Tips for buying presents in Berlin

Buying heaps of presents at once, like at Christmas, isn't always easy or fun. We got really excited to bring home carefully selected organic, fair trade and even raw chocolates from Bitterveld in Prenzlauer Berg. The most interesting – and delicious – chocolate we bought was their self manufactured goat's milk chocolate, flavoured with blood orange.

At Vom Fass you can buy oils, vinegars, wines and spirits "vom Fass", i.e. on tap. We chose cool, old fashioned looking bottles and wrapped up Scottish and Irish single malt whiskies as Christmas presents – they were a hit!

Christmas, and having survived it

December was more eventful than my blogging would let on. Or my lack of writing really shows how little time I had to sit down and sort my head and my photo archives. After family visits from my dad and my best friend's parents, E's mom came to Berlin to celebrate her E's 30th birthday. We had an office Christmas party on December 8th – that got a bit out of hand on my part: I can't even remember A coming to walk me home – a work month from hell. I was super happy to get away from it all and go home to Finland for Christmas. Of course that wasn't so calm or relaxing either, but I didn't think about work, we didn't party much and we got to hang out with family and friends. We got so many Christmas presents that we had to leave a few things behind and collect them when we visit next time. A lot of books, mostly, and I got my eighth and ninth pair of knitted socks and unfortunately we got some useless crap too, like a pair of salt and pepper shakers shaped like a superhero cat and dog. And now we are really happy to be home :)

I don't buy wrapping paper but wrap my presents with recycled paper instead. This year I also learned a few origami foldings to make the presents a bit more fun.

Santa delivered our presents in person.

Berlin's best Christmas markets

As we are coming up to our third Christmas in Berlin, we have had tens of cups of glühwein at different Christmas markets around Berlin and can with some expertise present our favourites:



Weihnachtsmarkt an Gendarmenmarkt – Perfect for tourists and parents! Entry costs one euro, but the market is surrounded by beautiful buildings and has the most magical, Christmassy atmosphere of all the markets. There's constant musical numbers being performed on the little stage, and the food and drink stands are all tempting. You can also purchase jewellery, crystal vases and fancy wines.

Lucia Weihnachtsmarkt – A great location in Prenzlauer Berg, near the U2 line. The market is in a courtyard sheltered from the wind and to warm up you can pop into the Rewe supermarket or you can sneak in to use the toilets in the cinema. The theme at the Lucia market is Nordic and you can buy Finnish, Swedish or even Austrian glühweins rather than the German kind that I don't like so much. Besides food items, glühwein and absinth you can buy Finnish honey, Swedish candy, hippie jewellery or Christmas lights.

Adventsmarkt auf der Domäne Dahlem  – A bit outside central Berlin, but easily reached with the U3 train, this cute little market is less commercial and mass produced than most. Along with the necessary glühwein and roasted chestnuts stands, you can also buy horse meat salami or deer sausages, home-made spirits flavoured with blackberry or herbs, mustard seasoned with beer or whiskey and fresh organic vegetables. The Herrenhaus, the oldest residential building in Berlin, from 1560 and in the former stables you find little exhibitions like an old-fashioned shop that now sells hand-made hard candy or cute little pottery and knit shops.

Berlin with dad - Tadjiki tea and Tintin in 3D

My dad was in Berlin for a visit over the weekend. He and his wife have been to Berlin only once before, precisely two years ago. For the life of me I can't understand why they keep coming to Berlin when it's cold and dark here! Despite some light rain and a few gusts of Siberian wind, we had a wonderful weekend and manage to do things that were new to A and me, as well.

 

On Saturday afternoon, after a cosy cup of tea and coffee in our kitchen, we took of to Dahlem to visit the Christmas market at Domäne Dahlem. It was rainy and cold, so the market wasn't crowded and we didn't have to queue for marzipans, glühwein, roasted chestnuts or mustard. For a meat-eater there were interesting things on offer, like horse and deer meat, or organic boar sausages. The museum and the little atelier shops around the market were open, so we could get warmth and shelter when we needed it. All in all, it was my favourite Berlin Christmas market and we had a lovely time.

On Sunday we visited the Tadschikische Teestube – a place we wanted to see already on dad's last visit. The little tearoom is hidden in plain sight on the second floor of the Palais am Festungsgraben, next to the Deutsches Historisches Museum. Since it appears in many guide books it's well known and very popular, so a reservation is advisable. We managed to get a table with cushioned floor seating by being there exactly when the Teestube opened, which is at 3pm on the weekends. Most of the tables were reserved but we could sit down at one that was reserved for 5pm. Almost immidiately a queue started forming at the doors. The tea selection at the the Tajik tearoom is extensive and ranges from smoky Russian tea to iced Japanese cherry tea. The kitchen prepares a few Russian dishes like pelmeni and blinis, both sweet and savory. Dad and M were really impressed and we realised that we now have to bring all our guests to the Tadschikische Teestube for a pot of tea.

Through work I tried to get us tickets to see Rigoletto at the Komische Oper, but had no luck. Instead we went to see The Adventures of Tintin in 3D at Cinestar Original im Sony Centre. My dad hadn't seen any modern 3D film before, so even if we ended up at the dubbed-into-German film version, we all enjoyed the experience and the film a lot. And we all understood almost all the German!

It was a fun weekend and now I feel geared up for shopping for Christmas presents, for the office Christmas party on Thursday and for the last deadline of the year at work.

Glühwein season uncorked

Yesterday we had the first glühweins of the season at the Nordic Lucia Weihnachtsmarkt in Prenzlauer Berg. When we met D and S at the Kulturbrauerei it was crowded and it was raining. After having waited for them for almost 30 minutes I was in rotten mood. And the longest queue of the whole market? At the Finnish glühwein stand where we wanted to get a cup of glögi. We marched over to the Swedish punsch stand and after just a few sips, the world was a better place again. And even better when I realised that we were standing next to Herr Nilsson's stall – our favourite Swedish candy shop!

Back in Berlin

We flew home on December 23rd and had to have all our presents with us.

Anticipating Christmas dinner.

There was a record amount of snow in Southern Finland: there's a plastic terrace table somewhere under there...

It made for beautiful scenery, if nothing else.

The Berlin-style brunch trend has now spread to Helsinki where all the hipsters find it the most important meal of the week. This was our New Year's brunch at Siltanen, a reasonable €12 including drinks and free refills of coffee, tea, juice and bread.

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Fine, we've been back for three days already... we landed in Berlin on Wednesday after spending almost two weeks in Finland. We are now very well fed, not-so-well rested, and slightly nostalgic about home. People who think expats get long, nice holidays when they visit their home countries are dead wrong; we run around trying to meet as many friends and family members as we can while we try to not offend anyone by not having enough time to see them. This leads to too many cups of coffee per day, too many missed phone calls and too many polite pieces of cake forced down. The only time we had to ourselves was in the evenings, and so we staid up until 4 or 5am most nights... But it's still all nice: these are the people we miss and wish we could see more, anyway.

It's nice to be back in Berlin, though, and back to reasonable prices for drinks :)

Wrapping it up

So off to Finland we go! There's no "Schneekaos" – it's raining and it's +2°C – so we should have no problems with our flight.

I bought the last Christmas present yesterday, got a haircut, stopped by the office for a few hours and started to wrap presents. There are still a few to be wrapped, and I need to go buy a few bottles of organic red wine to bring home for the Christmas table. And then: Christmas peace!

Bis zum nächsten Jahr und guten Rutsch!

No shopping, just brunching

Brunch buffet at Morgenrot, Prenzlauer Berg

 

On Thursday A's friends from Finland were going to fly to Berlin to see Suicide Commando at K-17. Their flight was cancelled, because the Berlin airports ran out of de-icing fluid – unbelievable! It's winter every year, you wouldn't think it would cause such chaos. The boys flew in on Friday instead, and got tickets for Monster Magnet at Postbahnhof. I had a "girls night in German" with S and S, and at 2am we decided to meet up with the guys for a beer at legendary Paules Metal Eck on Simon-Dach-Strasse. I was home at 5am, and needed to be at a photo shoot on Saturday at 11.30.

After the very successful photo shoot some colleagues and I decided to go to Morgenrot on Kastanienallee for breakfast – I still hadn't eaten anything and was feeling pretty weak. Plus I haven't been there in ages and I looooove their vegan/vegetarian brunch! A and I still made a half-assed attempt at Christmas shopping, but were too tired and too uninterested for it to go well. At least I got to visit the new English books store at Kulturkaufhaus Dussmann – thank god I was too tired to shop, even for myself :)

Today we talked the Finnish boys into trying our favourite brunch at Datcha with us. We all agreed, once again, that it really is worth to pay €9.80 per person for. I don't think I'll have to eat all day now! The guys wanted to still make an effort as tourists, so instead of coming to our flat for a nap, they went to the Erotikmuseum in Charlottenburg. I opted to go visit our Kiezweihnacht Christmas market at the Samariterstrasse church. It wasn't very big or special, but I did manage to buy a great Christmas present there... But it's for the secret santa present at next weeks Christmas get-together, so I won't reveal it, at least yet!

Kiezweihnachtmarkt, Friedrichshain

Christmas, shopping, Berlin

My mother is in Berlin again for the weekend, and I've kept her busy. We have ignored the snowy sidewalks and been shopping and eating well, mostly.

We started off on Friday by designing my mom a custom made perfume at Frau Tonis Parfum in Mitte, a scent of roses and lily of the valley (€65 for 50ml, €22 for 15ml). Then we dropped in to my fave clothing shop, Cyroline, on Alte Schönhauser Straße (they also have shops in Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain). I always find cool and comfy clothes there and this time both mom and I bought tops. This all accidentally happened on our way to check out a friends' exhibition at the very interesting Haus Schwartzenberg on Hackescher Markt.

On Saturday we had a date with S to go check out TK Maxx in Charlottenburg together – I had heard that the shop there was a lot bigger and a lot better then the one in Neukölln. Other people had clearly heard that too: it was super crowded! We did manage to find some Christmas presents and I bought a hoodie. S had a very successful shopping day and declared that she'd found "her shopping paradise" :) Everyone loves TK Maxx <3

Since we were in Charlottenburg – possibly for the first time – we decided to go see Schloss Charlottenburg and the Christmas market there. Sure, it was big, pretty and had free entrance, but it was also a bit kitchy and crowded for our liking.

When we found ourselves in Neukölln today, we decided to take advantage of the shopping Sunday (the shops in Berlin are closed on most Sundays of the year), and check out the TK Maxx there, too. It was a lot less crowded, so we could really engage in rummaging around and two hours later we walked out with more Christmas presents and two sweaters for A. Dangerous place, that is!

A missed opportunity for an early Christmas

Working still: yesterday I was home at 1am, tonight at half past ten, tomorrow back again.

I'm really bummed that I'm missing the Finnish Christmas market in Kreuzberg today and tomorrow... But Monday marks the beginning of Christmas – most of the Christmas markets open on November 22nd! This year I will make sure to finally try roasted chestnuts, to avoid Glühwein (yuck!) and to find another hot drink to keep warm with at the markets. The Lucia Weihnachtsmarkt in Prenzlauer Berg has a Nordic them and serves Finnish and Swedish glögg – far better than English or German mulled wines. Bring on the snow!

Going home for Christmas

I am flying home tomorrow, to spend Christmas in what has turned into a winter wonderland! My dad rang me and told me the weather forecast for Southern Finland is -20°C tomorrow – ouch. I will probably not write much until after New Year's. When we've gone home for previous holidays, there's never a moment's pause; "Can we see you? Are you having dinner with us tonight? We're having a party tonight, you should come! Will you be in Helsinki on Friday? Will you be in Porvoo on Wednesday?". Fun, but not a vacation. I'll leave you with my favourite Christmas song – far from cheesy :)

Count down

What a weekend! We went bowling (for the first time ever!) on Friday. It was so much fun, but also much more difficult than I had imagined. I also played air-hockey for the first time – a lot easier :) On Saturday we were invited to a Christmas party. I wanted to try to bring these really cute mini-muffins I saw a recipe for, so it was all about baking, cleaning, listening to Christmas music and wrapping presents yesterday. The muffins didn't turn out too well, but I love the mini-cake idea, so I'll try them with another recipe later, I think. And we posted our presents to America, so hopefully they will be in Boston in time for Christmas!

This week we are saying see-you-later to our friends here in Berlin before going home for the holidays. We have already scheduled a breakfast, a lunch and two dinners for next week! The most stressful part will be to finish shopping for Christmas presents. I still don't have a clue what to buy A's mother and my best friend... But I hope another visit to good old TK Maxx will help! We already spent like €200 there last week, hehe :)  I really recommend a trip there, especially to shop for the most difficult of all: fathers.

Christmas markets

I've visited many Christmas markets by now, drank many cups of glühwein and established that Finnish glögg is better than German glühwein. My favourite markets are in Kulturbrauerei and on Gendarmenmarkt (where my dad had been before, and wanted to go again). Kulturbrauerei has a cosy little market on a courtyard, and they serve Finnish and Swedish glögi and punsch. The Gendarmenmarkt market is set against the most amazing back drop: the square is decorated with the Deutscher and Französischer Dom churches and the Konzerthaus. It doesn't get more idyllic than that! My least favourite markets have been on Potsdamer Platz and on Alexanderplatz – no surprise there, they are pretty much just for tourists. I still need to visit at least one more market, because I still haven't tried the roasted chestnuts...

Here's a list of all the Christmas markets in Berlin.

First Advent Sunday

We just came home from a lovely Sunday walk around Prenzlberg and a preview of all that December in Berlin has to offer. Mauerpark was buzzing with karaoke, shoppers, tourists and glühwein. The organic market on Kollwitzplatz is now also an advent market, and there we bought homemade mustard to bring home for Christmas. My brother loves his mustard strong, and we got him a beer mustard I'm sure he'll get excited over. The Kulturbrauerei complex has a "Lucia" Christmas market on every day until Christmas, between 15-22 o'clock. They have some Finnish stalls there too, that serve Finnish glühwein, glögi. (Which naturally is far better than the German glühwein ;) I'm really starting to feel christmassy and can't wait to open the first door of my advent calendar on Tuesday!

It is the season to be jolly

Now Christmas time has officially begun for me. We fought our hangovers today (the result of a very successful sushi dinner party) and went to the Finnish Christmas market in Kreuzberg. It was small and sweet, but expensive. We loosened our belts enough to buy Karelian pies (five for four euro) and a bag of salmiakki candy (€1.50). And because of the state we were in, we could not resist sharing a freshly smoked salmon on rye, either, which set us back a whopping five euro. It was an expensive trip to Finland :)

Is it the season to be merry?

I remember being shocked the first weeks of November, when Christmas decorations appear in the shops. Imagine the shock of finding Christmas chocolates and cakes paraded in the shops in September – while it's still +25 outside?! Lidl was even worse, but I didn't have my camera with me there.