CITY POWER RANKINGS - BERLIN, GERMANY

MARCH 26, 2008

BERLIN, GERMANY 9.5/10

LIVEABILITY: 9/10
I have a pretty girl sitting next to me, how can I possibly concentrate? Ok, boobs, breasts, bellybutton...I expel you from my brainwave activity! Begone! Beautiful women: number 1 cause of my writer's block. Interesting women: number 1 cause of my heart attacks.

I'm over it. Berlin is my top choice, bar none. Throughout my travels, I'd say I'd be able to live just about anywhere, once. But in Berlin, I could see myself here longer than any other country I know. On a Western salary, the city becomes very liveable. The food here is AMAZING. Currywurst is the best treatment a sausage could possibly have. An example of what I pigged out on is:
- Currywurst - I got it at the stand that invented currywurst (sausage with ketchup and curry powder) with chips - $4
- Vegetarian quesadilla (Indian style with chapati bread) with a mixed green salad - $7
- Thai burger (tofu patty, peanut sauce) and hot and sour soup - $5

That right there makes Berlin city numero uno. Alongn with that, a liveable flat in what I deem to be a badass neighborhood (Kluerzbug) will cost you about $500. Yo no hablo no mo!

NIGHTLIFE: 9.5/10
On mellow nights I found myself retiring to bed at 2:30 AM. The bar to building ratio here can rival NYC. There are clubs and venues for everyone. I went to one big block party -- $15 to get into a big courtyard with a raging bonfire in the middle, food grilling up everywhere, and about six different clubs to choose from. Each club had about 500 people in there. I left the place that night at 6:30 AM and there were still people there. Walked around the next day and saw a variety of places for real hip hop, funk, reggae, etc....all at various sizes, also. And don't make me talk about the cool ass artist squat....

CULTURE: 10/10
...that got bombed in WWII and still remains in its postwar state. The backyard housed a sculpture garden, the place was littered with graffitti, the artists had their lofts ope to people, and two floors of the five storied building were dedicated bars. And everywhere in between, you could get drugs or prostitutes. It was such a dope place. Surely if Jesus were to come back, first thing I'd tell him is, "Dude....you gotta check this out. You're going to love it."

Graffiti is EVERYWHERE. But it still hasn't evolved all too much, either. I didn't see any jaw-dropping burners (intricate pieces), wehat pastings or social messages (well, there was one guy that wrote "6" that would paint on things in the city that needed to be fixed, which was very cool). I mean, fuck, the wall only came down 19 years ago. Don't you have anything to say? I mean, I order fried eggs and get scrambled instead, and I'm churning out the diary of Anne Frank!

Besides that, Berlin is bustling with ethnic food, cool art, architecture and I guess there's this place called "Museum Island." It's an island with like, 6 museums that houses ancient Egyptian artifacts and the gates of Ancient Babylon...whatever those are.

PEOPLE 9.5/10
I like Germans. I thought they'd be all stoic and mean, but they're the exact opposite. They don't smile so much and aren't too warm, but who cares! That only shows more character and adds to the challenge. I mean, fuck, they were a hardcore society just 18 years ago! The younger generation are all nice and fun loving. No attitudes, no flashiness, nothing. I saw this skinhead looking cat on the sbuway with his girlfriend. He just looked like a real dick, staring at me from time to time as we made our way through the city. I decided to ask his girl fro directions and he lept at the opportunity to speak English and of course I was wrong and he ended up being very nice! Consequently, I'd prefer that to someone that appears really cool and nice but is really a big asshole that treats peopel like shit -- someone like me, per se'. And the women, are beautiful and approachable....with each layer of clothing being their own Berlin Wall of which I'd like to scale. In large scale.

Seriously, I write oft times for writing's sake. I'm not that girl crazy at all, most times I'd prefer to be in the company of my homies or my thoughts. I can't help it, I just like to acknowledge beautiful and interesting women, it's in my nature.

PROS
Public transportation is a cinch (with arrival times at metro/tram stops. It's walkable. Salad dressing! They experiment with food (something that LA is too boring to do and something that NYC and SF do but I could never afford).

CONS
Corny ass German sense of humor