Germany

Germany wronged everyone a bunch of times in recent history. They fought in two World Wars and caused both of them. On the flip side of this, these are the lands that the Mongols continually conquered, and the Greeks, and basically every other standing army in history…(hyperbole!) So maybe they had a genetic chip on their shoulder?

Anyway, they’re all good now. They speak a lot of English, but they don’t put any signs in English, and good luck printing your train tickets and reading them. German ticket designers don’t even want other Germans to find the date and time of their train reservations.

As for Berlin, the most important city in Germany, mostly it has identity issues. Is it ironically rebelling against the communist regime? Is it a WW2 reminder? Is it an example of post-WW2 German legacy?

Nobody knows, not even people in Berlin. My advice to anyone going to Berlin is just focus on a decade or two of Germany’s history and see the sites related to those years. Otherwise you could be wandering back and forth jumping forwards and backwards in history. It’s like everything they’ve done overlaps, good and bad.

Kevin’s Tip: Germany’s economy is the strongest in the EU, so don’t expect to do a lot of shopping while there.