hours before entering and hoping someone cancels, but there’s no guarantee.

I planned to book a tour and watch a Plenary session of Parliament, but my visit didn’t coincide with a session of Parliament, so I chose an audio tour of the rooftop dome and terrace.

Reichstag Building

In the glass dome, you can read the history of the building and ruling parties of Germany, through Hitler, in a photo exhibit. There’s a walkway spiraling up the circumference of the dome and the audio tour narrates the history and the eventual rebuilding as you walk up and back down.

The roof terrace gives a 360-degree view of Berlin and a view down into the main hall of the parliament chamber below the dome. The most amazing site inside the dome is the large mirrored sun shield that looks like a funnel used to track the sun's movement for solar power electronically.

Reichstag-dome-mirror-paneled-solar-power

Center of the dome, mirrored panels.

I missed a sobering sight at the Reichstag building that day. You’ll hear about it during my walking tour on Day Two. (pssst read on.)

Berlin Wall Museum

From the Reichstag, I made my way to the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Str. 111. Catching a beautiful break in the weather, I easily walked 40 minutes through pretty streets, grabbing an Americano and a rest at the Barn Cafe Coffee Roasters on Auguststraße 58.

Be prepared for the impact of the exhibit when you arrive.

Berlin Wall Museum Exhibit

I was born in the spring of 1957 - and the wall was built in 1961. Cold war fear was everywhere during my childhood - from school books to television. Even Walter Cronkite! I remember my disbelief that the world could allow the Soviets to keep people behind a wall in Berlin. It's likely the birthplace of my righteous indignation.

I didn’t expect to feel intense emotions at the Berlin Wall exhibit. Before arriving in Berlin, I toured the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps and, seeing them, I never imagined crying over stories of the wall going up, people jumping from windows, digging escape tunnels, and dying.

Standing on the death strip, between sections of the outer and inner wall, I felt the total containment and separation they’d created. And the stacked and crumbling panels there - now vine-covered and tagged with street art - convey the triumph of its destruction.

Crumbling panels of east Berlin's inner wall

You can spend a lot of time walking this long exhibit - a guard tower remains there, and a memorial to the 28 people killed escaping. You might feel a quiet stillness in some stretches of the memorial where it was built over an existing cemetery, although the Soviets claimed all bodies had been removed.

Guard Tower at Berlin Wall

There’s a guided tour for 3.50 euros - something I’d usually do, but I didn’t want to rush to meet the tour time. I wanted the freedom to wander on my own which worked for me. Feel free to make the plans that feel right because this is your trip.

One of the escape tunnels dug by East Berlin residents.

Dinner at Katz Orange

I stayed with family a few blocks from the Berlin Wall Memorial - super convenient. After a couple of hours, I wandered back to their apartment for rest, hot tea, and a change of clothes. Next stop - a ten-minute walk to dinner at Katz Orange Restaurant at Bergstraße 22.

I pictured a cafe on a quaint side street, old brick facade and soft light shining from a cozy interior.

Absolutely wrong.

You reach Katz Orange by entering the courtyard of a modern building which opens into a long yard. It ends in a towering, ornate multi-storied brick building, lights blazing from every window of all three stories - that’s filled with Katz Orange.

It’s beautiful.

Katz Orange

There’s more to the restaurant than good food and wine. You can read the details of their philosophy as an enterprise of the Contemporary Food Lab here - but you’ll have to experience it to understand truly. I heard that some Berliners refer to Katz Orange as every American's favorite restaurant in Berlin. Works for this American.

What to Do in Berlin - Day Two

With so many places to visit in Berlin and only two days to squish it all in - you might wake up on your second morning with a tiny bit of FOMO. I think I can coach you through that and get you all the way over to JOMO - Joy of Missing out. Here’s the secret: You’re going to come back to Berlin one day.

Oh yes, you are - because you’re right - it's hard to choose from all of Berlin's’ landmarks and attractions on your first visit. But choose you must. No trip crammed with all-the-things is going to be a good one. If you’ll follow along on Day Two of what to see in Berlin, you’ll be basking in JOMO in no time.

What's Berlin Sightseeing without Shopping?

Day two starts at Distrikt Coffee on Bergstraße 68 - smack dab in the middle of my route to the shopping mecca: Hackescher Markt. Cruise on past Hackescher Markt and you’ll reach Alexanderplatz, filled with typical shopping malls and stores.

Stop and explore Hackescher Markt - including the nearby Hackesche Höfe (Hackesche Courtyards) - and experience a slice of real Berlin.

near Hackesche Hofe

This was an auto-reroute for me. I was headed to Checkpoint Charlie then sightseeing my way to Potsdamer Platz before lunch. But a Berlin local recommended winding in and out of the courtyards of Hackesche Höfe and seeing Hackescher Markt - so I made a giant pivot.

It was perfect - no expectations, unsure of what I was looking for, or where to find it. The streets surrounding the Hackesche Höfe are jammed with Designer shops by young new Berlin labels, and it extends between Rosenthaler Straße and Sophienstraße. Inside are eight interconnecting garden courtyards ringed with small specialty shops.

A courtyard in Hackesche Höfe

In nice weather, cross over to Hackescher Markt and find a spot for lunch in one of the many outdoor cafes. But, if you’re there on a rainy day (like me) enjoy the artisans’ stalls, grab something hot to drink - and continue on.

Hackescher Markt Stalls, Berlin

Hackescher Markt is just outside the U-Bahn station in Mitte - easy access if that's your transportation. I can’t be underground in a city I see for the first time (FOMO). It’s Google Maps or mytaxi app, depending on the weather.

Lunch at the Zoo

I spent the morning shopping and discovering - finishing tired and not quite hangry. Perfect time for lunch near the city’s center - Tiergarten Park, Berlin’s version of New York's Central Park running from Brandenburg Tor (Gate) to the Berlin Zoological Garden.

Pulling out the mytaxi app, I zipped over in 15 minutes (because - hangry), but you can walk ( one hour+) or take a bus (25 minutes). Up to the 10th-floor restaurant, Neni, in the Hotel Bikini Berlin, next to the zoo. A blend of Mediterranean, Persian, and Austrian food influences.

I was lucky to be ‘squeezed in’ at a table for one (yay, solo traveler) - so take note: make a reservation because it’s worth it. You’ll have panoramic views of the zoo, the park, and the city. I imagined a lush green canopy spreading out from spring to fall, but the view in early November was beautiful to this fan of rainy days in city parks.

View of Tiergarten from Neni Restaurant

After lunch, I hit the Monkey Bar next door (overlooking the Monkey enclosure at the Berlin Zoo.) and prepped for my afternoon walking tour by snuggling into the cushions with hot tea.

Third Reich Walking Tour

The final event for day two was a guided walk covering some of the most poignant spots relating to Berlin’s role in WW II. There are many excellent walking tour companies, all offering a variety of content options. GetYourGuide’s Third Reich tour, a bargain at under $18/person, appealed to me because after seeing Auschwitz-Birkenau the previous weekend. I wanted to see the war from the Nazi perspective.

The tour starts just inside Brandenburg Gate where several Embassies - including the United States - are located. I flashed on Cold War spy movies and episodes of Homeland while standing there. Such a nerd.

Our guide delivered history as if he were telling a long story - grabbing our complete attention from the beginning. We started at the Reichstag Building filling in some holes from my self-guided tour the day before. As in - the bullet holes across the building's facade from Soviet guns during WW II’s Battle of Berlin.

Memorial to Parliament Members at Reichstag

And the sobering sight I missed was the memorial to the murdered members of the Reichstag. It consists of 96 cast iron plates engraved with the names, birth date, and date+place of death of those members of parliament who died unnaturally between 1933 and 1945. And directly as a result of Hitler’s rise to power and the reign of the Nazi party.

From there we walked to a quiet corner of the Tiergarten, just across from the Reichstag. Tucked into a grove of trees surrounding a dark, circular pool, is a profoundly moving memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims of the Nazi’s. Strains of violin music fill the air from a speaker resting in a tree.

In the middle of the pool, a fresh flower rests on a triangular stone, symbolizing the shape of the badges concentration camp prisoners were forced to wear. The triangle can be retracted under the water and accessed via a tunnel from the Reichstag so the flower can be replaced daily. Around the stone rim perimeter of the pool, inscribed in bronze letters, is the poem “Auschwitz” by Roma poet Santino Spinelli.

Pool in the memorial to Sinti-Roma

In Tiergarten, we saw the Soviet Memorial commemorating soldiers lost in the final battles of Berlin. The most recent is the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism. This forgotten persecuted group went unrecognized until the mid-'80s, with the memorial built in 2008.

We left Tiergarten at twilight, with the temperature dropping, to visit a 200,000 sq ft field of concrete slabs. At varying heights, there are 54 rows running north and south, and 87 running east and west. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe - the Holocaust Memorial. Designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold.

I felt profound sorrow walking among them. The grade slants so that you're alternately dwarfed by and looking down on them. The typical city sounds of the middle of Berlin drop away as you walk here. It's left up to each visitor to interpret the meaning of the memorial’s design.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin

We left the memorial and crossed the street to a parking lot tucked behind some apartment buildings. We wondered, "why a parking lot?" It sits on top of the Bunker Hitler where hid and committed suicide in the final days of the war. There are no markers or plaques — nothing to lend him dignity or notoriety.

The site of Hitler's Bunker

One of the best parts of a walking tour is the people - fellow travelers. For a solo female traveler, it was the oddest situation for creating connections but they happened so easily. Maybe it was the shared history of the horrors of WW II?

Coming Back to Berlin
Mitte was the best area to stay in Berlin for my two-day trip. If you use this itinerary, it'll be convenient for you, too. I relied on walking and the mytaxi app (in the heavy rain) to see more of the city. The mytaxi app shaved traveling time from place to place - and had more time to spend at each attraction. If you have to check out of your accommodations before you finish the itinerary, check out this post for some ideas on what to do with your luggage.

My next 2 days in Berlin, I’ll rely more on the subway. Unless I’m in a section of the city I’ve not seen before - like Kreuzberg. In warmer weather, I’ll visit the Monbijou Park for the live outdoor theater. And Mauerpark on Sunday for the flea market and Karaoke. I'm definitely throwing in a cruise down the Spree River and some kind of bike ride.

I could write an entire post about all the places I’ll see when I return!

I hope you loved this post! If you did, do you mind sharing my blog with your friends? Thanks so much! Now hop over to read Traveling to Panama...With Dad and How to Plan a Trip You'll Love. I think they're perfect for you.

Safe Travels,

How to Eat Gluten Free in Italy

A hot dog and french fry pizza?

Definitely did not expect to find that in a country famous for incredible food and wine. But in Capri, my husband ordered, ate, and LOVED it. In fact, he ate all the incredible food Italy offered for three weeks straight. Who wouldn’t?

Uh, me.

I have a food allergy or two. Ok -- several. My food no-go list is gluten, dairy, chicken, and almonds. It’s also a list of the basic ingredients for the best food in Italy - to an American.

It’s embarrassing and exhausting to be THAT person in a restaurant going over the menu dish by dish with the waitstaff. And possibly impossible when dining in a country where you don’t speak the native language!

Have Food Allergies - Will Travel

But it’s not like you can leave your food allergies at home.

So, you may be asking, “Is it worth it to travel to a country known for its food and wine when you’re such a weird eater? Is it even worth traveling at all?”

I say yes... and I don’t just say it - I scream it!

BUT. There’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. And, after two trips to Italy, I managed to do it REALLY wrong and then finally get it perfecto.

First a disclaimer - I wasn’t always THAT person. B.A. (Before Allergies), I was a ‘foodie’ and even owned a Food + Wine business in the Napa Valley. I tried every kind of food anywhere. Please let me taste it! I lived for the unexpected bite exploding in flavor.

Then my late forties hit and food-lovin' me crashed head first into a string of health issues -- all too embarrassing to describe. My eating life changed forever.

Except for my first trip to Italy. I flat out rebelled against the stupid allergies, eating all the fabled food and drinking lattes daily. For three weeks, I devoured pasta, risotto, and pizza while traveling from Rome to Venice and back to Florence. The whole trip slurping up mind-blowing gelato. I really thought I was getting away with it, no repercussions.

Until my last morning in Florence.

I dragged my suitcase to the train station with a raging fever, wheezing, coughing, nearly incoherent -- and ate my final pizza. Because - maybe it wasn’t from the food I ate that’s poison to my system?

Italy. Take 2.

I went back.

Italy is, well - Italy, and there’s so much to love about the country besides the food. I wanted to see more of it and I was ready to live on espresso and wine if necessary. And, while I did have both of those beverages multiple times a day, I also ate great CLEAN food...all without overthinking or overplanning how food was going to work for me!

Yeah, it was challenging, but also - not as hard as I imagined.

What did I do differently? Something amazing. In a flash of sheer brilliance (in my humble opinion) - I looked past the pasta and pizza on the menu.

Guess what I found? Amazing seafood, beef, and fresh vegetables dishes. Every. Single. Time.

I learned enough Italian to tell the waitstaff “Nessun latticino” and “Nessun gluten.”

The day I ate risotto I cried. The first bite exploded with flavor in a mouth that never thought it would experience that again. I felt free!

Having food allergies can feel like being in food prison where you’re served the same strict diet every day. You dream about what you’ll eat if you ever ‘get out’. If you have severe food allergies maybe you get me?

The risotto was made with vegetable broth, fresh asparagus, and black truffles. No, I couldn’t have it with Parmigiano Reggiano, but I didn’t miss it at all.

Somehow, the texture was creamy.

(So creamy, in fact, I had a momentary freak out thinking “OH. NO. I’m going to die.” My brain couldn’t process the flavor as being safe AND tasting so good.)

The risotto experience was repeated everywhere we traveled on that trip. Great food, safe for me and with incredible, fresh flavor. And wine.

A Food Itinerary for the Hopelessly Allergic

Breakfast is tough when traveling with my food allergies. Take away eggs, bread/pastries, and creamy cheesy sauces and it’s grim.

In Italy, I found the prima colazione (breakfast) included espresso, fresh fruit, sauteed zucchini and mushrooms, and meat! While Italians typically have lattes with bread or rolls, butter, and jam for prima colazione, the other options were available for me every day.

Gluten-free baked goods are everywhere in Italy - in supermarkets, bakeries, and pharmacies. Yes, pharmacies because Italy considers gluten allergies a health problem. (Uh - Hello? America?) I passed on these in case they were made with almond flour, eggs or some type of dairy - but that’s weird eating me.

Here’s an overview of my food itinerary:

In Milan for only 36 hours, our food stops were pretty spontaneous. The hotel concierge suggested dinner in the Navigli canal area, so we grabbed a cab and found a string of outdoor cafes and restaurants hugging the bank of the Navigli Grande Canal. Fresh seafood, artistic antipasto, and wine under the stars and cafe lights (now that’s Amore!). I ate the non-cheese portions of the antipasti platters, salad, and grilled sea bass.

Next stop - the Amalfi coast where we stayed a week in the quiet, luxurious Relais Savarese in Sant’Agnello Sorrento. We ate on rooftops with ocean views and in seaside caves. We stopped at outdoor cafes in crazy intersections in Sorrento and stonewalled restaurants in Ravello. Every place, without exception, offered fresh meat, seafood, fruit, and veggies prepared a little differently.

And there was always wine!

Can I just take a second and tell you about our theory that you can have GOOD wine probably anywhere in Italy? To prove it, we ordered a glass of red at a gas station outside Montelpuciano one day. If you happened to be driving by, we were the people at the rickety wrought iron table, outside the mechanics bay, sipping and beaming. It tasted heavenly.

Loving (Gluten Free) Tuscany

Of all the regions we traveled to on this trip, Tuscany won my little weird eater’s heart. Probably because of our amazing hosts at the Montelpuciano agriturismo we lived in for a week. Alex and Ingrid, expats from Venezuela who lived in the area for over fifty years, shared local history, stories, and their home with us.

Even though he didn’t go with us, Alex became our unofficial tour guide to Tuscany. He gave us roughed out routes every day, and we’d hop in the rental Fiat and discover castles and ancient Roman baths and FOOD. He knew a chef in every town, and he knew my allergies, so he didn’t just recommend a restaurant - he called ahead to tell the chef what I couldn’t eat.

One night he did come with us to a hard to find and tiny cafe he recommended in Montelpuciano. We followed his car on the winding roads at twilight. At the cafe, he came inside to introduce us to the chef and then for “just one glass of wine!” The placemat he drew our next day’s route on is framed in our living room now, olive oil stains crossing over scribbled directions.

Could I’ve skipped traveling to a food mecca like Italy - just played it safe and wise after my reckless dining abandon on my first trip? Sure.

But I wasn’t going to let my weird eating define my life and my travels, so I went -- and looked what happened.

Yes, the beds were terrible from one end of Italy to the next (but that’s another story - stay tuned). Going back there allowed me to enjoy a side of Italy I’d missed before - one that few ever get to taste - and it was so worth it!

Have you experienced Italy with food allergies? I’d love to hear how you made it work, what you discovered, and everything you tasted (drank) in the comments below. (Can you tell I’m planning for my third trip?!?)

Safe travels!