On our first morning in Berlin, we took the rather touristy boat cruise down the River Spree, followed by lunch at a restaurant that had an impressive kids play area. Ayaan and I played a game of foosball and then we all colored bottles of Pellegrino. That afternoon, we strolled through Museum Island and the Berlin cathedral, before heading back to the hotel to meet Gaurav, who was joining us at the end of a work trip. The kids were super excited to be reunited with their dad after nearly a month!

The next day, we walked through checkpoint Charlie, the topography of terror and the Berlin Wall, and Ayaan was particularly interested in hearing more about the history of the city and the wall.

The next morning, we wandered through Tiergarten enjoying some beer and pretzels at a cafe, before embarking on a row boat through a small lake in the park. Next, to escape the grueling heat that day, we decided to head to KaDeWe, a popular mall with a floor dedicated to fine dining restaurants. We selected the Japanese restaurant and enjoyed some high quality nigiri after a while. We visited the Berlin Wall memorial where we got the most “real” view of what a divided Germany might have felt like.

That evening, Gaurav and I had reservations at Restaurant Tim Raue, ranked 26th in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. After an impressive meal, we took the talented sommelier’s recommendation for our next stop Holzmarkt 25, a casual open air bar overlooking the river. Our last stop was an EDM bar card Minimal bar where we imbibed a few cocktails before calling it a night. The rest of our time in Berlin included visiting the top of the TV tower for impressive views of the city, and paying respect to the holocaust memorial. I also took the kids to the Natural History museum where they saw the largest replica of a dinosaur ever and we watched an immersive experience on the solar system. Berlin is a city with so much history but for a first time visit, it’s hard not to get impacted by its horrific past.