The super city

BERLINERS have a favourite word. Despite being "super busy", they are "super pleased" to meet you and share their city's "super cool" experiences.

This is the fifth issue of WISH that we've dedicated to a single city. And for me, at least, it's the first time we've produced an issue in a city that I had never been to before.

 When we made the decision to do our New York, London, Paris and Los Angeles issues it was largely because I knew each city fairly well and had a good idea of what to see, what to do, who we should approach for interviews and what locations we should choose for our fashion shoot. To be perfectly honest, we chose Berlin because every time we published one of these destination issues, people - colleagues, friends, readers - kept telling me that we should go to Berlin next. Never let it be said that I don't listen.

Of all the issues and photo shoots we've worked on overseas, this one was by far the most complex and challenging but, as is often the case, it was also the most rewarding. Now having been there, if there's one word that sums up Berlin for me it's super. During the week we were working in the city we'd often hear that someone was "super busy" or if they did have time to meet with us they were "super pleased" to do so.

A new bar would be suggested by a hotel concierge because it was "super cool". One afternoon I was in a taxi going to visit an art gallery and my super cool taxi driver actually told me said gallery was "super fantastic". And if you've been to Berlin recently you'll know I'm not making this up. The gallery, which houses the collection of Christian Boros, definitely lived up to my driver's claim (you can read a story about it on page 42). The bar was actually really cool and everywhere we went people did seem to be really busy, no doubt a by-product of working in the capital of Europe's biggest economy and the powerhouse of the EU.

Since the wall came down and the West discovered the East, as much as the East discovered the West, Berlin has earned a reputation as a creative city. Our deputy editor, Luke Slattery, has visited Berlin several times over the years and for this issue he explored what makes it such a vibrant city. His story includes interviews with some of the key players in Berlin's creative industries.

We couldn't have produced this issue without the very generous support of Etihad Airways and Air Berlin, who took us there in superb comfort. So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Eithad, Air Berlin and Leading Hotels of the World for their support in making this issue happen. To make life a little easier in Berlin we employed the services of a production company, AprilMay, to help out with location scouting and some of the photo-shoot logistics. A big thank you to Kristina Tulinius and her super cool team at AprilMay for smoothing the way for us in Berlin.

We're already working on our first destination issue of 2013 and I look forward to sharing more information with you about that in the coming months. - David Meagher, WISH editor