Today, marks the halfway point of my solo trip to Europe. After waking up at 5AM this morning to get to my ride share on time in Cologne, I began the 600KM trek to Berlin. The drive was great and we drove in the comfort & class that a Mercedes car is known for. (For reference, the service I used was called BlaBla car)

This was a special trip though for me. For a few years now, I've been fascinated with Germany's Autobahn network of highways. What makes this highway one of a kind, is that there is no speed limit. Yes, you read that right, drivers can theoretically drive theirs cars as fast as the manufacturer allows them to. So when I say we zipped along, this means that we drove between 180Km/H - 220Km/H. When we travelled between 80Km/H-160Km/H at certain parts, it seemed downright slow.

The Germans value speed, efficiency and precision. I love it!

Now, this leg of the trip is slightly different for me. Up until now, I knew that I would be meeting up with friends and knew I would have their support. I still had a sense of security. But, it's another thing to be dropped off in a city that you have no idea how to navigate, are without Wi-Fi or a data connection and have only offline directions stored on your computer or on your phone from point A to point B.

Berlin…is a very confusing city to navigate. It was slightly overwhelming to realize that I had no one but myself to rely on now. I am the only one responsible for understanding how the trams and underground subway systems work and navigating myself to my hostel safely and correctly. On top of that, carrying around luggage, that I've now worn the wheels off of, doesn’t help the situation as it grates against the pavement as I walk around the city with it. (The rubber melted off the wheels in Zurich due to the hot pavement)

Beyond some of the struggles though, the hostel I'm staying in is very pleasant. I'm in a 4 bed mixed (male/female) bunk bed dormitory. The residents of the hostel are from all over the world featuring Australia, Argentina, France, Texas (US) & others. After arriving at approximately 2:30PM, I quickly settled in, packed my pockets with the essentials (wallet, phone, keys etc.) and headed out for a free walking tour of the city.

This was a great idea, even though I was really tired, it was approximately 3 hours long, I got an in-depth understanding of Germany's history that stretches back all the way to the 1200's. Fast forwarded along to the atrocities of World War 2 and we stood over the bunker that Hitler had once built for himself at the beginning of the war. It's been now paved over with a playground built for kids and features a swing that resembles the head of jar jar binks (see pictures below). Fact: It took the soviets 3 tries to successfully bomb their way to his bunker - a testament to German engineering even back in the day.

You can view the pictures of the tour below which features pictures from throughout the city along with the holocaust memorial that was erected to honor the dead in the middle of the city, and the remnants of the berlin wall.

I won't go into the specifics around what the history is, but I wanted to provide some of my own takeaways from the experience.

Berlin (and by extension Germany) very openly acknowledges their involvement in one of the world's largest atrocities. They don't try to cover it up under fancy words or bold statements and is empathetic towards the people it has harmed. It is not a small number, but acknowledging past mistakes, and choosing to move on is not an easy thing to do. Hats off to the German people for continuing overcome adversities, and especially considering some of the biggest things were caused by just one crazy man with radical ideas.
It's not hard to imagine what citizens of this country must have felt like as bombs were dropped on them day and night during the wars. Everyday civilians were not responsible for the things that were done under Hitler's regime, and the world lost some beautiful and historic architecture. It's terrifying to see bullet holes even today in the walls of buildings throughout the city. (picture below) This is not to say, remnants of the war are not around in other places, but Berlin is at the epicenter of it all.
Travelling alone is both amazing and slightly lonely. You have pure freedom, in what you want to do and when you want to do it - at the cost of having someone to share the experience with. I think however, it's a small price to pay. The loneliness can cause some travellers to become sad, but I think it can be a good force that drives you to connect with other people. I was able to quickly pull together various members of the tour together and we all enjoyed a nice dinner at the conclusion of the tour along with planning the nights we could have while we were all in town. There's always a silver lining. :)

This post is a longer one because I wanted to capture more than just the basics. I hope this will help for those looking to travel in the future. Ciao for now, I'll have another one up tomorrow as I further explore the riche history of Berlin.