Yes, to start with, the fact that this gorgeous hotel, which is across the street from the Waldorf Astoria Berlin, is named “Motel One” confuses me, since to me a motel is a local, small, usually cheap place to stay. Motels, at least to me, from what I have seen in the US, are also usually tacky echoes of the US past. However, turns out Motel One is a chain of high end hotels in Europe. Oh well.
Anyway, on my second trip to Berlin, I went to the Museum für Fotografie and C/O Berlin in Amerika Haus, which are a few blocks from each other, because both had photography exhibitions I was interested in seeing.
To get there I took a double decker bus (my first time) and sat upstairs and in the very front seat, looking out like a puppy on their first car ride. On the way to the museums I saw lots of cute parks, small businesses, and residential buildings. I figured the museums were in an area that was cute, maybe touristy, with lots of trees and open space.
Then, not so much open space. Once at my destination, I found myself surrounded by beautiful hotels, a large mall, art galleries, and a beautiful church, with the Berlin zoo nearby. To me, though, this Motel One Berlin’s architecture stood out (no pun intended) in an elegantly defiant manner.
I loved it.
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