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London, Paris or Berlin... which is better?


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i haven't been to london or paris, but i spent some time in berlin this past summer and experienced a lot of different areas of the city, and i absolutely loved it. just my personal opinon, but if i had a job/the money to do so, it would be the first place that i would move to outside of the us. also, you are an artist coming from new york? berlin seems like it would be a great choice. in my opinion, friedrichshain and prenzlauer berg are the best neighborhoods.

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depends what language you are best at. You probably enjoy living in a city more if you can communicate with the locals.

That said, they are all wicked Cities. London is tough if you don't have a decent amount of money and it's grey and dirty, but there are loads of things to do and a great nightlife...

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As for people's attitudes, I would definitely recommend (east) Berlin. Very exciting things happening there. Laid-back people that are easy to talk to. And I dare to say that it currently has the best nightlife in Europe.

I would go for Paris only if you have a bit of money to spend. It just isn't the same place when you're living on a budget. Depends if that's what you're into I guess. Fantastic food!

Haven't been to London in a while.

By the way, each of the three cities mentioned is like a 1 to 3 hour flight max. Quite easy and (nowadays) cheap to visit all three during your stay.

By the way, concerning the language argument: just go to a place where you don't understand anything people say.. and practise, practise, practise. It's the only proper way to really learn another language.

Reporter: "What do you think about western civilization?"

Gandhi: "I think it would be a good idea."

Edited by Tisswat on Apr 4, 2006 at 04:41 AM

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Well, if you are American, nix London off your list because you are going to get so fucked on the exchange rate you will HATE it there. $8 US for a beer, uh.....I do love London though. Paris is nice, but I am not a fan of Frenchies, plus the girls don't really like foreigners. Berlin, however is VERY artsy, youthful, and fun, plus German girls are easy, heh heh. Not to mention that you can rent a place for a decent price there.

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1. Berlin for the reasons said above. it's still a very affordable city, for what it has to offer. graffiti is amazing.

2. Paris, because of the stores, food, and graffiti. i saw some amazing shows there too. arguably the most beautiful (and well kept) women of the three cities.

3. London reminds me too much of America, and is expensive. If you like CCTV cameras at every turn, you'd enjoy the city.

toma açaí

Edited by azad on Apr 5, 2006 at 08:03 AM

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Sorry, but Berlin is totally overrated. It's a boring city, not on the same level as London or Paris (it might be in 30 years, but not now).

There's one big exception: If you are into minimal electro / techno / house and like to do loads of drugs and go raving every night and day for 1 year, Berlin is the place to be.

Apart from the Techno, there's not much in Berlin, definitely not enough too keep you interested for longer than a week. It's very cheap to live there, though.

London is still #1 in Europe. The diversity of cultures makes the difference.

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first of all, do you speak french or german? if you don't then definetly don't go to Paris and reconsider about Berlin. Unless you are really rich, living in Paris without speaking french will be impossible (and i really mean impossible) and in Berlin, it will be hard (most germans, especially young ones speak decent or even very good english but still, it will be hard to integrate if you don't speak german). as for living, i love Paris have tons of friends there and visit at least once a year if not more but i could never live there, the maximum i can stay is 2 weeks, after that the city drives me crazy. nothing is ever open (shops and supermarket closing at 8 everyday and not opening on sunday is just ridiculous, not worthy of a one of the world "greatest"city), customer service is the worse in the world (you cannot even imagine how much ppl don't give a shit about their job), parisians are fucking arogant , there's strikes all the time, you will be victim of a criminal act on average every month and if you are american, well, frenchs like americans about has much if not less as americans like frenchs so you get the idea, etc. london on the other hand is insanely expensive, it rains pretty much everyday the public transport system is a joke but is also an amazing city, my favorite in Europe and with Geneve and Stockholm, where i could see myself living eventualy. Berlin is a cool place but i've only been there on holidays and never for more than a couple days so it's hard to say how much i like the place.

Edited by Kasper on Apr 8, 2006 at 01:07 AM

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Now THATS the response i'm looking for!!!!!!!!!

I speak french, yes. and I plan on taking a German immersion course for an extended period of time, if it should be Berlin. Yeah i was a little worried about London, primarily cause of what I hear about the weather and the expensiveness of it. I have lived in Geneva for 3 years. Believe me, its not a place to LIVE!! Unless your have money... and really really want to settle down. Tell me more about london. and what was your general impression of Berlin?

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Quote:

first of all, do you speak french or german? if you don't then definetly don't go to Paris and reconsider about Berlin. Unless you are really rich, living in Paris without speaking french will be impossible (and i really mean impossible) and in Berlin, it will be hard (most germans, especially good ones speak decent or even very good english but still, it will be hard to integrate if you don't speak german). as for living, i love Paris have tons of friends there and visit at least once a year if not more but i could never live there, the maximum i can stay is 2 weeks, after that the city drives me crazy. nothing is ever open (shops and supermarket closing at 8 everyday and not opening on sunday is just ridiculous, not worthy of a one of the world "greatest"city), customer service is the worse in the world (you cannot even imagine how much ppl don't give a shit about their job), parisians are fucking arogant , there's strikes all the time, you will be victim of a criminal act on average every month and if you are american, well, frenchs like americans about has much if not less as americans like frenchs so you get the idea, etc. london on the other hand is insanely expensive, it rains pretty much everyday the public transport system is a joke but is also an amazing city, my favorite in Europe and with Geneve and Stockholm, where i could see myself living eventualy. Berlin is a cool place but i've only been there on holidays and never for more than a couple days so it's hard to say how much i like the place.

--- Original message by Kasper on Apr 7, 2006 11:25 AM

Now THATS the response i'm looking for!!!!!!!!!

I speak french, yes. and I plan on taking a German immersion course for an extended period of time, if it should be Berlin. Yeah i was a little worried about London, primarily cause of what I hear about the weather and the expensiveness of it. I have lived in Geneva for 3 years. Believe me, its not a place to LIVE!! Unless your have money... and really really want to settle down. Tell me more about london. and what was your general impression of Berlin?

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Quote: in Berlin, it will be hard (most germans, especially good ones speak decent or even very good english but still, it will be hard to integrate if you don't speak german

I totally disagree with that. And Germans and Berliner are completely different people. I have yet to meet a Berliner who doesn't speak proper English (disregarding senior citizens and such).

@suction: sounds like you were in all the wrong places..

Reporter: "What do you think about western civilization?"

Gandhi: "I think it would be a good idea."

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Quote:
Quote: in Berlin, it will be hard (most germans, especially good ones speak decent or even very good english but still, it will be hard to integrate if you don't speak german

I totally disagree with that. And Germans and Berliner are completely different people. I have yet to meet a Berliner who doesn't speak proper English (disregarding senior citizens and such).

@suction: sounds like you were in all the wrong places..

--- Original message by Tisswat on Apr 7, 2006 02:41 PM

i said that most ppl spoke english (i made a mistake in my post, i wanted to say young ppl but i wrote good instead, i corrected it). the thing is even if ppl speak english, if you're with a group of germans, they will not change to english for you. so doing things (getting a cell phone, appartment, going shopping etc) won't be a problem but if you want to integrate and make some germans friends, you cannot expect them to all switch to english whenever you're around. i lived in norway where EVERYONE speaks english but it was still annoying sometimes when i would be with a small group of friends. of course when you're with many ppl, you'll always have some ppl speaking english with you but with a smaller group, let say 4 ppl, it's only normal for them to be talking in their mother tongue (even though they're about as confortable in english) and you will sometime will feel left out. my gf is japanese and don't speak french so she had the same problems in montreal. she would always have tons of fun when we went out or went to some parties or anywhere where they were many ppl, but she hated it to have dinner with 2 or 3 of my friends cause we'd always ended up speaking french and it's really hard to constently switch to english.

anyway, another thing to keep in mind about choosing is what you wanna do over there. if you wanna work, then cost of living won't be a big problem (london is expensive but you get paid in consequence, i mean, you lived in Geveva so it's very similar (always top 5 in the most expensive cities lists, but also always top 5 if not #1 in quality of life), compare to other countries, everything is crazy expensive but if you factor in your salary, then it become the same if not better than elsewere). another downside of paris is finding a good job when you're young can be quite hard (if you're following the news this is nothing new to you). my thing with france and paris is that i'm not neutral on it, it's either i love it or i hate it. my opinion of London is more balanced, like there's some stuff i don't like, like the food, drunk hooligans, the weather, cost of alcohol etc, when i factor the things i like, the music and clubbing scene, shopping, work , football (i'm an Arsenal fan), english humour etc, i find that i would see more myself living there (and england is also very similar in many aspects to Canada, where i'm from so the adaptation wouldn't be hard). not to mention that i would have to work and working in a southern european country is just out of the question (there's no way i could).

about Berlin, i only spent limited time there and it was only on holiday, i have to say that the club scene is pretty awesome and the city is also really vibrant. i really like the place, but i just didn't get that feeling that i would like to live there in the future, not that i would mind. anyway, it's kind of hard to explain, but i know i have visited some place that i know i have to live there in the future (New York is a good exemple, i go there all the time and everytime, i'm more convinced that i would like to move there sometimes in the future) but i didn't get that in Berlin.

like 5 years ago when i first visited japan, i knew like almost instantly that i would like to live there and i'm now living in Tokyo and i really like it out here.

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Well, to each his own. But I wouldn't be put off by the language barrier. Instead, it's a great opportunity.

Reporter: "What do you think about western civilization?"

Gandhi: "I think it would be a good idea."

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Either way, there seriously is no way you can afford to live in London. $1600 for a studio apt! (800 GBP). Well, if you are rich I would say London too, but don't be afraid to lose some major funds.

--- Original message by englandmj7 on Apr 7, 2006 06:04 PM

well, you can get cheaper rents than that. i've never paid more than £600, and now I am living out of the centre a bit (10 min overland train ride to London Bridge) I am only paying £340 and living in a v nice house.
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Being American I found the people extremely rude and unforgiving... and I was trying hard to be as polite as I could. I'm a bit prone to London as I've been living here for the past 4 months. It's wicked expensive, but the city is beautiful. Also, nearly every museum is free in London... a definite plus. I've never been to Berlin, so I can't comment on it. But if it was a choice between London and Paris, go with London.

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  • 3 weeks later...

if you're looking to travel this summer....I'd definately say Berlin is the place to be.....

you see, there's this tournament called the world cup, not sure if you've heard of it. anyway, it's being heald in deutschland, and, well, berlin is the capitol. plus the location of the FINAL on July 9th.

based on the fact that Berlin will be the place to be in the WORLD around 9 July, I'd say go to Berlin!

fuckin' right i'm a doctor

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There's a real simple way to do this. Just get over being squished down in one place for a whole year. Berlin for the majority of the time. London in the summer - it's when it works best and you'll get on the good foot.

Paris - easily reached from either London or Berlin plus you'll get to travel through the countryside on the trains and check other shit out and see the land. Paris is beautiful but like the other guy said, not for long periods. I've known numerous friends and francophiles who've moved back because they got jacked off with properly living there.

Perfect solution!

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I've never been to Berlin, so I couldn't say.

But if I had the choice between Paris and London, I'd choose Paris. I've been living here (in Paris, even) for about 7 months now (and lived in London for 5 years and going back soon enough *sigh*) and I love this place. I can't get enough of it.

so i burnt a fire for a lost desire

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Yes it does. But I'm in the middle of decorating and I'm going make the guy work for his money once I've shown him the palace that I built which he gets to keep when I'm gone sucking back drinks with umbrellas somewhere he can only wish he was. S'gonna happen. Hoh yeah.

Brixton is getting pretty respectable these days. Lot better than it used to be, anyhow. Besides which, IMO

most London rents come in *around* the same mark.

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