Spoken, not said. 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…
Tag: Berlin
Play the Field: Berlin’s Best Board Game Cafe
Bad pun about a board game cafe? Never. It’s a… translation. “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…
Leave Berlin: Day Trip to Poznan
Yes, we know. Berlin is hard to leave. 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…
T is for Tajik Tearoom
Leave your shoes and sorrows at the door. There is only one place more relaxing than my own bed. And it’s one of Berlin’s best-kept secrets. Or, it used to be, until a couple of years ago when I became a regular and dragged carefully selected confidants along with me. I’m not too worried about…
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…
Two and Two = 10/10 Cafe in Berlin
Maths isn’t my forte. Drinking coffee in nice cafés is. Don’t ever big up a brunch place in Berlin. It’s as if they know you’re coming, and to prepare for your modest party of two they’ll hire hipsters & co. to strategically spread themselves across the five only tiny tables. This was my experience at Roamers,…
Piano for the people
An old piano workshop has become my new concert favourite. Hi, my name is [yeah, not so fast internet] and I like classical music; but I know squat all about it. It’s pretty, it’s soothing, it even makes me feel a bit clever until I’m asked what the name of the piece is I’m listening…
Yours for a euro
Paupers become book billionaires thanks to Tasso’s magic number. Are you a student? A read-a-holic? A polymath – of course you are. Now read this sentence; you’ll never be the same again: There is a cafe which sells books for one euro each.
A Small Wonder
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…
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