RE: Amsterdam - Papiermolensluis
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).