Berlin.

I am a history lover. I am especially interested especially in World War II. I will eat and drink up books and documentaries on the subject.

In my travels throughout Germany my Mother warned me against going to Berlin. And like the good daughter I am, took that advice crumpled it up and tossed it in the trash. It was one of the few times my Mother was wrong. Yes, I am putting it in writing, Mom, your advice was almost always spot on.

Upon arriving to Berlin we left the train station and were confronted by a group of men dressed in head to toe leather, with spiked hair in every color of the rainbow, accompanied by Pitbull's chained to the fence. My immediate reaction was shit, she was right, but once we got to our hostel my opinion changed in an instant.

The hostel was PRISTINE. If you have ever stayed in a hostel in Europe you know it's a mixed bag. Once in Bologna the shower was just smack in the middle of the room. In Amsterdam, well you can only imagine. But this might as well have been the Ritz. The sheets were crisp and pressed, the bathrooms immaculate. I didn't even have to use my own pillow!

Berlin is HUGE.

We went to the Berlin Zoo, danced the night away at clubs in Kunst Park Oost, and drank our fair share of lagers.

The one thing from that trip that never left me, was going on a 3 hour walking tour with a local.

We went from what used to be West Berlin to East, saw the TV tower, and looked in awe at the last piece of the Berlin Wall still standing. I remember him telling us they still have to dig very deep unground before building anything new in case there were any bombs still unexploded.

Berlin was a city of cranes. A city under metamorphosis, all those years after WWII it was still transforming. The shrapnel dents still present on the buildings.

We walked through an unassuming apartment complex where the guide stopped. There was a large drop and large area of exposed dirt. It was to be the foundation of a new building. Off to the side a metal grate was exposed. He paused and made us look at it. He then said take a good look. This is the bunker where Adolf Hitler killed himself. It will soon be covered and never seen again. You are looking at history. I couldn't believe my eyes.

We walked past Checkpoint Charlie where the West Berliners were free to travel East, and the East Berliners were denied passage West.

At the Brandenburg Gate, he pointed to the Reichstag building and said if the sun hit just the right spot on one of the windows, you could still residue of the swastikas left from Nazi rule decades prior.

We continued walking where he recalled going to East Berlin for dinners and drinks because it was dirt cheap, only to go back to his home in West.

I was fascinated by this city. So filled with life, history, and change.

So if you ever get a chance.

Go to Berlin.

And take a walking tour.

XoXo,

C.