Berliners and Madriders see Greek referendum very differently

Berliners seem calm about yesterday's 'no' vote in Greece, but they also don't seem inclined to cut the Greeks any slack.

Ahead of yesterday's Greek referendum, I was in Madrid for the weekend with some friends from Brussels. I arrived back in Berlin last night. The contrast between the opinions I encountered in these two capitals could not be more stark.

During Saturday's Madrid gay pride parade, one of the highlights was a large Greek flag making its way down the parade route. The flag was greeted by huge cheers, just a day before the Greeks were set to go to the polls for a referendum which was being billed by EU leaders as an in-out vote on the country's euro membership.

The flag was, I believe, carried by the contingent of Podemos, Spain's far-left opposition party which is closely aligned with Syriza, the far-left governing party in Greece. But the cheers weren't for Podemos. They were in solidarity with the Greek people. This sentiment was largely reflected in the conversations I had with people there. They were sympathetic, and supportive of a debt write-off.

A long move by train

Long-distance train journeys during record-high temperatures can take a bit longer than expected.

Over the past two months I've been going to and from Berlin by flight, but today, as I finally moved my things to my Berlin apartment, I decided to try out the train route. It will be my preferred way to get back and forth, because it's more comfortable and I can do work on the train.

But perhaps doing so with four suitcases, in the middle of a record-breaking heatwave, wasn't the best strategy.

I left at 10:30 this morning but am still on the train, 10 hours later. We're just pulling in to Spandau station though so it shouldn't be much longer. This journey is supposed to take 6.5 hours, but the intense heat caused lots of delays along the way.

Finally moving my stuff to Berlin

Although I've had an apartment in Berlin since the beginning of the month, work commitments have kept me from being there so far. But on Thursday I finally make the move in earnest.

The story of my first month in Berlin has been a rather empty one, as I've barely been there. June is always a busy month in Brussels and between moderating conferences and taking on radio and video projects, I've had too much to do to make the move to Berlin just yet. It's not a bad problem to have I suppose, but I'm getting very eager to finally spend some time there.

That day will come on Thursday, when I finally move my things to my new Berlin apartment. I'm keeping an apartment in Brussels also, to have a place to stay when I come here for work. So today's packing challenge is figuring out which are the 'Brussels things', and which are 'Berlin things'.

Beach office

I'm moderating some conferences in Barcelona this week, and taking the opportunity to do some work on the beach.

My life will now be divided into 'Brussels weeks' and 'Berlin weeks'. It's a bit like the European Parliament's Strasbourg and Brussels weeks, I've even made a color-coded calendar to show where I am, when. Red is for Berlin, Blue is for Brussels, and Green is somewhere else.

This week is a Green week. I'm in Barcelona to moderate at some conferences about ecommerce. After two days of moderating, I've set myself up on the beach today with a little impromptu office. Not a bad view, I must say.

As I begin my freelancing adventure, I'm going to keep trying to find creative workplaces like this. Part of it is just a joke, to make my friends mad. But actually I find I'm getting quite a lo of work done in these unconventional locations. Last week I did some work in the royal forest in Laeken and I got much more done than I would have gotten at home (or in the Parliament's press room, where I've tended to set up shop).

So, here's to freelancing!

Why I love Eurovision

Having only discovered the song contest in 2007, I don't have the same preconceptions as Europeans.

I headed back to Brussels after a great weekend in Vienna for the Eurovision Song Contest Final. It was my fourth time attending the show and this time was undoubtedly the best.

Vienna went all out, decking out the whole city and setting up not one, but two Euroclubs for fans. The organisation was smooth (more than I can say for Copenhagen and Dusseldorf). I was there as press and was very lucky to be given a VIP ticket, so I had an amazing view. Maybe that explains my effusive praise for Vienna's hosting, but it really was objectively very good. A shame that they were rewarded by the public with nul points! Austria really didn't deserve that.

I'm settling in Schöneberg

After some flirtation with the East, I've decided that my first home in Berlin will be in the West.

It's been an intense few days of apartment-hunting here in Berlin. By this afternoon I had it narrowed-down to two places - a two-month sublet in Prenzlauerberg, or a 7-month lease in Kreuzberg.

Neither apartment really thrilled me. The one in Prenzlauerberg was a bit short for the lease period, and it felt very far away. While walking around the neighbourhood, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was the Berlin equivalent of Park Slope in Brooklyn. There were a tonne of children, everywhere. It apparently has the highest concentration of children of any location in Germany. It was nice, but didn't really excite me.