Day 10: Berlin

I really wish I had set aside more time for Berlin, which is awesome.

I'm staying on the East Berlin side, which has turned out to be funky, fun, and rather affordable. The entire end of town is covered in a mix of graffiti and Bansky-esk murals, and while it's a little gritty, I don't think that East Berlin would be right without a dollop of grit and lots of graffiti.

I started my day off by lingering a little longer than planned at a weekend flea market, which was exactly everything one would hope from a flea market. I walked away with a few small souvenirs, and only the constraints of my luggage prevented me from purchasing more. I did a quick walk around the area surrounding my ridiculously great hostel, with a lot of window shopping at stores that were closed on Sunday.

After wandering, admiring street graffiti, and checking out some small art galleries, I headed over to the German History Museum, which was very good and I spent longer than I expected; I only left because I was getting kicked out as the doors were closing at 6pm. While the history was interesting, what was more interesting was to see a country's history from its own perspective, as opposed to the American spin. I was a bit mesmerized by the really well done museum.

I left the history museum and learned that the weather had turned rainy, cold, and ugly, so had little choice to head back to my hostel. I wandered over to a bar not from my hostel called White Trash Fast Food, for which the theme is "Irish Kitsch meets a bad Chinese food restaurant." A little odd. The band playing turned out to be, well, also not so good. Maybe that was part of the theme?

Overall, Berlin might be my favorite city so far, particularly the East end of town. The nightlife is laid-back but fervid, the streets are bursting with history, the area is packed with trendy stores covered in graffiti, and food and drink are surprisingly easy on the wallet. There is also a lot to do here - tomorrow is going to be a busy day of museum hopping and sightseeing. Let's hope there's better weather!

Images of East Berlin: