After a well-received post on Okotberfest and Munich, I've been eager to write about Berlin - my favorite stop on the Germany trip.

After stepping out of Berlin HBF train station, I was surprised by how North American Berlin appeared. The streets were filled with tall office buildings, large shopping malls, and street-side coffee shops that reminded me more of Starbucks than European cafés. The familiarity made me feel at home. Whereas I always felt like a stranger in Paris, in Berlin, a small part of me felt like I belonged.

Perhaps it was the brisk weather that drizzled nonstop during the two days I visited, or perhaps it was the way the city appeared under the overcast sky, but Berlin appealed to me with its rawness. If Paris romanticized life, Berlin displayed it in uncensored truths. As I walked along the remains of the Berlin Wall, each crack in the pavement and curve in the street held a story.

Berlin smoldered with history.