Berlin

If you don’t know any German, you might only know their stereotype of being too organized. At least that’s what I thought before I come to Germany… ironically, I was using preconception myself to form my opinion.
I was wrong. In fact, I wasn’t even excited to go to Berlin. But by the last day I realised that I didn’t want to leave. The city was devastated during the war, but it was also the one with the fastest and better recovery – and now it’s just beautiful. Someone told me also that it is the greenest city in all Europe – and it is isn’t surprising when you see things like the Teargarden because of the quantity of trees that they have there, but in fact they are all around the city. And if you walk around these forests on a nice sunny day, you’ll find families having barbecues or friends having open-air private parties. When the sun is out, nobody stays at home. Berlin is not at the seaside, but they do have beach bars. All along the river, people can have drinks in beach chairs or just relax and read a book at the grass. So nice, the energy is pleasant and peaceful. Yeah, they are super organized and everything seems to work perfectly, but people in Berlin are pretty free to do whatever they feel like. I went to a manifest parade on the workers’ day and all kind of rebels were there, rebelling against capitalism. The subway at weekends is open all night, and the crazy 25 Club is more than just an after hours one – it’s an all hours, open from Thursday to Tuesday 24 hours!
Do the Berliners try to forget the past? No, they are not trying. In fact, they keep it more alive each day, opening museums in the streets and privates, maintaining pieces of the wall that was the symbol of the division of the city, and even talking about it without worries. A perfect example that the best way to walk to a bright future is to look to the bleak past knowing to not repeat the same mistake again…