Tag: featured

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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Chandelier Tajik Tearom
Eat & Drink

T is for Tajik Tearoom

Leave your shoes and sorrows at the door.

Tajik Tearoom Tadschickische Teestube

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 this place becoming the tea-lover’s Berghain*, though. It’s tucked away in an artsy courtyard, labelled “Kunsthof“. True to its name, the cobblestoned inner city glade makes a pretty picture: go at dusk to get the full benefit of the tree covered in fairy lights. Continue reading “T is for Tajik Tearoom”

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Time for a little tuning Piano Salon Christophori
Go

Piano for the people

An old piano workshop has become my new concert favourite.

Time for a little tuning Piano Salon Christophori

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 to. The answer the poor, sophisticated soul will get is probably: “Uhhh… abbreviation, number, some foreign words?!” At least, this was the limited extent of my relationship to classical music for some time. Until Piano Salon Christophori walked into my life. Continue reading “Piano for the people”

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Eat & Drink, Shop

Nibbles at Nibs

Let me introduce you to chocolate.

 SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

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 live in Berlin, then the narrow chocolatiers will remind you of your bathroom. If you don’t live in Berlin, line up a couple of medium-sized wardrobes side by side, then add a chest of drawers to make an L-shape – that’s Nibs.

If you’re lazy *AHEM* freelance like me, then go at the most unpopular time you can, unless you enjoy doing battle with fellow chocoholics – there will be a queue. Once inside, admire the wide selection of flavoured hot chocolates they have. And then forget all of them, apart from the one at the very top of the menu board: the Spanish hot chocolate. Why? For the same reason that this kind of chocolate is served with a spoon – it’s so thick, so oozing with real chocolate, that you’re supposed to eat it rather than drink it. To ease you into this idea of eating your drink, they also serve the Spanish version with freshly fried churros. Never had it? Picture doughnuts, only better – fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and sprinkled with sugar. “Can it get more heavenly than that?!” screams your inner greedy person. Oh yes it can: the churros and the chocolate are made fresh – the Spanish hot chocolate always has a quick turnover. Continue reading “Nibbles at Nibs”

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