Berlin: What a Refreshing Experience

One of the best things about travelling is experiencing different cultures - and that often means experiencing different values and ways of life too - there's no better way to expand your own views than to immerse yourself in diverse cultures. On a recent trip to Berlin, I was reminded of the differences between my home country (UK) and Germany. I found the Germans to be very friendly and genial. Asking directions - something as a man I am so reluctant to do - felt so easy. It was almost as if those I asked were just waiting for me to ask them. I found the German attitude to be very refreshing and liberating.

In general, I found the local Berliners to be very friendly and rather urbane English is well spoken throughout the city, and I had the usual feeling of being ashamed at my poor German language skills. Their love of the arts is manifest throughout the city - in its architecture, museums, coffee shops, parks. I had the feeling of being amongst a population who were autodidacts - a thrist for knowledge and learning. I did the usual tourist things - the Brandenberg Gate, the Olympic Stadium, Kunsthaus Tacheles etc - but for me it's the PEOPLE that are the fondest memory I have of Berlin - friendly, engaging, intelligent, erudite. I'll certainly be going back to Berlin again.

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