House of Small Wonder is a little miracle in the big city. When people visit and we’ve done the Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, etc. and we’re trudging along Friedrichstrasse, there is one question that I dread above all other questions: know anywhere good to eat near here? NO. No (I would think, sweating a storm…
Night-saver
Thank you, late-night café and ice cream parlour. It’s 11pm on a Monday night. I just handed over 90 cents for a scoop of tiramisu ice cream. Now I’m clutching the cone as I type. I think the word is content.
Simple is sweet
And I don’t mean in a let’s-get-back-to-our-coffee-roasting-roots kind of way. Incidentally, Ako does do good coffee. And sweetly decorated notebooks. And soft padded stationery cases. And is a mini art gallery. And co-shares the space with a record shop and two cats. And does the best interpretation of the elusive British scone that I’ve…
Nibbles at Nibs
Let me introduce you to chocolate. Mine. Hot chocolate should be so good that you’d squeeze yourself, chunky winter layers and all, onto a tiny bench for it. Hence why the above photo features someone’s legs in the background. In fact, Nibs Cacao is so tiny that I barely had enough space to swing a camera around. If you…
Stooping to the steep
Berliners: don’t get too high and mighty about the TV Tower Family resemblance? After spending a total of 17 months in the city, I finally condescended to do the number one Berlin tourist activity: I went up the TV Tower. There are more reasons that Berliners could give you for not going up the TV…
Sofas can float
Well, almost. You might have reached the bottom of this photo and found the floor was missing. Sorry to disappoint you. Ever been to a café with sofas nailed halfway up the walls? With a mattress on an upper level only accessible by a ladder? Or with concrete blocks on wheels for coffee tables? This is what…
Get out while you still can
The 3rd of October is a very important day. Would you believe that there was a near sheer drop just outside this frame? And by that I mean, I was sitting outside, basking in evening sunshine, actually grateful for a cold marble table under my arms, and checking our little old thermometer in disbelief –…
It never gets old
In a city where new discoveries are old hat, it’s hard to believe that finding a hidden gem is still possible. No prizes for finding the amusing detail in this idyllic scene. Let’s be honest: the secret hideaways of Berlin are fast becoming common knowledge. The infamous abandoned TB clinics and theme parks are regularly frequented…
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…
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