RE: Amsterdam - Papiermolensluis
I love the public transport in Berlin. His city is so much bigger, but the travel times are great. On average, a new metro comes between every 3 to 7, if you're unlucky 10 minutes. Besides that, there are usually more trains or ways that go in the direction of where you need to go, so these waiting times are reduced even more. Also, Berlin is super cheap compared to Amsterdam. I can work three days a week and live perfectly fine from my salary.
These are two things which are complete opposite in Amsterdam. And it gets worse when you go out at night. You have to catch the last train at 00:30 towards home otherwise you're fucked with nightbuses which take hours to get you home. Also, if you miss them, you'll have to wait an hour to get the next one.
In Berlin in weekends, most public transport (metro) runs the whole night with Max waiting times of 20 to 30 minutes and they will take you home in the same timeframe as during the day. I haven't tried
Aha that is interesting, it does makes sense. Since it is a bigger city, more people, allows support for better services. Since a lot of busses,trams etc would be (nearly)empty in Amsterdam a lot of the time. Combined with a first world country and german engineering I am not surprised.
The fact Berlin is super cheap does come as a surprise. I love the fact that you only have to work for three days to support your lifestyle. This opens up room for creativity, sports, self reflection, rest etc. How do you invest your free time?
And what about something that you love more about Amsterdam since your stay in Berlin? I stayed in Beijing for 2.5 weeks and really got to appreciate how not busy Amsterdam is, also the skies are so beautiful in the Netherlands. Never appreciated it like that before.
Exactly. When I think of it, moneywise I could work more to have more savings, but on the other hand I don't really NEED it and I really enjoy my free time. I generally go out for some drinks with friends or my gf, rest, play League of Legends, be on Steemit, go out downtown (there is generally always something to do, last week we went to an open air cinema!) or visit te zoo (we both have an annual pass and we live next door to it).
I love the ambience of Amsterdam more - it's feel cozy and you can never take the home out of the girl, can you? :) Berlin is generally big, big streets etc. which makes it feel less personal I guess. And then ofcourse, my family is in Amsterdam.
What I also really miss in Berlin is the variety of food. In Amsterdam we have a lot of cultures mixed, who all brought their foods which is available in restaurants and supermarkets. Especially Indonesian and Surinamese is what I miss here. In Berlin it's generally Vietnamese, Korean, Indian and ofcourse German. In restaurants it's afforable (we can go out to dinner for 30 euros for the 2 of us, even cheaper if we want to), however if you look for products from abroad in the supermarkets, it's pretty expensive.
You mentioned Amsterdam not being busy, but honestly I am really bothered by the millions of tourists in Amsterdam - I barely hear Dutch on the streets when I am downtown and I have to struggle my way through slow moving people. I am afraid Amsterdam soon will turn into a touristic hub, similar to Venice (barely any locals live there anymore).