The Berliner Blog #3

Contents:
- And the winners are…
- Rome vs Berlin

And the Winners Are…

The list is long and distinguished. Hordes are flocking to Berlin within the next year and the only logical reason… is me. Already two have popped by and at the same time! The winners are Robin Senior and Paul Fitchett (Robin was a day earlier so I guess technically he wins, sorry Paulie). The two winners were treated to hours of walking around, drinking, currywurst, a Goth bar, museums, Hitler’s bunker (now a parking lot) and the Olympic Stadium. Much fun was had by all. Who will be next?

Rome vs Berlin

The updates have been on pause due to a twelve day trip to Italy with the fam (ok, and some serious laziness). The eleven of us had an amazing time drinking too much wine, driving too fast through the windy hills of Tuscany and eating too much pasta – constipation was rampant!

The last stop for me was Rome. I loved Rome when I was there three years ago, in fact I loved most places I went and I think it was because I was so in awe of everywhere because it was all so new to me. The second time around proves very different. Then you start to see the city as it truly is - you’re not blinded by the sights. Rome was hot and busy and dirty and at every turn someone was trying to swindle you out of your money. There is no relaxing in Rome, you must be on guard at all times. I love the history and that will never stop to amaze me, but it leads me to believe that when a city, like Rome, is as important and famous for so long it looses its true charm because it no longer needs to worry about people coming to see it. Customer service goes out the window - who needs to be nice when it doesn’t matter if Joe Blow comes back to Rome or not? The death of a city is when it becomes a tourist trap.

Rome is all tourism, you can barely get a break from it. The only places to experience true Rome are the places the Romans go - who knew?! As my sister Ami, her boyfriend Dave and I experienced look in the non-tourist ‘hoods, find a restaurant with almost no décor or anything visually attractive to it, it should be packed with locals and the dozens of street musicians who play for your money while you eat should walk past it because they know the locals won’t give them money. Go to the area “Trastevere”, find Via dei Salumi and walk until it ends at Via dei Vascellari, it’ll feel like you’re in an alley. There you’ll find the best meal in Rome.

After Rome I was ready to get back to Berlin. I even missed Berlin - I think that’s a good sign. The only thing I’m not looking forward to is the day Berlin becomes the next big place to go.