I am a Doughnut

As I write this, I'm sitting in a dimly-lit, sterile departure lounge at Schoenefeld Airport, Berlin, reflecting on my five days in the city. I can't remember exactly what my expectations were beforehand, but I can confidently say that Berlin matched none of them. I suppose I might have been expecting sausages and lederhosen. What I got was a vast concrete jungle, a melting pot of nationalities and cultures, and more graffiti than the human mind can assimilate.

I still don't know what to make of it. Berlin has all the key ingredients of an oppressive, miserable hellhole, and yet somehow it's none of these things. The concrete jungle has enough quirky variety in its composition and layout to generate its own unique character, while the graffiti and street art that overwhelm every surface also also dazzle the eyes and boggle the mind.

The epitome of these bizarre charms are the squats, of which I visited two, albeit briefly. These are large complexes of hand-built homes, workshops, galleries and bars, based in and around towering brick buildings. Here, literally every square inch of brick, concrete and wood, from the earth to the sky, is plastered with artwork, tags, political slogans and posters. Some of the artwork is fascinating and engaging, some is amateurish and derivative. Some of the political slogans are thought-provoking, while many more are predictably naive. The posters promise everything from poetry readings to fight clubs. The tags, as everywhere, are almost universally ugly, indecipherable and pointless. I enjoyed visiting, and the squats really are an amazing spectacle, but I can't help thinking that the 'free' people who live there are free only to live in squalor whilst endlessly regurgitating the cliched archetypes of western counter-culture.

That said, I've come away from Berlin inspired; inspired not only by the squats, but also the free-spirited weirdness of the idiosyncratic little cafe-bars and the whole ethos that permeates many of the areas I visited. Berlin is a city in which freedom of expression is practiced to a degree and with a vivaciousness that is almost unthinkable in Britain. It's inspired me not only to express myself more frequently and in a greater variety of ways, but even to have a crack at creating an environment that will encourage others to do the same - Already I'm plotting a 'spoken and written word night' at one of our local bars. (In my mind it's a lot cooler than it sounds!)

There are many other aspects of my trip I could mention, and I did also visit many of the more traditional tourist locations, but none of them have left the same lasting impact. Berlin is a place where the expression of culture matters, and is very rich, vibrant and accessible. Any visitor should immerse themselves in it as much as possible - if you live in Britain, it's unlikely you'll find anything quite like it at home.