Taxi, Takeoff, and Landing

When I was 4, my grandparents built a house at the beach in a small town called Ostseebad Kühlungsborn at the Baltic in Germany. Since then, we have spent pretty much every summer there with my grandparents. These have been some of the happiest moments of my life. I love the relaxed atmosphere of this seaside town in the summer. Admittedly, any other time of the year I would certainly advise against going to Kühlungsborn, or the other beautiful towns in that area such as Heligendamm and Warnemünde. It is extremely cold and wet and in general, there aren't very many things to do which can make the short Northern European days pretty brutal.  Alternatively, in the summer the town lights up. Visitors come from all over Germany and Europe and either stay in the huge camping ground that seperates my grandparents place from the beach or stay in rented vacation homes all around the area. The list of things to do is endless. The beach, of course, is absolutely stunning. On warm days ...

I felt like it's only fitting to start a blog about my favorite places with a post about my absolute favorite place - my home, Berlin. It's hard to describe why I love about the city as much as I do. It's where I grew up, as I lived there from age 2 to 8 and then again for a short 6-month stint in 10th grade, and it's where we have returned to every summer since moving to the US. I just love everything about the city. As soon as I step off of the plane, I feel instantly happy. Getting in to the taxi or subway, or however we get to our accomadation always makes me feel so fully happy. I feel complete, comfortable, and completely giddy. You know the feeling when you just feel so terribly happy, that nothing ever can take that feeling away from you? That's how I feel whenever I'm in Berlin. Specifically, I love everything about Berlin. I love seeing the TV Tower looming over the buildings at every corner I take in Mitte. I love the grumpy people, even though th...