If you couldn’t already tell, one of my favorite things to do is fantasize about places I’d like to live someday. Paris, London, Amsterdam are all on the list but there’s one city I have yet to see that my Mom seems to think I’m going to be adding to the tippy top of said list, and that city is Berlin. When I was studying abroad in Barcelona (see here), my friend Alana and I traveled to a different city or country with each other every weekend. The only weekend we didn’t travel together was over Thanksgiving when I went to Venice to see my Mom and she went to Berlin to visit a friend who was studying there. While I came back to Barcelona boasting about having seen Elton John at a restaurant, she topped my celebrity sighting with all her stories about Berlin and how I just “have to go there”. Since then, those four words “have to go there” have continued ringing in my ears like a mosquito you can’t flick away. Berlin, it’s time you and I met.

Berlin is the largest city in Germany and is known as a cultural mecca of design, art, music and fashion. Sounds right up my alley already, right?! The city is filled with a vast number of museums, concert halls and shopping districts and is one of the only cities that has as much new architecture as it does old. Much of its culture is a result of the city’s destruction after World War II and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, parts of which are still intact and currently function as a Memorial Site.

Berlin is one of those large cities that even given a weeks visit wouldn’t do it justice (and I’m just saying this after being overwhelmed by reading about all there is to see/do/experience!). There are at least five museums that I’d like to spend a week’s time in, but at the top of my list is the Pergamon Museum which houses Ancient Greek sculpture and the newly renovated Neues Museum which contains tons of prehistoric findings as well as my personal favorite, Egyptian art, including the bust of Nefertiti! There are also dozens of architecturally and historically interesting churches that offer views of the city, but the unbeatable view has to be within the Fernsehturm (aka TV Tower) which has an incredible observation deck.

The city is also filled with picture perfect parks such as the Tiergarten, where people picnic and barbecue on the weekends, and epic flea markets open every weekend. And speaking of shopping, after reading through my travel books it seems that Berlin is filled with not one, not two, but three major shopping districts. Credit cards beware! Oh! And how could I forget the Bronx Zoo!? Home to the largest amount of animal species in the WORLD! HELLO!

I’ll say it again, Berlin, it’s time you and I met.

Judging by how my exclamation points increased by the end of this post, I clearly got more and more excited as I thought about the possibility of visiting this incredible city. There really are just too many amazing places to see in the world, when oh when am I going to find the time!?

• left over bits of the Berlin Wall •

• if this little guy isn’t incentive enough to go to Berlin, then I don’t know what is •

• Brandenburg Gate •

• Fete de la Musique – a musical festival that takes place throughout the city •

• photos booths are open to the public 24/7 •

• Tiergarten •

• Fernsehturm (aka TV Tower) •

Have you ever been to Berlin?

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photos via tumblr & flickr