Melodic ambience

When I visited the Cupcake Bakery in Prenzlauer Berg and mentioned that I am always searching for smokefree places in Berlin, a friendly worker there told me about a smokefree bar called “Erdbeer-Bar”.

Say what? “Smokefree” and “bar” - I never heard these words in combination here in Berlin although I heard about a smokefree pub in Weißensee. So I had to check for myself if that was true. Upon arrival at the Erdbeer-Bar which is situated near the Volksbühne at the corner of Max-Beer-Str. and Linienstr. I saw a man standing outside lighting up his cigarette. Actually a good sign cause somehow it told me that he did this here and not inside for a reason. And indeed, entering the bar there were a lot of people enjoying the music played by a live DJ and drinking their cocktails but nobody smoked. While the worn down furniture was something I had to get used to I really liked the big variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks as well as the size of the cocktails that you can get there. Not forgetting the fact that this bar is open until the early morning. So,if you want to sit somewhere smokefree late at night, this place is definetely recommendable.

A while ago I reported about cupcakes and the arrival of other items in this city long sought by American expats. Now, another café opened up in Prenzlauer Berg called “Cupcake Bakery” not only offering a wide variety of these delicious calorie bombs but also little sandwiches, English tea, scones and soups etc… Upon my first visit I especially liked the cozy atmosphere upstairs in a room basically lit up only by candles having a great view of the Zionskirchplatz and its impressive church. The Cupcake Bakery can be found at Zionskirchstraße 36. I am pretty sure that in this area with a lot of young people willing to try out new tastes it will find its cupcake fans under the Germans also. The café is completely smokefree.

For the american expat some beloved items are very hard to find in Berlin. US food products at Kadewe and other department stores are often overpriced and the american restaurants offer generally meals known to Germans. So, I was quite surprised to discover that a while ago viv (homepage in German), a German organic food store chain started offering organic american breakfast every saturday in their Lounge at Prenzlauer Berg. You’ll find all the long-missed goodies like Buttermilk pancakes, various sorts of scrambled eggs or french toast. This all can be even eaten at acceptable times since you can get american breakfast until 3 pm. At our first visit the place was pretty crowded. The food was made freshly after we ordered.

And for those who desperately seek for cupcakes, rice crispy treats, rootbeer floats etc. there is a place for you in Berlin-Friedrichshain called Cupcake (Krossener Straße 12, near the “restaurant-mile” Simon-Dach-Straße). This café is open from Wednesday and Sunday and offers english and american breakfast too. Vegans will find some adequate food as well.

It was late sunday night when I strolled down Danziger Straße in Prenzlauer Berg. Normally, this is the time when you don’t see many people out on the streets or in the restaurants. But not in this part of the town, almost every cafe or restaurant was crowded. Another special thing about Danziger Straße: In no other part of Berlin I have seen so many Late Night shops as in this street. When I walked between the crossing Prenzlauer Allee/Danziger Straße and the Kulturbrauerei, meaning I walked maybe around 10 - 15 mins. I noticed even 5 of these shops. And they all had customers coming in and out. Considering the high number of students, artists etc in this district I guess this is no wonder.

The new main train station in Berlin has been quite a success. Although while admiring the architecture of the station leaving this building at the south exit there can’t be any bigger contrast to the visitor’s eye. While the architecture of the train station is very interesting and there is much to explore in this big many-leveled building around it it’s somehow nowhereland. Just a huge area of sand and stones. Now, there has been some plans to use this wide open space, either for constructing buildings or to simple make a real square for people to walk on. For construction purpose fences were already built around large parts. While this view - as mentioned before - is not very charming, the nicely warm weather caused a tiny spot to deliver a much more pleasing view.

If you haven’t been looking for a while into the christmas-photo section of my photo album it might we worth going there again. In recent times I have been discovering some new festive illuminations in downtown Berlin. So in addition to the old material there are some new photos to look at.

Traditionally, this monday is the day when the special christmas illuminations of places and buildings will be switched on and most of the christmas markets will start in Berlin. So, whats new this season? Basically all the markets will be in the same places as they used to be the years before. Concerning the christmas lights Berlin-Pankow decided to put up some illumination too this time and the Gendarmenmarkt has these nice looking stars to offer.

Germany has an unique experience at the moment: Enhanced opening times of the shops. In order to support such an idea, I went to my local grocery store knowing, that the ordinary Berliner should not get used to this “freedom” since the shops will close earlier again after the Soccer World Cup. As reported in the newspaper, employees of shops that are even open until midnight are kinda bored at later times - hardly any customers in the shops. No surprise to me because a) germans aren’t used to these enhanced times and b) in an area like Kurfuerstendamm an overwhelming number of shops are already closing at 10 pm. I do not think that people will start to look or search for the few that are open even later. Either all shops close at 10 pm or all at midnight.

Yesterday before the game Brasil - Croatia in Berlin I walked downtown to get an idea of the special world cup atmosphere. Lots of fans from different countries were walking around there, but: They basically stayed at the main squares and places downtown, sitting the cafes near the Brandenburg Gate, buying souvenirs or going into a bakery close by Unter den Linden which lets me wonder if really all the stores and restaurants in the other parts of the city that were getting ready for those visitors will profit from the World Cup.

While over hundred thousand spectators are expected for the grand opening of the Berlin central station on friday evening, a few people who appeared there on thursday evening were already able to get an idea of the spectacular light show when they already tested a lot .

Of course the two trains (illuminated, I guess) coming from the east and the west did not arrive and probably some other effects were not shown either. But thinking of how crowded it will be at the actual party, for the people who were there today it was probably a unique chance to look at the illuminations from the best position.

Definitely worth visiting is the current “Tulipan” exhibition at the Britzer Garten. While reaching this spacious park lasts a while since it is situated in the south-west outskirts of Berlin - I had to take a bus, then a subway and a bus again to get there - the park presents until end of may about half a million tulips of various types. As said in park’s advertisements this is the biggest accumulation of tulips outside the borders of the Netherlands. It is almost a color explosion in front of your eyes and the camera is standard equipment for the many visitors. Very practical: Elevated chairs that you can climb and then sit in. They enable a nice view of the tulip fields.

But not only the current exhibition is worth visiting, the whole park, built for a national garden exhibition offers much more like a little lake, restaurants, a rose garden etc etc. A recommendation for the visitor: If you enter the garden at the “Blütenachse”, an entrance opened from april to october (reachable with the Bus M44, stop “Zimmererweg”) for about 5 - 10 mins. you will go through something probably typical german on your way through to the entrance - a “Schrebergarten”. It can be described as an area with a lot of little garden houses with gardens where people normally spend their spare time at.