Berlin has got a bit more grit - and stuff happening! - than the average German city.
I spent three days in Berlin, feeling the effects of successive days of short sleeps and long days of travelling, so I can't say it was the best visit ever. The main reason I went was to catch Raf, who was about to head back to Australia, so much of the time was spent largely agreeing with each other that the world was headed in the wrong direction and we probably could fix it if only someone lent us the appropriate magic wand and silver bullet. We also wandered the streets of Kreuzberg, the famous formerly hyper-alternative area of Berlin – if you're familiar with Sydney, think Newtown 20 years ago, but with people who had a developed political consciousness and weren't afraid to throw stones at police in a very organised way if they were unhappy with the state of things. And better beer and worse food.
Apart from the many hours yarning with Raf, the standout of the trip was a visit to the Jewish museum, an intriguingly designed building, where none of the planes are true – the floors are at an angle, the walls are not parallel and the ceiling slopes. I suppose I was expecting a direct and unflinching look at the holocaust, but rather the museum seemed to be trying to provide an insight into Jewish people as individuals and to put German Jewish culture into an historical perspective. In particular, the historical context makes you realise what a shocking – and effective – program of genocide the Nazis pursued, when you see how embedded, for how many centuries, Jewish people and culture were in Germany. You can go to the smallest village in the remotest area and you are likely to find the remnants of a centuries-old Jewish cemetery, or to find reminders of Jewish existence in street and place names, yet no trace whatsoever of those people who lived there for centuries.
After this short, tired, stay in Berlin I headed south again to Jena – I'll be back again with Niamh in a few weeks, refreshed and alive!