A new favourite place

On Friday, I met up with Shirin for our Friday breakfast tradition. The night before I discovered there is a new café in my area, so we went up to try it. And now I feel I won't be going anywhere else anymore; such nice interior, nice people working there, good coffee and an interesting menu (next time I'll be hungry enough to try the melted cheese beer bread!). The place itself was sort of hidden off Pannierstraße, but I don't think that will stand in its way of becoming an instant Berlin hipster fave (I love it already, so there you go...) Go go, before everybody knows about it! (Roamers, Pannierstr. 64, Neukölln).

The reading material on hand in the window sill was this delightful men's magazine.

Outside were these two bikes - I like the old wooden box with flowers in it...

Walking home from Pannierstraße, I came by this beautiful building on Fuldastraße.

A spring preview

It happens every year; sometimes in January or February there will be days that are slightly warmer, and where a lukewarm wind or hearing birds singing in the trees will make me think that spring is finally here. It always ends up being several months before the real spring hits, which is awful. But this last week has been like spring with blue skies, warming rays of sun, birds singing, and lukewarm air with up to 12 degrees. I'm hoping it will stick around, because what a difference it makes for my mind!

On Tuesday, I met up with Ida who's in town to cover the Berlinale. We indulged in coffees and cinnamon rolls at Bully's Bakery (Friedelstr. 7, Neukölln), and enjoyed the sun lighting up the room. Afterwards, we walked down Weserstraße and looked at sunstreaks over the buildings.

Times last week

Last week was cold and snowy, this week feels like spring has taken over. As I write this, I have my balcony doors open, and it's almost unbearably good to have lukewarm air caressing my neck. More of that, please! But, last week...

Thursday, 13.32; I meet up with Flora Amalie for several coffees at Double Eye (Akazienstr. 22, Schöneberg) in her kiez in Schöneberg.

It's a cold day with snow on the ground so I head back to Neukölln on the U7.

17.21; Later that day, I head over to my old apartment in Kreuzberg to have tea (and cakes!) with Cordula in her rokoko-themed nook. What a lavish spread...!

Friday, 10.58; I pop up from the u-bahn on Karl-Marx-Allee. I can barely see the Fernsehturm in the distance, and it's cold and snowy, but I always enjoy that DDR street. I am going to Max' house for brunch as part of our new Friday tradition.

12.15; American Max is making home fries, omelettes, coffee and toast, and Shirin and I are eating with our eyes...

12.22; Brunch is served, and I don't know why I've spent all the other Fridays without our brunch arrangement...

A swift weekend visit

OK, so half of Kathrine's impromptu Berlin visit was spent with epic hangovers. All of Sunday, we did nothing but lie in bed feeling sorry for ourselves, sleeping and watching junk. Oddly, it was quite cosy. I am so happy Kathrine came to Berlin - also despite the Sunday hangover. Saturday was sunny, and we walked around my kiez having coffee, talking and laughing. I love love love laughing with this girl! Come back soon! (Photos are totally sporadic).

After coffee at Five Elephant (Reichenberger Str. 101, Kreuzberg), we went up to Markthalle IX where the Saturday markt was on full blast. We didn't buy anything, but we ate with our eyes!

I love the burger mural.

Long live spontaneity!

I'm still here! The last few days have been spent around the city meeting new and old friends, and I'll tell you all about it, but right now I'm off to pick up Kathrine. Yesterday evening, she spontaneously decided to come visit me for the weekend - how great is that? Last time she was here, we had a blast, and I'm sure we will this time around, too. So cheerio, see you on the other side!

Chapter One + Bergmannkiez

There are still cafés in Berlin I need to explore, but today I crossed one off my list; Chapter One (Mittenwalder Str. 30, Kreuzberg) is a little coffee shop off Gneisenaustraße. The coffee is well-made, the décor is simple and there is a window which went straight to my window-loving heart. After having inhaled two coffees each, Kathrine - who was my coffee date du jour - and I took a little roundtrip of Bergmannkiez. The area is loaded with beautiful old buildings, signs and atmosphere, and all the snow that fell yesterday only added to the magical winter scene.

Yum! And look at the tiles...

We went into the hidden courtyard, Riehmers (between Yorckstraße and Hagelbergerstraße) where you quickly feel like you've traveled through time...