Generally correct and I wrote something similar in the past, though it also depends heavily on where you are, and the time of the year. This is the worst time. Berlin has a lot of green, unusual for a bigger city, for example, but that won't do much in January. Berlin is also decentral, where it even depends on the Kiez your're in. A Kiez are a few streets around a spot where you can hang out (parks, pubs etc). Ultimately, Berlin is special for its culture and nightlife, not for the sightseeing (except Museumsinsel perhaps) and I would never recommend it for ordinary tourism. You go to Berlin if you love art and galleries and other hipster activities, are cool with urban subculture.Brive1987 wrote:Anyway. My son is in Berlin right now and he says it isn't as pretty as Paris. Or even Warsaw.
So there.
:snooty:
And then there's the club scene, which you need to “get”. For that, you need to dive in. You can live in the city without ever having experienced “it” and tragically, I know friends who never have. It's hard to describe and has nothing to do with taking substances or liking club music. It's pretty transformative for the few things you need to do. There are of course typical “discos” where it's about dancing and hooking up and they call themselves clubs because it sounds hip. But that's something else. Real clubs discourage the narciscissism, and have bouncers who turn away superficial and touristy types. Natives might turn up at two or three, a.m. in the morning and some stay there a day or the weekend. You don't have to be that extreme, though. However, if you're home before, say, 8 a.m you aren't trying enough.
What makes it special is Berlin's extreme culture of infifference of live and let live. Nobody cares who you are, at all. Next, you can leave your taste or attitudes and judgment at the door too. You're a mammal with other similar creatures, nothing matters. Sometimes you have the weird sensation of meditation to the tunes. The warmth, the constant heartbeat and muted sounds create a strange atmosphere as if you were in an uterus. This absence of “wanting to be someone” in everyone — certainly often substance augmented — makes for an odd, and in some sense upsetting sensation. You're not alive if this does nothing to you. But many people cannot get in, fail at the bouncer or because they aren't Zen enough. Age plays some role, of course the bulk are twenty-thirty-something but there are people of all ages in some clubs. Arguably, that's the real Berlin.
