Swimming in Berlin.

Summer has come to Berlin so the last two weeks has been swimming weather, at least on an off. I've been super warm biking around in Berlin with a over 25 degrees heat, so it has been the right time to go swimming.
Berlin has no sea and the Spree isn't really good to swim in but instead there are lakes. So far I've been to four different ones. Krumme Lanke, Wannsee, Schlachtensee and Plötzensee. The three first are all in Zehlendorf, west Berlin reachable with S-bahn and U-bahn. Plötzensee is in Wedding with a couple of minutes walk from the U-bahn.

Nanna and Rose goes running a couple days a week somewhere around Mitte/Wedding and invited me to come to a after run swim in Plötzensee with them. I didn't run but I biked there so I was warm when I came there. Plötzensee has a beach that you can pay a couple of euros to get into. There is also the other side of the lake, with no beach but still swimming possiblei. This side of the lake was where we where. It's nice there but it's not beachy. Best for a quick dip. I didn't really like it to hang out, even if it's possible to sit in the grass close to the lake.

I work a day and the sun was shinning outside so as soon as I got off work I called Jake and asked if he wanted to go to a lake with me. He did so we biked to Krumme Lanke. It's about 15-20km to Krumme Lanke from Tempelhof and with Jake's new bike road map we found it pretty well. It took us about an hour to get there.
Zehlendorf/Dahlem is a part of Berlin I've never been in before and it doesn't look like the Berlin I'm used to at all. There are huge houses with many floors, nice parks and all that doesn't feel like Berlin to me. It felt like we left town by being there. It was a wonderful bike ride. We took the small streets there and saw so much of Berlin that we wouldn't else. When we got to the lake it was great to jump in the water and swim away the sweat. Krumme Lanke is a mixed beach (well, there isn't really much to call beach but you know what I mean) so some are nude and some are in bathing suits. The water is nice but it didn't feel like a beach because you lay on the grass close to the lake. I'm used to sand beaches, or at least rocks like it is in Sweden.

Last Sunday was the warmest day so far in Berlin with over 35 degrees. That's weather you just want to be in water in. I woke late, meet up with Fabien and went to Strandbad Wannsee together where we where meeting up with Jake. It took us forever to get there (do to lake of orientation), and when we came there we couldn't care less about the 2 euros we had to pay to come in. It was full of people unlike the other lakes I've been to, on the long sandy beach. We quickly changed to bathing gear and ran into the water being way to sweaty on our way there. There even a slide in the lake that we went on. It was wonderful! We meet up with Jake and spent the rest of the day there, until the beach closed at 20. This felt more then weird for me. I can't see any beach close anytime in Sweden and that they give you a 30 minute warning in the loudspeakers feels so German. It's time to gradually get dressed. The Strandbad is closing soon.
 It was an awesome day and I liked this beach the most so far. If you want to go there I recommend taking the S-bahn to Nikolassee and walk from there. It's closer then the S-bahn station Wannsee. Bring own food and drinks is also a tip since they of course overprice the food and drinks at the beach.

Schlachtensee I visited on Monday. Max invited me to come there with some of his friends I and biked there. I got lost some times, even if I decided to take the big streets, so it took me about an hour and a half to get there. The S-bahn station Schlachtensee is just by the lake, so it's really easy to get there with public transport. Biking an hour and a half is the best thing to do when your coming to the lake. The water can't be to cold because you are so warm. I met up with Max and we walked to the others. Schlachtensee doesn't have a beach either. There is spots right by the water to sit by rocks and dark sand or something, I don't know what to call it. Even though this wasn't a sand beach I really liked it. It's big so it's easy to find a place for one self if you don't want to share a place by the lake. I feel like I can't write anything about the water, really not in the lakes before either, since I've been so warm every time I got to the lakes, but I think I would remember is it was crappy water.
The weather was a bit unstable so it was both rain and sun, which made me not stay that long. I didn't want to be rained on, at least not much, when I was biking home. I like it though.

I'm a big fan of water and lakes and I could return to any of these lakes again. Now I will find them better it would even be easier. Wannesee I like the most but it feels like a whole day thing going there while the others are more easy to get to and quick dip is possible. Specially Plötzensee, since I hang out much in that part of town.
I hear things about Müggelsee and Flughafensee, and I hope the summer will be long enough so that I have time to go to both. More Sees or bathing places are welcome.

An update.

Time flies as they say.
What have I've been up to lately?
I've been roller skating in Tempelhof, sat by the Spree drinking beer with Nanna, seen They Live by Night (1949) at movie night, eaten a lot of veggie burger, fallen of my bike leaving my legs blue with bruises and my bike a bit messed up, attended a random slumber party at Mark's, feared Germans and drinking games at Benjamin's b-day party, overstayed my welcome, swam in Plötzensee, been to a vegan bbq, learned how to hula hoop, read and written unbelievably little, searching for a room so I have somewhere to live in September, explored Tempelhof with Jake, been to couchsurfing meetings, seen five short and three long silent movies by and with Buster Keaton, being awfully tried while having to much on my mind that spins like a loop, gotten confused by the book The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, sang while biking, been to two sitcom (can you call Futurama a sitcom?) nights, taking care of one year old Jonas and so on.

Kind of same old, same old it feels like. I just work days at the moment so nights off is kind of nice and I'm doing more now. Active myself. Also when you hang out with a one year old for some hours a day you're kind of dying to be with people that responds when you talk with them. Jonas is cool and an easy child to take care. We have a lot of fun but it's not like hanging out with someone you could have conversation with.

I've gotten my languages a bit mixed up lately also. This is very uncommon for me. Since I was a child I've been good at keeping the languages I know apart. I use my Swedish less and less, and it feels kind of strange at times. I even think less in Swedish.

When I realized this I started to listen to Swedish music and (of course) ended up listening to Säkert! on repeat for two days straight, singing along to the lyrics. While doing this I found myself wondering how her song would be in English, translating in my head. Then I found out that Säkert! has translated a couple of her songs to English.
They are kind of translated word by word and it's pretty easy to see it's a non native English speaker that has translated the songs. Idioms are directly translated even if they do not exist in English for example.  It made me think of the blog post I helped Peter with about Swedish Pop Music and Säkert! could definitive be an other example, even though I don't think she is so big outside of Sweden yet. (She has a English artist name Hello Saferide which is popular outside of Sweden).
I thought I would share a song, the same song in Swedish and English. It's one of my favorites, called Influensa in Swedish and The Flu in English. Favorite line in the English version: You must believe there's something epic in you. Enjoy.

Love in Berlin.

Last week I got asked by two new friends how love is in Berlin.
Both times I looked all confused hearing this. Not knowing what they wanted to know.
They of course wanted to know how dating is here and if I'm in a relationship.
I answered that I don't know how dating is here, since I haven't been on a date for a long time. I also said I'm not really interested in my love life at the moment.
Erwan, new friend number 1, laughed and said that most people are. I didn't answer.
Anna, new friend number 2, asked if I wanted my freedom since I don't have a boyfriend. I half nodded, but didn't really know how to answer that, since I never felt un-free in any of the relationships that I've been in.

You can ask me a lot of stuff about Berlin like bars, clubs, parks, vegan restaurants, second hand stores and so on but when it comes to dating I have no clue how it works here. I would say, in my experience, that I Sweden only dated people I've known pretty well before dating or already decided that I want to be with the person before we started to date. We, at least me and my friends in Sweden, don't really date. We hook up and then maybe start to hang out.

Here in Berlin I've been a bit reserved when it comes to dating. Reason: stalkers.
I know this sounds weird but the last guy I "dated" never stopped calling me wanting to meet all the time. The last guy that I didn't know and gave my number to called me 12 times in two days. Not okay.
This was some time ago though so I wasn't really worried anymore. Until very recently.
I'm looking for a room in Berlin for September. I got invited to see a room in Neukölln, so I got to the apartment and meet the guy who was living there. It takes about three seconds for him to start hitting on me and saying that I can move in tomorrow. He asked if I had a boyfriend and said that if I didn't want the room he still wanted to meet me again and soon, the same night.
Here I was to nice for my own good. I didn't say either no or yes. I should have just said no and have it over with. This guy texted me shortly after I left and wrote that I had verzubert (bewitched) him and that he wanted to see me again. I didn't answer.
So he texted me later again, called me the next day and emailed me a couple of times. This is not okay and I've made it stop. I might be a stalker/creep magnet, and if that's true I will not be dating anytime soon. I will at least think twice before giving anyone my number from now on.

So apart from creeps and weirdness, I have nothing to write about dating in Berlin. There you have to ask someone else. I'm sure others have better experience to share then I do.