How to live in Berlin

Italian Restaurants in Berlin

2010-12-11T02:44:00.000-08:00

It's so difficult to find a real Italian Restaurant, with genuine Italian food, cooked in the right way and not unfairly expensive. It is difficult to find it also in Italy; it's almost impossible when you are abroad.

So here I don't want to make a list of all the Italian Restaurants in Berlin, you can find it anywhere googling it. I just want to signal one place, a very good one, with the best pizza of Berlin and some good Italian dishes, without being to expensive.

I'm talking about "Trattoria il Casolare", a restaurant in a very nice area of Kreuzberg. It is not an elegant place, nor corresponding to the "Italian Style Idea" of not-Italians, but actually it's really what a good Italian pizzeria in Italy looks like. Moreover, the owners and the managers are real Italians - while in other places they're only pretending to be.

So, no more talk, just try it if you want to taste some real Italian food! "Il Casolare" it's in Grimmstraße 30.

Where to eat the best Ice Cream in Berlin - Caffè e Gelato

2010-11-21T05:42:00.000-08:00

I love Ice Cream and since I arrived in Berlin I've tried several shops, finding only medium-low quality and too expensive products. But, suddenly, yesterday I found a beautiful place!

Caffè e Gelato is in the Arkaden Shopping Mall, just on Potsdamer Platz, and it's a very nice place. Most important, you can find a real Italian Ice Cream, really the best that you can find in Berlin - even better than the majority of Ice Creams in Italy.

I recommend to try it even in Winter but, if you are the kind of person who prefer not to eat Ice Cream when it's cold outside, at Caffè e Gelato you can even find hot products – coffé-related such as Latte Macchiato and so on – and a big variety:
"Our creative product range spans our organic varieties, familiar classics like spaghetti and pizza ice cream, ice cocktails, ice with prosecco, ice with yoghurt, sushi ice (mini-format ice creams), semi-frozen creations, warm cakes with ice cream and ice cream creations for children all the way to ice cream sundaes with fresh fruit. Everything is made in-house – even our edible waffle and pastry decorations or our chocolate and fruit sauces."

On their website - in English, German, and Italian - you can find a lot of additional interesting information and pictures. You can find the venue also on Foursquare - here a map:

Just ry it!

The Ritter SPORT Shop in Berlin

2010-11-03T14:10:00.000-07:00

If you are in Berlin, you definitely have to go to the Ritter SPORT Shop, in Französische Straße 23 (U6 Französische Str.), near the Brandeburg Gate (Brandeburger Tor).

You will find a lot of flavors, someone not available in other places, and you also have the possibility to create your own customized chocolate bar!

Here some pictures:

You can create your own flavor!

Different sizes available

Standard size costs only 0,79 €

Don't miss it!

Where to eat the best Kebap in Berlin

2010-10-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

There's no way: Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap is the best I've ever tasted!

Not only the meat taste very well, but also all the other ingredients are of the best quality. Moreover, there is a special mix of "secret" elements...

You absolutely have to try it! Check also Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap website -that is really well done and funny- for more information.
Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap is in Mehringdamm 32, 10961 Berlin.

How to register and log-into the Blackboard (FU Berlin e-learning)

2010-10-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

It seems that the most difficult operation for a new student at Freie Universität Berlin is to log-into the Learning Management System, the so called Blackboard.

Actually, it is quite tricky. Here what you have to do:

Go to https://lms.fu-berlin.de
Click on "Selbstregistrierung", in the left column
Click on "Selbstregistrierung für Studierende, Alumni und Gasthörer" - or directly go here.
Enter your ZEDAT access data, flag the two boxes and click on "Registrieren" - If you don't have any ZEDAT account, probably you're not enrolled yet; in this case, see How to enroll.
The system will show you your data. If everything is OK, click once again on "Registrieren".
Now, go to the Blackboard home and log-in with your access data!

Once you logged into the Blackboard, you can find your courses with the search engine at the top left of the page.

Thanks to Sascha Belz for this tip!

How (not) to get lost in Berlin

2010-10-10T00:35:00.000-07:00

How to find your way around Berlin? Are you afraid of getting lost? Don't worry! Orientation, in Berlin, it's a child's play!

Here an easy tip. Berlin is filled with a dense network of public transport. At each stop -of the bus, of the underground, and so on- there is a big map of Berlin, with a circle signalling exactly where you are.

So, if you don't know anymore where you are and you feel to be lost, keep calm. Just walk along the main street you see untill you find a bus stop!

If you are looking for a specific place and you're not able to find it on the map, don't be shy: just ask to the people around you! Berliner are very friendly and often understand and speak a good english. Moreover, most of the people you can meet walking around is coming from abroad. So, they experienced the same sense of disorientation, in the past, and they empathize with you.

Are you still able to miss? Well, you must have tasted a lot of Berliner Kindl!

How to enroll as Erasmus student at Freie Universität Berlin

2010-10-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

If you just arrived in Berlin in order to attend some courses at Freie Universität as Erasmus student, you have to complete some annoying steps. Let's make a brief list, in order to make the due more easy:

First of all, you have to find an accomodation! (see How to find an accomodation in Berlin)
Go to the Erasmus Office – Brümmerstr. 52 (U-Bahnhof Thielplatz), erasmus@fu-berlin.de - Office Hours: Monday and Tuesday 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
At the Erasmus Office they'll clearly explain you how you can:
Pay the Semesterticket and Social Fees - 163€ in order to get a six monthly tickets for zones A, B, and C with public transport!
Obtain a proof of full health insurance coverage (free for EU citizens)
Go back to the Erasmus office in order to complete the pre-enrollment and obtain the data to acces your personal ZEDAT Account - you'll need it in order to register for the courses.

Then, if you want to get the welcome money (100€ of Begrüßungsgeld for each student coming from outside Berlin), you have to:

Get a so-called "Freizügigkeitsbescheinigung" at the local public office Bürgeramt (Only if you are from EU Countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Otherwise you need a Residence Permit)
Open a German bank account and fill this application form. You'll soon receive 100€!

That's not all, but I think that's enough for this post. Come on, don't lose your heart!

How to find an accommodation in Berlin

2010-09-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

My first problem, after the decision to go in Exchange to Berlin, was to find an accommodation. Furtunatly, I found some very clear and useful tips on the Distributed Campus that makes, at least for a student, very easy to find a place.

Through the ERG-Universitätsservice GmbH at Freie Universität Berlin, you can choose between a single room or a single occupancy apartment.
Otherwise, if you do not wish to stay in a student residence hall, you can try to find a room or an apartment on the private housing market. As the Distributed Campus says, "many students in Berlin live in shared apartments (WGs) and there is a relatively large supply of rooms. You find these offers on the internet (e.g., Studenten-WG or WG Company), and in various Berlin magazines"

Rents in Berlin normally start around 250 Euro, shared apartments tend to be less expensive. "On signing the lease your landlord will probably expect a deposit of three months, reimbursed with interest at the end of tenancy as long as nothing has been damaged."

If you need a cheap short term accommodation, maybe while looking for a definitive one, it could be great either a youth hostel (Jugendherberge), a guest house (Jugendgästehaus) or a backpacker hostel. All stuff that you can easly find with Google.

In the end, I took for rent a single apartment at Studentendorf Schlachtensee (Wasgenstr. 75, 14129 Berlin) from 1.10.2010 until 15.3.2011. The apartment is approximately 20 m2 big, furnished with a bed, desk, chair, wardrobe, bookshelf and lamps. Furthermore, I have my own bathroom and kitchenette. All this for 350€ per month.

What do you think, isn't it a good deal? Let's wait to see it, the first of October...

The people know

2010-09-17T04:36:00.000-07:00

It's true, in this moment I'm still in Italy, still at Bocconi University, still at the third floor of the Velodromo building. But the people know. They are surprised of my presence. In their mind I should be somewhere else... I should be in BERLIN!

And, actually, I'll leave for Berlin the 1st of October. All the other collegues, the ones who are in Exchange, they left Italy in August. But Germany is different, Germans are different. In Germany the first semester begins in October and ends in March. This is what I have to tell to all the people asking me "shouldn't you be in Berlin?".

The people know, and ask. "I didn't know you speak German, did you?", well, actually I don't, I just speak a modest english and a very basic french. "Did you find any accomodation?", "How will you manage your travel?", "What will you do once there?", and so on, talking about the opportunities offered by Berlin, its cost of live, its culture, its food, its people..

The questions are many, but all summarizable in one: HOW TO LIVE IN BERLIN?