One of the good things about not being a night-clubber is that you wake up early the next day, ready to go out and eat big chunks of yummy Berlin.
After a typical Berlin-brunch in one of the city’s many nice cafés (I think I wrote enough about food, and since there is a nice breakfast place on every other corner of the city, I will spare you further food recommendations), I highly recommend you find one of Berlin’s nice and cheap saunas, just to gear down and digest a little before shopping or sightseeing.
My favourite sauna is Olivin on Schönhauser Allee 177 (Berlin-Mitte), a calm and very often pleasantly empty wellness lounge, where you can alternate between the sauna, the ice-cold shower, the outdoor bamboo garden or the nice lounge where you can read magazines, quench your thirst or even indulge yourself with a nice and cheap massage (23 euro for 30 minutes).
The only thing to be aware of is that the Germans consider nudity as natural as a handshake, and despite the fact that I am a hippie child born in free-spirited Scandinavia, I recently got rather shocked when I found myself stark naked and alone in the sauna with eight naked Adams, where six of them were shaved down there where the apes hide their nuts (they stared, so looking back was my only weapon…that’s why I know they were bald). But if you are not afraid of German freikörperkultur (nudism) a trip to Olivin is a shot in the arm. And by the way: Thursdays are women only!
Berlin is the fastest moving city in Europe! I heard this sentence for the first time five years ago, and it immediately tickled my curiosity in the most seductive way. Not the most beautiful, or spectacular or historical or sunny city in Europe (which I had already heard about Rome, Barcelona and Paris) but the fastest moving city. What does that mean, I wondered, having always been a sucker for spending time in the fast lane? Back then, I was very heartbroken and this surprising assessment of the city’s speed made me pack my sorry self and my toddler Lola and jump on a train to the German Capital, having never before set foot in Berlin. Met and sheltered by the buzzing, friendly atmosphere, the high ceilings, public tolerance, and the alternative, über cool way of living, I fixed my broken heart in a jiffy and fell head over heels in love with the city, which is of course much more complex than just fast. It’s silly, but somehow Berlin reminds me of my all-time favourite cartoon-mates Lucky Luke and Rantanplan: on one hand faster that its own shadow, and on the other slow and kind-hearted. Lola, who is now 6 years old, and I have lived in this metropolitan contradiction three years now, und wir gehen nie mehr nach Hause.
Hungry for more Berlin? Return to these pages to follow Sissel-Jo Gazan's insider-reportages from Germany's cool, urban capital.
Photo by Sophia Sanwald
It’s one of my two much-loved spots in Berlin. Mauer Park, which was formerly enclosed by the Berlin Wall, but today is a true people’s park, and really worth a stroll.
During the weekend, the park is occupied by a broad spectrum of people: Turks grilling in large groups, young guys playing boule, couples with prams, street performers and people taking a nap in the untamed grass and flowers on the slopes along the cobblestone road cutting through the park.
One of my favourite activities in Mauer Park is to take a turn on one of the two huge swings overlooking the park area. I go there when I am blue, I go there when I am happy, and in both cases it’s wonderful and renewing to swing high above this historical area.
Turning right where the very mixed Mauer Park flea market takes place every Sunday, walking downhill on Bernauerstraße will take you directly to another of my must-see spots in Berlin, the Berlin Wall Documentations Centre. 
Photo by Sophia Sanwald
The Centre provides spectacular historical information and offers tours and exhibitions. Across the street from the Centre itself you’ll find one of the most excellent and fascinating memorials of the time of the Wall: No-man’s-land. 
Photo by Sophia Sanwald
A strip of land between former East and West Berlin, occupied only by two automatic weapons, which during the time of the Berlin Wall was meant to shoot at anything and anyone that moved. The automatic weapons are still there, embedded in concrete, left as evil and bare as they were during the Stasi regime. You have to peek through a narrow slit, and the first time you do so, it’s truly choking. The destitution of mankind – just a few years ago. This gives food for thought.
After this sight, you deserve a walk on the nearby Sophien Graveyard, where you can just enjoy the green, airy and grandiose atmosphere in a city, which can be fast when you need it, and slow when you don’t!
Berlin Mauer Dokumentationszentrum, Bernauerstraße 111, 13355 Berlin
If you are interested in art and furniture and are in Berlin, don’t miss the Hoffmann Collection (Sammlung Hoffmann). It is not a museum but a private and very impressive collection of contemporary art from around the world. The collection is owned by Erika Hoffmann and on Saturdays she opens her spetacular 1.800 m2 apartment in a courtyard in Mitte for visitors. In the apartment - which once was a sewing-machine factory and a manufacturer of medical equipment – Erika Hoffmann presents works in various media, including painting, video, photography and sculpture.
Erica Hoffman and her husband Rolf Hoffmann began collecting art in 1968. They moved to the old factory in East Berlin in 1995 and two years later they opened their private home to the public. Erika Hoffmann has continued to collect art and continued the open-door-policy after the death of her husband a few years ago.
Upon arrival all visitors have to put on oversized felt slippers that are provided in the reception before they are allowed into the apartment. To ensure that all guests enjoy an intimate experience, the capacity on the guided tour is limited to ten people. The guide acts more like a moderator and encourages discussions among the visitors. He or she demands something from the visitor and might even confront you and ask: “How does this piece of art communicate to you?” So you'd better be well-prepared and in good form when you visit the Hoffmann Collection if you don’t want to make a fool of your self in front a group of dedicated and educated art lovers.
There is a raw industrial feel to Erica Hoffmann’s apartment. The rooms are huge with high ceilings and concrete walls and staircases. The floors are wooden and the range of furniture is extremely limited but the selection is delicate. Though the apartment has many similarities with a gallery there are small signs that indicate that someone is living here. There is a piano in one room, a messy desk in Erika Hoffmann's office and a pile of newspapers in the giant diningroom (Erika Hoffmann reads Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and not tabloids).
In July each year Erika Hoffmann changes the selection of work and rearranges the furnishings. To go on a guided tour in the Hoffmann Collection you have to book in advance. The entrance fee is 6 € and the tour lasts about 2 hours. Sammlung Hoffmann, Sophie-Gips-Höfe, Aufgang C, Sophienstrasse 21, Berlin-Mitte.
www.sophie-gips.de Author David Rich Momondo
 The Television Tower (Fernsehturm)
One of Berlin’s outstanding landmarks, is the tall futuristic television tower from 1969 with its characteristic metal globe. The tower can be seen from all over the city, and that was precisely the purpose of the GDR regime, when they had the tower erected. The people in West Berlin should not be able to miss the tower hovering above the city.
The view is absolutely amazing! And the visit in itself is a fun experience.
On top is the Telecafé with its moustache-sporting sulky waiters and a good chance to study GDR architecture at its most ostentatious. The floor rotates about its axis every half hour, so you get a view of 360 degrees. The food is not very interesting, so be content with just a cup of coffee. Get here early. The tower opens at 9 A.M. and stays open until midnight, but if you get here in the morning and preferably a little before opening hours, you can have the tower almost to yourself.
Berliner Fernsehturm, Panoramastrasse 1A
(S- und U-Bahn Alexanderplatz)
www.berlinerfernsehturm.de
Weinereien: Drink – and pay what you think is fair!
A unique Berlin phenomenon. In small bars around the city, you pay one or one-and-a-half euro at the entrance. You drink as much as you like, and pay what you want upon leaving!
Weinereien can be found several places in Berlin – but they don’t all work according to this principle! But look out for them in Prenzlauer Berg and Kreuzberg. Some of the places also offer food (around 8 or 9 P.M.). At these two places, you are certain to experience this phenomenon:
Frarosa
Right across from the Zion Church is this lovely little place where you put one Euro into the glass jar upon arrival. When the evening is over you pay what the girl at the bar says: ”What you think is fair”!
Frarosa also serves dinner around 8.30 P.M., and you pay according to the same principle. The place is popular, but you can reserve a table in advance. Tel: 0176 28 20 90 47
Frarosa, Zionskirchstrasse 40.
Close to Frarosa is yet another wine bar:
Forum
From the outside, the café looks modest. A lot of empty beer cases serve as chairs and tables, but inside, the atmosphere is very relaxed and homely. There is jazz music on the stereo and stacks of newspapers and old, worn couches and armchairs.
Nothing costs more than €1,5. The soup is simmering on the fire, the bread is home made and you help yourself. The place also offers delicious cakes.
Forum, the corner of Veteranstrasse and Fehrberlinerstrasse.
The Jewish Museum
A visit to the Jewish Museum is a must. Not only because of the history of Berlin and Germany, but because it is very moving to experience the museum, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.
“As time passes, new generations will no longer have a parent or a grand-parent who can tell them about the past. Memory will be erased”. This is how Daniel Libeskind explains his thoughts behind the construction.
It has been his goal to create a building that gives the museum’s visitors a physical impression of the Jewish people’s history – and he has very much succeeded at this. 
Photo by Morteno
The subterranean concrete corridors are at some places narrowing in. At The Holocaust Tower you are locked out, a few people at the time, in a dark courtyard with just a small glimpse of light, high up above the edge of the wall. There is a ladder towards freedom, but it’s hanging ten feet up in the air, and there is nothing to step up on.
You have to knock on a big, black door to be let back into the museum. In another prison-like courtyard, Libeskind has erected a sloping area with columns on rows. If you walk in between them, you will lose your sense of orientation and experience a slight dizziness. I have rarely experienced architecture, which causes emotional response and sensations to this extent.
The concrete corridors and the glass walls are used to display old typewriters, note books and other collected remains. The accounts of the Jewish proprietors’ fates are just a small part of the museum. When you walk up the steep staircase, all the way to the top, you will begin the huge permanent exhibition, which continues on the levels below. 
Photo by Morteno
The history of the Jewish people is told through two millenniums, up to the present. The museum uses all kinds of modern devises and medias for communication. You can play computer games, participate in little educational games, listen to stories via head phones, coin money and learn to write in Hebrew. You have to pull out small drawers in order to acquire more information. You are invited to participate actively.
Allow yourself a lot of time to move through the museum.
Whether you are interested in the Jewish history, architecture or communication devises of a modern museum, this place is absolutely worth a visit.
The Jewish Museum, Lindenstrasse 9-14.
Concert: Berliner Philharmoniker.
The orchestra is in the middle of the space and the audience forms a circle around it.
The experience of the Berlin Philharmonics in concert is absolutely breath-taking. Even people without any knowledge or interest in classical music will get goose bumps when the orchestra fills the space with music. The place is world famous, not only for its beautiful and distinctive architecture, but also for its fabulous concerts. Particularly when Simon Rattle conducts.
Make sure you book in advance, and try to get tickets for a Brahms or a Mahler concert.
Berliner Philharmoniker
Herbert-von-Karajan-Strasse 1
www.berliner-philharmoniker.de By Mette Lomholdt & Katrine Salomon
|
|