Just to chip in on the Berlin train. As OP stated, it's fairly easy to get a visa, but you might not even need one. I know tons of people who have no official v

Just to chip in on the Berlin train. As OP stated, it's fairly easy to get a visa, but you might not even need one. I know tons of people who have no official visa whatsoever, are just there on a tourist visa, which really is just a simple stamp at the border. No one really cares. Usual talking points include the low living costs but relatively high standard of living, making it the ideal ground for people in their 20s-30s trying to get something off the ground. Can't really comment on what happens once you get off the ground, generally Germany is just a bureaucracy if not worse than the US. Also, it's super hip to hate on all the newcomers to Berlin and how Berlin becomes no hip no more. Funny thing is that most of them have barely been a year or two in Berlin. As born-and-raised Berliner, I reserve myself the right to shit on the influx of people.