5 clever plans in Berlin

How to discover the city by avoiding clichés, bad addresses and already out-of-date spots. Berlin was already fashionable for some time, but the craze reached its peak with the twenty years' fall of the wall celebration. Between massive tourists' landing who come to party and the germanophil aesthetes regretting past Berlin, the image of the city eventually blurred that you don't recognise it anymore. Is it really the Mecca of festivities, freedom, techno music, the temple of "Currywurst" (the sausage in the curry sauce Compared with Paris or London, Berlin looks like a Promised Land. For 800 € a month, we can find a 3 rooms' flat of 100 m2 in the center. The Berliners pay a little more than 5 € m2 for the rent against 20 € in Paris and 35 € in London. In other words, a student or an unemployed person (numerous over there) can find decent accommodation without having to appeal to a thankless casual job or living in a hole with rats. Other local particularity: the apartments of ex-GDR where lived at the same time several families and which serve now as huge co-rents. As Alexander, age 20, law student in Humboldt Universität, who lives with his five roommates, "in 300 m2 and in a rather festive atmosphere. My parents lived there before, but as it was too big, they preferred to rent it and to settle down in a smaller apartment". The number of these impossible squats tends to reduce, but there are still paradises for young corents. Despite of these happy news, the city is not saved from rent's increase : since the end of the 90s, the price of real estate increases 2,5 % every year. The change concerns especially the east central districts (Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg) who were very cheap. Verdict : the tendency is at the increase, but it is indeed always easy to find cheap accommodation in Berlin. Cultural, cheap and charming Berlin is former East Berlin. Whereas the West does not distinguish itself much of another German city, the East is a Babel's tower towards which hurl themselves count of foreigners, to begin with the French people, who are approximately 20 000 to live in the city. So, I am fast submerged by my fellow countrymen, until being upset when I meet my office colleagues under the dome of the Bundestag. Except the cultural visits, i would suggest to avoid Mitte, the central district where are national buildings and very beautiful museums, as well as Prenzlauer Berg, where French is the official language. The ghettoïsation of these districts urges Berliner with less money or trendier to migrate to the off-centered districts, formerly only inhabited by poor families or by immigrants. In the North, Wedding and its big family apartments begins to be invaded by young people seeking for a job or of an artistic recognition. Other fashionable district, Neukölln, where no more than 20 % of the population has the German nationality, having until recently a reputation of marginal zone, became a privileged place of the Berlin night-life. Verdict: do not miss the tourist districts by fear of the French Diaspora. But no need to carry on there. Berlin, as any big capital, has its renowned clubs (among others, the Weekend, Golden Gate, Berghain) where the electro and techno musical program is attractive, but where the man at the entrance is hardly different from those we know in France. Outside these, another way of partying develops itself: the Berliners take over permanently new places that you might discover if you know the right person. A web site gives every evening a list of about fifteen events - more sixty by weekend-, vernissage, private viewings, before, evenings, even very hidden squats. Again, you will not get too much information on these evenings which have to remain secret. Come here and we'll see what we can do for you. "Last time, we squatted in a cash dispenser, connected a refrigerator filled with beers, put the platins, and DJ took turns until security guards dislodge us. As a result, we went some blocks farther to another bank." Other possibility : to pay a small fee to be allow to cross a fence by a breach where is improvised a party (with alcohol) in the middle of an old factory. You only need to find someone who can help you to find the “door” and let you in, maybe someone like a trendy Berliner. Verdict : you need to have the right acquaintances. But never mind : famous clubs will do. Berlin is seen to be the most tolerant city of Europe if you respect the local laws. Drink in public transport to warm up: no problem. On weekends, the passengers without beer in the hand are seen as eccentric minority (I'm part of it !). Since July 2008, an antismoking law punishes the Berlin social places : in theory, no cigarettes in bars and restaurants. But these always have the right to have a separate place reserved for smokers. In a lot of cafés, the hut for smokers is actually the whole room, and the antismoking activists can only go anywhere else. Despite of what we observe in clubs, Berlin is not Amsterdam and no drug is allowed. Unmistakably, some seem to make the use of it and the law sends the dealers to prison for five years. Most of the clubs close only at dawn. The number of after-parties exceeds the ones at night. In Paris, night people start to create a network structured enough to assure a safe return the home after the last train. The Berliners made simpler: since a long time, the local public transport network drives all night during weekends and before bank holidays. Ultimate refinement, most of the stations have an opened industrial bakery where you can purchase "Schinkenkäsecroissant", croissant with cheese and ham or a "döner". Verdict : you can party until dawn at a lower cost, walk with beers in the hand and smoke like a chimney. It is normal. The German gastronomy is not certainly the most considered, and the French people often have a sensitive tongue. We shall not thus make the praises of the German typical dishes, because it is true that "Schinkenkäsecroissant" and "Currywurst", and other "Frikassee", the Berliner way, do not spread treasures of subtlety in your mouth. But the Berliners are not stupid, and it is the reason why it is so easy to eat well. The Thai, American, Italian, Chinese, Japanese restaurants are almost everywhere in the city and proposes a fine, cheap and big cooking. In Berlin, for 10 €, we can make a good dinner. The local best remains the brunch where, for about 10 euros, it is possible to spend the day eating, filing your plate with "Brötchen", salad or tiramisu. Verdict : it is easy to eat well for not much in Berlin. To drink well also. And to put on weight while being at it.