Thank you for this essay. I've had a long relationship with Berlin, getting on for two decades now. When I first travelled to Berlin in 2005 I was recovering from illness and in the middle of a personal crisis, and these two factors profoundly affected how I experienced the city, to the extent that I ended up doing my PhD there. These days I have a long distance relationship with Berlin, getting there physically maybe once every 4 or 5 years, but visiting in my writing and imagination most weeks. How we are feeling, physically, mentally, can have a huge impact on our receptiveness in experiencing new places.
Thanks so much for reading, Mark! 🧡 Where are you living now?
I love how you framed your relationship with Berlin as long distance. I still miss Berlin, sometimes, some specific places in particular, but strangely I don't want to revisit. Maybe this will change as the years pass.
Living and working in London, which is where I'm from originally. I do find it fascinating: the relationships we have with the places in which we live, have lived, or have visited, however briefly. I'm ambivalent about London - I suppose I'm too familiar with it, and too aware of its shortcomings. Whereas Berlin and Glasgow - two other cities in which I've lived - are two of my favourite places. It's nostalgia I suppose: which has a tremendous appeal for me.
As much as I love (and prefer) Europe, there is something pretty spectacular about the variety of options here in the States: many large cities with a lot to offer, sprawling countryside with gorgeous views, stunning mountains, roaring rivers.
There is isolation, there are busy streets - and everything in between.
Certainly worth experiencing for a couple of years!
Thank you for this essay. I've had a long relationship with Berlin, getting on for two decades now. When I first travelled to Berlin in 2005 I was recovering from illness and in the middle of a personal crisis, and these two factors profoundly affected how I experienced the city, to the extent that I ended up doing my PhD there. These days I have a long distance relationship with Berlin, getting there physically maybe once every 4 or 5 years, but visiting in my writing and imagination most weeks. How we are feeling, physically, mentally, can have a huge impact on our receptiveness in experiencing new places.
Thanks so much for reading, Mark! 🧡 Where are you living now?
I love how you framed your relationship with Berlin as long distance. I still miss Berlin, sometimes, some specific places in particular, but strangely I don't want to revisit. Maybe this will change as the years pass.
Living and working in London, which is where I'm from originally. I do find it fascinating: the relationships we have with the places in which we live, have lived, or have visited, however briefly. I'm ambivalent about London - I suppose I'm too familiar with it, and too aware of its shortcomings. Whereas Berlin and Glasgow - two other cities in which I've lived - are two of my favourite places. It's nostalgia I suppose: which has a tremendous appeal for me.
As much as I love (and prefer) Europe, there is something pretty spectacular about the variety of options here in the States: many large cities with a lot to offer, sprawling countryside with gorgeous views, stunning mountains, roaring rivers.
There is isolation, there are busy streets - and everything in between.
Certainly worth experiencing for a couple of years!
indeed, I cannot wait to travel to the US, for the very first time, in autumn !! I'm beyond excited!