Life on Pine

Berlin

schnitzel spaetzle and schöneberg

Kate Parrish2 Comments


our next few days were spent exploring the whole city. our friends are native west berliners and live in the awesome schöneberg neighborhood. it was really cool to see the city and its history through their action packed itinerary. we continued to do a mix of touristy, hipstery [sigh] but mostly local-y fun things. we had great weather [sunny and not too hot], tried so many different types of food, met up with another friend from TAO and saw her epic new apartment [the apartments in berlin are out of this world!], got the transit system down and wished for a bit more time in this fun city. 

QUICK FAVORITES TO EAT AND DRINK:

  • YAAM beach club for drinks after a long bike ride
  • prinzessinnengarten biergarten: this urban garden also includes local food trucks, drinks and true biergarten vibe
  • roamers coffee and booze cafe [they have tasty food, too]
  • ORA bar right in oranienplatz (kreuzberg), inside an old pharmacy is a super cozy bar/restaurant. only basic cocktails are available before 6pm, after, the craft cocktail bartender arrives. the interior reminds me of this spot in austin! there are also a lot of other cool bars in this area if you have time to wander around 
  • thai park [preussen park]: homecooked thai food served farmers market style 
  • district moi saigon street food, fun for dinner. sit on the patio
  • 36 curry das original aus berlin : if german pork sausage and curry ketchup interests you

QUICK FAVORITES TO EXPLORE:

  • biking berlin: the city is flat and easy to navigate which makes it perfect for two wheels
  • kreuzberg neighborhood: very fun area to wander around
  • boat ride along the spree river [BYO alcohol if you can be somewhat discreet about it!]
  • 25 hours hotel: grab coffee, shop or have a cocktail at their monkey bar [overlooking the monkeys in the berlin zoo] 
  • tempelhof field the famous west berlin airfield has become the city’s biggest urban park, great to hang in the summer and see the history of the buildings
  • visit a proper kneipen: julian is local expert on some of the best in town. these german 'working man clubs' are somewhat of a dying breed, but hold so much history as some places have been open 50+ years and used to be the center gathering spot for each neighborhood. think, a dive bar, but better. the guys ended up at this one every night, an old favorite of david bowie's when he lived here

stay tuned for the full travel guide coming soon! 
 

welcome to berlin

Kate Parrish2 Comments


berlin has been on our list for a while now – after hearing stories from friends that have visited and meeting locals, i was so intrigued by the mix of history, old and new architecture, art, music, food, bier, nightlife and just overall "vibes" that i'd heard so many people rave about. neither of us had ever been to germany, and after meeting julian and coco on tao philippines, they offered to let us stay in their guest room the next time we were in europe. we decided to take them up on it! and i'm so happy we did. it was so fun to not only stay with locals, but to hear more about the city from their point of view, and get a true local's tour blended in with some of the research we had done on our own. 

we arrived on a thursday and dropped our bags before having a somewhat "touristy" day seeing a lot of the historic spots. before arriving we had heavily brushed up our research on the history of berlin and were enamored with learning everything we could about WWII, hitler, prussia, nazi germany, soviet communism, the wall and well... so much more. you can just feel the history walking through the streets, and we couldn't get enough.

some of our favorite stops in central berlin include:

later we went to our home for the weekend and had a delicious home cooked meal & caught up with our friends. we also spent the evening mapping out the rest of our visit – below are just a few photos from around the city. more to come!