Category: Germany

Destinations, Germany

Berlin: Meeting a European Hauptstadt That’s Younger Than Me

I have finally had the opportunity to start to take in Berlin in person, which I plan to do in a series of visits, and I still can’t wrap my mind around it. Berlin is the Hauptstadt of Europe’s economic powerhouse, a centuries-old city, but also a brand new city, reborn again and again through some of modern history’s worst clashes.

Most know that the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, but I was shocked when I realized that its occupiers, including the Russians, did not leave until 1994. 1994! Continue reading “Berlin: Meeting a European Hauptstadt That’s Younger Than Me” →

Destinations, Europe, Germany, Russia

Pre-Trip Reading: Berlin & St. Petersburg

Most of my life, I’ve been a voracious reader. I remember reading Little Women and Gone with the Wind in fourth grade, always having a good book for long flights, and even learning how to write Swedish fluently solely based off of being read to and reading as a young child. But in college, I was always reading books for classes (though as an English major most of those were fantastic), but if I wasn’t finishing up a reading for class, I was doing one or several of a hundred other active projects. I got out of the habit of reading for fun. After more than a year since graduation of my primary reading material being news on my phone, I decided preparing for my next trip would be the perfect occasion to break this streak.

I’m soon headed to three cities that I have never visited before: Berlin, St. Petersburg, and Tallinn. My interest in Tallinn had previously inspired me to do background research on the city online, and last year I spent an insightful evening at the Embassy of Estonia in Washington, DC, so I turned my attention to Berlin and St. Petersburg. Continue reading “Pre-Trip Reading: Berlin & St. Petersburg” →