"Heimat"

I haven't been home for more than 15 days a month yet this year. July, the record month, I only spent 5 nights in Berlin. No wonder friends often ask why I bother paying for a beautiful and spacious flat. In July, certainly, staying at a Hotel would have been more cost-effective.
To me, however, the thesis that 'global' and 'local' go together (which was very fashionable in planning and geography circles when I last bothered to read that literature ...) is not mere talk. It's my reality. The fact that I am globalized makes me much more committed to the 'local' - be it my flat, my neighbourhood ('Kiez'), or even Berlin. I spend so much time on the road and in anonymous, non-descript spaces, that just coming home to a beautiful flat is a wonderful, indeed needed antidote. Even better when the weather is nice and I can cycle home from the office along the canal. Relaxation certainly starts when walking into the very bright and open living room(/kitchen) I currently live in. On a good day, it continues with looking at the flowers on the balcony and overlooking Berlin from the roof terrace. So this piece is really just an excuse to upload some pretty impressions of that reality. I can never quite explain what the German word "Heimat" means. But Kreuzberg and my flat is what it means to me - just now, anyway.