Originally Posted by
bragi
I was born in Germany, spent summers there in my childhood, went to school there, and worked there for a few years as an adult. It's a lovely country, and I'm still extremely fond of the place and its people, especially my relatives. Frankfurt, however, is not its garden spot. I see it more like the Houston of the country: economically important, but sort of gross.
I gotta agree (especially after living in TX for 7 years). I have no love lost for Houston/Dallas/San Antonio from me (Austin is interesting, but almost tries to hard to be different.) From what I hear, the quality of life here in Frankfurt much better than even 10 years ago (and light year above where it was 30 years ago). However, I think it really matters where you live in the city. Most parts are really 50s/60s plattenbau, however, some of the unbombed altbau is really nice. It also helps that all of the € really flow through the city (the new European Central Bank is nearly complete).
On the whole I find Germany quite interesting. It's ultra-developed, as in every m2 is totally used for farming, living space or free space. I find Frankfurt kind of interesting compared to Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Düsseldorf, all of which I find trying very hard to be trendy, but really failing compared to Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm (or larger cities such as Paris/London/Madrid/Rome). I find Berlin to be extremely nice, especially with it's very large size and diverse boroughs.
Personally, if I could pick any city in the German-speaking realm to live Vienna would be at the top of the list ... especially due to it's proximity to Budapest which I find quite stunning.
Also, is your signature a reference to chemistry/biochemistry? I've had a ton of proteins end up in the PPT, which can be quite maddening.