Boston to Geneva (to San Francisco): Berlin weekend recap

Last weekend Ryan's friend hosted his 30th birthday party in his hometown of Berlin, so we took the opportunity to explore a new city with friends. Before heading to Berlin, I didn't have many expectations, but I was very pleasantly surprised by our visit to this city. Berlin has a distinctly edgy feel it, coupled with a unique history that creates in a melting pot of of funky styles, architecture, tourist sites, fantastic museums, creative food, fantastic shopping, and bustling night life.

In case you need a refresher on Berlin's history, after being significantly damaged during World War II, Berlin was separated between East and West by the Berlin wall. The division created two very different "cities" which were heavily impacted by the political environment at the time. The wall stayed up until it was taken down in 1989 and the city was reunited. Walking around the city you get the feeling that Berlin's history has definitely contributed to its funky environment. Its residents dress in an edgy style, there are a multitude of unique restaurants, museums cover the city, and the architecture is a mix of damaged buildings from WWII and new construction from various phases of pre and post-unified Berlin. The city is also extremely cheap compared to Switzerland, we couldn't get over the prices -- kebabs for EUR 2.90, huge lunches for only EUR 25 a person, and EUR 60 a person for an amazing flat in the center of the city is unheard of in Switzerland.

We spent the weekend mainly doing walking tours around Berlin and viewing the sites, including the numerous Christmas markets that were set up for the holiday season. The Christmas markets are basically stalls of vendors selling various gifts, trinkets, food, wine, and holiday decorations -- they were all over the city!