Girls always make passes at spies who wear glasses...

I have never been in love with a city before. But I am falling in love with Berlin. I had girlish fascinations with Paris…in my dreams the city of love and lights was a recurring fantasy. And my college lovers played into that fantasy—they brought me gifts from Paris, using my infatuation with the city to spark sexual attraction. But just as those human love affairs eventually fizzled, so too did my crush on Paris. (I still admire the city, enjoy visiting it, and find it absolutely beautiful. Not to mention my great admiration for Parisian history and philosophy.)
Berlin, on the other hand, has worked slowly to captivate me. It is a mysterious place; a capital that is “poor but sexy” (I have to agree with the mayor on that one). It has the culture of Paris, the cosmopolitan feel of London, and the art scene of New York—and a surprise around every corner. With so much going on, it would be easy to feel swallowed up in the city, but Berlin has retained a unique ability to preserve its neighborhood-feel. Charlottenburg—where I live—is quiet, domestic, and has a beautiful palace with an enormous garden. With a 15 minute train ride I can reach Prenzlauerberg, a community filled with youth, creativity, and the best brunch cafes in the world! Kreuzberg has a large Turkish population, with street markets and tasty food. Friedrichshain is full of pubs, clubs, and concerts…and there are so many other unique neighborhoods.
There is an air of mystery enshrouding the city; the rebuilding of Berlin has led to it's artistic and cosmopolitan growth, but it will forever retain the secrets of the political intrigue situated in Berlin for the greater part of the last 70 years. The current inhabitants--students, artists, tourists, survivors, entrepreneurs, and now me--also seem to simultaneously carry airs of mystery and creativity with them.
It’s really a tragedy that Walter Benjamin never saw the 21st century arrive to Berlin. His philosophical homage to Paris in the Arcades Project recounts the beauty, mystery and intellectualism of Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. Paris’ artistic and commercial promise held an important place in Benjamin’s unique theories of fetishism and critical theory. However today Benjamin’s Heimatstadt, Berlin, has become the center of contemporary growth, architecture, and art. It is populated by both the fetishists of capitalism and it’s critics. More than 50 years after Benjamin’s Flucht and subsequent murder, the Germans have rewritten their history in the city of Reflections. Now Berlin is the city of steel and glass.