Why do you love the city of Berlin?

Well, I guess I can't really answer your question, since I didn't like it that much.<BR><BR>However, since I went about 9 years ago, seeing the difference between the old East and West Berlin was extremely interesting.

I think Berlin is a fascinating place. Personally I liked it much better than Paris.

Jack - though Berlin is one of my favorite cities, I wouldn't say I loved it. I find it exciting, vibrant, and cosmopolitan. Like &quot;k&quot; I enjoy seeing it evolve again into a world class capital. I particularly enjoyed a foggy morning in the Tiergarten looking at the lamp-posts from all over the world gleaming in the mist and the dew dripping from the trees - knowing full well the barren landscape that existed after the war as the Berliners cut down all the trees for fuel

I agree with CharlieB. It is exciting and vibrant. It is one of three cities that I really feel is alive, the others being Rome and NY. It has a pulse to it. The Berliners attribute it to &quot;Das Berliner Luft&quot; (the Berlin air).

Why do you assume I love Berlin?

I do not love Berlin, but do like it as a memorial of the twentieth century, rich in places to remember Hitler, Stalin, the cold war, and the young people of the East German opposition in 1988 to 89. That is special. Normal to a great city are the art galleries, palaces, museums, restaurants, and good listings magazine, Berlin Tips.<BR><BR>Ben Haines, London

As always, Ben Haines has hit the nail right on the head.<BR><BR>Berlin is very much a &quot;lest we forget&quot; kind of city.

since I'm moving there for work in May of 2003 and have never been....I'd love to hear more people's opinions about Berlin - good or bad!

I love Berlin because:<BR>The Eastern Berlin street light guys.<BR>The ease of the subway system.<BR>To see the bullet holes still in the walls.<BR>To see where Hitler killed himself.<BR>The exciting Europa Center.<BR>Ka Da We department store.<BR>Checkpoint Charlie/museum.<BR>Berlin Walks tours.<BR>Bikes thru Tirgarden Park.<BR>The many places to eat.

Because it's the only European capital that you can go and visit every year and has you buy a new map thanks to all the new developments, and U Bahn lines, etc.<BR>Because it is the only &quot;Weltstadt&quot; in the whole of Germany (sorry icy Hamburg, bourgeois Munich, business like Frankfurt, etc. ).<BR>Because Prenzlauer Berg is the only lively bohemian neighbourhood in Europe.<BR>Because you can still feel the separation that has scarred Europe for four decades.<BR>Because - what a relief ! - the shopping opportunities are so thin on the ground that you can really concentrate on interesting sightseeing.<BR>Because it's got the Bauhaus Archiv and, on the other side of the street, all the expressionists in the Neue Galerie.<BR>Because you can visit the Stasi museum. <BR>For the Leninallee (ex-Stalinallee).<BR>For the life size Mesopotamian temple in the Pergamon Museum.<BR>Because you can get lost in the Potsdam castle, not as pretty and tourist invaded as Versailles.<BR>Because you can access it through three different airports.<BR>Because you can walk over the MPs' heads at the old/new Bundestag.<BR>Because you can spend the day at Wannsee.<BR>Because you can take the longest bateau mouche ride of your life, thinking about all the people who tried to escape East Berlin using the Spree you are sailing on (not to mention the corpses of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht on the same Landwehrkanal you will be on).<BR>For one of Europe's lesser known Jewish cemeteries in Prenzlauer Berg.<BR>For the frosty winter mornings.<BR>For the steamy summer afternoons.<BR>For the Turkish doner kebabs in Kreuzberg.<BR>For the avantgarde shows in the Schaubuehne.<BR>For the current Kaufhof in Alexanderplatz, formerly the drab and empty East German state department store.<BR>For the Wim Wendersesque Nationale Bibliothek.<BR>For the thrill of getting out at &quot;Potsdamer Platz&quot; U Bahn when, 15 years ago, the only human beings you saw there were gloomy Vopos with their machine guns in a fish tank light.<BR>etc. etc. etc.<BR>

Vincent - that was a wonderful message! Thanks for writing!

Bravo Vincent - I had forgotten about Donner Kebab - best fast food in the world. To Ben and Meg, all cities have histories and unfortunately Berlin's is more recently etched in our minds, so I would like to add the memorial to the Berlin Airlift at Tempelhof, the new Jewish Museum, and the growth and acceptance of a vibrant Jewish comunity in old Prezlauerburg. Hopefully Berlin will come to represent a true symbol of peace and acceptance of all races and creeds. I feel it is well on its way. I almost forgot to mention the Spreewald, a small enclave of &quot;Sorbs&quot; a small enclave of Slavic peoples within easy reach of Berlin which has been able to some degree to maintain their ethnic roots - an idyllic rural setting.

I do love Berlin because of the people (friendly and interesting), the history (good and bad), the food, the bustling activity, Ka De We, the U-Bahn stop called Unkle Tom's Cabin near my friend's home, the spirit that shows that after all the adversity this city has reemerged as a vibrant and thoughtful place. The people didn't dwell on all the bad things that happened but set out to make a positive out of a negative.

Berlin Walks is one of the best tours our family has taken. It begins at the Berlin Zoo. Our tour guide 1 1/2 years ago was a Canadian whose wife was getting her Ph.d in German History. I would recommend their services 100%.

For Mari: you don't by any chance have contact info on your Canadian guide do you!?

don't forget the ladie tour guides on the local city tours that give you a tour while in the nude. <BR>

Shame on you, son.

Becauz you can hop on ze train in the Haupbahnhof und get to Buchenwald in 1 hour; picnix wiz ze family und bring back gut memories.

Not funny, 'Heinz'. Berlin really is a fascinating place, especially now 0 the old East Berlin has been wonderfully restored (the central part of it anyway), the Gendarmenplatz is beautiful. We stayed at a hotel on the Friedrichstrasse and preferred this area to the West Berlin Bahnhof Zoo area. It is indeed a fascinating place, with so much history, good and bad, and indeed much nicer and more interesting than Paris, with friendlier people. (I can't understand why so many Americans go gaga over Paris anyway!)