Entrance to the nhow Hotel in Berlin
A couple of hours into the 5-hour train ride, we were informed by another passenger that our seats were going to be taken by the person who’d reserved them from the upcoming stop to Berlin, so we gathered up our things and prepared to move. Without realising just how packed the train was going to be from this point on, we failed to procure new, unreserved seats before the train filled up and people were left standing or sitting in hallways. This being our first train ride of any length across Germany, we had no idea that this was going to happen. Our intended 5 hours of peaceful internet surfing and work-doing was now completely out of the question. We sat on the floor in a quiet hallway and ate the food we had carefully packed, all the while staring at the tops of the trees we could see going by through the windows that looked out upon the passing countryside above us. Later, our lower backs were hurting, and we realised there was more than one reason to reserve a seat on a train ride longer than 2 hours…
Lesson learned, we decided to procure reservations for a trip home, and that we did. If you’ve never traveled across Germany in a train before, be forewarned: you will need to reserve a seat if you’re anything more than a teenager, with either work to do or a bad back – and it’s worth the extra couple of Euros. And be further forewarned: the only seats that have power outlets on these trains (ICE trains, that is), are the ones that seat four facing one another and have a table in the middle. So, if you’re reserving and need an outlet, ask to reserve this seating arrangement.
In any case, we arrived in Berlin, ready to take on the city. We went to our hotel, nhow Berlin, and checked in, in awe of the beautifully designed interior, art directed by Karim Rashid (the designer of the Umbra line of products, and countless other products and building interiors). Focused on music and sound, the hotel was located just steps away from Universal’s Berlin headquarters, probably an indication that famous musicians stay here frequently. They had a recording studio in the hotel, guitars and amps available to check out into the rooms, a way to hook up instruments and other music playing items to the in-room media centre, and a bar/gallery/event space on the main floor that probably hosted many a high-end, celeb-filled evening (though I can’t say for certain). In any case, it felt pretty darn neat to be in the shadows of such probable greatness, even though our room was definitely on the cheaper end (it was small, all things considered – though that would be my ONLY complaint – the interior was gorgeous, it was incredibly clean, and – dare I say – the bathroom itself was sexy).
After checking into the hotel, it was mid-afternoon, so we decided to head downtown, orient ourselves and check out Mitte – Berlin’s fashion district. We stopped at Alexandreplatz, a large square on the edge of Mitte, and got ourselves a massive bratwurst and a large mug of beer to enjoy in the afternoon sun. It was cool and windy, but the food warmed us up and gave us the edge we needed to continue our exploration.
At this point, I started looking out for a couple of yarn shops I’d seen on Google maps. We saw a sign for one, but didn’t understand it and missed the shop on this first pass. We also missed the other yarn shop on the first pass – they can be quite difficult to find!
We wandered around and saw the edge of Berlin’s Really Important Buildings and Monuments district, but we planned to spend Saturday fully exploring all that stuff, so we only passed by. We eventually found ourselves on another outer edge of Mitte, full of sidewalk restaurants. Along this strip, we stumbled across Mask World, and had to reign ourselves in substantially so we wouldn’t cave and buy both a gorgeous pair of large, white feather wings (for an event coming up, which I shall blog about later), nor this gorgeous, metal Venetian mask (it was cheaper in store actually – $50 cheaper! kicking myself now…).
We kept wandering and stumbled across an adorable wine cellar (Der Weinkeller) nestled into the basement of an old-fashioned building. Staffed by a sole, immaculately dressed man, he welcomed us and seemed a little surprised by our stepping into the musky, damp, dimly-lit cellar. We oohed and awed over the wares, and the man asked if he could help us choose a wine. Misha said we’d like to spend about 10-15 € on a bottle of red. He pulled out a bottle from Italy, explaining it’s not too sweet of a flavour, and it should satisfy what we’re looking for. He emphasised, with a somewhat nervous look in his eye (as if he thought we may not follow his instruction) that this wine must be uncorked and left for an hour, in order for the flavour to come out its finest. Indeed, when we later uncorked the wine, we were both a little horrified by the vinegary flavour of it, until I remembered his instructions. Uncertain, we left it out for an hour and sure enough, it “ripened” and became surprisingly palatable – and our first fine wine-buying experience turned out a success. I understood now why the nervous look in the proprietor’s eye as he handed the bottle over to us – “Will these young kids really understand and remember my instruction? I hope they are not turned off fine wine forever!” We giggled a little about this and finished up our lucky find.
We continued along this little back street, and next found ourselves in front of a cute little cafe / restaurant. We decided to stop in here, as it was beginning to get late and we were both experiencing growling stomachs by now. We sat down to a menu of traditional, home-style German food, and by the end were quite satisfied with our meal. You can read my review of Restaurant und Bar Keyser soze here – check it out next time you’re in Mitte.
On our wander back to the hotel, we came across Moni Novy Berlin, a local fashion designer’s shop. I’m now kicking myself for not getting something from there – it all just looked so high-end, and expensive! (It wasn’t.)
After our weekend in Berlin, and our couple of jaunts to Mitte, I now completely understand why Fluevog would dedicate a pair of shoes to the district, and definitely have to get myself a pair (soon as the price drops again).
You can view our photo albums of Berlin here (mine) and here (Misha’s).
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