Bikes

In the morning, Dave went to a yoga studio just a block away. He was glad that it was small so that he could get some extra help as his class was in German, too. But he did well and enjoyed it.

After breakfast, we headed to Stadler, a big bicycle store four stops away on the loop (S Bahn 41).

{Stadler bike store}

This place was huge. And beautiful inside. It had road bikes, commuter bikes, mountain bikes, electric bikes, kids bikes, scooters, workout gear, bike gear and clothing AND a Subway (as in fast food chain) inside.

{Stadler show room}

We approached an associate, Herr Ros, who was new to the job. What he lacked in knowledge, he made up in customer service. Checking out prices, we looked at both Triumph and Pegasus bikes. We rode them around the store and on a test track while the boys played on their iPads.

We picked out his and her Pegasus’, which are German made with Shimano gears and 21 speeds. They came with head and tail lights that go on automatically when you start pedaling. The front light goes off automatically when you stop, with a smaller rear light staying on for five minutes, so that you can be seen from the rear when stopped at traffic lights. Talk about German engineering!

{my new bike}

We picked up baskets for the back that clip onto the rack, bungee cords, water bottles and holders, super duper locks and helmets.

It would take an hour for our bikes to be assembled, so we went for a quick lunch before heading to a 3:00 appointment at DeutscheBank in Alexanderplatz to talk insurance.

Lunch was at an Asian restaurant in a next door Kaufland (grocery/discount store).

{fueled up and ready to go}

Germans have insurance for everything. You name it, it’s covered. After an hour talking with Herr Becker, again while the boys played on their iPads, we had signed up for liability insurance, which comes with no deductible and is extremely affordable. I won’t bore you with the details, but if anyone needs help with German insurance policies (household, pet, glass, key, etc.), please ask me.

After our bank visit, we went under the Platz to the subway tunnels to the BVG office to sign Dave and I up for annual passes. It worked as we had a German bank account and our IBANs! Hooray! Our start date is September 1 as we’ll be spending a few weeks in England in August. Once Ben gets his student card, we will sign up for his pass for a fraction of the cost of ours. Isaac’s will start in January as tickets aren’t necessary until you turn 6.{we’ll use the BVG app to buy train tickets until our passes arrive}

After a quick snack in the subway tunnels at Alexanderplatz, we headed back to Stadler to pick up our bikes. {exercising at Stadler}

Armed with our bikes, we headed to the S 42 loop train to head home. Hot and tired.

After a quick snack, I headed out to a yoga class at Jivamukti yoga, just 1.2 miles away. It started at 8:15 and was in English! I mapped it on Google and found it would take 22 minutes by train or 9 minutes by bike. Bike it was!

I quickly signed up on Urban Sports Club and was on my way. I wondered how long the class would last.

{evening yoga in English at Jivamukti}

I entered a packed studio with the teacher playing the harmonium. After finding a mat to borrow and putting away my stuff, I found a spot after folks shifted around and settled in. The room was packed with mostly young and attractive yogis. After some call and response kirtan (OM sounds the same in Germany as in the US, in case you wondered), we settled into meditation. Wearing a headset, the teacher combined asanas, spiritual teachings, and pranayama (breathwork). It was great! And hard! And hot! And sweaty! And I survived! The thing was, since there was no A/C, a roomed packed with 50 yogis and no open windows soon becomes a hot yoga class on its own. I kept looking at my watch, and finally after an hour and a half, we slowed down and started to prepare for savasana. The class ended at 10:00. Usually, I would be asleep at this time. But we’ve been staying up so late, I was used to the late hours.

I texted Dave to let him know that I was ok and that the class had just ended, climbed onto my new bike, and cruised home via a different route and was exhausted. But happy.

{our interior courtyard where we store our bikes}

Tuesday 24/07