I am so surprised that Berlin impressed a lot since I planned and explored the city all on my own.
Since Berlin is my last stop of the trip, I treated myself and chose to stay in a hotel with a bath tub and queen size bed. It was so comfy that I did not want to leave the bed every morning. Besides, there is no bath tub in my home in Hong Kong, so soaking myself in the bath tub was such a luxury act!
Berlin has so much colours and a different energy comparing to the places I travelled this time.
If you have studied history before, I am sure you know about World Wars. I have been interested in World Wars since my secondary school times. So visiting the monuments and museums is the first priority in planning this trip! Besides, I heard that Germany is famous for its stationary so I also planned to visit quite a few paper shops. In all, the trip is divided into historical and artistic aspects.
I arrived Berlin the early evening so I did not really do much but to walk around hotel and had dinner.
But I met a very friendly Germany-born-Turkish taxi driver and he introduced me different buildings along the way to hotel. On the other days, I got help from different old German men and ladies. Although I do not understand German, I felt very warm as they put so much effort in telling me how to get to a place!
As soon as I rested well for a night, I decided to go to Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen since the weather was really nice. The camp is very quiet and the atmosphere is heavy. Despite the fact that the concentration camp itself is a reminder of the darkest days in the history, the organization of the camp is very beautiful as it went under serious architectural instructions. In the front entrance, the gate has a quote Arbeit Macht Frei (work makes freedom) which I found very sarcastic because it was impossible to leave the camp in the Nazi period. All the things and texts remind all of us that we should feel grateful about our lives and re-think about humanity. I was quite furious when I saw some white girls smiled and posed in front of such a significant place. (Shame on you!) On the next day, I also went to quite a few must-go historical places and of course the atmosphere of those places cannot compare to the concentration camp. The visit to the camp did make me having a lot of reflections of life.
Another big part of my Berlin trip - visiting paper shops!!!
You just have to see how excited and happy I was after visiting three hand craft/paper shops in a row.
I literally did not want to leave. Do you know how nice it is when you have found someone who has the same passion in stationary. I remember the owner in LUIBAN told me not to be ashamed of it because it is not a nerdy, but it shows that your love and passion in materials, textures and colours. I spent more money on papers and stationary than makeup so you should know how the other side of me is fully awaking this time! Stay tuned for a stationary haul! (YAY:D)
Lastly, I have to mention that I got ask how to somewhere everyday when I was there. I do not get it but I think I looked very confident with actually a google map on my hand haha! The last thing I did there is taking a 4-grid photo called photoautomat which is very famous there. I did not intend to take it with me looking the other direction or even closed the eyes but I guess it came out right and I do like it a lot. It marked a good end to my trip.
Berlin, danke schön!
Love,
Sonia
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