Berlin grows on me…

But why should I try to resist when, baby, I know so well – I’ve got you under my skin?
Last week we went to Berlin to check out the apartment and the area we will be living in. It was basically to test whether it was crazy to pick up and move to Germany to eat sausages all day without a job, or whether we should be begging our bosses to keep us on.
Luckily — Berlin felt right. It was such a lovely holiday. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I felt so completely relaxed. There were sunny morning balcony breakfasts, walks in the park and dancing outdoors. Friends old and new. And a giant hangover. But most of all, it was FUN.
I thought it would be useful (as much for myself as for the readers) to give a quick but vital list of things I learnt:

• A huge amount of shops are closed on a Sunday. If you need tomatoes to go with your cheese, you will walk for miles trying to find something that is open.

• Recycling is really complicated. Really complicated. As in REALLY complicated…

• You cannot put a weekly travel ticket into the washing machine. It just disintegrates (d’oh!!). Also, once you have bought your tickets don’t forget to validate them – the two guys we saw who “forgot” were escorted off the train in full view of everyone. They were highly mortified.

• For every drink glass or bottle you receive you pay a little extra as a deposit, called a Pfand. It usually costs around €1 and can be a plastic token or a badge. When you have finished with your drink, you bring the token and glass back to the bar and you are refunded. My advice is: Watch your empty drink glass like a hawk. I popped to the bar to get some food and when I came back, the glass had been taken away. The barman had come and collected the glasses. Despite all our stuff being strewn across table and chairs, showing we were very obviously returning, he refused to pay back the Pfand. I kept the badges in protest.

• There are lots of musicians on the trains. We were lucky enough to experience a Turkish clarinet player who must have been playing a famous song as a young family got up from their seats to dance and clap. It was wonderful. Although everyone on the train looked away and pretended it wasn’t happening. Not so unlike London then…

• Currently you can get Matcha Frappuccino in Starbucks. The taste is green tea heavenliness. Make sure you get cream on the top and just enjoy. The best thing Japan ever invented has arrived in Germany. The only thing I am hoping is that it isn’t a seasonal thing and that it is in Berlin to stay. Just like us?!

I’m looking forward to discovering lots of weird and wacky but also interesting and wonderful things when we finally emigrate. For now, I shall keep you updated on the planning stages and what preparations we are doing.
Feel free to contact us/ask questions/make comments as we are always happy to read. Danke 😀