Ernestina Searle
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I’m Ernestina, but you can call me Tina.
Italian roots, Australian born and raised, I’ve been living in Berlin since 2017 when I fell in love with the city during a 10-day vacation.
As someone who’s fascinated with humanity (I studied psychology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia), reading history books has been one of my hobbies since I was a teenager. You can imagine how “cool” this made me at high school. Very, very cool.
My first time in Berlin was fully packed with tours, museums and historical sites. Frankly, I expected to feel sad, given how much trauma emanated out of Berlin in the last hundred years. I was therefore surprised to find a city that is not bitter, angry and depressed but vibrantly alive and fierce in its desire never to repeat the past. I discovered a city where the population is not silent and obedient but loud and defiant, a city in which minorities are welcome and protected, a city in which the weird, wacky, wild and wonderful thrive and where the stereotypes of sausage eating, authority abiding, quiet and polite, conservative Germanness don't fit at all with the locals.
I fell madly in love with the city. Not only for its special “vibe”; that fierceness and aliveness, but also for its seemingly endless layers; for its depth. For every “must-do” which I ticked off my list I added another 20. For every question which I answered, another ten arose, as layer after layer revealed itself, of all that Berlin has lived through and how much it can teach and offer.
When I chose to make a new life in Berlin, I decided to make a career out of my obsession with the city. Since then, I have been madly studying Berlin; everything from its politics to its architecture, its films, artists, writers and quirky locals. I spend my free time exploring its museums, exhibitions, galleries, food scene, concerts, clubs, festivals, parks and surroundings. Over the pandemic I taught myself fluent German, which opened-up another depth of participation in the city. Basically, I gorge on Berlin.
You’ll find my guiding style energetic, passionate, curious and fascinated. I believe that people need to understand some of Berlin’s history to make sense of the city, but I also believe that it’s easy to make Berlin's history engaging! I pride myself on making my tours vibrant, exciting and thought-provoking. It would be my pleasure to show you why I fell so madly in love with this city.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinastoursberlin/
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Berlin Highlights
Third Reich Berlin
Cold War Berlin
Sachsenhausen
Architecture
Street Art & Graffiti
