Every so often, I stumble upon a city I feel as if I could one day call home. Madrid was one, Amsterdam a maybe. And now, now there is Berlin. But I’ll get to that.
First the slightly miserable journey. Now if you read my last blog, there was some mention of a tiny but if European flooding. I saw it first hand on the Rhine. A more thoughtful person might have wondered if that would affect her cross country train ride. But I am not that thoughtful, and just counted on everything being the hunky dory. So my direct train was canceled. I ended up on another train, unsure of where to get off. Then figured that out and got on a second train that had to go around the country to avoid the flooding. Which made sense after seeing this:
But I made it to my hostel easily, albeit very late, my bed was still available so all was good in the world.
It was my second visit to Berlin, bit I had found it such an intriguing place when I was there five years ago, that I really wanted to go again.Berlin is like that somewhat-unpopular cool kid you want to be friends with. Edgy, smart, artsy. And just so nice. You feel cool just being in Berlin’s presence. And Berlin wants you to be cool.
Since Berlin is so all around cool, I decided to learn as h
much about the city as possible. I went on two walking tours, one focusing solely on the Berlin Wall, the other a full city tour. These tours really have you a feel of how important the history in Berlin is. For example , I knew about the Berlin Wall, but never the violent, scary details. Like how a third world war was close to starting during a tank standoff at the gates. I never thought before about how families were separated for years, just because they happened to live on opposite sides of the city. I knew about the bombings in 
World War Two, but never looked at the buildings in such a way where I could see it. The troubled past of Berlin is palpable, but so is the resilience of Berliners. A perfect quote from my tour guide, Theo: “Even my bakery has scars on its walls. Just remember, every building has been retouched by war in this city.” I think that may be the draw of the city. Berlin takes care to acknowledge its troubled past and find beautiful ways to remember it. Yet it is clearly a modern and progressive city full of cool shops, cafes and bars.
Where as in many modern cities, the street art expression is just basic tagging-no thought, no time- Berlin street art is actually art. It’s all over the place, giant murals to tiny stickers. Just adding to Berlin’s cool kid cred. Almost every street makes you feel add if you are walking through some really progressive alternative art museum.
But Berlin being Berlin, knows that isn’t for everyone and boasts some of the most awesome collection of museums on its Museum Island. There you can view the burst of Nefertiti and fully reconstructed buildings from Roman and Greek antiquity, along with paintings famous works round.
Meeting fellow backpackers and travelers, Berlin will always be high on my list of recommended cities, if not number one. The history is fascinating, the atmosphere is amazing and the city itself is just so unique. Paris, Rome or Berlin? I’d pick Berlin in a heartbeat.
Hannah's Grand European Adventure 