Backpacker Buzz

Berlin is a lively city, with contemporary art, chilled out locals, an endless nightlife scene and food well beyond bratwurst - all of which belie the fact that it was a grim city divided by conflicting political ideologies just a couple of decades ago. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989 but I got the same feeling as I did in Sarajevo - it's hard to wrap your mind around the fact that the place you're in right now, the place you're having so much fun in right now, was a place of such struggle in your lifetime.

I took a free walking tour around the city on my first day, run by Brewster's Berlin Tours. They offer more in-depth tours for a fee but for an overview of the major sites, you can walk around with an English-speaking guide for free (though they're not shy about reminding you how nice tips are). You'll see the Old Museum (a spot Hitler favoured for speeches in the '30s), a section of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie (from murder scene to tourist trap in a few short decades), Brandenburg Gate, the conspicuous TV Tower and the site of Hitler's former bunker, among many other pre-war and post-city-divided highlights. One thing Germany's not afraid to do is apologize about past wrongs, though anyone would tell you there's little to be gained from finger-pointing now.   Berlin itself is a fine example of that - let history be what it was, acknowledge it, understand it, regret it and move on. Preferably with beer and live music.

Not on the tour, but worth a visit, is the East Side Gallery where a preserved stretch of wall boasts murals from artists from around the world. It's where you'll see the famous painting of East German leader Erich Honecker kissing Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. It's also free!

A two-hour train ride from Berlin is Dresden, a city that was once known for its architectural grandeur and appreciation for the arts. Until two fateful nights in February 1945, when Allied forces bombed the living daylights out of it. 

The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the train was how quiet it was. And not in a tumble-weed, ghost town kind of way. It was busy, people were going about their normal Wednesday lives but everyone was quiet and laid back. On the tram to my hostel, the seats were full but it was calm and quiet. The streets in the trendy Neustadt neighbourhood were much the same. 

Dresden is still rebuilding. As part of East Germany after the war, socialists wanted to either preserve the ruins as a reminder of the attack, or steam-roll them completely to make way for concrete block-buildings. After reunification, the decision was made to rebuild much of what was left, including Frauenkirche. The cathedral was only finished in 2003, and many rebuilding efforts continue today, making the old town a mish-mash of grand buildings and scaffolding. The cathedral itself looks a bit out of place, all clean and all, while many buildings show the scars of the devastation, either in shrapnel wounds or blackened exteriors. Zwinger, the fortress of Dresden's much loved former king, Augustus the Strong, shouldn't be missed.

But again, here you've got a city that has seen misery yet plods along, as humanity is wont to do, creating beautiful things out of awful situations. Maybe that's the appeal of these places - besides all the modern day fun to be had with the people, the food, the drinks, the parks and the shops - you can see that you're in a place built by people who've been through hell, but just want to pick up the pieces and move on. If that ain't inspirin', I don't know what is.