Author: JH

Overheard this past weekend in Grunewald: Female dog owner walks by man sitting on a bench. Man on the bench, interested in a conversation: “Be careful, professional dog thieves are around, and your dog is of one of the breeds they are after.” Dog owner (absent minded, not interested in a conversation): “Yes, I heard about those dog thieves.” Man: “Your dog is exactly what these guys are looking for!” Dog owner walks by, then turns to her dog and says: “If they steal you, they’ll get some shitty dog.”

A little rough around the edges, I thought.

These two fellas from Treptower Park right next to the Spree. Surely, if I moved to Berlin, I’d consider the outskirts. While Treptower Park does not seem entirely unlike Hudson River Park above 135th Street, something did not feel quite right to me. I guess I missed the Manhattanites. Hope I can make it to Grunewald and Wannsee tomorrow — the latter I only know from a boat trip a couple of years ago.

I get interesting answers when I ask Berliners how the city is doing, for example: “Poor but sexy – people here are quite happy with that.” With the implication, I guess, that there’s not much ambition. That was from the owner of a couple dozen bicycles for rent (a classic Berlin startup, run from a small basement and a café nearby). When I told him that I’m from NYC, he immediately said: “That’s where I want to go!”

When I speak to people from academia, especially from the US, they see things in a rosier light. In those quarters, both Berlin (it must be the allure of the working class spirit) and Paris (ah, the art of living…) get tremendous credit.

So, when it comes to street smart vs. intellectual, whose judgement would you trust?