A few weeks ago we were invited by smart for a two day trip to Berlin. The reason for the trip was the launch of smart’s platform Bettery Magazine, which presents people, places and ideas for the city of the future. smart believes that people are already taking charge in trying to improve city life. In order to promote these new movements Bettery Magazine will cover and share different projects that originated across the world and that have made a positive, sustainable change to life in the city, ranging from urban farming and pop-up restaurants to sustainable design. The editors/bloggers who were invited got to have a little taste of the action; visiting new exciting projects and writing a guest blog for Bettery Magazine.

Having had the luck to travel to Berlin for work twice this year already I was looking forward to the trip. Not sure what to expect exactly I was pleasantly surprised by the lovely team of K-MB who organized our trip and the programme they had planned. Together with five other bloggers from Greece, France, England, Germany and Italy we visited several interesting projects in Berlin that sparked positive energy in the city. And what better way to do this than on a bike? Being Dutch I love to cycle, especially when abroad (as long as the traffic is not crazy!). This is us above posing like a high school class in the courtyard of the Weinmeister Hotel wearing the most fashionable helmets!

So I was excited to explore the city on a new project by smart: the eBike. It is an electronic bike that is a pedellac, which means it does not push you around but requires pedalling in order to start the electromotor. Despite my initial scepticism (how would I benefit from cycling on an electronic bike?) it was actually a good experience, it felt like a push in the back and made me cycle o so fast! If you want know more about the ebike check out this video and the ebike facebookpage.

On our bike tour we visited hospital-turned art space/music school Bethanien; project space the Whye, which hosts a gallery, atelier spaces and offices and a showroom; one of the iconic black and white Photobooths that can be found all over Berlin, vintage bus-turned-convenience store Kjosk and an amazing concept store by fellow Dutchies named XXX. The latter, pictured above, carries clothing from unknown to semi established labels, art by upcoming artists and accessories.

Next to that their store includes a lovely small cafe where they brew hot coffee and soup. And if you feel so at home you would like to stay, you can: they have a beautiful smal apartment that can be rented for short or long term stays. Follow them on Facebook for the daily soup menu, in-store pop up concerts and other news.

In the evening we had dinner at an amazing pop up restaurant/supper club in Mitte around the corner from our hotel. It was situated in a living room and beautifully furbished with furniture made of pallets adorned with industrial lamps and other found objects. The food was nice and the atmosphere great, be sure to check out the Bettery website for a guest article on The Parlour Dinners by our hand, as well as more coverage on the other projects by fellow bloggers!