In Berlin, Miscellaneous

1. Toilet paper is still rectangular.

2. Fewer bikes than Hamburg, slightly more than Boston. Fewer scarves, but the weather is warmer.

3. The streets are much darker at night. Even the Ku'damm is lit primarily by the store display windows. Amsterdam and Hamburg were much better lit. Also, in my hotel, the hallway lights are on a timer - you push a button as you enter from the elevator to light the way to your room.

4. Streets are dirtier and there are a lot more trees generally. The plentitude of trees may be a psychological reaction. You see, when the Iron Curtain fell, West Berlin was in dire straights. The airlifts were underway, but all sorts of things were in short supply, including fuel. The West Berliners cut down many of the trees that had survived the war or had been replanted since in order to keep warm. Now there are plenty of trees.

5. Traffic signals are configured just like ours, red, yellow, green. One difference. Just before a light changes to green, it turns briefly to red and yellow. It's like a "ready, set, go!"

6. Germans are pretty darn obedient. They slavishly follow the edicts of the pedestrian walk signals. One example: I got up at 4:30 AM this morning (Sunday 9/25) to catch my train to Frankfurt. Almost no one was out on the streets, pedestrian or auto. I came to one intersection where there was no traffic in either direction for as far as you could see. Two women were waiting for the Walk light; I continued straight through. I saw them a few minutes later as they entered the S-Bahn platform as I and the train they just missed pulled out of the station.

7. Berliners smile less than Hamburghers and are more distant when you interact with them. Sometimes Berliners even seem to view you with disdain if you're clearly not one of them, no matter how charming or handsome you might be.

8. No free public men's urinals, like in Hamburg and Amsterdam.

Location:Berlin,Germany