Berlin
Berlin
Being a Barcelona aficionado (although “hooligan” seems a more appropriate characterisation, considering his obsession with all things Barcelonian), the Wild Traveler never thought he would fall in love with Berlin: a mitteleuropa classic and a north Europe staple, Berlin seemed like an odd fit for a Mediterranean soul. So it was with a reluctant foot that the Wild Traveler begun his journey to the capital of Germany – as reluctant as can a wild traveler be, that is.
The penetrating cold that welcomed the Wild Traveler and his party that February – later to be described as the coldest in years- forced the happy travelers to hit the shops for thermals, ponchos and snow gear. Looking ridiculously ridiculous and spending the best part of an hour dressing and undressing when entering and leaving closed spaces, the frozen four toured the obvious sites, ate the obvious wursts washing them down with the obvious berliner, and bought the obvious ampelmann paraphernalia.
But it was something else that caused the Wild Traveler to spend a series of long weekends over the next year (a series so populated, the Wild Traveler had to invent a secret identity as a stern businessperson, so as to appease the suspicions of customs officers on the lookout for traffickers). Something that cannot be described: it was novelty with the definite, regal aura of history, it was history being happily comfortable in structure and thoughts hours old. It was a sense of having lived for ever there where everything seemed amazingly fresh and new. It was a tickling of the gut born out of excitement and historical weight. It was something the Wild Traveler brought there and took with him. It felt like home though it was alien. It was something the Wild Traveler’s soul carried around for years and longed for at the same time.
Whatever that was, it made the Wild Traveler go back. Again and again. It also made him wonder how many more unlikely places are there to take his breath away. And if there is time to fall in love with all of them.
And then he wondered if all cities starting with B are his kind of cities.
And then took a trip to Brussels…
