Bikes Rule

“Ring, ring” goes the bell on a Berlin bike.

Time to move out of the way. Quickly. What are you? An imbecile, a tourist, drunk?

Number one rule in Berlin - Don’t get in the way of a Berliner on a bike. Don’t you know that bikes rule the roost in Berlin?

Ah… I miss cycling around without a care in the world.

After taking to the roads in London, I quickly realised just how good you have it in Berlin.

The morning commute is incomparable.

In Berlin there are wide bike lanes, sometimes the width of a narrow London street; Nobody wears a helmet, not because they are not safety conscious, but because safety is already built in to the infrastructure (though this would freak out many of my London friends). There are separate traffic lights for bikes so you go first. Bliss.

Having a bike in Berlin is almost compulsory. A bit like in East London.

Riding around Berlin is one of the biggest pleasures of the city, and something I miss a lot.

Credit where credit’s due, my cycle ride to work in London has improved by over 100% over the last couple of years, since I moved back. However, this only brings them close to the standard in Berlin.

It’s so easy to cycle around Berlin – and although I was knocked off my bike there once – it is one of the safest cities I have cycled in.

Wide avenues and separate bike lanes make cycling easy, spacious, safe and pleasurable.

But one of the main reasons that cycling in Berlin is safer and fun, is that the cyclists rule.

Yes, that’s right – you’ll know this if anyone has ever rung their bell at you when you’re accidently walking in the bike lane.

Bikes generally have the right of way. They have the respect of both pedestrians and cars. Something where Londoners desperately need to catch up.

Bikes aren’t an annoyance or in the way. They are the way. They way of Berlin life.

Vietnamese Food

In Berlin, Vietnamese food is everywhere.

Funnily enough, this is still one of my favourite things about Berlin. The endless supply of delicious, fresh food, all for less than a fiver!

I’m a huge fan of Vietnamese food, probably to the annoyance of my husband and friends, as I want to eat it every time we go out for a meal.

I first fell in love with it in Vietnam, and tried to emulate the most amazing dish I’d discovered when I got home – Bun Bo – basically, beef with rice noodles and salad, with a lime ginger dressing and peanuts. Mine was ok, but nothing compared to the original.

I remember being so excited when I first found it in London, at the Hanoi Café, where I still eat years later.

I was even more excited to discover there were literally hundreds of places I could get Bun Bo in Berlin. ManNgo in Mitte, was probably my favourite, and I would eat it on average once a week. For just 6€!

The other discovery, first tasted in Berlin, is the Glasnudelsalat (glass noodle salad). Amazing! A zingy dressing with noodles made from mung beans (which contain less carbs), chicken and salad. The perfect lunch on a summer’s day.

An American friend and I had a list going of the best ones, and made a point of trying as many different versions across the city as possible.

As if this is not enough to make you want to go out for Vietnamese at the next available opportunity, one of the best things is that most Vietnamese restaurants will give you free leitungswasser (tap water). Happily.

Top tip in Berlin if you’re a foreigner frustrated with the lack of freely available tap water.

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.

U-Bahn

Apart from the horrible shock of being caught by the Kontrollieren (inspectors) on the U-Bahn without your Fahrschein (ticket), the U-Bahn in Berlin is great.

I miss having a seat on the train. I miss having space to breathe without someone’s hair or armpit in my face. I miss not having to queue to get on the train. I miss travelling without the barging and the shoving, and people actually being pushed off trains!

In Berlin, you’re never packed in ridiculously like sardines. No need for that with a transport system with a capacity for 10 million and a population of only 3.5.

Not only that, but it runs all night over the weekend (and not just mythically like in London).

Paying on the U-Bahn is seemingly discretionary – there are no ticket barriers – but anyone who’s been caught, and slapped with a now 60€ fine knows only too well that this is not true. It’s best to get a ticket, or your journey will be a nervous one.

I also miss that unlike in London, people haven’t been banned from drinking on the U-Bahn. In fact, the “weg Bier” is pretty much customary in Berlin, particularly on the U-Bahn. Almost everyone, male, female, young and old, carries a beer. Whether they are happily drinking away on a night out or swigging away as you’re on your way to work in the morning.

And there is no end to what you might come across on the U-Bahn, from a pony to a striptease, someone playing drums to someone camouflaged against the seats.

Literally, anything goes. It’s not out of place to see a huge rave going on at one of the U-Bahn stations, complete with DJ and decks, on a weekend night.

In fact the BVG made a funny video to show that they are ok with you being weird. “Ist mir egal” (“I don’t care).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvcpy4WjZMs

Things I miss about Berlin

After a two-year hiatus, and now living in London again, I’m back here to even the score, and balance out the rants with: 28 things I miss about Berlin.

And there are literally loads, as Berlin is an awesome city. Yes, I’ve always thought that - despite the many things that made me want to rant.

People say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and it’s true.

I’ve loved Berlin from the first time I set foot there, but there’s nothing like some time apart, to truly make me really appreciate it, and all its crazy eccentricities.