Ein kleines Wochenende in Berlin :)
Yep, that was me! I finally returned to (surprisingly sunny) Berlin after about 11 years...quite a place. I'd forgotten how buzzing it is. And how odd the Germans can be - as well as how nice. It was errr interesting to hear and speak German again, funny how it does kind of come flooding back.
I went over to visit my dad who's currently doing contract work over there. We got a really nice self-catering place in East Berlin. It would seem that it's now the place to be, and was very lively and lots of arty/bohemian stuff going on. Found a lot of cool shops (and consequently spent a little too much money!) - even just round the corner from where I was staying. The cost of living is definitely a lot less around there.
There was an amazing little second-hand shop with an excellent selection of shoes, a proper Rockabilly shop, a shop with Emily the Strange/Hello Kitty/Gorillaz stuff, a pretty stationery shop where I got some good art/film postcards, a flip-style shop where I got a Jaegermeister badge(!) and a Kenny (south park) badge for Stephen. Also found a funky shop with DMs, converse, t-shirts & stuff where I got some ace patterned tights (another for my 'funky tights' collection, hee hee) and a kitty patch.
Kreuzberg, Schoenenberg, Mitte, Friedrichshain, Hackeshe Hof, Alexanderplatz...just wish I could have made it out to Potsdam (where I went to school) and Zehlendorf (where I lived).
I'd forgotten the fact that drinking on the street is legal there - there was a ridiculous number of people drinking beer around the place. Altough I was very chuffed to find jack and coke *in a can* ! Ready-made, chilled, and for sale in a corner shop :D
It was nice to see things I remember like the Ku'damm, the Trabant in the Hard Rock Cafe (got a really cool Berlin top), KaDeWe and the Gedachtniskirche.
My only real regret is that I didn't have longer over there. I would love to have seen more of it, as this was like a 'taster' of Berlin. At some point, I'd love to go back and see it properly. I'm also seriously thinking about selling my stuff in Germany - there was some ace handmade stuff there.
I went over to visit my dad who's currently doing contract work over there. We got a really nice self-catering place in East Berlin. It would seem that it's now the place to be, and was very lively and lots of arty/bohemian stuff going on. Found a lot of cool shops (and consequently spent a little too much money!) - even just round the corner from where I was staying. The cost of living is definitely a lot less around there.
There was an amazing little second-hand shop with an excellent selection of shoes, a proper Rockabilly shop, a shop with Emily the Strange/Hello Kitty/Gorillaz stuff, a pretty stationery shop where I got some good art/film postcards, a flip-style shop where I got a Jaegermeister badge(!) and a Kenny (south park) badge for Stephen. Also found a funky shop with DMs, converse, t-shirts & stuff where I got some ace patterned tights (another for my 'funky tights' collection, hee hee) and a kitty patch.
Kreuzberg, Schoenenberg, Mitte, Friedrichshain, Hackeshe Hof, Alexanderplatz...just wish I could have made it out to Potsdam (where I went to school) and Zehlendorf (where I lived).
I'd forgotten the fact that drinking on the street is legal there - there was a ridiculous number of people drinking beer around the place. Altough I was very chuffed to find jack and coke *in a can* ! Ready-made, chilled, and for sale in a corner shop :D
It was nice to see things I remember like the Ku'damm, the Trabant in the Hard Rock Cafe (got a really cool Berlin top), KaDeWe and the Gedachtniskirche.
My only real regret is that I didn't have longer over there. I would love to have seen more of it, as this was like a 'taster' of Berlin. At some point, I'd love to go back and see it properly. I'm also seriously thinking about selling my stuff in Germany - there was some ace handmade stuff there.