Living in Berlin is relatively cheap compared to the rest of Europe, and it has attracted creative people, and now increasingly new small businesses - a startup culture is developing. In the cafes I overheard a number of people discussing new businesses, film projects, and other creative endeavours. Google has recently moved to Berlin, and tech companies are funding some of these new startups. It’s a very exciting time, and it may in the future address some of Germany’s problems I have identified in this blog like poor information technology, and poor customer service. Germany succeeded brilliantly in the Second Industrial Revolution, but has struggled in the Third (Digital economy) with no companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google, Uber, AirBnB (which I booked my accomodation with), Instagram or Tesla.
Germany’s digital gap - click to learn more if your interested
I took the U7 to Jacob-Kaiser Platz station, and it was only a short bus ride to Berlin Tegel airport. My next stop will be Helsinki.
My first view of Finland or, ‘the country of a thousand lakes.’ It’s beautiful - very green, lots of forests and of course, lakes.
Helsinki is less than two hours from Berlin, and as Finland is in the EU passport agreement area there is no need to clear customs. They also use the Euro as their currency.
I’m staying in Turku, which is about two hours from Helsinki on the South West coast in an area known as, ‘Finland Proper.’ Turku was for centuries the capital of Finland.
Nearly every Finnish home has a sauna, even in the cottages in the countryside that many have as second homes. This is the one in the house I am staying at. The sauna is perhaps Finland’s most famous export.
Well, the sauna, and the Nokia phone, back before the Apple Iphone took over the market.
