is Berlin any good?

[iamcoop]

It's not really a fair comparison but you can eat absolutely amazing meals in the milk bars of Poland for about £3.

There's not really anything comparible in Berlin, it's either amazing immigrant food (which you can pretty much get in any other metropolis) or really good (but pricey) modern hipster stuff like smash burgers etc.

Last time I was there some friends of ours took us to this pretty posh authentic German restaurant and the dish I got (I can't remember exactly what it was, some sort of goulash-adjacent thing) was so stodgy and seasoned so heavily with salt it was almost inedible.

Basically I think when you're absolutely fucking mortal at 2am the food bangs but at any other time it's just not for me.

[shoulders]

Tbf in Poland late night you're mainly looking at zapiekanki, the milk bars have long closed for the day.

[touchingcloth]

Milk bar?

[All Surrogate]

The Pergamon was shut for a long-term refurb when we were over there in December - apparently still closed now. Not sure when it opens again but it might not be for a while.

😞

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

Berlin is ace.

October is a fine time of year to go, I've been in winter before and it was great.

What sort of things do you like doing? I'd recommend hiring a bike if you're on a budget and just exploring with that. The old East of the city is worth seeing, the Stasi museum in particular.

Prenzlauerberg/Friedrichshain/Kreuzberg are where you want if you're into crusty people and banging techno in squalid old buildings, though it's become more and more gentrified each time I've visited.

Cuisine is either shit or expensive, so prepare to eat a lot of chips if you're on a budget.

Completely agree with the gentrified comment.  I was talking to a local about this and they where of the view that post covid things have changed.  Hard to explain but I used to love Berlin but last visit the city felt a bit 'flat'.  May of been down to the weather being crap.

[touchingcloth]

Completely agree with the gentrified comment.  I was talking to a local about this and they where of the view that post covid things have changed.  Hard to explain but I used to love Berlin but last visit the city felt a bit 'flat'.  May of been down to the weather being crap.

It's still a good city, but my first experience was my best one I think - clubs in Berghain with the surroundings feeling grotty (it reminded me of how Sankeys felt when I first went) and the Tacheles still had squatting artists.

This was in 2007 I think, and probably if I'd have been in 1992 I'd probably have seen it in 2007 the way I do now - cleaner and less "authentically" crusty.

Sankeys and Manchester is a good comparison point, actually. When I started going into Manchester as a teenager the old Victorian Piccadilly Gardens were still there, Afflecks was thriving, and the city had a heart that has been largely removed now that things like the Northern Quarter shrink more every time I go back.

So seek out those areas of Berlin now while you still can, I reckon, because it will be a shame once the majority of the city has been developed to the point where it feels like any other place on earth.

[shiftwork2]

It was a while ago now but I was struck by how all Berlin taxi drivers looked like they were going to go home and shit on the wife.

Berlin is great and I must return.  My info's out of date but it does look like the Templehof tours are still going should you enjoy Nazi airports.

[Retinend]

Don't visit the Cold War Museum. It consists of boring wikipedia articles stuck onto wall-mounted ipads interspersed with potentially interesting videos ruined by a lack of audio. They pad out these screens with front covers of issues of Der Spiegel without giving you the ability to read beyond the front page. Finally, get ready for stacks of boardgam boxes with names/artwork referencing nuclear-weapon themes - potentially interesting pop culture artefacts, yet ruined by how they are all sealed inside their boxes in glass cabinets. A total disaster of a museum.

That said, do visit the Cold War Museum if it's only to experience the VR short film "The Jump". That's actually cracking and almost redeems the shitshow which is the rest of the museum. Overpriced, but a unique chance to live out a moment in history from when the wall was first being errected.

Anyone: I live in Berlin, so feel free to drop me a PM if you're ever in the city and fancy meeting a local CaBber.

[Mrs Wogans lemon drizzle]

It's still a good city, but my first experience was my best one I think - clubs in Berghain with the surroundings feeling grotty (it reminded me of how Sankeys felt when I first went) and the Tacheles still had squatting artists.

This was in 2007 I think, and probably if I'd have been in 1992 I'd probably have seen it in 2007 the way I do now - cleaner and less "authentically" crusty.

Sankeys and Manchester is a good comparison point, actually. When I started going into Manchester as a teenager the old Victorian Piccadilly Gardens were still there, Afflecks was thriving, and the city had a heart that has been largely removed now that things like the Northern Quarter shrink more every time I go back.

So seek out those areas of Berlin now while you still can, I reckon, because it will be a shame once the majority of the city has been developed to the point where it feels like any other place on earth.

Yeah loved Sankeys back in the day, and Berghain a few years ago too. Now i'm an old fart I didn't bother going to any clubs while i was in Berlin last time, that might of been partly why I didn't have such a good time. 

However we did go and see the Boros art collection in it's giant bunker which hosted techno nights back in the day.  I can only imagine what went on in there, crazy dark place.

[studpuppet]

Been twice: once in 1988 (stayed in the East, crossed to the West a couple of times) - was fascinating and extraordinary, and then again in 2019 - was even more fascinating and extraordinary.

Recommendations - if you're there for a short while, book a history cycle tour. Lets you get your bearings and depending on the guide you'll get that local colour that guide books don't give you.

Books: two completely disparate recommendations (well three, really).

The Berlin Companion (and The Second Berlin Companion) are great without even having to go there - full of little tidbits that will enhance your knowledge. The relative I stayed with the second time liked it so much, I bought her a copy as a thank you present.The author Beata is a lovely lady as well, and sells audio tours for you to download (I haven't used these, but if they're anything like the books they'll be great too).

Berlin Then & Now - sounds like a terrible idea, one of those military history books showing how badly bombed places were, but in actual fact this book does way more, covering the early days of the city and also the havoc wreaked by The Wall going up. Obviously, it also covers the changes between '33-'45, but if you want to trace Rosa Luxembourg's route before she went into the canal or where Martin Bormann was last seen, this is for you.

[checkoutgirl]

I must say I disagree about the expensive booze, Berlin is much cheaper than Munich, Hamburg, Cologne and Dusseldorf for that, god at the bottom end I was still able to find basic beer for under €3 / 0.5l in Neukolln.

My jam is pop a nagen of vodka in the pocket earlier. Then order a pint of cider in the spot and sneak some clandestine sneakies into the pint. A winning formula we can all agree.

[checkoutgirl]

self depreciating.

There's a whole thing there that hums quietly in the background that they know and you know but it's bad form to mention.

Plenty of footage demonstrates their police service's tolerance for Nazi salutes.

[checkoutgirl]

Me and my partner got what was essentially a tiny flat with a small bathroom and kitchen in the heart of Kreuzberg for about €45 per night last time we were there. You should be able to find decent accommodation in decent areas for way less than what you're prepared to pay at the moment, especially if you're only going for a few days.

It's cheap there but not that cheap and every little helps.

I'd suggest that's all you need if you're out and about all the time anyway.

Problem is due to laziness I'm married to the flight and hotel bundle job. €430 for 2 nights in Paderborner on 8th November including flights seems ok. Doing more work might save me a hundred euro but is it worth the hassle?

[checkoutgirl]

Typical English

Any nightclub where you have to dress up like a gimp to obtain access seems like an additional pain which is an extra thing. To do.

[checkoutgirl]

It's the best city in the world if you like looking at men that have two little keys hanging from their belt loop.

What about if you wanna take Mollie and blow a bunch of dudes?

[checkoutgirl]

Also you can drink beer on them without feeling like a social outcast. They want you to! They'll sell you it from a kiosk in the platform. 'Get blootered, mein herr. Another'll be a long in a minute.' 

Shit! I'm fuckin' goin'.

[shoulders]

Doing more work might save me a hundred euro but is it worth the hassle?

Also you

Any tips for the cheapest thing possible while still central to the city?

[studpuppet]

Any tips for the cheapest thing possible while still central to the city?

Play hide-and-seek in the Holocaust Memorial?

[touchingcloth]

Play hide-and-seek in the Holocaust Memorial?

There are probably a couple of infinite things you can do that cost no money at all.

Standing on top of the revolving restaurant in Alexanderplatz while furiously masturbating? €0

Hitting an onlooker below with your gism? Priceless.

[studpuppet]

There are probably a couple of infinite things you can do that cost no money at all.

Standing on top of the revolving restaurant in Alexanderplatz while furiously masturbating? €0

Hitting an onlooker below with your gism? Priceless.

You see, that's why all the Ossies complaining that things were better when the Wall was up are wrong. Back then you weren't allowed to take any photographic equipment up the tower, and then how would you capture the scene for posterity? Take a court artist up there to do a charcoal sketch? Progress is good for something.

[shoulders]

If you want "an experience" then the following bars tick a few clichés about Berlin and particularly Neukölln.

- Tristeza
- Bei Schlawinchen
- Zum Goldenen Hahn

The third one doesn't allow you to take photos so 🤡

[touchingcloth]

I've seen things you only see in Berlin. Bareback gimps perspiring off the wrist of Onan. I watched pee-beams sputter in the dark near the Brandenburg Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like cum in Spree. Time for Scheiß.

[touchingcloth]

This...

Have you seen this 🚬



Lit cigarette vending machine from 1931.

I don't smoke but I want a lit cigarette now.  Look how fucking happy she is

This is up there with the moon landings for me.  We have gone backwards.

...reminded me of something. Here in Portugal bars and restaurants still have cigarette vending machines, but Germany has them out in public where children can use them, assuming they can reach the coin slot, locate a ladder, or balance on a mate. They love a tab, the Germans.