So, whats next?

[Napoleon]

Beware of the winter!

I really don't like Argentina's winter, because other than Friend's Day (that has absolutely no build up to it), there are very few things to break up the winter. Not like Thanksgiving, Christmas (which is AT LEAST the entire month of December), New Year's, and then the NFL playoffs. I will say that there's "La Rural", but I wouldn't go every day.

But weather-wise, Argentina's winter (or should I say "Buenos Aires' winter") is extremely mild. Berlin? F***ing BRUTAL!!

Now if I could "winter" in Europe for June-August, I'd be all over that. Hit the US for the end of August through mid-September, bounce back over to Munich for Oktoberfest, and then return to Buenos Aires for the blooming Palo Borrachos of October followed by my favorite Jacaranda trees and polo, it would be fantabulous!

 

[Johnny]

Just a quick update: I am currently in Berlin as a ultimate check before moving and all I can say is: I AM AMAZED! Price of Food is maybe a third of BA. Amazing variety of everything. 50 MB Internet connections for 40 €. Off course I forgot m Prescription Med in BsAs, so the first day I had to go to a public hospital: after 20 min I had my meds and they didn`t wanted to charge me anything (just for the meds later in the Pharmacy).

It is amazing how clean and fast everything is. I almost forgot the meaning of the words efficiency and logic

Will post more soon...

Looking forward to more posts ! Berlin has been on my radar off and on for several years. Any info you can provide about rent and general cost of living would be greatly appreciated.

If you prefer I would welcome a PM.

Luck !!

 

[trennod]

Beware of the winter!

I really don't like Argentina's winter, because other than Friend's Day (that has absolutely no build up to it), there are very few things to break up the winter. Not like Thanksgiving, Christmas (which is AT LEAST the entire month of December), New Year's, and then the NFL playoffs. I will say that there's "La Rural", but I wouldn't go every day.

But weather-wise, Argentina's winter (or should I say "Buenos Aires' winter") is extremely mild. Berlin? F***ing BRUTAL!!

Now if I could "winter" in Europe for June-August, I'd be all over that. Hit the US for the end of August through mid-September, bounce back over to Munich for Oktoberfest, and then return to Buenos Aires for the blooming Palo Borrachos of October followed by my favorite Jacaranda trees and polo, it would be fantabulous!

The mountains arent too far away if you are in to snow sports. Thats not a bad way to enjoy the winter that some parts of this country has to offer.

Otherwise, there might not be NFL playoffs but Futbol para todos is on the box every weekend (and some)

 

[starlucia]

Looking forward to more posts ! Berlin has been on my radar off and on for several years. Any info you can provide about rent and general cost of living would be greatly appreciated.

Berlin is awesome. I spent a month there in April and REALLY miss it. It's amazing how well you can eat for next to nothing -- huge plates of pad thai or curry in an ethnic restaurant for 6-8 euros, 0.3l of beer for 2 euro, doner kebabs (the official city street food) for 3 or 4. Groceries are SO cheap, compared to BA, the US, Paris, even Madrid. They are huge on the organic food movement, and bio markets are reasonably priced and everywhere. A latte is 2.30-2.80, and always presented with some sort of latte art. The streets are SO safe, and wide bike paths run through the entire city. The alternative atmosphere reminded me a bit of the East Village -- it was very, "wear what you want, do what you want, look how you want, and nobody blinks an eye." I rented short-term, but the locals I met told me that they were paying 300-400 euro per month for a 1-bedroom in Kreuzberg. The only downsides that I could see were the general architectural ugliness, and the freezing weather.

 

[surfing]

I would be greatly interested in opinions on WHICH CITY is Spain is likely to have the best quality of life (including value in the cost of living of course). It seems to be that Barcelona is way overpriced so that is probably out. Madrid would be my first choice since it is the largest city. Any suggestions?

 

[YanquiGallego]

Surfing- Depends on what you mean by ¨quality of life¨ If you crave big city life and action with lots of cosmopolitian activity, business opportunity, etc, then definitely Madrid.

If you want something coastal with a more relaxed quality of life, perhaps for example if you are retired and looking for not as much hustle bustle, Andalucia is known among Spaniards as having a very high quality of life, cities such as Sevilla and Málaga can be quite nice, and are still very cheap by EU standards.

 

[starlucia]

I would be greatly interested in opinions on WHICH CITY is Spain is likely to have the best quality of life (including value in the cost of living of course). It seems to be that Barcelona is way overpriced so that is probably out. Madrid would be my first choice since it is the largest city. Any suggestions?

I love Madrid -- actually prefer it over Barcelona -- and believe it to be a very good value. Good shopping, good nightlife, lots of diversity in the population and culture. The metro is one of the best I've ever seen (clean, efficient, comprehensive, and you can take it all the way to the airport for a whopping 2 euro), and it's easy to eat well there on a budget (Spain is "the farm of Europe," so fruits, vegetables, cheeses and bread are all available, cheap, and FRESH.) However, I have a couple of friends who just rave about Valencia...

 

[French jurist]

Actually the feeling (among people and politicians) in Europe without Greece is that we are tired of Greece and if Greece does not pay off its renegotiated debt as foreseen, we will not give them another euro and take our losses. European banks have had the time to write off their Greek bond holdings.

Well, Greece won't repay its debt... because they simply can't!

The main point about the greek situation is it's a mirror of what's about to come in Spain and, maybe, Italy. Those two latter countries are too big to fail, too big to bail.

Only solution for EU is to do like the US (Quantitative Easing) + Eurobonds. The US are about to launch QE3 by the way.

Greece might come out of the Eurozone (would be a negociated exit).

As for Spain & Italy, indeed, if they plundge, the whole world will plundge with them (after all EU is the first economy in the world).

I guess that Germany will ultimately accept a policy change. Also, austerity measures have not been working & won't so there will be likely a change about that as well. US + China will likely help too.

Political consequences have also to be taken into account.
As that was easily predictable, all populist/extremist parties are surfing on the wave of the crisis. While a neonazi party having members elected is not too dangerous in Greece ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4AXJx3IzdY ), it could prove more dangerous if nuclear powers like France would elect such clowns.

 

[RachinBA]

I've also been considering a move to Berlin, possibly early next year, and would love to hear more!