Until next time

My best friend was visiting us for four days, she left this morning. Of course I got a cold at the same time, it always seems to be like that. We still had a fantabulous time, and did an amazing amount of Berlin-living; not to mention beer-drinking. I think the most memorable day was Saturday, when we went to Sachsenhousen concentration camp in the day, and then to see Inglorious Basterds in the Sony Centre in the evening. Great contrast, great film! Sunday was particularly nice too, because the weather was incredibly warm and sunny, and we got to enjoy Mauerpark the way it is meant to be enjoyed; curry wursts, krishna fast food, browsing and then sitting down in the grass, drinking beer and listening to music. We also met other friends there and I counted five languages being spoken in our little group; English, German, Finnish, Swedish and Portuguese!

Sachsenhausen

After Mauerpark we went to Massai restaurant for African food, which was really interesting – and quite inexpensive. I had a South African cider with dinner, and it was the best cider I've had outside Ireland, I think. I think what impressed our visitors the most was the amount of super-cool bars, cafés and restaurants in Berlin. Friday night we spent in Zu mir oder zu dir, a funky, little bar with a cool dj and the most comfortable sofas ever. On Saturday we spent all night at Tacheles, hopping from bar to bar there – it is just the most unbelievable place in the world; we wondered in the art studios, the sculpture park in the yard, watched a flame-throwing act... On Sunday we went to the absinth bar on Schönhauser Allee after the cinema, and even if there were tourists there who found the bar in their Lonely Planet guides, it didn't make the atmosphere any less effortless and fun. The list of absinths is long, the prices are reasonable, even cheap if you go for one of the promotions. Still on Sunday we managed to go to both Wohnzimmer, that I had read about everywhere, and Soupanova, to meet our Irish friends.

Painting the wall in Mauerpark

Lucky it's cheap here, that sounds like an expensive weekend!!! :D