Berlin: By Foot, By BVG, By Bike, By Car, By Boat, By Train, By Plane

I've talked so much about our adventures outside of the city lately (like new favorite Naples), I haven't been giving Berlin it's due.

One of the reasons it's one of the greatest cities in the world is transportation. Much of our problems with life in Seattle revolved around the mundane issues of how to get around. The city is surrounded by water as it is sandwiched between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington (among other bodies of water). Everyone has to funnel through certain areas, navigating the crisscrossing bridges. Gorgeous, but also capable of creating volcanic fury-inducing traffic jams.

And it's not like there is great - or even decent - public transit to rely on. A light rail system is being implemented, and we do have the laughable monorail from the world's fair, but buses are the main mode of public transport. They come in about 20 minute windows (if you're lucky), and are often crowded with the unwashed, the mentally ill, and the clinically dangerous (just check out The Stranger's frequent articles). We laugh (cuz if we didn't we'd cry) about our fancy neighborhood of Queen Anne having a higher crime than our "ghetto" kiez in Wedding.

Life by Bike in Berlin

Ian's Bike: Stray Bullet

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.

Perfect Summer Day...in September

As summer draws to a close, I feel like

"Wait! But I didn't have all the summer fun I wanted to! The outdoor movies, swimming at badeschiff, and bike riding are still on the to do list!"

The seasons don't seem to care, but we are fighting back. Having just moved to Neukoelln (post about our near constant moving coming soon), and both of us finally having bikes, it seemed the time was right for an epic bike ride. Mind you, it's been since we were last in Berlin that I rode a bike (approx. 3 yrs ago).

Nervously, I saddled up and we were immediately off on a blissful ride down a trail and out into the openness of Templehof. Recently an airport, it has been shut down and is now a truly enormous park. We had walked through a tiny portion of it with Ian's dad & took some pics, but the park is made for cruising around by bike. It felt amazing to be riding on tarmac that once sent planes into the air and watch the Fernsehturm change in appearance in the distance.