Zoubi and me: Berlin before Christmas

First, before I forget: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sorry about my absence the last days (or should I say weeks..?), but I've actually been on vacation to Berlin with my sister and cousin! And then came Christmas..! So as you probably understand, not that much time for blogging lately..

My trip to Berlin was such a great experience! It was my first time in the German capital, and I must say I got surprised - in a good way! I really am more than satisfied with what I saw. It was such a beautiful city with so much to see and do. And combined with all the history that has been taking place here, Berlin is a very interesting city. It was like I felt everything that has been going on in this city in my own body and soul (haha, that didn't sound like a cliché at all!). Maybe because our hotel was placed just where the Berlin Wall used to go..? I also think I liked it a lot because it was just before Christmas. Christmas markets everywhere, beautiful lights and people drinking their beers and hot wine outside. I actually can't think of a better place to spend some time (and do some Christmas shopping) right before Christmas, I would really recommend it! Though it must be said, four days, like we had, is not enough. Of course it wasn't. There are still so many things I didn't have time to see and do. But that probably just gives me a good excuse to go back, doesn't it!?

What I liked the most in Berlin, wasn't necessarily the famous touristic places. It often tends to be like that for me. I preferred just walking around discovering nice streets, stores, cafés etcetera, on my own. But of course we also had to do some typical sightseeing, you can't go to Berlin for the first time in your life without walking through Unter den Linden up to Brandenburger Tor or visiting places like KaDeWe, Checkpoint Charlie and the Reichstag building. You just can't. And so we did. But I always say it's best to visit a city for the second time, when you're already done with (at least some of) the tourist attractions. And I'm absolutely positive there will be a second time in Berlin. For sure.

Anyways, I thought I could tell you about my favorite places and a couple of shops that I really discovered in Berlin. Not that I'm an expert or anything. Far from it. But I really found some places that I liked a lot, so why not share them with you?

Our hotel was situated in the northern part Berlin, in Bernauer Strasse, the street itself wasn't that interesting (it consisted mostly of apartments), but like I said, the Wall used to go there, and you could still see the traces of it. But this street is situated in an up and coming district called Prenzlauer Berg. We met some guys one evening and asked them where we should go, and they told us that this is a really cool part of Berlin. And it sure was! Two streets I liked a lot were Oderberger Strasse and Kastanien Allee. Here you could find vintage stores, cute little cafés, cheap, but good restaurants and bars. And I had the feeling, this is where the Berliners go. If you go to Berlin and like vintage fashion, you can't miss Paul's Boutique in Oderberger Strasse. It sells denim shirts, army jackets ++ for a cheap money. In an other street in this area, Brunnen Strasse there are also a lot of cafés and cool shops. We made one of the cafés in this street "local" one, and went here every day for either coffee or breakfast. The coffee was perfect (most important!!), the prices were low (compared with for exemple Starbucks) and the interior and decoration was effortlessly charming. It was calm and quiet, with not that many people, but still not completely empty, which is important to me. Sadly I don't remember the name of it (I must learn to keep better attention next time!), but it was situated not far from the metro station Bernauer Strasse. Further down Brunnen Strasse (near metro station Rosenthaler Platz) there was a cool shop that I liked immediately. I sold both clothes, accessories and gifts. So many cool things (both necessary and unnecessary stuff), I think we said "wow, look at this!" at least ten times - each! It was called The Optimistic Store (that I remember!). We barely have shops like that in Norway, and I really wonder why. But, it makes travel even better! And what I probably liked best, was that its owner was a young French woman (so I got to speak French again!). She told me it was started just about a month ago. I cross my fingers that it will be a great success. I believe it will! But since it's not easy opening a shop, especially not nowadays, please promise me you will step by when in Berlin! And say hello from me! Rosenthaler Strasse is an other street worth a visit, but I didn't find it until the last day, so I didn't get a lot of time discovering everything that well. But I noticed some cool stores there, like All Saints, and definitely will go back there next time. This street goes down to Hachescher Markt, this is a cultural place and is also known for it's great nightlife. Though we didn't have the time to see much of this place either.. It's not always easy to know where to go when you're somewhere for the first time, before you are a bit oriented and got an overview over the city. That we experienced the first evening when we searched for a restaurant at Alexanders Platz for like an hour. Apparently a decent restaurant wasn't so easy to find around there, at least not when you are as picky as we are.. It's always smart to ask someone living there to get their inside information, there are so many things that can't be read about in a guide book. I would also recommend a second hand store in Friedrich Strasse (one of the biggest shopping streets in Berlin btw) called Made in Berlin. Not as cheap as the other one I wrote about over, but i expected it to be worse, actually. It was very large and tidy, so that it was easy to search for treasures. And last, but not least, you simply can not go to Berlin (if you are a little bit into fashion) without making a visit to Urban Outfitters (situated in Kurfürstendamm, an other big shopping street). Well, maybe not if you, unlike me, have it in your hometown already.. But I must say, this store has it all. Three floors of the coolest of clothes, the news within accessories, watches, interior stuff, books and so on. The prices are higher than H&M but still not that bad. I'm still sad I didn't buy a fish eye camera.

This post would be quite boring without photos, so here are some of my best shots