Hey again! My exams are done, summer break has started (although I still have to finish my bachelor thesis and a paper), and I just got back from a four-day trip to Berlin with my parents. I have to say I really kind of fell in love with the city, because it just had such a good vibe. I can't really explain it, but it felt like all the people were just so calm and friendly. Also, it seems like there's a lot of cool things you can do there, like nice coffee bars, beautiful parks and cool stores. Besides that, it's really interesting to learn about the city's history. It's quite impossible to fit all of that into a four-day trip, so I definitely want to go back some time soon.
Anyway, I thought it would be nice to share some of the nice places I stumbled upon while I was there. I'll skip the common tourist things like the Brandenburger Tor, the Holocaust monument and the Alexanderplatz, and tell you about the things I personally enjoyed the most. I hope it's useful!
Food:
Roamers
Pannierstraße 64 (Neukölln)
I read about this place on Siri Forsell's blog while I was preparing our trip, and when we arrived to Berlin on Sunday afternoon and were quite hungry, it was the first thing that popped into my mind. I really liked the way it looked, it had a good atmosphere and the food was just delicious. I had a spinach salad with an over-easy egg and some avocado (getting hungry just looking at this picture). If you're looking for a good place for breakfast, lunch, or just a cup of coffee, you should go here.
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Schwarzes Café
Kantstraße 148 (Charlottenburg)
I read about this place in our city guide, and the description said that they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at any time of the day (or night). So I obviously went for scrambled eggs on toast, because how could I resist breakfast at two in the afternoon? We sat in this lovely garden at the back of the building and our waiter was really friendly (but also a little bit scatterbrained).
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Kitchen of Modern Asia
Friesenstraße 13 (Kreuzberg)
This is a place where we randomly ended up after my dad's bike got a flat tire and we had to wait for a guy that was coming to fix it. I wasn't planning on writing about this (that's why I only took one picture) but the food was just SO GOOD. I chose a dish called Tofu on Fire. I don't usually like tofu, because it tends to have no taste, but this time it was really delicious. Besides that, the prices were good and the waiter was super-friendly.
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Activities:
Mauerpark flea market
(Prenzlauer Berg)
Every Sunday, there's this huge flea market at the Mauerpark, where you can find lots of old and new things, have some delicious food or enjoy some live music. It was very crowded (and hot!), and although I didn't really buy anything, I thought it was a nice experience.
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Berlin on Bike
It's really nice to explore Berlin on bike, especially when the weather is nice. We decided to go for a guided tour, because not having to figure it out all on your own just makes a bike tour a lot more fun and relaxing. This was one of my favourite things of the trip, because it was just so pleasant to bike in the city when the sun is shining. The tour we took was called the Berlin Wall Tour and we cycled around in the area where the border between East and West Berlin used to be and stopped at some important places. I actually thought it was really interesting to get to know a little more about the history of Berlin and the Wall, and our guide explained all of it in a very accessible way. We took the tour in Dutch, but it's also available in English and German.
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Tempelhof
The last tip I want to give you is Tempelhof. This is an old airport that was built by the Nazi's and in the 1930's it was one of the biggest airports of Europe. It was also used by the Western Allies to transport supplies to the people in West Berlin during the blockade in 1948-1949 (when the Soviets blocked all the roads and railways). The airport was closed in 2008 and re-opened as a park in 2010. Our guide from the bike tour recommended us to explore it by bike, because it's so big and when the weather's warm it's just a lot more pleasant. I thought it was really interesting to have a look there because it just feels so cool to be able to cycle around on an airstrip. Also, this is a really good place to take pictures or just to relax (you're also allowed to grill there!).
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So these were all my Berlin tips, but I'm sure there's lots of other nice things to do/eat/see.
Feel free to leave your own tips in the comments! :)
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