Last month Pointsandtravel wrote a post about her visit to the Berlin Wall. I found it very thought-provoking and we ended up messaging back and forth about our experiences in Berlin. It’s becoming one of those cool, hip places that everyone wants to visit. There’s the art scene, perhaps a teardrop moment by The Wall, and God knows what else people find interesting about Berlin.
When the Berlin Wall fell, my parents left Poland and came to Germany. I was 3 years old and my earliest memory was stopping by the side of the road on our way from Hamburg to “East Germany” as it was still known then.
I grew up in Hamburg during the 90’s and my parents had friends who lived in Berlin. We would visit them often and each time it was not something I looked forward to. Berlin had this incredibly dark energy and even as a kid, I got a bad vibe from it. The depressing architecture, the drab weather, the graffiti.
It didn’t help that it was populated by those gothic/heavy metal types that wore tight leather pants, heavy army boots, and sported colored mohawks. These people not only looked scary, they despised foreigners and let their feelings be known. I have wonderful memories from my childhood in Germany, but it wasn’t all sunshine and tulips all the time.
Chalk it up to me being young, but even now I can’t see the appeal. I feel like Berlin is one of those overrated cities that doesn’t have much to offer, yet everyone feels compelled to rave about it. I found this post by the Lost Londoner to be a very honest piece about the city and I agree on the following points: It’s dirty, hideous, and there isn’t much to look at or do that makes it stand out among other cities in the world. Maybe I’m being unfair. If you’re a fan of the city, I’d love to know why.
Has a city ever given you a “bad vibe”? Is there any place you feel is overhyped or that you refuse to visit?
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