Things that I don't like about biking in Berlin*

*some of these probably apply to more places other than Berlin

1) Googlemaps gives directions as if you are walking. Therefore you would be on the other side of the street. Normally, this doesn't matter until you get to complicated intersections which are complicated by themsleves. The fact that the 'links bei Kaiser-Wilhelm Platz' for only 23 m isn't acutually neccessary just adds to the confusion.

2) The streets are not well marked. There's one tiny street sign that is really hard to read. And sometimes, they're not marked at all.

3) What I would consider the same streets, have different names depending on what direction you're traveling.

4) Cobblestones. I hate the colbblestones.

5) It always starts raining after I start biking and then stops right when I get to where I'm going. Even if it's just misting, it's frustrating since I need windsheild whipers for my glasses.

6) The 'hill' on Hermannstraße.

7) I get really angry when I get lost.

8) Alexanderplatz (this is usually the cause of number 7)

My life right now basically consists of biking to different places. That's where all the excitement happens. I've gotten lost more times then I care to admit. I guess it's not surprising see as it happens a lot no matter what mode of transportation I'm using, although I still consider myself to be good with directions. I think I should reevalute that claim. Instead of good with directions, I think I'm good at remembering things. So if you tell me how to get somewhere, or if I copy it off of Googlemaps or something, I won't have to refer to the directions very often, if at all. But this is assuming all the turns are well marked and straight forward. When this is not the case, I suppose those people with a good sense of direction would be able to sense the general direction of their destination and would make enough turns to get back on track. Whereas someone like me, who relies entirely on the names of streets, is at this point lost. I think this is because I'm not good at visualizing things. For example, even though I lived in my parents' house for 13 or so years, I still have a hard time believing the bathrooms are build on top of each other. It just doesn't match the picture in my head.

Don't get the wrong idea though, I do enjoy having a bike in the city.