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One of the things that struck me in my first, real, encounter with Berlin is how much like Sydney it is. No, I don't just mean that sunny blue skies surround it, as it does Sydney. Rather it seemed that everywhere there were building sites, cranes, and proposed construction projects.

One important distinction between Sydney and Berlin, though, is the sense of history. For if Sydney is a city with too short a memory, a city that can't or won't remember, or a city that forgets too easily, Berlin has a long memory that is inescapable, unbearable.