The most dangerous worldviews are the worldviews of those who have never viewed the world.
Alexander von Humboldt
Berlin does not have the happiest past, but it does have a bright future and you can see that when you visit the city. It was Alexander Von Humboldt that said, “The most dangerous worldviews are the worldviews of those who have never viewed the world.” This is what we plan on doing! We plan on exploring all of what a city has to offer: past, present, and future. We were so excited to be able to explore this city with our two friends that traveled with us (check out our other travels to Amalfi Coast/Path of the Gods and Munich/Oktoberfest).
While we were in Berlin we stayed at Motel One Berlin-Alexanderplatz. This hotel was very new, accommodating, and centrally located in what was once known as the East side of Berlin. Fun fact: the crosswalk lights are different on the East side versus the West part of Berlin and what we are used to in the States. Instead of an orange hand or white walking signs, East Berlin uses a little guy with a hat called the Ampelmannchen, or “little traffic light man.”
If you have time, we recommend that you follow along with Rick Steves’ free walking tour app of Berlin. He does a great job and really has you walking around the whole city. We learned a lot listening to him, but an interesting fact we didn’t realize is that Berlin is actually built on top of low-lying, marshy land. As a result, during WWII there were a lot of bombs that didn’t explode and are still in the water to this day. There are still signs that you can see today that say, “don’t drop anchor.”
Continue reading “Berlin: A Unique City”
