Safety in Berlin

Ok, something that has recently occurred to me. I've been walking everywhere in Berlin. At all hours. One thing has continually stricken me. Namely, the extent to which I see women on bikes and walking at these same hours. I do not believe I have ever lived in a city in which I have seen as many women out partying late and walking around. It's fantastic. It occurred to me to inquire of a young German woman re what it must feel like to be able to walk around at all hours of the night. This particular German woman had decided to walk about a mile, at 1:30 a.m., with Andy and I to the next subway station (by the way, they were all closed. The system shuts down at 1:00 during the week and the Berliner girl didn't know this). I found it amazing that a woman would walk with two strange men down any street at that hour. She just shrugged her shoulders when I asked her how cool it was. She had no other experience. You know, the one of feeling threatened at night in large cities if you're a woman. I thought to myself how liberated American women would feel if they, likewise, did not have to worry about being accompanied by men at night or having to find transportation for distances that, during the daytime hours, they would otherwise walk. Although I do not believe I have any female readers, I felt the need to post this thought nonetheless.