East Berlin = East Village circa 1980s

Our digs at Appartements am Kollwitz Platz
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If you're like us -- in our 50s but intrepid -- not up for outright discomfort but not needing the fanciest set-up -- then forget the Hilton etc. in central Berlin.  Find a spot like the one we found in the former East Berlin.  It's easy to get in to the center of the city -- to museums, etc. -- by tram or subway.  But it's wonderful to get away from tourist central to a real neighborhood.  Lots of restaurants and cafes, delis, small stores.  Bicycles speeding by along the sidewalks.  I speak some German and brushed up before I left.  That made it easier to explore the neighborhood.  Our room was in an apartment building with regular tenants all around us.  It feels like the East Village of Manhattan in the 80s when Keith Harring and Basquiat were doing street art, when corner cafes were ma-and-pa operations.  Lively but safe.  Artsy.  Up-and-coming. 

It's wonderful to get away from tourist central to a real neighborhood.