True. You leave a whole lot of crazy behind for some new kind of crazy. I would argue that if Santorum does indeed become president coming here may not be the worst idea. I would not neccessarily go to Berlin, a lot of people go there atm, it is easier to find work in Southern Germany (particulalry the rural areas), or the bigger cities in Northern and Western Germany. Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland are probably better places for that, too. Also depends on what you want to do, obviously.
If that happens, I'm on my way on the next flight out. Don't need to work as I'm retired (though I do a little consulting and landscape photography). We would want to live in a major metro area where there is culture opportunities (opera, symphony, museums, etc). I (though not my wife) would also like to live where there is a good football team to watch live!!
And you're asking this as an Ajax fan, DUH! Would there be a more obvious choice than Amsterdam for you!
Clearly that is on the list along with Barcelona, Milan, Berlin & Paris (though I'm not big on Paris St. Germain). Geneva would be nice but there isn't much football there though one could hop the train to Lyon.
Geneva is very pretty, and VERY boring.... I don't like Milan either. Out of your list Barcelona is my favourite. Lovely city. Lovely climate too.
As long as we're off-topic, if I had to pick a place in Europe, I could live in Tuscany. Or Lauterbrunnen: But then I'm not one for big cities. Outside of Europe, Wyoming and New England rank high as well. North America has much more diverse nature.
We are going to Italy this spring (Rome and Florence) and I plan to check out Tuscany. Unfortunately, we both are enamored of city life and all of its pluses and minuses. When we were in Berlin last year I found a really nice 2 bedroom flat for sale in our price range (just off of Friedrichstrasse and two blocks from the river). It's a little difficult to justify buying it as a vacation home because of the long commute.
Stick to that choice, because the houses are in Berlin very affordable (by our standards, not North American, ) far better than in the Netherlands or France.
That'll buy you a bedsit on the Amsterdam canals hehehe Feyenoordfan is right, if you're after value for money Germany is good country for house buying. Alternatively you could buy yourself a castle in Friesland for that kind of money. You'd be living among cows and speedskaters though.
Considering that the Netherlands is the size of greater New York that's hardly surprising. If you want diverse nature check out the island of Corsica. It's the prettiest place in Europe I've been to.
You would like it where I live. Mostly rural towns lakes and mountains. Largest city Burlington has a population of 42,000 people.
Any city with more around 500k inhabitants in this part of the world will do it for you then I guess. Personally I'd recommend Berlin, Dresden, Prague or Vienna (depends on how you weigh football and culture). But even mighty Hanover would fit that bill (and currently beats all of the above at football, so...)
Well, I meant in comparison to Europe, not just The Netherlands. I've never been to Corsica, but it looks nice. Personally I would look to Norway for some of the most beautiful nature in Europe. I bet I would, Vermont seems like a place right up my alley.
Yeah, it doesn't look good for Hertha. Pretty strange that the biggest city in Germany cannot have a decent football club.
If there's any other place I'd like to live besides Amsterdam it's Barcelona. Relaxed atmosphere, beautiful city, a beach in the city and the best football in the world. What more could one ask for?
See, the perfect fit. There are a number of reasons: First of all that Germany, as opposed to France, the UK, and to a lesser degree the NL (if you accept the Randstad as one urban center) and Italy is a federal country. Berlin is actually situated in the poorest region, the economy is centered in the West and South, trade in the Northwest. That leaves Berlin to the intellectuals, whereas football is more of a workers' sport (a bit of an exaggeration of course). This is also mirrored by the fact that there are myriads of things to do in Berlin, while for Gelsenkirchen or Mönchengladbach for example football is the only real exciting thing that goes on there. Then it is the historic isolated position of Berlin within Western Germany (we can all agree that the East German football tradition is effectively dead) that was problematic, meaning that Hertha could never call upon hinterland support the way Bayern, Hamburg or Mönchengladbach could until the wall fell. Even today Hertha is somewhat isolated, most people that do not grow up in the West of Berlin end up supporting Union or Potsdam, but not Hertha. Most young students and so on that move to Berlin already support the club of their home region or one that was particularly successful during their youth (Bayern, BVB, Bremen, ...). And then there is of course the bad and chaotic management, if you compare Hertha to Hanover or Bremen for example. But by the same thought process you could question why there is only Ajax in Amsterdam and no one else. I mean even Rotterdam has 2 somewhat decent (in a very loose definition of decent) teams.
Thanks for an informative post. Everytime we visit a city in Europe I try to find a team store where I can buy a baseball cap with the team logo and colors. It was impossible in Berlin whereas in Barcelona you saw stores on almost every street. It was also easy in in Prague last summer.
Most clubs license out their brand for merchandise. A couple of clubs don't though partly for brand equity reasons and partly because profit margins are higher when you make and sell it all yourself. Twente being one of those few clubs. If you ever see anything Twente-related sold outside of Twente you can be sure it's counterfeit. Not that I think many people feel the need to counterfeit Twente stuff mind..
I always thought Twente kits would sell well in Moscow to the old believers who are still clinging on to the anciene regime (you have to admit that a slight change in the Arke symbol and you would have a perfect replica of the old Red Army kit top).