Global Cities: Berlin

Berlin is the capital of Germany and has a population of 3.5 million people. Berlin has had a rather grim history of late, especially in the 20^th Century. Destroyed by the Second World War and then divided by the Cold War, only when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 could the reunification of Germany become a reality.

I have visited the city a few times as it has good air links with Glasgow via its flights to Schonfeld. Tegel, the other major airport is to be closed and a new airport is due to be built on the Schonfeld site... a super airport called Brandeburg.

Any visit to Berlin would not be complete with a visit to the famous symbol of East and West and the partitionof Germany, the Brandenburg Tor. It is a beautiful piece of architecture and is one of the ost photographed spots in Europe.

The old Berlin Wall is not too hard to find as some sections are still up, but only tiny little bits just for tourists and for photo opportunities.

The famous old parliament building, the Reichstag has now an impressive dome built by British architect Norman Foster. The building is called the Reichstag, but the actual parliament itself when it sits is called the Bundestag.

Berlin is also home to the most impressive train station I have ever been lucky enought to set foot in: Berlin Hauptbanhof. It has a beautiful glass facade and is full of shops and modern platforms. It feels like an indoor city or a shopping mall. Certainly not the worst place to wait for a train.

Two places of interest I didn’t get to see is the Tiergarten or Berlin Zoo, which I hope to visit someday and also the historic spy thriller setting of Checkpoint Charlie – the most famous crossing point from West to East Berlin.

Cycling in Berlin is safe and fun. Almost every pavement has a cycle lane, meaning you do not have to travel much on the actual road. I would recommend getting around central Berlin by bike for a day or two. Naturally there are larger distances where you might need to use the S-Bahn (train) or the U-Bahn (underground).

Indeed from the centre of town and the River Spree, I cycled to the impressive Olympic Stadium, which is near Spandau. The old Spandau prison has been knocked down. The Olympic Stadium was built for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games which were memorable for Hitler and the Nazis trying to hijack it for political purposes but were humiliated by a certain American athlete, and one of my all time heroes,   Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens won an amazing 4 Gold medals and blew a rather large raspberry to the sinister racial arguments of superiority espoused by the Nazis. A true Boys’ Own story.

Overall Berlin has much to offer including a great night life and much to see and do. It is a modern city which still has a marked difference in the housing between what was the old West Berlin and the less prosperous Communist East Berlin.

I hope to return soon.

Global Cities - Atlanta

Being interested in Business and Travel offers a chance to look at some interesting destinations around the world. I have been lucky to visit a fair amount over the last few years, and I do have an ambition to visit all of the alpha and beta cities on the world city list, which is also sometimes referred to as the global cities list.

One such busy and important city is one not perhaps too familiar to Europeans: Atlanta.

Atlanta, Georgia is the ‘capital’ of the South. It has a population of some 432,000 people, however the greater Atlanta area is home to over 5 million people.

Atlanta was immortalised in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, and the resulting 1939 Oscar winning film starring Clark Gable and Viven Leigh. You can visit the author’s house in Atlanta.

Atlanta is home to some of the world’s most famous businesses.

Most famous of all is Coca Cola. They have an excellent attraction called the World of Coca Cola which is well worth a visit. When you get to the drinks from around the world, please try Beverley, from Italy. And after you have, spend a few minutes watching other people also.

Coca Cola were one of the main backers of Atlanta’s successful bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, which at the time was a shock considering the home of the Games, Athens, was on course to celebrate the centenary of the modern Olympics.

Across the street from World of Coca Cola is the incredible Georgia Aquarium, where you will see Whale Sharks – which were airlifted in from Japan. These creatures are massive and the star attraction.

The Aquarium – the world’s largest indoor aquarium - is home to many different types of sea animals, and is well worth a visit.

Atlanta is also the home of the Cable News Network, better known to you and I as CNN. When I was there we did the Inside CNN Tour, and again it was pretty interesting and fun to see just how the news is made. A lot of people don’t know that CNN owe their success to a terrible tragedy. In 1986, shuttle launches were becoming routine, so many networks didn’t cover them. CNN, who were a fledgling news company did. And they were there when the tragic events of Challenger unfolded.

Anyone interested in the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement can visit the Cyclorama and Civil War museum, near Atlanta Zoo, and also visit the house where Dr Martin Luther King Jnr was raised in his childhood.

Atlanta is also home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has been made famous by films and TV like Outbreak and The Walking Dead.

The city is served by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which is one of the busiest in the world.

Atlanta is naturally a world city or a global city. It is in the alpha - category and it is estimated its gross domestic product is in the region of $270 million.

When it comes to sports, Atlanta is home to the Hawks (Basketball), Braves (Baseball) and Falcons (American Football). And for golf fans, the home of the US Masters, Augusta National is just over a 2 hour drive.

I think that it is an often overlooked city when it comes to non-US tourists, but it certainly has a lot to offer.