First week in

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I have been in Germany for almost a week now, and so far so good! I am beginning to feelwhy people like Berlin so much - it is difficult to put a finger on exactly what it is though; je ne sais quoi is definitely the answer I want to give, but it feels too much like a cop out. I will try to explain a few aspects though.

1)The city plan.

Big wide thoroughfares eliminate the claustrophobic feelings that dominate so many other cities, like York or in a more extreme version, London. Rows of trees line many of the streets, and again, it opens the whole place up. It also makes walking a lot less painful, as there is enough room for people to walk 8 abreast in so many places.

As I mentioned in my previous post, architecturally the city is a wonderful hodge podge of styles and ideas, where the building erectors appear to have been encoraged to experement and let their creative side loose. There does feel as though there the city is a bit of a playground for the creative. I realize that a lot of people have no particular care for architecture, but I do feel it impacts of the overall ambiance.

2)Laid back.

It is rare in this city of C3million, to see anyone rushing. It doesn't seem like a lazyness though either, more of an efficiency, and an aceptance that the day only has 24 hours. It is of course also a haven for artists and musicians too, and they generally rush for no-one anyway. There are some interesitng quirks with Berlin, such as nothing being open (apart from the tourist bits) on a Sunday - having said that, the pub underneath my appartment (living the dream) opens at 6pm on a Sunday and closes at 4am monday morning - very perculia! People do seem generally happy, and I am not convinced that is just me being wide eyed and naieve.

The other aspect is the lack of pretention that is quite refreshing. Apologies are not made by the more ramshackle bars for being a bit run down, rather it is seen as a part of the charachter and charm. I went to one bar last night, and this epitomised that idea - my friend met me at the under ground station and then led me to a non-descript door (exit from a fire escape) and up two flights of concrete stairs, and payed the bouncer who was sat on the landing €1 for entry. I followed suit and followed him into what appeared to be an appartment minus all internal walls and a bar in the middle. There was a load of other grads there, as well as some expats. Was really fun.

3)Transport.

Having a tube system that is only just under the surface is really nice- my local stop is only 20 steps down to the platform. Regular busses, tubes and trains also make it incredibly easy to just hop on and hop off. double decker busses have two sets of stairs and 3 doors, so you don't need to push past people.

I will probably add to this later on, but these were some points that I think contribute to the vibrance and vitality of the city, although I have failed to do it justice with my poor articulation of those concepts.

Today I went (amongst other things) to the Ka De We - Berlin's answer to Harrods. It was fantastic, taking the best bits of Harvey Nic's and Harrods and sticking them in a store with a fantastic layout (read: you don't get constantly lost) and incredible variety. More importantly, it is only 5 minutes away by bus!

I have fired up my old flikr account, so you can see some pictures on there. Incidentally, I have bought a little toaster now, as I decided my previous effort created more washing up than it was worth. Also a tad on the unsafe side. You will understand when you see the picture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/telliot/

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