As the weather in Berlin is getting greyer and I don’t have the immediate urge to gallop around Kreuzberg and discover bohemian cafés and cool terraces, I can once again try writing down my experiences in a foreign country. Moving from Florence to Berlin was a huge change in almost all possible ways.
1.) The first thing I had to do in Berlin in early June when we had just left the hot and sunny Florence was to buy trousers. The temperature was 20 degrees lower than in Italy but it wasn’t the only reason to make my silk dresses useless: to be fashionable (well, this concept hardly fits here) in the streets of Kreuzberg meant Converse shoes, oversized glasses, badly combined colours, and no bras.
2.) The change in daily diet was a remarkable one as well. During the first week in Berlin we seized the chance of trying out Vietnamese, Lebanese, Ethiopian, German, and Indian cuisine. What an excitement after two years in Florence where you have to look hard to find anything else than Italian food. However, after three months in Berlin, I was happy to fill my luggage with fresh pasta, olive oil, wine, and cheese from Italy.
Also the vegetarian life can be hard in Germany; everywhere you go, you smell sausages in the streets. Once the temptation of sausage takes over you, you end up queuing in front of the famous Curry 36 in Mehringdamm. Staring the greasy sausage with slight disgust and suffering from moral repentance should, however, put to you back on the right track again. After all, the veggie burgers in Bio Buffet in Marheinekehalle are much better comfort food!
3.) Even if I haven’t even finished reading about Florence and the renaissance, I have set my mind for this new historical setting. I’ve realized that I won’t perhaps ever again have the chance to live in a such amazing city as Florence and be surrounded by its absolutely magnificent history (the overuse of these adjectives is not exaggeration when we talk about the history of Florence) but the presence of Cold War in Berlin is equally fascinating if in a very different way. Visiting the Stasi Prison or reading about the Berlin wall takes you back to times that seem almost unrealistic. Whilst the stories on the Medici family, Michelangelo and Dante illustrate the glorious past of a city where humanism and renaissance were born, the history of Berlin is often upsetting.
Clothes, food and history – in addition to them, I will probably write a lot about cultural activities in this blog since another major change to Florence is the widening of the cultural scene. I’m not saying that I didn’t greatly enjoy of the high-quality classical concerts in Teatro Pergola, but now I can choose from the range of punk, rock and reggae. And as the tourist flows get smaller I will start the more meticulous exploration of museums and cultural venues of Berlin.
1.) The first thing I had to do in Berlin in early June when we had just left the hot and sunny Florence was to buy trousers. The temperature was 20 degrees lower than in Italy but it wasn’t the only reason to make my silk dresses useless: to be fashionable (well, this concept hardly fits here) in the streets of Kreuzberg meant Converse shoes, oversized glasses, badly combined colours, and no bras.
2.) The change in daily diet was a remarkable one as well. During the first week in Berlin we seized the chance of trying out Vietnamese, Lebanese, Ethiopian, German, and Indian cuisine. What an excitement after two years in Florence where you have to look hard to find anything else than Italian food. However, after three months in Berlin, I was happy to fill my luggage with fresh pasta, olive oil, wine, and cheese from Italy.
Also the vegetarian life can be hard in Germany; everywhere you go, you smell sausages in the streets. Once the temptation of sausage takes over you, you end up queuing in front of the famous Curry 36 in Mehringdamm. Staring the greasy sausage with slight disgust and suffering from moral repentance should, however, put to you back on the right track again. After all, the veggie burgers in Bio Buffet in Marheinekehalle are much better comfort food!
3.) Even if I haven’t even finished reading about Florence and the renaissance, I have set my mind for this new historical setting. I’ve realized that I won’t perhaps ever again have the chance to live in a such amazing city as Florence and be surrounded by its absolutely magnificent history (the overuse of these adjectives is not exaggeration when we talk about the history of Florence) but the presence of Cold War in Berlin is equally fascinating if in a very different way. Visiting the Stasi Prison or reading about the Berlin wall takes you back to times that seem almost unrealistic. Whilst the stories on the Medici family, Michelangelo and Dante illustrate the glorious past of a city where humanism and renaissance were born, the history of Berlin is often upsetting.
Clothes, food and history – in addition to them, I will probably write a lot about cultural activities in this blog since another major change to Florence is the widening of the cultural scene. I’m not saying that I didn’t greatly enjoy of the high-quality classical concerts in Teatro Pergola, but now I can choose from the range of punk, rock and reggae. And as the tourist flows get smaller I will start the more meticulous exploration of museums and cultural venues of Berlin.
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