The word “hip” is pretty much the last thing you’d ever use to describe me or my husband, Martin… until we moved to Berlin.  We didn’t know it at the time, but Berlin is fast becoming a cultural center of art, spunk, and all things hip.  We can barely cross the street without hearing other expats speaking English or learning about our city being featured in another American newspaper again.  Our home is a wide-eyed and curious city; I never expected a city like this from a country known for being very formal and full of bratwurst and beer.  But here it is.  And here we are, loving every bit of it.

First off, I should probably tell you that I don’t speak German; Martin does.  I studied Spanish in college like any other American.  So when we moved here in 2008, I was in for a major challenge.  The amazing thing is that people are really tolerant when I struggle to speak German.  They’ll speak slowly and really, truly try to help me out as I learn.  You don’t need to know a word of German to visit.  In fact, you’d be lucky to get the chance at all.  Most people speak English (and like five other languages) remarkably well.

We like to get fresh bread at the bakery and drink mineral water.  I ride my bike to the grocery store every week.  It’s very small – like 1/6 the size of American grocery stores.  There just isn’t all the packaged food like in the US.  We have a choice between three cereals and, depending on the store, 2-5 different types of muesli.  The produce is very seasonal, and there’s no such thing as diet food or frozen dinners except for a couple frozen pizzas and meats.  Here’s an entire produce section at one store in the late summer.

Our favorite way to get around is on bikes.  Biking is so popular and common that cars really watch out.  They don’t turn right and cut you off, and bikers often have their very own stoplight to give them a head start before the cars go through an intersection.  I feel so European and romantic biking through town with a little basket filled with vegetables and plants.  I’ve carried home a lamp and most of new our clothes on my bike; Martin even carried home our vacuum!  No one looks at us like we’re some funny Americans; they’re all doing it too.

Case in point.  I was trying to find a place to park my bike at the mall…

Berlin has 3.5 million people, which means we’re always discovering something new on our bike trips.  Our favorite discovery is the farmers’ markets in little parks around town.  When I was particularly homesick around Halloween, I ran into an autumn market.  There were no fake bats and cobwebs decorating the city like I was used to.  Instead I found beautiful autumn bouquets and apples.  Pumpkin was being sold for baking, not carving.  It was the first time my autumn didn’t center around, “What are you dressing up as?” and it was gorgeous.

Of course, not everything about Berlin is gorgeous.  While the city, as a whole, is safe in just about any neighborhood, the city wears a veil of a very dark history.  You can see half-standing churches that were bombed, plaques in the sidewalk where Jews were yanked from their homes and sent to concentration camps, and bullet holes in old buildings.  I feel like I am walking through a history textbook, and I learn more about the value of life and the struggles for freedom in one day on the sidewalk than my history teachers could ever demonstrate in high school.

It’s fascinating to watch cars race over this brick path that laces around the city where the Berlin Wall once stood.  I cannot tell you how many people lost their lives trying to escape over this wall, and most tourists might not realize what is under their feet.

The TV Tower offers the coolest views of the city, especially at night.  Built in the 1960s by the German Democratic Republic (the East Berlin government), the tower was supposed to creep West Berlin out, kind of like the East was whispering “We’re watching you.”  And it’s true.  You can see pretty much everything from up there.  Now you can eat in the revolving restaurant if you’ve got the stomach.

But do you see the cross in the picture we snapped?  When the sun shines on the TV Tower, that cross appears on the reflective ball.  People call it the Pope’s Revenge because the communist party of former East Berlin was built on a very strong atheist foundation.  They had no idea that the sun would leave the symbol of Christ until the 1,198 foot tower was up.  Whoops.

The Brandenburg Gate, one of Europe’s most famous landmarks, is the infamous spot where Ronald Reagan announced,

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Not too far away is the infamous spot where John F. Kennedy was giving a speech.  He declared, “Ich bin ein Berliner!”  It literally translates into I am a Berliner.  However, in some parts of Germany, a Berliner is actually a jelly doughnut.  The best way for an American to get Berliners laughing is to announce, “Ich bin ein Berliner.”  Not that I use that joke all the time or anything…

Anyway!  Back to the gate.  It was built in the 1700s, and it’s got more wartime history and struggles for equality and freedom than a can of mixed nuts has peanuts.  The gate reminds me of how fortunate I truly am.  Imagine what it must have been like here as the Berlin wall came down.

Finally, biking all over the city kind of makes me hungry.  Luckily, Germany is big on festivals.  Beer festivals.  Christmas festivals.  Summer festivals.  Because there’s nothing else to do festivals.  It’s a great way to get some major German culture and really awesome food.  Though I don’t know if I’d go for that 1/2 meter Bratwurst…

…I would go for roasted nuts or one of these Nutella and banana crepes.

Then when we’ve had our fill of German fairs and we’re still hungry – this is the greatest part! – we go to a restaurant.  Food here is cheap.  We can get a pizza made by an Italian guy for less than four bucks.  A Thai family makes vegetarian thai food for four bucks. The Sri Lankans, the Lithuanians, the Greeks… it’s so easy to find really good, really cheap and healthy food from all around the world.  Vegetarians and vegans have no problem.

So that’s the other part of Berlin, the part outside of our sawdusty-filled kitchen remodel.  If you’re thinking of visiting Berlin, we strongly suggest you purchase Lonely Planet Berlin Encounter.  It’s the only guide we use, and it’s led us to some marvelous places.  Plus it’s small enough to fit in my purse.  Can’t top that – especially when you’re trying to act like you don’t need a map to get around your own city!

Drop us a line if you’re in town.  We know a mean falafel place…

Moving to our neck of the woods?  Check out  Gadanke, our shop filled with writing prompt journals and tools for really embracing your new world.  Then swing over to An Expat’s Guide to Living in Germany that we put together just for you (in exchange for peanut butter cups, perhaps?).