Street art delights

As I headed out on the last leg of my journey to Berlin - a train ride from Düsseldorf - I was startled by all the buildings coated in street art and graffiti type painting. Not knowing anything about the city of Düsseldorf, I figured it might be something unique to that city, or perhaps I was in a rundown area. But, every town that my 4-hour ride took me through was the same - peppered with colorful artwork on all the buildings, and Berlin perhaps has more street art than any other German city. The street art here is astounding and so fun to look at! What we call graffiti in the States, is called street art here in Berlin. And even just by using the different terminology, the connotation changes. In the states, we often look down on graffiti, calling it vandalism, or ranting about why someone would deface our buildings with their artistic expressions. We view this type of painting as ugly; an eyesore that we want no part of and we quickly paint over these marks someone leaves on our cities. But here, not only are the buildings themselves exciting to look at, but then additionally, many of them are ornately decorated with colorful additions by a variety of anonymous artists, and I am finding this freedom of expression to be incredibly beautiful. It gives the city a flavor unlike anywhere else I've ever been. And it is most definitely welcomed, even celebrated by Berliners. The bookstores have picture books solely dedicated to Berlin street art - evidence that this is a piece of Berlin that locals are proud of.