Berlin 2018

Hello everyone,

I’m back!

I know it’s been a while but I will get more into what’s happened since I last posted over on another blog post which will be coming soon about finishing University, University life, how I dealt with juggling everything and still having a life, the different platforms I work on and finally the process I’ve been through with cancer. Hopefully this will be helpful to people who are going into University or finishing or just to share some positivity and inspiration to you guys.

Any way, so a couple of weeks ago, I surprised my boyfriend, Laurie with a trip to Berlin for his 22nd birthday! Both of us have never been and we were super excited! During this trip I started experimenting with creating Youtube videos/vlogging as its something I would love to get into, as it looks so much fun and I love watching other peoples videos as well. So please bare with the quality and skill for now, it’s something I need to practice, but super excited as now I have done a little Video for Berlin, I am getting the hang of it and planning for when I go to Spain.

So that was a hint, I made a Youtube video of Berlin which I would love for you guys to check out and give some support, that would really mean a lot, so please (Click Here)  and have a look… then come back!

To support the Youtube video I thought I would write a post of what we got up to in Berlin and places to check out!

So firstly we stayed with Hotel Amano (Grande Central) which was unbelievable!!! We arrived Sunday 10th June both very hungover and it was so amazing to arrive to the hotel which was so beautiful, clean and very cool! Hotel Amano Grande Central is right next to Central HBF station, and is a great location for travelling. One thing to bear in mind, that Berlin was very spread out, and all the locations and places we wanted to see were all over the place.

Sunday

So Sunday we arrived at the hotel around 6pm, as I said, both feeling pretty sorry for ourselves from the night before and exhausted from travel! So we thought it was best to head straight out for dinner and have an early night. The Hotel restaurant was closed for dinner on Sunday so we went next door to a restaurant Peter Pane. The restaurant was a burger grill cuisine and was very accommodating for gluten free options! I had the mango chutney chicken burger which they made into a salad with chips (which weren’t contaminated) and Laurie had the classic! it was perfect for what we needed, reasonable price and after we went for a drink at the Hotel’s rooftop bar and went straight to bed.

Monday

We woke up super early as we wanted to get a lot in today of touristic bits so we can be more relaxed with the next couple of days. So our plan for this morning was to go to Tempelhof Airport, an abandoned airport, turned into an open public space, which was highly recommended. We grabbed some breakfast at the station HBF, then went straight to Templehof.  ‘Tempelhof was used as the takeoff and landing site for the “raisin bombers” that provided the people of West Berlin with vital supplies, such as food, coal, and medical supplies. They also used mini-parachutes to drop 22 tons of candy for the children of Berlin, which led to their becoming known as the “candy bombers”.’- By The Independent

Little Transport Tips – We got the hang of the transport in the end, so train lines were at the top and trams were at the bottom. If you get lost there are a few tourist and ticket offices to help out. So to get there we went from HBF train station and got the got the U6 to platz der Luftbrücke as this way we walked past the airlift memorial and then along to the entrance of tempelhof park.When you get to the Airport it is a little confusing how to get in, we didn’t go actually into the airport as it was closed off how ever we went on the run way which is open to public! (laurie help) So to get in, you have to walk right down the far end (furtherest from bus/town) right to the end of the airport, which is humongous and there will be an open access.

‘Tempelhof has been used to test some of the world’s first aircrafts, house World War II prisoners, and give the people of West Berlin a vital lifeline to the outside world during the Cold War. It’s also been used to film movies such as “The Hunger Games,”‘ – By The Independent

Tempelhof is so incredibly beautiful and peaceful! People were walking, riding bikes and skate boards and I believe they do have events going on there as well, so when you plan to go check online to see if there is anything going on! (VisitBerlin Info)

So after spending the morning at Tempelhof walking around, we decided to walk to a highly recommend kebab shop which is known to be one of the most famous kebab shops in town and it was! There was a massive queue lining up when we got there. It was called Mustafas ‘Gemuse-Kebab’ – they have vegetarian options (not massively sure about vegan as of the sauces), also I want to say! if you don’t know already I am gluten intolerant, which isn’t a choice, and have a dairy/meat free diet. However as I was on holiday and Berlin was quite tricky to be gluten free and vegan… I just let it go a little, it made me feel not my best however I wanted to try out recommended dishes! So as being gluten free, I had a plate instead of a pitta or wrap, with mixed meat, grilled vegetables, potato, served with salad which had crumbled feta and garlic chilli dressing which was so good!! A place you defiantly have to check it out (VisitBerlin Info)

For the rest of the day we walked around to all the places we wanted to look at, you can get train everywhere but it was good to walk and go in and out of local areas of Berlin. It was fun as well and we tracked our steps and that day we walk walked… 21.2km and 32,473 steps!

The was the best meal ever in Berlin, by far! it was so delicious! So for dinner we went to 25 hours hotel, where we had drinks at Monkey Bar, which had an unbelievable view over looking the zoo, the city and had a dj playing! Then across the hallway was Neni Restaurant, which I would recommend booking prior as it is very popular and so is Monkey Bar. Neni was an Israeli cuisine, which was incredible! They were amazing for gluten free options and could accommodate me with gluten free bread and have a separate gluten free menu. Neni Restaurant and Monkey Bar were quite pricy however it was worth it.

So after we fancied going out and we were told to go to the hidden rooftop bar Klunkerkranich, which was such an experience. It was 30 minutes away from 25 hours hotel, and as we arrived where google maps took us we had no clue where we were or where the bar was… we walked around the buildings for ages figuring out what door it was to get in, we kept going past a shopping centre and both agreed it was too franchised to be above the shopping centre however when we decided one more round of the building we saw a couple come out the lift…so we had a go. We went up as high as you can go in the lift which was the level before an open roof and there both Laurie and I stood in a creepy empty car park and then we heard laughter come from the top and some girls came running down the spiral road from the top of the roof and as we walked towards the entrance, started emerging the bar decorations!!! it was the coolest thing, defiantly go check it out – I have left a link from a Berlin recommendation website (Click Here)

and a few tequila shots later we went home,

Tuesday

Tuesday, we woke up a little hungover so gladly we wanted take it easy today. As I naturally did, I browsed Instagram for Instagram-able coffee shops and cafes haha! We walked to District Coffee,I had oat milk latte, fresh orange juice, however didn’t have gluten free bread alternatives so I had two poached eggs, avocado, balsamic tomatoes and sesames seeds, and was still really good. The bread they served was sourdough and sourdough has a very very low am

The plan for today was to wonder round Berlin, stopping at tourist attractions and we went to the Banksy exhibition which was on in the Bikini Berlin Shopping Centre and this is also where 25 Hours Hotel/ Monkey Bar and Neni Restaurant where, it also had a food market hall that had a varied of different food cuisines, I had a Poke bowl and Laurie had German sausage and chips.

Badeschiff Pool/ bar on the Lake – By far Berlin has been so surprising and creative when it comes to creating fun atmospmophers and locations. To get here we had to walk around an industrial estate full of massive warehouses to get to Badeschiff. This was such a cool bar and chill outs areas, bars, food and obviously the pool in the lake!!! Parts of the bar was closed due to be during the week, so maybe best to go when its more lively however perfect for a little sleep and dip in the sun, and of course Aperol Spritz.

Dinner – Pho Noodle Bar. As Monday night was quite an expensive meal we wanted to find some where which was affordable and super good so we naturally looked on tripadivsor, which honestly was quite difficult due to potential fake ratings and photos, it took us a while to decide but in the end we decided to go for Pho, as you can’t really go wrong and its our favourite cuisine, and we nailed it! it’s a little Vietnamese solo restaurant and had little tables and chairs inside and out.  I had Fresh Vietnamese Prawn Summer Rolls and Vegetable, Tofu Noodle Pho (Ramen) and for drinks I had Gin, mint and elderflower sprits on repeat and the staff were so lovely and they gave us blankets as it got cooler later on.

For drinks before bed we went back to our hotel and had drinks on the roof top.

(photos – ask laurie for the picture of me in blanket)

We walked 17km and 27,199 steps

Wednesday

Our last day in Berlin 😦

For Breakfast went to Father Carpenter Cafe – an amazing location and amazing staff! so this was in quite a trendy area and this is where all the shops and brand houses were, a very quirky area! Again didn’t have gluten free bread how ever they were very helpful and made me a poached egg salad with avocado, hummus, and a mash pea and mint dip, so good!

and then sadly we were off back home, we weren’t ready to go back how ever that shows it had been an amazing trip and thats how you should end it.

A website which helped out a lot for information about places to visit, eat and drink was – VisitBerlin (Click Here)