Berlin - in the Louis Vuitton City Guide 2011

From all the cities and places I have visited and lived in, a special one remains in my heart and I remain a part of it. A German song even says "I have a trunk in Berlin", meaning that I still have a part of me and my life there, and it will always remain like that.

The city has a special connection for me for various reasons: while others were having their grandparents next to them while they were little, I always cherished the summers when I went to Berlin and was there with my grandpa. He had a very special approach to things and we travelled a lot when I was there, discovering this and that, going to weekly markets or fairs, to shows in the city, feeling the vibe around us. I also observed things "through his lenses", as he was a passionate and talented photographer and very careful to details. It was a very wonderful time in a very wonderful city. After growing up, I had the opportunity of living in Berlin on my own (and visited my grandfather every weekend), as a student. I still consider it the best city in the world for being a student: you have such great facilities all over the city, libraries and research centers as well as food joints, restaurants, pubs, clubs etc. and it is so cultural and multi-cultural that you are always on the move, you always find something to do for your own tastes and desires and you can hardly ever get bored there. It is also a city full of contrasts, so you can find fully urbanized and modern parts, then ones from the communistic area and then areas filled with nature...you just need to choose!

Berlin is also very young. Through its universities and cultural attraction, it is a great place for people to develop. This is why architects and designers find it a very appropriate place for them to live in,...inspiration is around every corner and the fact that they are extremly tolerant and Berlin is a huge melting pot makes it such a great place. For people interested in fashion, there's the Berlin fashion week and I hope many will make it big!

(Picture Source: http://www.fashion-week-berlin.com/en/last-season/)

Berlin was also such a great inspiration, that half of my Master thesis was based on it and on its influence on young people, design, architecture, hotels and how to make a communication strategy on a boutique hotel to be built there. It was a truly amazing research time and so much fun as the city is so multi-facetted...

I think it seems only normal that Louis Vuitton dedicated its new city travel guide to this place of the world. In their also educative and playful manner, they created its presentation video which you can watch here or on youtube:



(Video Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mok77d1OIkc&feature=player_embedded)

I can only recommend you this wonderful city, for visiting, for falling in love, for learning, for getting lost, for being found, for becoming you as I don't think there are better places where you'll be appreciated for who and what you are such as this one. Plus, it has such a great "magnetic" power,...once you go there, you always want to go back to visit it again and again and again. While I lived for 6 months in Hamburg, i visited Berlin five times...yet, it does have a (good) power over you, and you will never be disappointed. And one more thing: you'll realize that not even a lifetime will be sufficient for you to discover all its secrets...isn't this mistery such a great thing?

In loving memory of my grandfather, who showed me life in detail and let me appreciate the beautiful things I like now. He has even now such a great influence on my development and I love him for every thing he did and didn't do for me.