People

In Berlin, anything goes.

There’s no pressure to conform.

People dress how they like, and do what they want.

Open-minded is an understatement.

You’ll rarely see anyone wearing a suit in Berlin.

And there’s no “look” like there is in say, Manchester, or Liverpool.

It’s not unusual to see a hipster wandering barefoot around Kreuzberg. Not that this is necessarily a good thing!

In the winter you don’t see many people out on the streets, but in summer, suddenly crowds and crowds of people seem to crawl out of the woodwork, and the city comes alive again.

Sometimes it can seem as if nobody actually works in Berlin. In the daytime the parks can be full of people. Whether they are students, artists, musicians or freelancers, there are a lot of people around during nine to five.

One of the things I really miss in Berlin, is that it’s not an ageist society. People of all ages seem to go out to the bars and clubs, and socialise together. People in their 50s don’t look out of place, as they sometimes can do in London.

Single friends in Berlin in their mid to late 30s are not fretting over marriage and children in the same way as they are in the UK. It’s different, and people seem a lot more laid back.

Germans are known for being sticklers to rules, but at the same time, Berliners make their own rules, which is great. Germany bans smoking in bars, and Berliners simply boycott this. They even smoke weed in some bars.

I also miss the real characters in Berlin. The people who make this city unique. Some, like the “Karaoke man”, have now been carved into history on the side of buildings.

A couple of my favourites are “Frisbee man”, who I think looks a bit like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons! He’s to be found playing Frisbee in Görlitzer Park, almost every day, all year long.

Then there’s “Blanket lady”, often found drinking coffee at Markthalle, her whole outfit made from an array of different blankets.

And not to mention “Bubble man”, an older man with a long white beard, who pops up at parties and festivals dancing and blowing bubbles at the crowd.