Berlin

I'm back with more snaps from Berlin. They're mainly extraordinarily silly so I'll spare you the utterly ludicrous ones and include just the mildly funny ones. When we arrived we were so sleepy. We went for a walk in a nice park just up from our hotel in Mitte and had some falafel and groovy beers. Then it was bed time because we had to get off to Potsdam the next day. 

On Wednesday we spent the day exploring museums and churches and some great vintage shops. We started off with an enormous German breakfast at Cafe AM by the Neuen See in the Tiergarten. I'd never visited the Tiergarten before and it's so beautiful. I really wish we had parks on this size in England, it felt like we were in the countryside. The trees were all gorgeous shades of orange, it was a pretty excellent start to the day. The Cafe looks over the lake and is filled with wood burning stoves. It's very dark and there are candles lit even at 11 am!  The breakfast was great, on the pricey side but worth it as we didn't eat again until supper time. There was an amazing selection of cheeses, meats (I gave them to Josh), vegetables, vegetable pates, nuts, eggs and bircher muesli!  After breakfast we walked through the Tiergarten and managed to glimpse several of the animals inside the zoo for free. We saw Oryx (fighting), llama, exotic birds, a donkey, cows, camels and a wild boar! We then headed off to see Emphraim-Palais which had two really great exhibitions on - one on the Jazz age in Berlin called Dance on the Volcano and one on famous perfumers of Berlin (with a free perfume sample at the end!).  It's free on the first Wednesday of the month so we were pretty delighted to hit it on that day! Then it was off to Nikolaikirche, a two-spired church just down the road. It's now a museum and home to some seriously wonderful carved wood sculptures. It was truly astounding. It's also free on the first Wednesday. Next door is Knoblauchaus, the former home of a German silk-merchant. It's a completely intact 19th century apartment. It had the most wonderful selection of objects and fabulous brightly coloured walls. Sadly no pictures allowed so I didn't manage to snap any (even sneaky ones!) but it is again free on the first Wednesday (I wish we had these kind of deals in our museums). We then went to a couple of vintage stores and charity shops. I got some brilliant things which I'll be showing you all very soon!  

On Thursday it rained intensely for hours and we kept going to shops we wanted to visit and finding them closed. We still had a great day though and ate some seriously delicious food. Particularly good was the Street Food Thursday at Markthalle Neun in Kreuzburg. It was full of Brits (it's a bit like Borough Market) but that aside it was packed full of yummy delights. We had Tikka Panner Chapati wraps which were so so delicious and a really great ginger, apple and lemon juice.  We visited Aufschnitt, an entirely textile butchery and bakery, during the day only to find it closed until 12. We snapped a few pictures of the window and moseyed off. We also tried to visit Intershop2000 which sells former GDR clothes and home wear but it was also shut. We did visit the DDR museum, it was a total let down. SO incredibly interactive (I guess I should of known it is billed as Berlin's MOST interactive museum!) that the whole experience was rendered 'fun' which felt a bit wrong. Anyway I did enjoy all the packaging.

Finally on Friday it was time to fly home so we made a quick detour for some delicious coffee and bagels at St Olberholz. We had a super delicious toasted pumpkin seed bagels with avocado, mung bean sprout, herb paste and roasted tomato! We had the same breakfast the day before, it was so good! We then visited the Playmobil shop. I love Playmobil. I always have done always will and Berlin is home to it's flagship.

Berlin is such a fun city. There is so much to see / do / eat / drink it's hard to cover in one blog post. This is just a small selection of what we did. I'm planning another trip to Germany for the Spring I think. I want to visit Berlin  yet again but then also maybe take the train to Munich! I love the German countryside, it's so leafy and green (even more so than ours!). If you are planning a trip to Berlin I wholly recommend the excellent Secret City Travel website,  it has so many tips and great untouristy things to do in Berlin. Another great blog based in Berlin is What Should I Eat for Breakfast Today?, I frequently use it for recipe ideas but it's also home to great suggestions for places to get coffee or brunch in Berlin. Of course you are also welcome to email me!

Outfit Details

Monday

1960s velvet floral skirt - Kilo shop in Poland

1960s Tudor rose t-shirt - Kilo sale London

1990s boots - flea market stall

Wednesday

1970s cotton maxi dress - charity shop

1960s Aquascutum coat - car boot sale

Thursday

1930s pink slip dress - car boot sale

1930s pink nightie (worn underneath) - charity shop

Bavarian fur hat - vintage shop Berlin

Friday

Cotton Dirndl dress - vintage shop Berlin

Hungarian embroidered blouse - belonged to my Aunty

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