IMAGE - A Goat with THE GOAT?! A snap with a well posed friend, at Berlin Zoo, as part of my visit to the city with Sheffield Hallam Students' Union's Geography Society - Saturday February 9th 2019

Thursday February 7th to Sunday February 10th 2019, will always live in my memory - not just as my 2nd foreign visit during my studies at Sheffield Hallam University, but that it was a visit to a city that since the bringing down of The Wall, has become a place which symbolises the hope that much of the UK is dying out for.

Only having about 2 1/2 hours of sleep, before slipping out of my Broomhill student flat in the small hours of a rainy Thursday in February, to gather outside The Hubs (one of The Steel City's most famous buildings) for the journey to Manchester Airport, signifed the anticipation in my mind of a visit that would open the mind.

Just from making the trip from the cosy Schonefield Airport to a&o Hostel Berlin Mitte after a smooth easyJet flight from Manchester, the mixture of the old and new was a striking element of what can be seen across the whole city.

Whether the Capital's U-Bahn Metro system which still has decades old rolling stock running to this day to the stunning roof of the Mall of Berlin; reminiscent of London St Pancras International or whether the modernness of Potsdamer Platz (once the home of a major dividing line to East and West) to the buildings that formulated Germany's fate under The Nazi Party which surround the Topography of Terror: the story of the city and the walls that once seperated it's people, can almost be told through such a different kind of environment.

The 4 most surreal sites that we visited, had to be those of the Bradenberg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, The East Side Wall and The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe - all of which through there past purposes, movingly reflect the horrors of the past. In particuar, the Holocaust Memorial stands a permanent reminder that through such ideologies, 6 Million innocent lives were lost solely on the basis of who folks are and the way the site stands, feels more than appropriate as a result of all which occurred.

Such things, that have helped Germany move forward in massive strides, are also evident at the Jewish Museum and the Germany Spy Museum, which beautifully blends those stories of the past, along with the fine use of modern day technology. The importance that is attached, in reflecting the error is not lost in any area within such places.

Add on top the massive choice of culture that springs around - whether an organised Bar Crawl (which for us ended with a firecracker outside the terrific Matrix Club!) or the sights and sounds at Zoo Berlin which is very good value for a visit and whether a stunning Hot Chocolate at the wonderous Steel Vintage Bikes Cafe or sampling multiple Wursts in Lindenbrau at the Sony Center; you have a city that since the end of division has truly thrived.

Alongside the scenery and it's storys, the friendliness of it's people also made the visit worth while. Wherever we visited (even on the fantastic night out on the 8th), the easy nature of folk shows Berlin at it's very best and even if Students' can be wild some times (particularly when at the Zoo following the long evening clubbing!), the understanding of Berlin's population wasn't lost on anyone.

It personally felt a bit upsetting that we were only there between a Thursday-Sunday, knowing of the sights we saw and the memories which were made, alongside 38 other wonderful folk, who all shared the bond of loving Geography. But ultimately, I felt through every second of the hope that a nation can over time develop, as a result of the beautifulness of the German capital - which is pressing ahead through such creativity, history and the welcoming nature tourists (like my then 21 year old) recieve.

If Berlin can find it's feet, after an era that had to see the human be brought back from the very brink - then what's not to say that London, Birmingham and even my Student home of Sheffield can itself bounce back as time progresses. Berlin shines out as Europe's beacon of opportunity and once I find someone know to call a soulmate (whenever that will be!), I will most certainly and even despite the now longer times at the airport post Brexit; will definitely return for a longer City Visit - knowing there is much more to be explored and that ultimately: the United Kingdom can and should be such a place!