 | Check out the 19th Bebelplatz Festival of Light this October | | | The first time I arrived in Berlin, it was a cold, wet March morning. As my taxi made its way from the airport to my hotel near Brandenburg Gate I couldn’t wait to clean up, maybe soak in a warm tub and relax in my robe. Of course, my room wasn’t ready. And now it was really raining, but I didn’t really have a choice. I pulled some layers and my umbrella from my bag and out I went. In the damp chill, I made my way to Westberlin, a nearby coffee shop recommended by a friend. It was the perfect place for me to get my wits about me – such a ’90s vibe, with magazines and books strewn about. From there I charted my course for the rest of the day (or at least until check-in at 3pm). I wandered on foot (this is the best way) to see Checkpoint Charlie and came across a vintage Trabant tour, a caravan of colorful tiny cars (I later discovered it’s called a Trabi safari). I made my way to Mitte for lunch and met up with another friend who showed me her neighborhood. She took me to dinner, and we ended the night in a graffiti-strewn cocktail bar. I didn’t make it back to the hotel until 2am. That’s Berlin. To check in on the latest and greatest in the German capital, I spoke with Barbara Woolsey, a Lonely Planet contributor who is also a DJ. Zooming in from her new apartment in Schöneberg, Barbara shared her insider picks for the best ways to lose yourself in the wilds of Berlin. Prepare for an all-nighter! | | | | | Senior Director of Content | | | | | | | All aboard: a night train to Berlin 🚆 | Travel to Berlin by rail on this new sleeper train. Depart London on a Friday afternoon and wake up in Berlin on Saturday morning – with breakfast on board. | | | Make your next trip to Berlin a one-of-a-kind experience. | | | | | History, art, music, the outdoors: Berlin has a massive array of cool experiences, most of which you can do any day of the week. Read more Local tip: The Urban Nation museum celebrates street art and graffiti. It's also a cool place to hang out. | | | | | Subways, trains, trams, e-scooters and much more make Berlin one of the best connected cities in the world. Read more Local tip: Rent a bike: only $10 for a day – and it’s the proper way the Berlin kids do it. | | | | | Berlin on a budget is one of the things this city does best. You can browse kitschy flea markets, see epic sites and eat like royalty for a pittance. Read more Local tip: Go for Turkish dumplings and Vietnamese, both amazing and inexpensive cuisines. | | | | | Mitte gets all the glory, yet there are many more fabulous areas to explore in Berlin, whether you’re in search of culture or character or kicking back. Read more Local tip: Check out Park am Gleisdreieck in Schöneberg, an urban park reclaimed from a former railway junction. | | | | | Berlin, but in your pocket
| Lonely Planet's brand-spanking-new Pocket Berlin is your guide to the city’s best experiences and local life, neighborhood by neighborhood. Grab this little gem, then pack your bags. | | | DJ and Lonely Planet contributor Barbara Woolsey on her Berlin faves | | | How’d you end up in Berlin? | I’m originally from Canada, and I came here on holiday in 2013. I fell completely in love with the city and the music scene. It’s such a vibrant place; you meet all kinds of people here. I’ve lived here for 10 years [as of] October. | Where in the city do you live? | I just moved to a neighborhood called Schöneberg. Before that I lived in Neukölln, which I never thought I’d leave. Now I live across the street from the house where Marlene Dietrich was born. And a five-minute walk away is where David Bowie lived, and there’s a little shrine. | | | | | “Everything happens outdoors in Berlin, so summer is a great time to be here.” | | | For someone who has never been to Berlin before, how would you characterize it? | What I say about Berlin all the time is that nothing shocks me anymore. Once I was walking in this area called Friedrichshain, which is quite punk. I saw this guy with a mohawk, and he was holding a pizza box and had like a little pet rat on a leash on top of the pizza box. | What’s a cool, unexpected and very Berlin thing to do? | I think everybody should go to a Sunday daytime party here. I wrote a story about it. It's really fun: all the glitter and festival vibes packed into a weekend afternoon. There’s also this flea market on Sundays in Mauerpark where they do afternoon karaoke. It’s an open amphitheater with hundreds of people. | Where do you like to go out? | I like Bulbul, a venue where I deejay. It’s quite intimate so there’s space to sit and chill out and not intense like those techno spots with the ntz-ntz-ntz. I also love this little cocktail bar called Fahemi Bar. And in my opinion, the best espresso martini is at The Black Lodge. | | |  | Love travel inspiration in your inbox? | | | Share with a fellow travel lover by forwarding to a friend. Did someone share this email with you? Subscribe by clicking here. | | | This email was sent to you by: | Lonely Planet Publications Ltd. | 1101 Red Ventures Drive, Fort Mill, SC 29707 | | | |
.png){kind=avatar}
No comments:
Post a Comment