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Berlin is an odd city, to be sure. I've gone through thinking it was amazing, overblown, and then amazing again since I arrived on Saturday.
Berlin's history is a massive cluster f***, and the city for the most part has tried to move beyond it. But so much of the city has been defined by what has happened here - the Strase des 17 Juni or the Brandelburg Tor - that it sometimes gives the city a schizophrenic feeling. I realize now that the right word would be captivating.
Much of what you will see of Berlin in a post card is on the monumental streets of 17 Juli, Unter den Linden or in the Tiergarten. These are very nice streets to visit for a day; they are somewhat chilly and imposing otherwise (I'd hate to think what they look like in the winter rains). Further, the city is in the midst of a construction boom and moving around can feel like driving on the 401. Some of the monuments I've wanted to see are completely closed off because of the construction; that's life I suppose.
But once you start to explore, it becomes a lot more welcoming than I would have thought. I've been through Mitte, a little, for the flea markets (I bought myself a clockwork alarm clock, and I could have spent a hell of a lot more); I've seen the Zoologisher Garten; I've been to Checkpoint Charlie and the Topographie des Terrors. There is simply a lot to Berlin, and I think I need at least two more nights to explore it.
What has been very cool, is that I met my parents here (Jennifer couldn't make it up from Leipzig). They are on a tour of their own, and they stopped in on Saturday (two hours after I did). It has been a very cosmopolitan visit - we now live several thousand kilometres apart in Canada, and then we met in Berlin for dinner and a concert.
There is a big classical music scene in Berlin (obviously, I suppose) and there was by coincidence a organ/clarinet performance in the Berliner Dom. We made time to check out the Berliner Dom together, and it seemed like an obvious choice, especially considering how cheap the tickets were (they were ACTUALLY not RELITIVELY cheap; to sit in the nosebleed of the Berlin Opera costs more than a good ticket in the Toronto). Which was good, because parts of the concert were, frankly, boring. As. Hell. But there were a few good notes in there, and it was "an experience" to go to a concert in a cathedral.
If I were to recommend sights in Berlin, I would have to spout clichés, but I recommend the Berliner Dom over all the others. Finalizing the plans alone took sixty years and it was bombed to oblivion a scant forty years after it finished; it has since been completely restored and so has the only statue of Luther I've come across in a cathedral. It's also clean, which makes a hell of a difference. It is a radiant building; mostly filled with natural light, even in the evening, and very worth seeing.
The weather has been hot, though it was cool and rainy this morning; the food is good, international, and cheap; and I think I recommend staying in a hostel in Mitte rather than close to the Tiergarten. It's fine but it's also full of German families, and it's more expensive than I think it needs to be. Cheers for now.
Edit: Really bad day. Internet here terrible. Phones Incomprehensible. Couldn't get any excercise. Ugh. I guess this kind of stuff happens from time to time...
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