Life hacks for those in Berlin

Gotta say that Berlin may be amazing, but sometimes she is a bitch (yes, SHE!). So here you’ll find a few life hacks for a smoother experience on the biggest city here in Germany.

Life hacks #1: Free U-Bahn/S-Bahn ride

Yes, you read it right: ride the U-Bahn/S-Bahn (and the tram and buses, too) for free if you have a friend with a Jahreskarte or a Monateskarte every day after 8 pm until the end and from Friday night until Sunday night the ride is for free for those who know the right people! Pay your friend or a stranger a beer and enjoy this life hack.

And if you’re thinking about being the person with the Jahreskarte, one thing that most expats don’t know is that you pay your Annual card month-by-month. And doing that you’ll save even more than buying single tickets or a monthly ticket. The Jahreskarte is something like 60€/month, and the Monateskarte is around 80€. This kind of tickets gives you the option of having one adult and up to 3 kids (or a dog) together with you after 8 pm. And you can also go for the all in once payment and save even more money in the Jahreskarte!

Life hacks #2: Get your YouTube working as it should

One of the most annoying things about living in Berlin is the fact that the internet here is not a free place like it is back home (my home is Brazil, I don’t know about you guys hehe).

Every person reading this post here had experienced that awful black screen saying that GEMA hates you, right? And that will not allow you to watch your favorite clip from your favorite band, right? Or watch that funny video your friends are all laughing out loud while you are alone, in the dark and cold Germany, where humor is not taken seriously. And because of that, I’m introducing here: YouTube Unblocker!

Because the internet was invented with the sole purpose of making you laugh while you watch your favorite clips that remind you so much of that time when music was good. I consider this here to be one of the essential life hacks of this entire list!

Life hacks #3: Torrents are evil, here’s a better solution

Another annoying thing here is that I have to wait months and months to legally watch what Khaleesi will do with the next free city full of slaves she finds… HELL NO!

If Germany doesn’t allow me to download, I might as well stream it online, right? The best site for that is for sure Couch Turner. Over there you can find some of the best series to watch it, in the original language and never worry about anything else.

I know that this life hacks list is growing on you, right? YOU’RE WELCOME!

Life hacks #4: Shopping on a Sunday

If you’re new here, the chances that you’re not entirely prepared for a city like Berlin having no open supermarkets on a Sunday, are high. For that reason, I’ll give you here a list of all the supermarkets that you can go in case you missed your chance on Saturday.

Supermarket: Edeka
Where: in Südkreuz station, General-Pape-Str. 1, 12101 Berlin
Opening times: Sundays 8am – 10pm

Supermarket: Kaisers
Where: in Hauptbahnhof (main station), Europaplatz, 10557 Berlin (Tiergarten)
Opening times: Sundays 8am – 10pm

Supermarket: Ullrich
Where: in U and S-Bahnhof (station) Zoologischer Garten, Hardenbergstrasse 25, 10623 Berlin (Charlottenburg)
Opening times: Sundays 11am – 10pm
Supermarket: Lidl
Where: in U-Bahnhof (station) Innsbrucker Platz, Innsbrucker Platz 1, 10827 Berlin
Opening times: Sundays 8am – 10pm

Supermarket: Norma
Where: in S Bahn Lichtenberg, Weitlingstr. 22, 10317 Berlin (Lichtenberg)
Opening times: 8am – 8pm

Supermarket: Edeka
Where: in U & S-Bahnhof (station) Friedrichstraße, Friedrichstraße 142, 10117 Berlin (Mitte)
Opening times: Sundays 8am – 10pm
Supermarket: Rewe
Where: in Ostbahnhof Station, Koppenstr. 3, 10243 Berlin (Friedrichshain)
Opening times: Sundays 7 am – 12 am

Life hacks #5: Berlin is more than just the RingBahn

Forget about the same old’ same old’ F-Hain, X-Berg, Neukölln, and P-Berg. Berlin is much more than that. Explore the city, go to places where you know your friends have never been. This life hack here is about getting to know the city you live!

Do you know that on the last stop of the U6 you can find one of the most beautiful and most relaxing places to spend your summer days? Do you know that in the southeast of Berlin you can find a Berlin-like it was before all the bombing and all the destruction from the WWII? Do you know that in Lübars you can find pretty horses? And in Britz, you can see one of the eight windmills still active here in Berlin?

Go out. Explore more. Life is more than Mauerpark and Berghain.

Life hacks #6: It is possible to find movies in their original language in Berlin

You just need to go for OV or OF (Original version / Originalfassung), when you’re looking for your kino experience.

Here are a few cinemas that have OV/OF on their listing:

• Kant Kino
• Kino Zukunft
• Tilsiter Lichtspiele
• Babylon Kreuzberg
• Eiszeit
• FSK
• Moviemento
• Sputnik
• Acud
• Babylon Mitte
• Kino Central
• Passage
• Rollberg
• Lichtblick Kino
• Odeon
• Brotfabrik Berlin
• Filmrausch
• Cine Star (Sony Center)
• Arsenal
• Xenon
• Broadway Kino

Life hacks #7: Save money riding the public transportation after 10 am

You read it right! There’s a Monateskarte that makes you save serious money if you don’t need to take the public transit before 10 am. It’s excellent if you’re a student and have classes only in the afternoon or if you work in afternoon/night shifts. But remember, this ticket will not allow you to travel with your mate after 8 pm, only with your dog or your kid (under six years old).

Important to remember: This ticket does not give you the right to carry somebody after 8 pm/weekends as the standard ticket does.

Life hacks #8: Berlin is not violent, but it is not 100% safe, be aware of your belongings at all times

One common mistake I see people from outside EU often doing is to leave their bags or personal belongings around when in bars or cafes. I have to say that Berlin is pretty much safe on this matter until it is not safe anymore. It kinda goes with a city that has over 3milion people, right? I never heard about any case of anything besides pickpockets, and for that matter, please keep your stuff with you at all times.

Life hacks #9: Empty bottles means money

That may seem obvious for most of us, but to newcomers, this is a brand new and magical way of getting free money. Imagine you have your friends over for a gathering in your house. Of course, everybody will bring some beers and at the end of the night, no one will take those empty bottles with them because it makes no sense.

Now you have a table full of empty beer bottles and some eventual soda bottles, right? That means that you can pay for your lunch on the next day! Each glass bottle (like beer) means 8 cents and plastic bottles (like coca cola 1L) says 25 cents.

If on the supermarket you can get a full lunch for 2 or 3 euros tops, you can clean your house, get paid for that and eat for free! It is like the best chores ever!

Life hacks #10: You don’t need to get lost nor freeze with public transportation

Are you tired of getting lost in Berlin because all the gigantic German words look the same to you? Are you poor because the taxi is taking a long way home and you have no idea how to stop this madness? Are you tired of freezing yourself to death while waiting for your U1 or your M29? Your problems are solved!

There’s a fantastic app called city mapper that is THE best app for getting around in Berlin, and it does not matter if you’re by bike, taxi or public transportation.

In this app, you can save the place where you live, work, favorite bars and anything else you need. Are you lost? Just open the app and locate yourself!

Once you entered the start and the end of your journey, the app will give you how many minutes and calories you’ll burn walking, the same for a bike, an approximate for taxi and several options for public transit including a safe rain option!

And you don’t actually need to open the app if you’re somewhere in the city and just want to go home, on iPhones you can access via the drop-down menu on your home screen! Easy, huh?

Life hacks #11: Free wifi is just waiting for you

You may have already notice that wifi is almost never open here in Berlin. The reason for that, is GEMA, the same institution responsible for making torrents illegal here in Deutschland, but of course, Fotostrasse already has a vast list of free wifi places for you to enjoy your online time as long as you want.

This post is more focused on Neukölln and Kreuzberg, but on our foursquare, you can find free wifi in other neighborhoods.

Life hacks #12: Find the doctor you want, on the language you need

Yes, you’re problems are solved! There is an excellent website with the database of all the doctors in Berlin. You can quickly search for your doctor by location, the language they speak, specialty and much more.

The design of the website is awful and looks like it was done in 1999, but well…you’re in Germany, get used to it!

Have fun and thank me later: http://aerzte-berlin.de/

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