The one visit in Berlin that was booked already from home was the visit to the Reichstag building. This is because you need to provide some additional info so they can check you before you enter the building where the Bundestag (Parliament) is meeting. It is a relatively short walk from the hotel to the Reichstag, which is near the Brandenburg Gate, and then we pass through security and make it into the next group that can enter the building.
Then the guide stops us in front of the building and we have to wait a while and we are not sure what is happening. Finally we find out, there is a specific elevator that is assigned to the visitors and that one has to be on the ground floor before we are allowed to enter. And then we are on top and the first thing we see is that dark clouds are coming in. And then it starts to rain, of course just our luck.
But a bit of rain will not stop us so we continue exploring the outdoor terrace with some iconic sights including the famous glass cupola addition on top of the original Reichstag building.
There are of course some great views as we make our way around the terrace. We see again the iconic sight of the TV Tower, it seems we have seen it from soooo many locations but it is a nice view so we don’t mind.
With the rain still hounding us we continue exploring around terrace. Next we have a nice view of the Tiergarten, the park we planned to go next but now we are not sure, we do not want to get too wet.
And then we finish the walk around with a view across the park to the Potsdamer Platz, quite fun we can even see our hotel.
And then it is time to enter the dome and escape from the rain. Here we start with the downstairs exhibit that shows the history of the Reichstag throughout the years since it was built.
There is a gap between it famously being burned down during the Nazi era, possibly by a communist from Netherlands and it being renovated in the late 20th century after the reunification including the adding of the glass dome above the plenary chamber.
The dome is quite modern looking and we take some time just taking it in. You can climb to an observation terrace up top using a spiral like walkway and that is what we will use to climb up top too.
There are lots of people inside, given the rain no one really is walking outside and us such climbing takes quite a bit as there are groups taking photos or just simply blocking the walkway.
But step by step we are going up as we notice that outside it starts to rain quite heavily. More interestingly you can take a photo with you reflected in the middle column which we try for some time before finally managing to do it in the end.
And then we are up top which to our surprise is open to the elements and us such has been rained it quite heavily. We cannot rest on the bench as we do not want to get wet but we enjoy the views for a while before noticing that the rain has ended so we descend in order to be able to visit the Tiergarten park before the rain starts again. Overall it was quite an interesting visit even though marred a bit by the incessant rain.
