Berlin, Germany

Berlin, Germany

No other city has dominated a century like Berlin dominated the 20th.  The city was an angst-ridden center for avant-garde art, music, and literature even before the Second World War.  The city is likely the center of culture for the entire continent, and for the American, it's found as an unthinkable melange of our most revered cities like New York, San Francisco, and Portland.

The post war years left Berlin isolated from it's country, as well as from the economic attention received by other western cities throughout Europe and America.  As a result, the twenty years since the fall of the wall brought a pent up cultural explosion no other city has experienced.  There are acres of graffiti melded through cafe lined streets of Vietnamese, Turkish, Indian, and American.  The Berliners have an obsession with world cuisine, and it plays out amid the city's uniquely satisfied inhabitants who live among the many yellow lit avenues.

Outside my residence, the youth of the city gather outside a theatre in droves to discuss political topics, with their vintage shoulder bags, rolled sleeves and cuffs, slim slacks, and bicycle in toe.  I know the tourists are here, but I can't seem to find them.  I stroll the zig-zagging streets slower than in any other city, stumble upon a book fair, and sit back in one of the many perfectly placed green spaces.

150 museums dot the bustling streets, culminating with the UNESCO noted Museum Island that houses the most unique antiquities I've seen.  But behind the institutional facade lays a dark underbelly that always pervasively defined Berlin.  The art squats, cabaret shows, alternative galleries, and punk clubs all denote a city historically in conflict with itself and the world surrounding.


There is an unabated ruthlessness to the culture of Berlin, and being the capital of the EU's powerhouse economy, the city is sure to never disappear again from proper acknowledgement.


TIP OF THE DAY:  Don't go on tour group organized pub crawls!  They offer minimal insight into the culture of a city.  This pub crawl last night was frequented by a group of Aussies for the third night in a row, who use the tour as an avenue to pick up drunk girls--G'day to you mate. 


READING:  The World as Will and Representation, Arthur Schopenhauer


LISTENING:  More Wilco