Unscene Berlin

The annual demo against Mediaspree is tomorrow, starting at Warschauer Strasse U/S-Bahn at 14:00. In case you are new to Berlin, Mediaspree is the development project which is threatening all Spreeside clubs. It has already been responsible for the closure of 'legendary' club Bar 25 and local favourite Kiki Blofeld, and it is currently endangering all riverside clubs from Jannovitzbrücke to Ostkreuz (the stretch of river where many of Berlin's best  & most popular venues are located). In a public referendum on the project, more than 80 percent of Kreuzberg/Friedrichshain residents rejected it. The annual demonstration is a reiteration of Berlin's opposition to Mediaspree,which is being pushed ahead regardless of public opinion. When completed, Mediaspree will restrict access to the river, close clubs and raise living costs for the entire area with fast-tracked gentrification. So if you live in Berlin or just love partying here, come along! Click here fo...

Published August 17th 2010 Couchsurfing. During the first few weeks that I stayed in Berlin, I was a guest of the city's couchsurfing community. You may not realize it, but Berlin has a lot of places to couchsurf. In fact, it may well have one of the biggest couchsurfing scenes in the world. The way that couchsurfing works is that you create a profile on the couchsurfing.com website, register your address/ID and then begin collecting references from other people on the site whom you have stayed with or hosted. That way, others can decide whether they want to stay with or host you. Participation in the site is entirely free and voluntary, and it operates on a trust system. It is also quite safe for single female travelers to use, as I have found from first-hand experience. As always, one must take basic safety precautions: check references, stay with verified users and above all, listen to your gut instincts - but the couchsurfing project has a very good track record, thanks ...