Category: in germany

a bike for berlin

i’ve had quite a few bikes throughout the years and the countries… but i had never had a real dutch bike. i dreamed of it, so pretty and elegant… so, when we came to berlin, i made a point that this would be the country where i would choose a dutch bike. well, here she is, straight out of a nearby second hand shop:

it’s actually a raleigh, which means it’s a british bike, from one of the oldest bike companies in the world. but nevertheless, the concept is pretty much what i wanted: a simple & sturdy bike, with pedal brakes and a sort of moustache handle, that i can ride upright (and not bent forward, like on mountain bikes).

it’s been a pleasure to ride it around :)

in germany

2 months in berlin

in a sharp contrast with little known slovenia, everybody seems to know something about berlin. people ask us, persistently: have you been to the brandenburg gate? have you seen the berlin wall? what about the holocaust memorial? have you eaten currywurst? did you climb the tv tower in alexanderplatz?

to which we answer with a relaxed “yeaaaah… we’ll get there”. we don’t feel any of this urgency to visit all the landmarks, and do lonely-planet marathons… we’ll be here for a while, so we’re taking our time, enjoying the gorgeous summer weather, riding our bikes up and down the cobbled streets of neukölln. just soaking it all in, sipping coffees in the sun.

so far, so good, i’d say. :)

in germany

impromptu pillow fights

– there’s going to be a pillow fight in alexanderplatz today. do you guys want to come?
– errr… yes!!!! :D

on our first day in berlin, a dozen shy pillow fighters converged in the square and unleashed their feathery pillows on each others. a sort of an omen, or a toast to the fun times ahead! :)

in germany

bearpit karaoke

what do berliners do on weekends, when the sun is out? they go to parks and soak in the sun! the whole day, just laying around, lazily perusing nearby markets, drinking beer and roasting their sausages in makeshift grills.

and for the entertainment? well, they have frisbees and kites and there’s always a nearby radio blasting a tune, or, if you’re in mauerpark in a sunday afternoon… the bearpit karaoke!

this was something we saw on our first weekend in berlin and it blew our minds. a massive outdoor karaoke? hell yeah!

it happens in a stone amphitheater on mauerpark, every sunday afternoon. a guy comes in with a set of amplifiers on a bike, plugs his computer, and lets people sing whatever songs they like while a couple thousand people watch and cheer. the results are often unexpected and hilarious. some examples found on youtube:

i may not know much about berlin yet, but this is definitely something you don’t want to miss :)

in germany

hallo aus berlin

it took us a while to settle down in this city – it’s all too big, too foreign, too bureaucratic, and frankly, more than a little intimidating with its omnipresent obsession with cool. but we’re getting the hang of it.

our new home is a sunny ground-floor apartment with wooden floors and windows on every room. it’s on a quiet little street, so little in fact that it has the word kleine on its name. :)

the house came completely empty, a clean sheet that we are slowly filling with ikea goods, ebay treasures and other things we’ve found on nearby second hand shops. every day it feels a little bit more ours, a little bit more home.