Berlin is a city of contrasting seasons: long, dark winters when locals bundle up in layers to survive Siberian winds, followed by sweltering summers spent sprawled in parks and next to lakes.
In stately western Berlin, the wide boulevards are punctuated by shopping malls and Starbucks coffee shops, completely different in style to its former-Soviet eastern half, with its mass-produced, pre-fabricated Plattenbau apartment blocks. At Potsdamer Platz, visitors find a global capital city with gleaming glass skyscrapers. But a more transgressive side to the city persists at night in the clubs and bars, despite rising property prices. The many sides to the city joined together in 2019 to celebrate 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
