Berlin was like no other big western European city I've been to. Berlin was very non-touristy and very hard to navigate around if you don't know any German. With my luck I managed to get the 4 days of the week where the weather was rainy and cold. What I thought was the middle of summer, felt like the beginning of winter. Though the weather sucked, I think I found the uniqueness of Berlin's charm to be fascinating and entertaining.
The famous Brandenburg Gate located very close to the hostel that I was staying at.
I hit all of the major tourist attractions as everything was pretty much in one area of the city. The one that stood out the most was the Holocaust memorial. Seeing the giant stone slabs and trying to figure out their representation was pretty mesmerizing. All the Holocaust memorials (such as the Topography of Terror) were free of charge and very well maintained. Seeing the remnants of the Berlin wall was really fascinating as well. I could see how relatively young Berlin felt as many parts of town were under severe construction. The ancient history of the city coexists with the rebirth of a young urban metropolis.
Part of the Berlin Wall, the museum nearby was done very well.
Public transportation is available everywhere from underground trains, overground trains, and buses. At first, it was very difficult to navigate as most of the signs and names were in these very large German words. However, once I figured out how to pronounce some of the long-ass names, traveling around in public transport was a breeze. Unlike other cities, Berlin uses a ticket/validation system meaning you don't really need a ticket to get on the train but if you get caught you'd probably get fined. For me, I purchased one ticket and kept it on me at all times just in case as I'm a cheapskate. If I did get caught (the ticket only lasts like 2 hours), I would just play the dumb tourist card. Easy peasy.
Some church with an observation tower in the background. When we were there, some wedding was going on at the church entrance.
German food seems to consist primarily of a combination of bread or potatoes and meat. And I fucking love it. I think I tried all the famous (cheap) German dishes such as schnitzel, bratwurst, currywurst, and the famous Berlin breakfast (I don't know if that's actually a thing). I got to say, schnitzel is easily my most favorite European dish so far. I went to this one restaurant two nights in a row because their schnitzel and potatoes was too amazing. Every single day I was in Berlin I had at least one meal of just the typical meat and potatoes. On the streets it was easy to get a cheap bratwurst, currywurst, and beer to munch on your way to the next tourist attraction. What's even better is that German beer is quite fucking good and Berlin's public drinking laws are so lax.
There's this one long ass wall in Berlin that has the best grafitti/wall art I've ever seen. Highly recommended.
Sadly I wasn't able to hit the infamous Berlin night scene. From what I heard from other tourists that I've talked to, Berlin's night scene is crazy. They have raves that last from Thursday night to Monday morning with no closures in-between.
I don't think I was able to fully appreciate my time in Berlin in my time here. The poor weather sometimes gave me limited mobility and seeing the dark cloudy skies didn't really create a positive mood. Yet, the intense history of the city and its peoples was incredibly interesting (also very much enjoyed constant carbs and protein). Berlin didn't feel like a hugely historical city like Amsterdam or Paris; it's like this weird anomaly trying to figure itself out.