Summer is here and we could not be more excited to finally go out again and enjoy what the city has to offer. This year everything is different and we kinda have to rethink the way we spend our time. But we’re up for the challenge and ready to get creative.
Having lived in Berlin for 20 years you would think I’ve been everywhere in town. Well, I have not! And I’m kinda glad Berlin is so large there still remain some places that I hadn’t heard of before or never managed to visit. One of these corners of Berlin is Köpenick. It’s in the B zone, so it’s technically part of the city, but it pretty much feels like a separate little town, much like Potsdam, but smaller. And there are quite a few things there to discover, so a couple of friends and I decided to embark on a bike tour there.
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by Frank | Travel
illustrations: Berk Karaoglu
Expats arrive in the city with varying levels of life experience and capacities to adapt. Everyone is anxious to speed up the initiation process and finally become a true Berliner, but few are aware that this noble title comes at a price. First off, you have to learn to live with extremely capricious Internet and the general reluctance to accept cash payment. But that’s merely the beginning. Read on…
by Michalina | Stories
Sponsored
Lycra, lights, DJs, sweat and slings. This could be another night at Berghain, but instead we find ourselves at the Velodrom at the 107th Six Day Berlin race– the world’s oldest six-day bike race- thanks to the kind invitation of GASAG who is one of the sponsors of the event. Do you want to experience it as well? We have tickets for you to win!
Berlin is a city of bikers. We use bikes to get around town and to work more so than most people in other large cities. And, most of us have a close relationship with bikes. They can be a fashion accessory. They get you where you need to go. And, they are generally more reliable than the last person you talked to on Tinder (just don’t park it near Kotti, otherwise it will also disappear).
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by Guest Author | Events, Photos
photo: Urte Kaunas
There are so many stories written about Berlin: a city of inspiration, creativity, lost and found spirit, art and music, crazy dance floor love fairytales and never ending discoveries. In the end, every story reflects its personal angle and puts a different color pallet to fill the page. Berlin is made of many different routes – so let’s ride.
Getting into the streets by a city bike, having a cup of beautiful coffee on the way, observing the people in the streets, having spontaneous chats and exploring the local cafes and restaurants sounds like a perfect idyll of a day in Berlin.
For our brand new guide we got together with the charming Edoardo, head barista of Refinery High End Coffee in Mitte and Kreuzberg, and teamed up with Creme Cycles and the bikecitizens app to create a bike tour that unites the spirits of Berlin, delicious coffee and beautiful bikes.
Our tour starts in the most beloved and diverse districts of Berlin: “Kreuzberg is purely bizarre: you never know what to expect from the people, it’s ever changing and there is always something odd to discover,” says Edo before we start our tour…
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by Guest Author | Bars, Cafés, Kreuzberg
photo: Berlin Bicycle Week
The Berliner Fahrradschau is an incredible opportunity to see the newest trends from the world of the beloved two wheels at a glance. The crowning event of the Berlin Bicycle Week 2017, it’s not just for those of you who are complete bike freaks – anyone will love joining in on the fun at the various events. See our suggestions after the jump!
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by Michalina | Events
photo: Standert Bicycles Pop Up Week
A lot of things that are popular in Berlin are fun, but some of them are probably not the kind of thing your doctor would advise you to do. With one exception. We love biking! Although the basic biking know-how in Berlin is comprised not only of beautiful routes, nice places to hang out with fellow riders, but also a bunch of rules to keep your bike safe from being stolen, it’s the favorite pastime for a lot of us. With the Berliner Fahrradschau coming up this weekend, we wanted to give you a little heads-up in terms of the great bike shops that continue to promote this healthy hobby all year round. Read on…
by Michalina | Cafés, Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Shops
Berliners really like to cycle, no matter the temperature you will always see people using their bikes in the city. Obviously they will be less in the Winter, but not gone completely. The only time you will encounter them much less is when it rains. And well, let’s face it, it can rain quite a lot here in Berlin, and always when it’s most inconvenient.
I personally don’t like to use the bike when I know it might rain later that day. Simply because I don’t want to be burdened with a raincoat that I have to carry around with me. These coats never look very good and they will become annoying at some point once the rain is over and you have to carry that big wet piece of clothing around with you.
The Berlin-based fashion label Chance of Rain by Antoniya Ivanova is offering a smart solution here. Her garments combine style with functionality and make the life of cyclists in Berlin a lot easier. Not only does she use breathable and water repellent high-tech textiles for her jackets, coats and capes, she also incorporates reflecting stripes to ensure the safety of the cyclist in the dark. There are a lot of details in her pieces that show that she put a lot of time and evaluation in the usefulness of the pieces, and on top the designs look really cool and timeless.
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by Frank | Fashion
When we think of our love to Berlin, we realize it has many different phases, faces and places. One of our favorite places is definitely “Kreuzkölln” – the areas of Kreuzberg and Neukölln surrounding the Landwehrkanal. What we love to do in Kreuzkölln ? Conquer it, by walking, biking, skating or dancing. We love the fast pace, the unfinished, the dirty, the truth, its charm, the clash of old and new and of course all the multicultural visitors that add the special something to this little melting pot. Kreuzkölln just doesn’t get boring and Clement Gino has put all our feelings for it and the fast beat of Kreuzkölln into a beautiful video that does not only embrace this particular area but all of Berlin. See for yourself after the jump…
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by Kate | Videos
photos: Guney Cuceloglu
Even though the summer is a little bit over now and the temperatures have dropped significantly us Berliners we are still tough and will keep on using the bike in Autumn until the deep Winter comes. About a year ago we published the portrait series Boys On Bikes by photographer Guney Cuceloglu here on iHeartBerlin and it was quite the hit! So we thought we ask him this year if he also has some girls on bikes and guess what: He does! In continuation of his ongoing series #BikeBerlin he has taken lots of portraits by lovely ladies and their charismatic bikes. May this inspire everyone who still uses the subway to finally also get a bike in Berlin! You can only become a real Berliner if you have a bike and go everywhere with it 😉 Enjoy the series after the jump. And if you wonder how you can best use your bike you should check out our bike route guide.
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by Frank | Photos
Today we have a bit of a premiere here for you: Our first Berlin video. I made it last week and it was quite spontaneous. I was inspired by the video that we posted recently of a ride through Friedrichshain in the 90s. I thought it would be nice to create something as simple as that that people will be able to look back to in 20 years and feel nostalgic about.
To make the video I just jumped on my bike, held my smartphone in hand and drove through Görlitzer Park in Kreuzberg filming all the people that I passed by. It was a beautifully sunny and warm day and the atmosphere was super relaxed and peaceful and it perfectly captures the laid-back attitude of Berlin. Come join me on my ride through Görli in the video after the jump.
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by Frank | Kreuzberg, Videos
