A weekend in Berlin
So what do you do for a quick 48 hour stay in Berlin?
In May, while Girassol was visiting I knew I didn´t want him to go all the way home without making a stop to one of my favourite cities in Europe, Berlin. So we decided to plan a quick getaway there and home again, just in time for the morning shower on Monday. Plus, on a budget because no one is rolling in money here .
So luckily, while being noisy on my way home on the bus, I overhead a girl talking about how she had been in Berlin on a nightbus?? “Nightbus you say..” my ears grew bigger lol. I went home and immediately googled it! And I found out that you could take the night bus, at almost midnight from Copenhagen , sleep the whole night (as much as you can) and be in Berlin before breakfast the next day. Perfect.
We arrived in the morning, so early we couldn´t actually get in our hotel room. We decided to go with a hotel for accommodation, since it was a bit challenging to find an Airbnb close enough to where we wanted to walk around. Also, one willing to only host us for one night only. I also like hotel rooms for some reason, even though I usually like more down to earth, local, accommodations.
The hotel we used was Berlin Mark hotel, which to be honest, in the wee morning, we stood out like a sore thumb in contrast to the businessy or elder people crowd there. Especially in our travel outfits. The hotel was kind enough to let us store our luggage until our room was ready. We got dressed and took a backpacker shower in the bathroom and started our first day in Berlin.
Day 1/ Saturday
It was close to 10 am when we left the hotel and we knew we needed something bigger than just breakfast. I wanted to go to eat at Bistro Vegan and have the best vegan döner ever! Unfortunately, it was closed, so off to Que Pasa we went, which was just across the street. Mexican brunch it was instead and this wasn´t such a let down, because I looove Mexican food!
After brunch, still having 2 hours before we could access our hotel room, we went to this beautiful park called Mehringdamm park close to where we ate. After walking around the park, we finally went back to our hotel, rested, had a proper shower before heading out for dinner.
For dinner we went to another one of my favourite places called Che Chen Teehouse. A vietnamese restaurant and teehouse. If you love plants and earthy decoration you will be deligted by this place! Such an enchanting place, where you get fed well, visually and physically. The only negative about the place is that the service is not the warmest but nothing too bad that you won´t be able to swallow your food.
In the evening, belly full and not wanting to just call it a night, we walked around Brandenburg Tor which Girassol really wanted to see. It was a beautiful evening and an even more beautiful sunset before we could feel our feet tired enough to head back to the hotel.
End of day one.
Day 2/ Sunday
Sunday is market day for me in Berlin and it was one of my favourite things to do in the weekend when I lived there. So, of course, that was going to be on the list. We left our luggage again with the hotel and checked out around 10 and off we went. Before the market, we stopped for a little while at a restaurant close by, to sit and have a coffee and tea while we enjoyed the sun and wrote in our journals ( I know, #goals)
At the market, the first thing on my mind was the vegan stone oven baked pizza´s I had missed so much. For a moment I wondered if they tasted as great as I remember them tasting and had hyped them up to Girassol, and yes, it actually was good. I mean not that mind-blowing but worth the trip for sure for sure. Filling too because they their bottom was super wholegrain, so we were set for our wondering around the huge market on happy bellies.
So, about the market; it´s a place where you can find food, vintage things and alternative Artistan goods and I am obsessed about all three, so I was in heaven basically. We wanted to find me a gift for my birthday and decided we would find one together in Berlin. This way we could support some small business owners but also get a great souvenir to remember our first foreign country visit together.( Brilliant, I know).
The market is a beautiful place and has a huge green area close to it, where you can play sports, hear music, watch comedies and once there was even a huge karaoke event. It´s usually filled with so many different kinds of people, just doing their thing. Being there, watching people be so free and relaxed always makes me wonder about our everyday lives: Why we can´t have more moments like that, where people just live and enjoy more of their lives. We bought a lovely little bag made in Guatemala and sold by two guys from Algeria or was it Egypt? I can´t remember but it was just so cool, such a connection of people touching upon three different continents.
For dinner we had Sudanese food at Tutti from a very friendly Sudanese man! There was hummus and Falafal and many veggies, so basically it was a perfect meal. We walked around some more, visited the Berlin wall, explored some more and watched the sunset on a bridge. We had to wait until midnight before leaving Berlin, and we still had some euros left. So we went to Chan to eat like royalty with our last euros. We ordered teas, desserts and we got to try sticky rice and mango for the first time and it was bomblicious!
We wobbled back to the hotel, bellies filled with goodness and too much teas and changed before rushing to the bus terminal. We only made it just in time (even though for a moment there we thought we might miss it) and headed back home in the night.
The bus usually has to cross to Sjælland (Island where Copenhagen is) and we usually have to leave the bus during the crossing. It was pretty early, like 4 or 5am, and we went on the dock of the ship and saw the most magical sunrise. We enjoyed welcoming a new day, wrapped in the blanket because it was slap face cold on that dock!
Finally made it back to the main station at 8am on a Monday, tired but pretty satisfied at a trip well made. And just in time for a morning shower .