Mazec wrote:

Eksvplot wrote:offhand, are there any really rough areas i should avoid wandering into?

Not really. I spent a year in Berlin and I think it would be tough to get your ass kicked there no matter what the circumstances. I would say it's much less rough than other, smaller German cities (notably Frankfurt and Köln, but probably Hamburg as well, although I don't have much first-hand experience on that one.)

I used to walk home piss drunk at five in the morning, get lost and wander aimlessly, and shit like that all the time, nothing ever happened to me.

I've lived in small towns in lower Michigan that were worse.

I was out till dawn a few times, in several different neighborhoods, sometimes wandering aimlessly, once even sleeping in a train station, and experienced no trouble. One time, I was waiting to get into a club, in the middle of the day, and some youths came running down the street, wearing bandanas on their faces, being chased by other similarly-bandanaed youth, except the chasers differed from the chased in that they were wielding machetes. I, personally, have never been chased by anyone with a machete in Berlin, and thus consider it to be a fairly safe European city.

Hamburg and Frankfurt struck me as rougher than Berlin, but this was just an impression, as I didn't spend a lot of time in Hamburg or Frankfurt. I spent even less time in Cologne (EDIT: I misremembered. I have spent exactly no time in Cologne), and have no opinion of it.

I think the easiest way to get your ass kicked in Berlin is to find a bar full of English/Scottish expats and declare your allegiance to the wrong soccer team.

Linus Van Pelt wrote: One time, I was waiting to get into a club, in the middle of the day, and some youths came running down the street, wearing bandanas on their faces, being chased by other similarly-bandanaed youth, except the chasers differed from the chased in that they were wielding machetes.

This *might* just have been part of that Berliner craziness. People do fucked -up shit in Berlin. But in terms of non-crazy normal-ass violence, I witnessed way more of it in Cologne and even Bonn of all places.

Maybe Berlin has changed in that respect in the five years or so since I've spent serious time there, but I'm still going to say your biggest risk in Berlin is getting talked to by some babbling halfwit, accosted by gutter punk kids with big dogs asking for change, or prostitutes (esp. on Oranienburgerstrasse).

The only places I got fucked with were in one of the more Turkish parts of Kreuzberg late at night by some kids who were huffing something off of rags and fucking with everybody, and then somewhere in Mitte some dumb drunk kid almost attacked me when he found out I spoke English. Both times it was like 3 in the morning.

Now, I know this is going to sound racist, but one thing I like about Europe is I can safely fit in in the slums as I'm a scrawny, desheveled white person who shaves about once a week and wears beat up clothing. This is what poor and homeless Europeans look like. In the US the slums are predominantly black therefore I stick out and get fucked with more.

same wrote:The only places I got fucked with were in one of the more Turkish parts of Kreuzberg late at night by some kids who were huffing something off of rags and fucking with everybody, and then somewhere in Mitte some dumb drunk kid almost attacked me when he found out I spoke English. Both times it was like 3 in the morning.

Now, I know this is going to sound racist, but one thing I like about Europe is I can safely fit in in the slums as I'm a scrawny, desheveled white person who shaves about once a week and wears beat up clothing. This is what poor and homeless Europeans look like. In the US the slums are predominantly black therefore I stick out and get fucked with more.

Don't worry, if we don't control immigration a little better you'll be back to sticking out again...

thanks for the recommendations.

any tips about German customs in general?

i'm stayign in a hostel in Mitte. i've been told i can get along just fine in Berlin without knowing any German. is this true? will people think i'm an American prick if i mostly speak English? (i imagine i wont be the only fish out of water attending the Berlinale.)

You'll be fine with no German, but... learn at least to say please and thank you.

Please : bitte - bitter

Danke : Darnka

You just need to remember Germans -in general- can seem either very abrupt or overly polite. Also, and this is a problem most Americas have, you tend to speak very loudly. If you don't want to seem like an " American prick" tone it down a bit. Germans tend to take a long time to get to know friends so don't expect any pen pals, although having said that German girls are generally very liberal and you shouldn't be surprised if you get invited back to a girls flat if you hit it off in a bar.

Beyond that most young Germans speak English, but get a small phrase book anyway, fucking up someone's language is a good way to start a conversation. .

thanks for the tip!

anyone ever go to this? http://soulexplosion.de/

looks like fun.

I lived there for 18 months, great city. Try "Knaack" or the old US Airforce Club opposite Templehof airport for music. If nothing doing go rent a video from "Incredibly Strange Video".......if its still there (Schoneburg, Nollendorfplatz), which specialises in English language videos. They have some "Dope, Guns and Fucking in the Streets" vids plus the video of the butthole surfers around "Brown Reasons to Live" era, which is worth seeing. KZ Sachsenhausen is also worth a look if you seriously want to be disturbed (Oranienburg, 40 mins train to the north). Wannsee is a nice place to visit if the sun is shining. Prenzlauerberg is the cool district in town, be sure to check it out. BTW, they all have a grasp of English because they learn it at school from the age of 7, but try (however badly) to speak German to them first....they'll quickly realise it's easier for you both to speak English.

Hey, I'm hoping to travel to Berlin soon. Anyone been there lately? Live there now? I'm curious about the current art scene. Anyone know any photographers there?