Berlin

One of the cities that changed the most when the Soviet Union broke up, anyone who lived through the fall of the Berlin Wall will vividly remember images of German’s taking sledgehammers to the wall that had divided their city for so long.

People were hacking chunks off the wall as souvenirs, and those with a business head breaking it into small chunks to sell on the pavements around the city. Street sellers were also selling military memorabilia across the city.

Trabants filled the east side of the city, though these would be replaced in subsequent years by modern German cars, going from being the normal mode of transport to collectors items.

The city could be visited in its entirety soon after the fall of the wall, though initially tourists were only allowed into the east for a day. A day in the east was not to be missed though as many of the city’s best buildings were on the east of the wall.

For getting around, it is a large city and walking the streets can get tiring after a while, it’s better to use the various public transport to hop around the city.

For us, we spent a lot of time walking and playing pinball in bars around the Ku’damm and experiencing the more alternative culture in Kreuzberg at the time. For you, no doubt the city has changed a lot, and you will find favourite new places in this huge metropolis.

Places that stay in my mind are the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Berliner Dom, and the TV Tower in East Berlin. There will be many more for you to find on your trip.

Berlin is somewhere that it would be good to go back to, to see how it’s changed, and find new attractions for myself, now that the years have changed me also.

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