What's it like to House Sit in Berlin?

Berlin has lot of good value hotels and hostels and in comparison to London or Paris the prices are pretty cheap. However, we didn't want cheap. No, we wanted to stay in Berlin for free!

If you're new to this blog (hi!!!) you may think we're wishful thinkers, but actually we're now pretty used to staying in top locations for free. So far we've done six weeks in Spain and nine months in Australia. How? By House Sitting.

In Berlin we got a lot more than we expected (in a good way). We'd decided to House Sit in Berlin because it's arguably Europe's best city (and is definitely Europe's quirkiest city). We weren't expecting anything more than four walls and a roof. But this is not couch surfing, this was one of the most luxurious and comfortable houses we've ever been in! 

It was one of our top House Sits to date and so I'm going to use this space to highlight why it was great and hopefully inspire you to try House Sitting in a city!

The Home Owners

They are a really generous lovely couple. We had a long (6 hour) journey to get to Berlin but one of the owners was there to welcome us at the end and give us a lift from the coach station. It was pretty late at night and very kind of her as it meant we didn't need to navigate the underground in our tired state. She went the extra mile and also gave us a little tour of Berlin in the car which would have been great under normal circumstances, but just happened to coincide with the Festival of Lights which was epic to see! 

Image Credit: Festival of Lights

She also provided us with everything we could possibly need and more - food, maps, Berlin's finest ice cream, bikes, the car and beer. We don't expect food when we House Sit, but we accept it very gratefully. They were so generous!

The funniest thing ever happened on this house sit when we met her husband. He said "Hello" and Tanbay said "Hallo, schön dich zu treffen" (hello, nice to meet you) and the guy replied "ah du kannst ein bischen Deutsch" (oh you can speak a bit of German), and Tanbay answered "ja ich kann sehr viel Deutsch " (yes I can speak lots of German). This went on for a little bit because the German guy didn't realise that Tanbay is actually German too!! 

The House 

As I've said, the house turned out to be even better than we'd imagined. It's a hidden gem - right in the centre of Berlin, but so quiet, comfy and peaceful you'd think you were in the country: 

This photo was taken outside the house, in central Berlin!! Crazy right? The house itself was built in the 1920s and was a complete Tardis (bigger on the inside). With a dream kitchen, hammock and piano, the best bit though was the cellar: 

The Cellar 

This particular German cellar was epic. Firstly there was a massive pantry filled with the most delicious organic food ever, which had actually been grown in the garden. Secondly was the sauna! We've been literally dying now that 'winter is coming'. We missed winter last year because we were in Australia, and whilst I'd been dreaming of a white Christmas, I forgot how crap it actually is - my bones hurt from the cold, I constantly feel like I'm getting a cold, I'm constantly cold... But sitting in a sauna was amazing and a very welcome rest bite.

The Chickens 

For this House Sit we were responsible for chickens! We had learned on our first House Sit in England that chickens are the best animal to House Sit for because they are relatively easy and of course they reward you daily (EGGS).

Furthermore, unlike a dog, chickens can be left alone for hours and hours - as long as you let them out and feed them in the morning and then shut them in at night, you can be out all day without worrying (or all night). I'd even go as far as saying that they are the easiest animals to look after (other than fish). We were grateful for this freedom as there is so much to do in Berlin and we were in the perfect location to see it all.

Days out in Berlin 

Due to the central location of the house and the freedom with the chickens, we were able to have some great days out in Berlin. Most sites were accessible by foot, but we were also able to cycle around as the home owners left us their bikes. I'd definitely recommend cycling round Berlin, but normally it will cost you about 10 Euros per day - so this is another way in which House Sitting can save you money.

We actually bought the Berlin Pocket Map and Guide which is fantastic so we highly recommend that you buy one. It's really light so you forget you have it, but every time you need a map or want to know more about something, it's there in your pocket! 

When we weren't exploring Berlin, we had the best time just hanging out in the house - I've almost finished my book (it's going to be about House Sitting). We've also been listening to classical music, practicing yoga, playing the piano and cooking - not just eggs!  Though here is a picture of some eggs I made (please note the chicken mug - a lot of consideration went into that composition): 

 

All in all we completely loved this House Sit, it was definitely one of our favourites so far. Should you House Sit in Berlin, Germany? Yes. Should you House Sit chickens? Double yes.

I wrote this post to give you a real taste of what House Sitting's like, if you're intrigued and would like to know more then we're more than happy to answer questions about House Sits/ help you to obtain House Sits (travelling weasels [at] hotmail [dot] com). If you're already convinced and want to sign up right now, you can do it here: TrustedHousesitters.

I want to end by highlighting how cheap this trip was because if saunas, chickens, luxurious houses and organic food don't convince you to House Sit, the price should. Signing up to House Sitting costs £5.99 (i.e. $7.99 or €6.99) per month. So even if you just use it once or twice a year, it's worth it compared with the price of a hotel. 

P.S. If you would like a 10% discount for trustedhousesitters.com subscribe to our free mailing list now!

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