Medal from the Berlin Marathon in front of the Brandenburg Gate
Berlin,  Running Stories,  The places we've been,  Travel Tips

Surprising Things We Learned about Berlin

September 7, 2023 /

With the Berlin marathon fast approaching, I thought it might be fun to do a little post mortem on the surprising things we learned about Berlin.

What we already knew

Now I had NEVER been to Germany and Stephen hadn’t been since he was stationed there back in the early 90’s. So we knew SOME things like:

  • Oktoberfest
  • Beer (see Oktoberfest)
  • Sausage (see Oktoberfest)
  • Lederhosen (see Oktoberfest)
  • Dirndls (see Oktoberfest)
  • The Marathon
  • and The Wall (which came down when Stephen was there)

But there were a LOT of things about Berlin that surprised us. Like…

1. It’s prettier and greener than we expected

A concrete overpass with two eyes painted on it
Image courtesy of Greyscape

Maybe it was because of all the Jason Bourne-esque / spy thrillers that show Berlin as this industrial, post-cold war, gray, concrete city, but I was a really surprised at how beautiful the city is.

The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin- it's prettier that we expected. Image of an old brick home with an exterior spiral staircase
The surprising things we learned about Berlin - it's greener than we expected. Image of a tree-lined cobblestone street near a river
Surprising things we learned about Berlin - it's prettier than we expected. Image of a bridge over a river, with boats moored at the sides
Surprising things we learned about Berlin - it's greener than we expected. Image of a park, green grass and trees.
All of these were walking distance from our hotel!

2. The bicycles are black – like ALL the bicycles

Surprising things we learned about Berlin - all the bicycles are black. Image of two black bicycles attached to trees.
Surprising things we learned about Berlin - all the bicycles are black. Two black bicycles - one in the street and the other attached to a post.
Surprising things we learned about Berlin - all the bicycles are black. Image of one black bicycle leaning by a building.

I took the first snap because I thought it would look great framed. I took the second one because, look another black bike…that’s weird. And the last one because I had to prove a point.

3. Visit the Wall but skip Check Point Charlie

Four panels of the Berlin Wall with blue faces painted on them.
Multiple panels of the Berlin wall separated by informational panels between.
A free standing panel of the Berlin wall with a peace sign on it.
The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin - Check Point Charlie rather sucks. Image of two people dressed in soldiers uniforms in front of a half wall of sandbags and a small wood building, Above it is a sign that reads "US Army Checkpoint".

There are markers and photos around many of the sections of the Wall to tell the stories of the people impacted by it’s erection and destruction. They were poignant and well worth the time. However, Checkpoint Charlie is manned by people dressing in US solider costumes, pretending to be intimidating. Terrible.

4. Aldi is their nicest grocery store

The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin - Aldi is the the NICE grocery store. Image of a corridor in a mall with an Aldi sign at the end. Several people are waling in this corridor.
Aldi at the Mall of Berlin

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m an Aldi shopper since the VERY FIRST store opened in Michigan. But, most people feel that it is a discount market and if you’re fancy, you probably wouldn’t want to shop there. In Berlin, Aldi IS the fancy market. Oh how the turn tables have turned!

5. The water will likely be…sparkling

The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin - the water will likely be sparkling. Image of a runner, sitting on the ground, wearing a medal, with his shoes off.

Stephen’s second fun memory of the Berlin Marathon, right after not having his racing shoes for almost an hour, was opening the bottle of water we bought at Aldi in the start corral and enjoying an effervescent shower. Who knew? (European readers may be shaking their heads right about now.)

6. They’re not as uptight about nudity as we are

The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin - nudity isn't really a big deal. Image of a poster that says "Liquidrom" on it and it shows a pool of water under two arches that are illuminated in blue.
The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin - nudity isn't such a big deal. Image of a poster and it shows a cartoonish drawing of a head and in the head are 4 cartoon men who are nude.

The Liquidrom is an absolutely wonderful public bath house that allows you to float in a salt water pool in a huge cavern. It was great for post race recovery and an overall “Zen” experience. However, we were surprised that we ran into each other in the locker room. Although there were separate entrances for men and women to the locker area, everything behind the doors was just common space.

Also above is a fun poster that was hanging on the wall of the Italian restaurant we visited. It could be for a gym or maybe some sort of wellness festival but based on the graphic…I’m not really sure what it’s commemorating, other than genitals.

7. You can be up close to the elite athletes…maybe too close

The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin - you can be close to the elite athletes. Image of Kipchoge, a marathon elite athlete who is standing behind a railing with his arms up.
The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin - you can get close to the elite athletes at the marathon. Image of two elite marathon runners, walking down a road.
The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin - you can get close to the elite athletes at the marathon. Image of a group of runners in striped shirts.

We ran into the elite athletes at the expo and in the park and at one point, they almost ran into ME! If you’d like to hear more about my nearly catastrophic close encounter with Kipchoge, check out this post.

8. There are bears EVERYWHERE

The Surprising Things We Learned About Berlin - there are bears everywhere. Image of a bear holding a tray of glasses in front of a domed building etched into a glass panel.
Cocktail Bear
Image of a woman standing next to a large statue of a bear that is dressed in traditional English beef-eater apparel.
Beef Eater Bear
Image of a woman standing next to a statue of a tall, smiling, white bear that has a bird painted on his chest.
Bird Bear
Image of a woman standing in front of a statue of a large, blue bear. They are both holding their arms up.
Blue Bear
Image of a large, golden bear standing above a concrete awning.
Gold Bear
Image of a statue of a large bear who is painted with a street map.
Street Map Bear
Image of a man hole cover that has a bear on it.
Man Hole Bear
Image of a woman standing next to a statue of a large bear who is brightly painted with a map of the world on his stomach, chickens or ducks on his legs and a line of children around his neck.
Multi-Cultural Bear
Image of a man and a woman standing on either side of a white bear that has a painting of the Berlin tower and some building on his chest and stomach.
Berlin Beer

Like EVERYWHERE!!

9. Men are permitted to pee freely (ish)

Image of Kramer and Jerry Seinfeld from the Seinfeld show, walking in a parking garage. Jerry is gesturing with his arms.
Thanking Seinfeld for teaching us about the danger of holding it

Apparently German’s take getting uromysitisis poisoning very seriously. In my first hour in Berlin, I saw a man turn his back and pee onto some grass. I guess as long as your back is turned, you can feel free to let loose.

10. They take the “don’t walk” dude, VERY seriously

Image of a pole with two lights. The bottom one is illuminated and it shows a green man walking.
Don’t cross the Amplemannchen

In Manhattan, you pay attention to the signals because it will let you know what traffic is about to do but crossing the street is about paying attention and getting to where you need to go. Standing on the corner, waiting for the light to change is like picking up a bull horn and announcing to world that you’re a tourist. In Berlin, however, if you decide to behave like waiting for the light to change is optional, you might LITERALLY get yelled at. Pedestrians are not allowed to EVER cross against the amplemannchen.

Now YOU know all the surprising things we learned about Berlin. We hope you can add to this collection when you go there next…maybe for the marathon!

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