Day One
I have traveled outside of the country before, but never alone. Arriving in Berlin and having made it to the hotel felt like success. The next challenge was to kill time from 8am until my room was ready at 2pm. I decided to start walking and explore the city. I found what seemed to be the only place open and ordered some coffee. While drinking my cappuccino and reading Fallada's Every Man Dies Alone, a man next to me asked what I was reading. He proceeded to tell me what a great book it was and asked how I came to reading it. This gave me a good impression of Berliners and I began to feel less out of place. I navigated my way to a river and to what I now know as Museum Island. I took some pictures and sat down near the water.
I started to get hungry and my backpack heavy, so I headed to find a restaurant. On my way I walked past a Jewish Cemetery. It was open to the public so I decided to take a look around, it was a large area of ivy, unlike any cemetery I have ever encountered. This opened my eyes to the history of Berlin. Although the cemetery was destroyed the land was still preserved along with a few head stones. Afterwards I found a place to eat and had a delicious breakfast along with my first beer.
Overall
Berlin is more than I could have expected. I can already tell that I will not want to leave this place. Despite the struggle with language barriers and getting lost from time to time, the adventure is why I'm here. I have never been in a place with such a strong presence of the past. It is remarkable to see all of the history preserved throughout the city. Another thing I noticed was graffiti, I like how it is like an art form here and not looked at as vandalism. I could spend weeks looking at graffiti alone. It is almost hard to put into words the feeling this city gives me. I look forward to more exploration and learning more about Berlin.
No comments:
Post a Comment