Our pre-Christmas treat, to spend a few days in our favourite city.
I truly cannot recommend it enough. The atmosphere is civilised and progressive, the people we met urbane and interesting.
There’s a huge amount of history – Third Reich and Cold War especially – to see and learn about, and challenging contemporary art in concrete bunkers behind front doors like this one…
(Things you CAN do in an intense digital art exhibition: stroke your goatee and nod sagely. Things you CANNOT say: you can get those in Maplins)
Cheeringly Berlin is also home to the Trabant, East German classic car. The picture above shows me seriously deciding whether to buy one.
In the end here is the one I bought.
And if this were not enough, the cafes in Berlin understand that you might want a cold beer and a rice pudding AT THE SAME TIME.
I’d like to see more European cities and in truth haven’t visited many.
Do you have any recommendations?
I love that you had beer and rice pudding at the same time, we once had beer and chocolate cheesecake in a cafe on Skye at 10am whilst waiting for our bus. It was amazing! I haven’t been to many European cities either but we have a soft spot for Brussels, which people often dismiss. It’s a beautiful city with lots of interesting things to do (the book Secret Brussels is a great guide), I suppose it helps our good friends live there and can show us things the tourists don’t know about, like the great view of the city from the tenth floor of a non-descript car park.
Brussels is definitely on my list – as is the book you recommend. And as you say nothing beats having a friend there.
An early morning beer and chocolate cheesecake on Skye – bliss! There are certain occasions where an early ‘sharpener’ is just the ticket. I can remember a strong cider in Dieppe as the sun came up. (in fact it’s those moments one remembers best – the cathedrals have slightly merged together!)
Ooh I used to live in Brussels too and can heartily recommend it! A great city to just walk around and get lost in.
I love Paris but Strasbourg is my favourite European city. It has a beautiful cathedral, a lovely old town and I’ve done the boat trip to the European Parliament several times. We also did a boat trip in Berlin, it’s one of my favourite ways to see a new city 🙂
I would love to go to Strasbourg, and wouldn’t have thought of it. How lovely.
And Yes! A boat trip is the perfect pace to see the sights go past. In fact I now long to travel by boat through my home town of London, I haven’t done that for years…
We were supposed to spend last Christmas in Berlin but alas our exchange fell through. You have renewed my determination to achieve a Berlin Christmas. Next year: this Christmas we are going to New Zealand!!
What a shame! Was it a house swap? I am certain you would love Berlin, but New Zealand – WOW, that’s really something. Have a wonderful time though I am sick with jealousy!
Many years ago – too many years ago – I went to Barcelona and really loved it! I loved Las Ramblas at night. I’d love to go back.
I enjoyed Munich when I visited for a weekend a few years ago.
I’d love to go to Lisbon, which I haven’t been to.
And I DEFINITELY want to take my family for a weekend in Dublin!
A top list for a season of long weekends! You’ve spurred me on to look again – I have been to none of those places, not even Dublin. I have just been looking at Las Ramblas in the sunshine online, what a contrast to the view out of the window tonight.
ALSO Clara – 2 of my children are going to Berlin this year – my son is going TOMORROW with the school for a Model United Nations meeting – and my eldest is going with the university wind band in June! So I am VERY glad to read this glowing report!
Model United Nations in Berlin – how fantastic! I hope he had a brilliant time. We are relying on these young idealists to change the world, are we not…
Looks like a wonderful trip – Berlin has been on my wish list for years! I lived in Prague for a year in my twenties and I adored it. Every time I left my flat it felt like an adventure and there were always new, beautiful places to discover. Am desperate to take the kids there when we can afford it/fit it in! Also love Vienna, but mainly associate that with overeating…
I’d love to go to Prague – you make it sound wonderful. You must all go together!
We had out honeymoon in Vienna but were young and hard-up, so I associate it with plain spaghetti and garlic almost every night. Also old ladies in sunglasses and fur coats holding small dogs.