From Europe, With Love: Berlin ... One of a Kind

On our way to Berlin, we stopped in Dresden. Dresden is such an interesting city because it was bombed during the war and completely destroyed but the town residents cared so much about the city that they decided to fund a complete reconstruction of it. So although the buildings look like they date back to 1800s they have all only recently been built back up again only twenty years ago. After a few hours in Dresden we were on the road to Berlin. Berlin is definitely one of a kind. I cannot think of any other city that has been through as much as it has and is still striving. A city that has been forcibly split up, asked its residents to redefine their identities and culture, relocate their jobs, schools and favorite stores and caused famalies and friends to have to wave to each other across a wall from balcony to balcony. Due to the split of the East and the West, Berlin is unique in that although it is one again it still has at least two of everything, most notably two city centers. The presence of the wall, though no longer physically there, is still noticable mostly in the real estate closest to it. Most of the area surrounding the border has either become a memorial or prime space for the next new exciting building. A few of the buildings we saw in Berlin include: the Nordic Embassies, the university library, and the crematorium ... in addition of course to everything else we did. Although I wasn't terribly excited about Berlin, the history behind the city alone is worth the visit.

FROM BERLIN (GERMANY), WITH LOVE GRACE

Dresden's Farmer's Market