An Ode to Beautiful Berlin

Ah Berlin, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...


Let me just say that I had zero expectations, it had been over 10 years since my last visit, and that was in the frigidly cold November of my madcap European backpacking odyssey, when I ran out of money long before Berlin, and was thus limited to 50 cent cans of cheap German lager and ... well that's all I can remember consuming to be honest.


Berlin is delightful in so many ways, I had no idea! It's cheap, covered in the most amazing public art and crawling with unassumingly cool hipsters. Apart from this, it's also green, so so green. There are parks everywhere, and the parks are for lounging, drinking beers, eating picnics and generally relaxing. Berliners love to relax - and the staggering number of superb outdoor bars, cafes, restaurants can attest to both this, and their love of the outdoors in general.


I honestly couldn't recommend it more, and of course it helped to have such an amazing tour guide as Michelle, who despite having only lived there for 6 weeks, was a veritable wealth of useful knowledge on where to go and what to do. That was lucky, because in typical fashion, I had journeyed sans guide book-y type publication.

A fine example of previously described public art - just on the apartment next door to Michelle and Rick's in Neukolln. (Oh god, did I spell that right?!)

The mouth-watering Turkish markets, the food was delectable to the extreme, oh god, the mountains of olives, feta, turkish bread, dips, etc etc. I could've hung around all day, but although Stu loves eating food, he's not so much into just looking, and he doesn't get why I take endless photos. He got pretty tired of my incessant moaning about how I couldn't find anything nearly this good in Eburger. I also picked up some really cute necklaces, a ring and a pendant for 20 Euros. Sweet!

Mmmm, plantains a-frying at the Ghana food stall.

Oh god, the turkish baked goods. I wanted to try it all, all!

Stall devoted entirely to licorice. Ewwww, not so tempting.

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

I'm drooling as I type. Kalamata olives, oh how I've missed ye!

The fruit and veg was obscenely cheap - I bought a massive bag of vine tomatoes for about 80p.

Though less enticing for the likes of me, still worth a mention were the reams and reams of fabric .... and zippers ...

Dip me Julio!

Shower me in walnuts!

On our first day, Stu and I headed out while Michelle went and sat a test in her 3 hour (per day) intensive German course. We were pretty content to stick to the neighbourhood, and its awesomeness did not disappoint. Turkish markets, beer gardens, crazy streets full of Berliners, the wall but to name a few attractions.

This wisteria covered the entire wall of a 7 storey building.

If we hadn't stayed at Michelle's....

Heading toward the wall over the Spree.

Some of the paintings that covered this section of the wall still standing were excellent renditions of murals with a very Riviera-esque quality. I loved.

'Where shall we stop for our next beer?' I was no doubt thinking.

Dammit Stu, I forgot what this said. Little help?

Kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, maybe not the most beautiful piece, but definitely caught my eye. It all felt very grass-rootsy, as so many aspects of Berlin certainly are. Power to the people!

Just chillin.

Bar 25 - this photo can't possibly begin to capture the magic. A club that was more outdoors than indoors, which giant mirrorballs hanging from the trees, tyre swings and a back shed for a bar. Right on the river Spree, it was fucking cool, but without being pretencious. Just as we arrived there was a group of Brits being kicked out, presumably for being obnoxious bastards, as is their want when abroad (or back home). Without their rowdy presence, the place was understatedly cool and laid back.

This is where the cool be at.

We drank Mate and vodka. We were informed by the bartender that 'the German way' is to skull a portion of the Mate out of the bottle, and then he'd refill it with vodka. Stu obliged by downing half his bottle, so that what he was left with was almost pure vodka. The bartender didn't fall for that one twice. We partied till about 3am, then headed home. After being up and about for 26 hours, Stu and I were well and truly ready to crash.

The next day by the Brandenberg Gates. Having stocked up on a supply of Turkish awesomeness at one of Shell's nearby supermarkets, we headed into the centre to indulge in a little tourism, picnic-ing and beer.

The Jewish Holocaust memorial, so beautiful.

The memorial's meaning is left up to the interpretation of the individual, and to try and relate how I felt when I was there would be fruitless, you just have to go there and experience it for yourself.

The best thing about it was how interactive it was. No velvet ropes here.

Ah, German pilsners, a massive city park where from within, you can't see the city, delightful Turkish picnic. Check out the pendant I bought at the markets!

Unprovoked, I decided to launch myself on Stu, and we tumbled down the hill. Bah ha ha.

In Mitte - what was once East Berlin has been transformed into ultra chic, ultra expensive with a bohemian charm all its own. Ironically, these days, the more affordable (due to being more run down) areas are in West Berlin, and are now home to many migrant communities, of which the Turkish contingent is massive.

Checking out Michelle's next adventure to Roskilde festival - 5 days of festival madness AND she gets to stay in a house, avec showers, etc. Tres jealous am I!

Outdoor living, Berlin-style.

And with that, our Berlin adventure came to an end. We had one final meal at a famous Vietnamese restaurant (I don't think I ate any traditionally German fare all weekend) before heading back to Michelle's for an early night due to out 7am wake up call at which time we trudged, relunctantly, back to Schoenfeld and thence back to Eburger. But not before Stu could sample the breakfast of champions - croissant-wurst. It is what it is. My plan is to get back to Berlin as soon as possible, there's still far too much to see and do!