I never wanted to visit Berlin.
I don’t know how or why but I’ve always
felt like it’s not going to be the place for me.
When asked about my dream destinations I
could list 500 before getting to Berlin.
But boy was I wrong.
I’m not going to say the most beautiful
cause I’ve seen so many beautiful cities, but definitely the most interesting.
It is a city of art, a city of diversity, a city of mystery. Nothing in that
city is just there, everything is carefully placed. Yet nothing in that city is
ordinary, even the most ordinary things. I’ve seen trash compartments in Berlin
more interesting than buildings and paintings elsewhere.
Commercial break: I am not able to spell Berlin
properly as I type; I keep typing Berling cause it ends with an IN so you know,
my fingers directly go to a G every. Single. Time.
Anyhow, the thing that blew my mind the
most is that the city wasn’t what it is only 25 years ago. It was divided in
half and yet today it blends in such serenity. I really don’t understand how a city
could become what Berlin is today in such a short period of time.
The feeling of crossing the mark of the Berlin wall is really weird, it gives a mixture of hope and sorrow, you are crossing a line of black stones on the ground, but this marks what once was a wall dividing families from each other, marks a wall who many were killed or imprisoned trying to cross. But you can today cross it as if it’s part of the gravel, I bet many don’t even notice it’s there.
The feeling of crossing the mark of the Berlin wall is really weird, it gives a mixture of hope and sorrow, you are crossing a line of black stones on the ground, but this marks what once was a wall dividing families from each other, marks a wall who many were killed or imprisoned trying to cross. But you can today cross it as if it’s part of the gravel, I bet many don’t even notice it’s there.
In Berlin, you find everything you could
ever look for if you want tall buildings, lights, modernity you find it. If
you want greenery, quietness, small houses with big gardens you find it. If you
want normal small buildings with small parks and homey cafes you find it. If
you want old people with small groceries and abandoned kids playgrounds you
find it. If you want posh, beautiful architecture, ancient buildings you find
it. If you want ghetto with graffiti on everything but the sky and ten drug
dealers in one street you find it. And they’re all within 10 minutes train
rides. And maybe every city has that, but in that city, it is so intense that
it’s instantly noticeable.
I’m trying but I really can’t describe Berlin, Berlin is bigger than me, bigger than my words, bigger than my thoughts. Some things I’ve seen there I’m still not able to process.
Berlin wasn’t a vacation it was an
experience, surely one of the best. And being there with the right people
surely had a big part. Hanging out with a best friend I haven’t seen in ages
had a big part. And the city itself is of course...
I’m finishing this piece of writing really
disappointed, cause not what I wrote nor what I photographed captures the city
as I saw it. But this was the best I could do.
Until next time...
