Thoughts on Berlin

[Clay Shentrup]

I'm on honeymoon right now, on my third day being in Berlin. Previously I was in Amsterdam, and tomorrow we head to Prague.

I have to say that the hyper-proportional Netherlands and Germany seem to run incredibly smoothly. Public transportation is excellent and timely. There's virtually no homelessness (shocking, compared to the rampant homelessness of San Francisco). And what's more, you don't have this feeling of "big government". You see almost no police presence here in Berlin. I rode my bike around last night for several miles, through neighborhoods that were stilled war-battered and covered with graffiti. But it felt totally safe. Crowds of young hipsters were out drinking and having fun till past 3am. (You can legally carry beer around, even on the trains.) There's a much greater feeling of freedom here, at least based on my superficial sense of things as a tourist.

I'll try to comment more after my vacation is over.

[Clay Shentrup]

I should be clear. My point is that the general American skepticism of political change, and the feeling that our democracy is "the envy of the world" is, based on my impressions of PR-infused Europe, quite unfounded and irrational.