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Hackeschen Höfe

26.01.2011 //
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Hinterhöfe, or courtyards in proper English, are as much part of Berlin as the Fernsehturm is an icon for the city. The most famous of these are the Hackeschen Höfe, located along Rosenthalerstraße, just off of Hackescher Markt. The interconnected complex of courtyards are currently visited by many tourists every day and offer 40 shops, most of which carry high fashion and exclusive design.

Rental prices in the complex are amongst the highest in the city, but it’s nonetheless worth a stroll along the shops and fabulous courtyards, where some shops also offer small but affordable accessories if you’re on a budget. The complex also houses 80 residential flats and several cultural institutions, such as a cinema and variété.

History

The complex was built in 1906 and is already over 100 years old. Back then they were constructed in accordance to the Lebensreform movement, to allow a group of people to find all they need within the complex. It therefore had blocks allowing for residential functions, but also reserved room for culture, industry and commerce.

After the Second World War, the complex was taken over by the Soviet occupational forces and thereby lost its essence as privately-owned complex for a group of people living together. It was marked as cultural heritage in 1977, but only after the reunification of Berlin was the complex handed back to its original owners whom started to renovate the complex thoroughly.

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Aquadom & Sea-Life

25.01.2011 //
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Conveniently located across the street from Germany’s fish fast-food restaurant Nordsee, Sea-Life Berlin offers you a lot of fish and other sea creatures for your viewing pleasure. Its’s best known for it’s ‘Aquadom’, a glass elevator which rides through a circular aquarium over 25 meters high, holding a million liters of water and over 1,500 fish in the lobby of a hotel. If you like fish, be sure not to skip it. But after all, it’s just fish.

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Balzac Coffee, Berlin (Friedrichstraße)

25.01.2011 //
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Quite a nice cappuccino for a store which puts itself in the market right next to the overrated Starbucks. The concept is strikingly similar: interior design, circular logo, same order-and-pick-up procedure and even the same names for their sizes. While making my cappuccino, the barista had some difficulties getting milk and foam in the right proportions into my drink, though, as she was scooping foam from the pitcher into my cup. The result is what counts in the end, though, and I have to say I was quite satisfied with it. A huge (venti) cappuccino with the milk softening yet accentuating the espresso flavor.

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Neweurope Pub Crawl

23.01.2011 //
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Only a few days in town and no clue where to start at night? Take a pub crawl and simply enjoy the ride along a few of Berlin’s pubs, bars and clubs. It might not get you to the best, most secret underground clubs of Berlin, but it’s sure to get you going. In the summer, the New Berlin Pub Crawl is sure to get a few dozen people going, so you’re sure to find someone or a group of people you can connect with throughout the night. You will not be alone, nor do you need to fall back on a possible partner in crime you dragged along.

Although there are plenty of other pub crawls in Berlin, I like the Neweurope tours due to their non-commercial attitude. The day-time touristic tours are essentially free and leave it up to you to appropriately tip the guide for provided services. The pub crawl requires a €12 fee to get along, but this fee is for the most part used for getting into the clubs and providing you with a free Jägermeister at every club.

Although the program is subject to change, back when I took the pub crawl, the tour started at Zapata, the bar adjacent to the infamous Tacheles. It then visited rock club Silberfisch, techno club Ruderclub, soul club Bohannon and the ‘all-styles’ Matrix. Although the last tends to be visited by the young and slutty, it likes to let visitors think their door policy is very strict and only the best get in. You will, for participation and entry to any of the clubs, require to have an ID with you proving you’re over 18. There’s no obligation to finish the pub crawl, if you’ve found a place to spend the night, you are free to stay behind.

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Mamay

20.01.2011 //
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This cozy restaurant right in Berlin’s nightlife area around U-bahn station Eberswalder Straße serves delicious Vietnamese food for affordable prices. The restaurant, named after one of the most famous streets in Hanoi’s old city centre, specializes on duck and grilled chicken dishes, noodle soup and fresh tea. The very nicely decorated locality isn’t huge, so it may be wise to reserve ahead, although we didn’t and found a seat anyway.

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Berliner Fernsehturm

19.01.2011 //
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The selling point of Berlin. Visible throughout the city, and the trademark of the city. Often you’ll find the ‘i’ in Berlin styled as the Fernsehturm. It might not be beautiful, but it’s in the hearts of many Berliners. It marks home. For the tourists there’s a decent view from the globe on top, although weather conditions may reduce the view. Last time I was there you had to get up early to avoid the queue, but they’ve recently won an award for their entry system: visitors can receive an sms shortly before they’re allowed to enter, so you can wander around freely until then.

The television tower has been built in former Eastern Berlin, in a way that their people could get a glimpse of the western part of the town, and western Berliners would always see this masterpiece of communist engineering. The original design was by Hermann Henselmann and the sphere should resemble a Sputnik space-craft. It was operational by October 1969 and still is the tallest structure in Germany with 368 meters in total height. The original elevators took 42 seconds to get to the top, although they have now been replaced by newer, faster elevators, taking two seconds less to reach the viewing platform at 204 meters. The tower is frequented by over a million people every year.

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Central Kino

17.01.2011 //
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Watch a movie in an independent cinema right next door to the Hackeschen Höfe. This isn’t where the big companies’ money is going, instead you’ll find small productions here. All features are in their original language and in part with English subs. The non-ordinary mix of sofa’s, chairs and arm chairs is quite nice, albeit a bit odd in a cinema. Central is the ‘home’ of the Berlin Calling movie, which, at the time of writing, is into its second year of daily showings. Drop by to inform yourself about the current time schedule, or refer to Zitty. Be aware that not every feature is subtitled in English.

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Espresso Ambulanz

07.03.2010 //
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We stumbled upon this place ‘by accident’. Sadly, it was closed then, but we had to return later due to the name, reminding us of a place to be revived by means of espresso. The first time we went there, there were quite a few Italian people. The coffee is superb, be it drowned in chocolatey sirups topped with whipped cream or plain espresso or cappuccino. There’s only a limited amount of seats, but worth the wait or take it out.

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