Berlin Weekend

This year for Christmas I received a ridiculously nice gift from Ignasi. That put my Christmas gift to absolute SHAME. I opened a box with 12 cards inside. These were the cards:

Thursday Night:

From work we hopped in a cab and zipped off to the airport. Our flight was a bit delayed due to wind allowing us some time to enjoy a few beverages. Then we were off!

The Soho Haus is a very beautiful hotel. The lobby was populated by plush chairs and a grand stairwell decorated in a rustic/swanky sort of way that Berlin pulls off so well. It also was adorned with two Damien Hurst 'artworks' that I'm sure upon delivery he was laughing all the way to the bank. One of them 'SOHO HAUS BERLIN' is featured in the above cards.

We dropped our bags in the room and met up with some old Amsterdammer friends (from Toronto) that now live in Berlin—Antonio and Fitza—in the Club Bar on the 7th floor. Where George Clooney also happened to be enjoying some company a few meters away.

Friday:

Woke up in our gorgeous room, enjoyed a waterfall shower in the heated-floor bathroom, and took full advantage of their wide range of Cowshed products. Then we headed out for some wandering.

The light in our room:

We first got a light breakfast near the hotel at Luxemburg cafe and then headed towards the Turkish Market. The market was similar to the markets here in Amsterdam, except there was a lot more amazing street food, and more material.

Some coffee:

Bought a couple posters. One of them is the Metropolis on on the right side of the photo:

Some kids playing football just off the market:

The city is full of people leaving their mark, through tags, graffiti, and sculpture:

After the market we got some food at Manuela Tapa's. And what is this? Yes, a plate full of whole little sea creatures. Usually when I eat these, it's bits of tentacles, not the whole deal. I tried one, and imagined/felt it's little eyes and head popping in my mouth. I decided to stick to the legs after that.

After lunch we wandered to Hasenheide Volkspark. A bit sketchy. And then over to Bergmannstrasse. Some more random acts of art:

Next we went up to the Jewish memorial. Spent some time getting lost in the pillars, and then went into the museum to read the whole story.

After the memorial, we also scoped out the gates to the city, and Checkpoint Charlie.

Friday evening we headed to Markthalle for dinner. We ordered very meaty dishes with a mountain of sauerkraut and the best potatoes au gratin I've ever tasted.

We finished off the meal with some schnapps and sketches, and then headed over to the bustling Lucia for 1...4 gin&tonics, and oh a couple tequila shots. Really, Ignasi?

Saturday:

Breakfast in bed. Properly spoiled.

Wandered around Mitte. Headed over to the Neurotitan Shop & Gallery, enjoyed some great street art in the alley: 

Saw some great stuff in their gallery:

Next up, SpreePark. SpreePark is an abandoned amusement park.

A little info:

"An old GDR-era amusement park flanked by the River Spree, abandoned to the elements at the edge of Treptower Park in Berlin. East Germany's only permanent funpark after opening as the 29.5 hectare Kulturpark Plänterwald in 1969, it was hugely popular, not least because of its 45 metre Riesenrad (ferris wheel). Spreepark was host to some 1.7 million visitors a year at its peak. Since the wall fell in 1989 however, its decline began. Only 400,000 visitors graced the park with their presence in 2001 before it was finally closed, escalating prices, stupid decisions and dodgy dealings contributing to its demise. Debts of €11 million were reported." To see full blog post I copy/pasted that from, go here (it's interesting): 

http://www.abandonedberlin.com/2010/04/spreepark-and-how-to-get-in.html

So, as it is trespassing to enter the park, Ignasi and I of course didn't go. We of course didn't wander the fence for half an hour to find a hole to get in. And we didn't hear the ferris wheel sound like dozens of screaming children when it started spinning on its own accord in the wind. We also of course didn't get kicked out by a very nice security guard 45 minutes later along with 4 other people. So, of course, we didn't take these photos:

After our non-visit to SpreePark, we met up with Ignasi's cousin, Vanessa, and her partner Christian for some dinner at Filetstück. It was proper meat on meat on meat salad, and it was delicious.

After dinner we went for a few beers in the smokiest bar I've been to in years. 

"Malia, they're snorting tobacco at the bar."

"What?! Umm...not sure it's tobacco, Ignasi."

"I was a smoker for years, I know what tobacco looks like."

"Oh, there they go again!"

So that happened.

We next joined Antonio for a few beers at his place and then went to a squatter ping pong bar. One of the stranger scenes I've seen. You enter to a room with a ping pong table in the center. Everyone is there with their own paddles. You circle the table volleying the ball, and as people mess up they get eliminated. Once you're down to two, the game begins. The games went relatively quickly, so I don't think they were full matches. And then everyone got up and started circling again. I was well into my drink at this point, so I didn't manage to get one hit in. Ignasi did a little better. And Antonio made it down to the final two once.

There was also a mini foosball table that we commandeered for some time. I lost.

After some delicious wee-hours-of-the-morning-food, we hopped in a cab back to the hotel.

Sunday:

The next day (or same day) we woke up with fantastically slow moving limbs and pounding heads. Checked out of the room, and wandered over to a breakfast place Ignasi knew of, Strandbad-Mitte. And thank goodness, they serve delicious breakfasts all day. It doesn't look like much from the pictures, but it was actually very cute, and the menu was great, I definitely recommend it:

Bedhead:

After breakfast we headed over to the Hamburger Bahnhof for some culture.

First we admired Martin Honert's sculpture work:

Saw Mr. Warhol:

And were blown away by the meticulousness of George Widener, who looks at dates and figures and draws endless connections. For example, a disaster that happened a Friday for every day of the month throughout history:

And then it was back to Amsterdam. 

Thanks for the trip Ignasi!

Parting Shot:

Chewing Gum At The Metro Stop Makes You Look Like A Thug