City #2, June 2013. A guide told me (looking for a great guide? Try Sandeman Walking Tours, starting from Brandenburger Tor – and pay what you want). Anyway, a guide told me that Berlin is the only major city that has fewer inhabitants now than before the outbreak of WWII. And you can feel this: the many parks aren’t crowded, the broad streets never packed. This a city with breathing space. And another tourist tip: go to Tempelhof, the former airport, only a twenty minute bike ride from the Kurfürstendam or Unter den Linden and right next to Kreuzberg. It has been turned into a park, but without trees: it has a horizon and that is precisely what gives it such a great sense of freedom: Tempelhofer Freiheit. People go there with their kites, to play football or just to walk or bike on the runway and experience the childlike excitement of doing something that feels illegal.

What type of Youropeans? Very well-behaved. In public they talk quietly in their phones, careful not to disturb others, and pedestrians stop for red lights.