[caption id="attachment_785" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="CAE in front of Kaiser Wihelm Memorial Church"]<img class="size-full wp-image-785" title="CAE church " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/dsc06151.jpg" alt="CAE in front of Kaiser Wihelm Memorial Church" width="500" height="666" />[/caption]

I am back in Sofia now.  I loved Berlin and had a wonderful time there.  I've had a lot of Bulgarians ask me: do you like Berlin or Sofia better.  That's an impossible question.  It seems to me that the two really aren't comparable.  Both cities are unique but they feel completely different.  Berlin it seems is a city that has been recreated both after World War II and after the wall came down.  Sofia on the other hand is a city that seems to have growing pains.  This city seems to have grown in starts and fits.  <!--more-->

[caption id="attachment_787" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Mix of the old and the new in Berlin "]<img class="size-full wp-image-787" title="Old and New" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/dsc05956.jpg" alt="Mix of the old and the new in Berlin " width="500" height="666" />[/caption]

I wont ever be able to say which I city I like more.  I think that Berlin has been well planed and the old and new meet in interesting and creative ways.  This doesn't seem to happen in the same ways in Sofia. Maybe because it takes money and planning--two things that Sofia never seems to have enough of.

A Bulgarian friend asked me what I though of Berlin.  I wrote to her: I loved being in Berlin but it feels so contained and clean. Everything is just so--sterile. And here in Sofia there's a lot more energy--both good and bad--but there's more energy and life here and that's exciting.

I came back to Sofia and was greeted with snow.  That made me long for the afternoon I spent riding my bike in Berlin but other than this, I am happy to be back.  This is, for better or worse, my city.

Oh and keep an eye out, I am going to upload a bunch of Berlin photos to my Flickr account this week. You'll be able to view them through the feed on the right.

[caption id="attachment_786" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Beautiful Charlottenburg Palace "]<img class="size-full wp-image-786" title="Charlottenburg Palace " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/dsc06164.jpg" alt="Beautiful Charlottenburg Palace " width="500" height="666" />[/caption]