Walking down the River Spree in Berlin last night was to be involved in a lively party. In my little slice of the river there were hundreds of people, ranging from high school to retirement, hanging out on beach chairs drinking beer, listening to music, and chatting with friends. Today is the last day of school for many students in Berlin so perhaps the party had an impetus but it seemed to me, it being a Monday night, that this is as regular an event as going to the gym is to me back at home.

It would take a pair of blinders not to notice that Berlin is a post-war city struggling with how to remember the past while moving into the future. Buildings that are not pockmarked with bullet holes are either visibly patched or have been replaced with modern architectural structures. Large informational displays about luminaries prosecuted during Hitler’s era are set against the more personal and, to me, poignant reminders – such as small brass squares set in front of houses and marked with the name, date of birth, date of death, and fate of those dragged away as Hitler made his mark.

But, on the river chatting with my Aunt, the cities scars are blurred by the setting sun and Berliners joie de vivre takes center stage. We walked from 8pm-11pm covering at least 4 miles, beers in hand thanks to Berlin’s liberal open-container laws and relatively low drinking age, and took in the city after dark. The pre-WWII, Communist, and more recent architecture became a patchwork quilt, woven together by street art, that tells the story of a city that is carefully finding it’s way into the future and articulating a new identity – that seen on the River Spree at sunset.