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Performer Berlin Spoken Word
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Spoken Word in the Spotlight

Spoken, not said.

Berlin Spoken Word stage performance

If we’re honest with ourselves, open mic nights can be a bit of a mixed bag. And sure, that’s how they’re supposed to be – an evening that any old Jack or Jill can go to to get up on stage and get a few seconds of glory. You can’t always expect that much from them. At least, unless you go to Du Beast on a Thursday night.

Before going, I invited a friend to the “open mic night”, Berlin Spoken Word. But after just one dose of it, I realised it would be unfair to sum it up like that. It delivers exactly what you’d suspect: spoken words. Those can be poems, stories, true anecdotes, amusing lies, songs, stabs at saying something in front a crowd, whatever. They’re not restrictive about what you can do, almost to the point that the schedule starts to go a bit haywire. But what they are selective about is that human element, that open-minded, conscientious empathy, that an average open-mic night down the local pub really lacks. Continue reading “Spoken Word in the Spotlight”

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Settlers of Catan 3D
Do, Eat & Drink, Shop

Play the Field: Berlin’s Best Board Game Cafe

Bad pun about a board game cafe? Never. It’s a… translation.

Shop front Spielwiese Berlin

“Spiel” is the German word for game. “Wiese” is the German word for meadow. And “Spielwiese” is my word for inexhaustible fun. Spielwiese is also the name of a board game cafe in Friedrichshain.

This place has been a favourite of mine since 2012 – that’s commitment by Berlin’s standards. Spielwiese has kept me and many others under its spell with a promise of good times that is kept every time. I like it for the cosy and slightly nostalgic atmosphere, but after a quick google I found out it’s the second biggest board game cafe in the world with ca. 1,400 games (we have to concede victory to France).

How it works: you turn up, say hi to the bearded owner (I think), who looks like a Professor of Board Games. He’ll give you a card. The first half hour is free, and then after that it’s 1 euro per hour, and you pay when you’re ready to leave. There are bottled beers, cider, caffeinated drinks and snacks (the waffles call to me every time). These are to keep you fed and watered while you lay siege to your frenemies. If you want to completely fiend out on board games you can also rent them overnight. Continue reading “Play the Field: Berlin’s Best Board Game Cafe”

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Poznan Stary Rynek
Do, Go

Leave Berlin: Day Trip to Poznan

Yes, we know. Berlin is hard to leave.

Poznan Stary Rynek

Many have moved here from other continents with good intentions: “Ooo, no more than a couple of hours to Hamburg, Leipzig, Dresden? Hell yeah! Backpacking, here I-” and then they’re called out to the latest vernissage with free tea tastings followed by beer yoga (google it if you doubt me).

But there’s more to life than Spätis and Mauerpark. Sometimes we tend to forget that Berlin, half a day away from Cologne and Munich, is almost sitting on the Polish border. This makes it a mere three hours from Poznan: the cutest cafe town I’ve ever been to.

Now, what are your excuses? Time? Poznan can be done in a day, and you can easily work on the train. Money? A train ticket can cost 40-50 euros last minute without a Bahncard25 (i.e. 25% discount), and there are some buses that go there. Plus it’s 1 euro to 4 zloty, so your spending money is quadrupled. I probably spent no more than twenty euros for two and a half meals and a handful of hot drinks.

Continue reading “Leave Berlin: Day Trip to Poznan”

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Stück Plastik Laurenz Laufenberg Photo: Arno Declair
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Plastic is the New Poo: Berlin Theatre gets its Hands Dirty

When things start going down the toilet, a family hires a Jessica to clean up.

Actors: Robert Beyer, Jenny König, Sebastian Schwarz, Marie Burchard; Photo: Arno Declair

Stück Plastik (A Piece of Plastic) is the Schaubühne state theatre’s latest excuse to break the fourth wall with food.

Nothing goes unmocked in this play. If you’re a character who’s lost all creativity and sensibility, you get spaghetti thrown at you. If you’re a character who thinks you haven’t lost it, you get spaghetti thrown at you. If you’re not a character and have paid 30 euros to sit in the first row, you get spaghetti thrown at you.

I think I’d go to see this play for the spaghetti-slinging alone, but that’s not why I came home raving about it. Continue reading “Plastic is the New Poo: Berlin Theatre gets its Hands Dirty”

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Berlin car2go
Do

Ausländer to Insider

Moving to Berlin for the second time round seems like a piece of sausage.

The first time, I had a couple of friends already there, but they had what I didn’t have – a life. In the first few months of living abroad, obtaining this precious thing was my ultimate aim, and I went about my work ruthlessly… er, I mean, engagingly. Thankfully there were some people in this town who were crazy enough to like me for that, and believe it or not, they’re not too hard to find.

Abroad, alone, and with absolutely nothing to lose. In the right hands, these three setbacks can be weapons of mass abduction, capable of ensnaring unsuspecting acquaintances-to-be. How? With a bit of guts, a lot of patience, and no shame whatsoever. Berlin is the perfect city to push the boat out in as it is flooded with choice in terms of things to do. Daily. If you’re not in Berlin, then try not to allow your burning envy stop you getting inspiration from these cunning tricks.

[Note: no strangers were harmed in the making of this article. Hopefully.]
Continue reading “Ausländer to Insider”

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