Some places touch your heart; they extract a small piece of your soul and treasure it until you can visit again. While I have enjoyed and appreciated every city on this journey, Berlin has captured a piece of my traveling heart.

The city is brimming with color, artistic talent, history, grime, and character. They should call Berlin the graffiti city because its covers everything. From staircases to trains to buildings and bridges, there’s always something to observe.

The East Side Gallery is quite extensive, a great representation of the graffiti city. Every artist has a story to tell; a political statement. You can walk on both sides of the wall several times and still notice something new.

While the wall came down 25 years ago, east and west Berlin are still divided in many ways. I meet a local who always feels better on his side of the city. He can’t fathom moving to the west side and most of his friends are from east Berlin. West Berliners get more government benefits while east Berlin is considered cheaper and cleaner. While Germans are not extremely patriotic, they do have intense pride for east or west.

After traveling through eastern Europe my impression of communism was that of repression and surveillance. However, we live in a complex world, where things are rarely simply black or white. While East Berliners couldn’t travel, every single one of them had a job. There were no homeless people, yet also no bananas or oranges. It took 18 years to build a car, but you were given one on your 18th birthday.

Mauerpark, or Wall Park, is located along the old border of West Berlin in the Prenauer Berg district. During the Cold War, the park was included in the heavily guarded Death Strip, dividing the two cities. Today, the park includes an amphitheater where karaoke happens every Sunday during the summer. While it’s too cold for outside karaoke in the winter, they still have an amazing flea market. I spend hours walking the aisles filled with candlesticks and picture frames and vintage clothing. You could decorate an entire apartment there.

Berlin-Tempelhof is an abandoned airport in south-central Berlin. The airport was built during WWII and was used for Nazi demonstrations, as well as military and commercial flights. After WWII, the Americans refurbished the airport in order to bring supplies to West Berlin during the Cold War. The airport officially closed in 2007, but the runway is still open to the public. People come here to fly kites, bike, run, and play soccer.

Visiting Museum Island is another highlight of Berlin. While the Pergamon Museum is underwhelming, considering most of it is closed until 2020, I spend hours in the National Gallery. Exploring the National Gallery in different countries has been a great pleasure. In Berlin, they have an incredible exhibit of Adolph Menzel, an impressionist who lived in Berlin in the 1800’s. Each building on the island is designed from the Prussian era; even just walking around the complex is intriguing.

The underground scene in Berlin surpasses any other European city. Clubs stay open all weekend and establishments don’t get busy until 12 AM at the earliest. While the locals don’t party as much as they could, tourists come to Berlin to party.

Most backpackers will agree that it’s easy to get sucked into the hostel/nomadic lifestyle. You’ll pass through multiple cities without connecting with any locals. Meeting other travelers is always enjoyable, but meeting true locals is another experience entirely.

As an American bombarded with traditional media, I had a certain stigma of Germans. I thought they would be polite but standoffish. While they are still extremely polite, Germans are friendly and easy to talk to. They are also extremely efficient. I never wait more than three minutes for a connecting train. I end up meeting several locals who go out of their way to tour me around and show me a side of Germany I would have never seen otherwise.

After six days in Berlin there is still so much to see, yet I must continue to Amsterdam.

The graffiti city is expansive and majestic; I cannot wait to return.