Ich bin Ein Berliner

 

As I reflect on this past year, I was fortunate to have finally visited Europe - twice even.  I went to Portugal (Lisbon and the Azores) in June for my brother's 40th birthday, and then back to Germany in September as my sister ran the Berlin marathon.  Here is a recap of 10 things I noticed in Germany.  Please note, I noticed way more than 10 things - some even important - but this list is of some unusual things that stood out.

10.  Berlin is not a very pretty city.  There might be a park here or there that is sightly, but overall, the city is not pretty.

9.  We didn't see a single GM or Ford vehicle.  There were a number of other recognizable non-German manufacturers visible (plus tons of German-made vehicles), but no Ford or GM.

8.  Most places do not serve orange juice - for breakfast or otherwise.

7.  Inside the city (or at least the many parts that I saw) - no visible gas stations.

6.  No pickup trucks.

5.  All taxi and ride-share drivers are adamant - USE YOUR BACKSEAT SEATBELT!!!

4.  Sirens all day/all night - Emergency vehicles in use nonstop.

3.  Graffiti everywhere!  Some very pretty works of art - but just everywhere.

2.  Trains/Subways are FREE!!!  I mean, they aren't, but there is nowhere to check-in, or turnstiles to scan your tickets.  Story is they do random checks with hefty fines if you don't have a ticket, but otherwise, I never saw any authority figures on the subways or trains.

1.  Berlin does not run-and-hide from its history, especially the Holocaust.  In fact, it embraces it as a memorial to what we should never let happen again.  To a lesser extent, the same with its East German history, but stories of Hitler and the Holocaust are EVERYWHERE!  Very emotionally-charged city because of it.