..in Berlin

It might look as if the Berlin public transport strike was over - and actually Trams, Busses and Subways are back on track - for now.. And it is actually half-way true: this week the Tram-, Bus- and Subway-Drivers quit striking and after almost two weeks finally began to work again. But beware: just before Easter the BVG-workshops quit working. Instead of 600 there’s now only around 30 people taking care of the cars.. - ..and that means thatthere might be less vehicles in operation. Yesterday the number of BVG-busses working was already down to 80% - which basically means one out of five is down.

For Easter the workers union ‘promissed’ that everything would be back to ‘normal’ - but there might still be irregularities and delays on some lines..

..and what will the public transport situation be after the Easter Weekend..? ..probably -back-to-normal- …which could mean -back-to-strike-.. - ..we’ll soon find out..:]

..greetz, t..

Already yesterday most of Berlin’s public tranport system BVG went on strike - or actually of course the workers of the BVG went on strike - not the public tranport system itself. Anyways. The timing for this ‘biggest strike ever’ was quite perfect: snowy weather took the traffic problems to the next level..
Anyways - what does that mean? ..how can you still get from A to B..?

The good news is, that currently ‘only’ the BVG went on strike - that means that ‘only’ all the U-Bahns (subway), all the Trams (streetcars) and almost all busses are out of order for an unlimited time span - but the city trains “S-Bahn” are still running, and also the local trains and some 100 private busses are in operation.
The bad news is, that from Monday on this might be a hole different game, since now also the union of the City-Train drivers and train drivers asked their people to go on strike from next Monday on.

And then what..? Well - in Berlin there’s always another option - here’s three possible alternatives: first of all taking a TAXI (cab) for example is still quite affordable in Berlin. Second: thanks to the geographical flatness of the city riding a bicycle can still be quite relaxing - and you’ll discover streets and corners that you’ll never had a chance to see taking the U-Bahn. Third option: walk! ..seriously: I love walking - and a friend of mine even used to walk from Friedrichshain to Tiergarten twice a week! You’ll discover even more streets and corners and meet people and and and..:]

..greetz, t..

hurray - the new appartment rent index is out!

Actually the new Berlin appartment rent index was already released last week - but as you might have noticed already I always need a little time to sit down and write.. - ..whatever..:]

So - what is so new about this new appartment rent index? ..that Berlin rents are rising slowly but shurely..? Well - that’s already old news. No - there’s of course more to the rent index than just some old news: for me it was entertainment and headaches for at least one afternoon. When I heard about the new index I had to check the related website right away and only a few moments later I found myself entering my home address and checking and unchecking those little checkboxes just to find out what I already knew before: that the rent for our appartment hits the upper limit for rents in our neighbourhood - for appartments with a similiar condition/heating/floor/outfit.. But it is actually fun to find that out!
Besides this online tool there’s also a colourful Berlin map, indicating three different ‘housing area qualities’ - but the map is offered in such a bad quality that it is almost impossible to guess your neighbourhood by the streets - at least the borders of the destricts are crearly visible. There’s still things that need improvement.

well - so here’s the link to the ‘appartment rent index’ (’Mietspiegel’):
www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/wohnen/mietspiegel

enjoy browsing! Greetz, Till..

finally - welcome to my brand new blog..:]

Luckily enough I was thinking it over and over again - and again - and finally I came to the conclusion, that it’s probably perfectly ok to have another website up and running.. Yes, I do have already some other websites online - dedicated to various topics and techniques - but this one will be dedicated to everything Berlin only.

I registred this adress already some months ago - but only now I find the right moment to actually write this very first entry (I guess it’s just like with all the other things: the first entry is always the hardest..?). Well..

So - why today..? ..what’s going on in Berlin today..? Lots of things, probably..:] One thing - which is probably the thing of today:
-> the Berlinale opening. And again I’ll probably be sitting on the couch at home, feeling just a bit ashamed listening and watching interviews.. Some journalists seem to love to ask Berlinale VIPs the same questions again and again like, that I actually find a bit embarrassing - like “Hello, Mr. Clooney - do you like Berlin more than Cannes..?” or like “Ms. Jolie - or may I say ‘Angelina’..? ..you have almost the same forename like our Bundeskanzlerin has!” or maybe also “..do you have Schneematsch* in Hollywood..?” (*snow slush)

Idontknow.. - ..anyways - right in time for the Berlinale opening we currently actually do have at least some nice looking Schneematsch here in Berlin..:]

..greetings! till..