Sleeping with my Eyes Open: So Much to See

I’ve been in Berlin for a full week and I’m finally caught up on sleep—for now. Even after a walking tour, a bus tour, and several hours of getting lost, I know I’ve barely experienced the tip of the iceberg in terms of all this city has to offer. While there is still much to do, I’ve definitely seen a great deal and I continue to gape at how interesting Berlin looks. The architecture amazes me; on the same street, buildings decked with Baroque filigree neighbor block-color contemporary designs that seem to defy gravity. Around every corner I see graffiti, murals, and all sorts of art painted on or affixed to building walls.  The street art ranges from photo-realistic portraits, to cartoons, to giant 3D cockroaches, to giant letters reading “How Long is Now?” I’ve never been in a place that’s felt more alive; the different styles of architecture and the diverse art give the streets of Berlin character and soul, as if the city itself has conversing personalities.

My eyes are not left wanting when I come home in the afternoons either. The apartment I’m staying in has a bright, whimsical interior that looks like a cross between a painting by Mondrian and an ISpy page. My hosts have decorated each room with shelves of knickknacks and keep a strict color theme. The bathroom and living room have bright red curtains that bathe the afternoons in pink, the kitchen furniture is buttery yellow, and both bedrooms are upholstered and draped in blue. To complete the patterned perfection, the view out my window shows the building next door’s three rooftop windows with red, yellow and blue shutters. The only mystery remains that I could swear I’ve seen both the sunrise and sunset out the same window but other than this phenomenon (or my memory lapse) I can’t complain; seeing the sun on the horizon of the cityscape looks just as beautiful as over the Green Mountains back home.