Hopeful Polka Dots: Berlin

I had the best time in Berlin! I arrived at literally the crack of dawn on a Sunday, which meant that the metro ride to my hostel was illustriously colored with all the blurry eyed party goers returning from the night before. I stayed at probably the best hostel I have ever stayed at called EastSeven. The people that work there are incredibly helpful, and they don't reprimand you for asking the same stupid questions as every other tourist they have ever met! I liked that. Two things made my trip to Berlin wonderful: first, I took a great walking tour with Brewers group. The tour guide gave a concise but enthusiastically thorough history of Berlin from 1871 up until the present day, focusing of course on the rise of Hitler, the fall, and then soviet occupation throughout the cold war. The second, I made tons of friends! EastSeven has a great vibe, and space to meet other travelers. I ended up befriending four American guys who had just graduated from Northeastern University, a guy from Australia but living in England, a woman from Australia who was actually moving to Berlin, and quite a few more throughout the trip. We all went out on a bar crawl together and ended up at a very packed but fun night club. I wish I could recall the names of the places we went, but I honestly didn't even know them at the time.
I have never seen more graffiti in a city than I saw in Berlin. Maybe 80% tagging, which I have really come to hate, but the 20% that was artistically done almost made up for it. I wish taggers would refrain from trashing bus station signs and city maps, some people really need to use those things!