Life by Bike

We aren't what you'd call "serious bikers". A German friend that commutes by bike bemoans this time of year when the weather turns glorious and the lack of hills lulls the most amateur of amateurs into thinking they're a pro. "That's us!" I said proudly. We buy our bikes at flea markets for under 50 euro and the sole deciding process is:

• price
• can they hold our weight?

That 's how we ended up with 2 ladies purple bikes. We're quite  a sight to behold.

ebe's Bike: Lady Girl

Ian's Bike: Stray Bullet

But biking here is irresistible. Seattle  for all of it's calls of "green-friendly bike city" - requires serious discipline making it up ferocious hills, braving narrow streets, and aggressive drivers. We just can't hack it there. But Berlin is (mostly) devoid of hills, has wide bike-laned boulevards, and if not joyous car & pro bike drivers - they are accepting of their fate in sharing the road.

So spring is here & we've taken to the roads. Rapturously, shakily riding the streets of Berlin. And what a lot there is to see.

The Wasserturm, Berlin's oldest water tower, was completed in 1877. This site is a symbol of the neighborhood,  Prenzlauer Berg, and has an interesting history.

Wasserturm Prenzlauer Berg

The Jewish community is still a fragment of what it was in Berlin before WWII, but all the time you run across reminders of it's once prominent place in the community.

Jewish School in Prezlauer Berg

Just another Police raid....

Quiet in these pics, Mariannenplatz is covered in people for MyFest (MayDay). An old hospital dominates the square and hosts art events.

Graffiti, graffiti everywhere. How I love thee.

Doener Love

Berlin graffiti

Kreuberg Astronaut

Prenzlauer Berg

 

Kreuzberg

Knut

Kreuzberg

Lebowski on Berlin Wall

 Stag Parties are here. Meet chicken Stag party:

 And beir bike stag party:

 My parents were intimidated by a protest in Bratislava, but it's hardly a day in Berlin without a call for social reform.

...and awesomely weird public art! Ian passes this place on his commute to work everyday. We had time to make use of it on our bike ride of leisure.

Skeleton

The city has inescapable history. The Gedenkniskirche isn't the only bombed out church. This little lovely is up by Weißensee
.

Old Scultheiss Brewery

Kreuzberg Church & U-Baahn line

Nikolaikirche, Rotes Rathaus, Fernsehturm

 In spite of our continual jabs at Wedding, we are starting to really like our neighborhood.

Wedding, Berlin

rose garden starting to bloom

BIG plus - we found a swimming pool with slide 5 minutes from the house. I think our summer plans are established. (We went, we swam, we conquored)

Fallen in love with our nearby park. And old people being all cute.

You can barely make out people on the grass past the trees, but they are hilarious. This large group of older Turkish gentlemen appear frequently and play bocce ball - cursing all the while.

Volkspark Humboldthain

Time for a break....

These are just tidbits of what we've seen this spring in Berlin. Those sights truly deserving of full posts and restaurants we have been lucky enough to sample will be taking on an increasingly prominent role on this blog (like finding real bears in the center of the city). I take pictures of pretty much anything that moves (and lots of things that don't) so what better way to fan another of my amateur outlets than post them on my blog? Maybe our sight/restaurant reviews will even be of service to others in Berlin. Enjoy!