The first leg of my trip to Europe is five days in Berlin, staying with a couple of friends and their awesome two-year-old in the suburb of Wilmersdorf, due south from the western edge of the Tiergarten.
I spent 3-4 days in Berlin about a decade ago, and went around to most of the major tourist sites then. So this time I’m more interested in visiting a few less ‘popular’ places and getting a real feel of what life here is like. Fortunately that means spending quality time with my friends.
Some highlights included:
- Wilmersdorf Volkspark at dusk, including discovering across the Rathaus Schoneberg, where Kennedy delivered his ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech.
- Karl Marx Allee, including the Computer Games Museum, Capitan Pretzel Gallery, Kino Internationale, and Berlin Haus.
- Rosa Luxenberg Straße and surrounds, including a pumpkin and mango soup at the hipster Cafe Oliv.
- Ostbanhof, starting point for seeing Courtney Barnett rock out at Postbanhof, then wandering along the Eastside Gallery the following day on the way to…
- Kreuzberg: finally getting a good coffee at Passenger Cafe on Oppelner Straße (Australian barista), avoiding the dodgy park, amazing street art
- 1936 Berlin Olympic Stadium: expensive beers, grandiose buildings, great atmosphere at the match supporting FC Hertha, including a minute’s silence at the beginning for the victims of the recent Paris attacks.
- Eggnog at the Christmas markets: My frist German Christmas markets experience was at a small one in an outer suburb. There was a mini-train, fake ice-skating and eggnog with an extra shot (or two) of rum!
I’ll be back in Berlin in late December for Christmas and New Years – looking forward to it already!
Below is my photo gallery from Berlin. You can also clickthrough to see it on Flickr:
