Ich bin ein Berliner

Goodbye London, hello Berlin! This week I moved to Berlin, Germany, after 6 months of living in the UK. While London generally treated me well, it was a nightmare logistically and a frighteningly expensive city to live in. With money pouring into real estate from the world's millionaires and billionaires, and hedge fund investors cashing in their fortunes, London is officially now the world's most expensive city. Yes last winter was very mild, but this summer has been oppressively wet and awful - the sun hardly ever appeared! London is also WAY overcrowded and too obsessed with terrorism and security - they have CCTV cameras everywhere, even in public bathrooms! Hopefully things will change under Gordon Brown but it will probably take some time to undo the paranoia created by Blair and the big brother society. I'll miss my friends but was very happy to leave (ecstatic even). I took a bus from Victoria station and 16 hours later I was in Berlin, where I am now updating my blog.

The quick report from Deutschland: I love my new apartment, it's fabulous and CHEAP and I don't have any flatmates! Berlin is HAPPENING! I start German classes today and looking forward to being settled here for a long period. I have a great couch, come and visit!