Alex and Eric in Slovakia: Berlin, November 2012

November 1 is a national holiday in Slovakia (All Saints' Day) and since it fell on a Thursday, we took a long weekend trip to Berlin. I had always heard great things but honestly, had no idea what to expect.

We arrived to our hotel Thursday afternoon. I was starving to we went to the Mexican place across the street (Tipica). Mexican in Berlin? That's how hungry I was. But I was wrong, this place had very decent food, definitely better than any Mexican food I had ever had anywhere in Europe! I was very happy with my horchata and veggie sopes. We were enjoying ourselves so much we each had some tequila before leaving :)

Our first evening we walked from Alexanderplatz down Unter der Linden. I had found a trendy vegetarian restaurant, Cookies Cream, that I wanted to check out. Interesting place. You have to walk through a hotel loading dock area to find the entrance. The inside is mostly grey concrete, upstairs the restaurant, downstairs the club. I had a great vermouth cocktail, I couldn't really remember the last time I had vermouth (if ever) so I was impressed. Our meal was excellent although the people around us taking photos of their food was distracting (it's that trendy)! We had an evening stroll to the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial before heading back the hotel.

Saturday we took a bike tour of the city (we love bike tours). Highlights for me were biking through the park and lunch at the bier garden. We window shopped in the neighborhood of Hakeschermarkt. That evening we had a fabulous Thai meal followed by cocktails at a really wonderful bar. I had a perfect Manhattan (since I was on a vermouth kick). Eric had a dry one with Buleit whiskey (new to both of us).

Sunday we enjoyed a fresh, organic brunch at a neighborhood place. We sat at the window to people watch. We then went on a street art tour. It was great just to get outside the touristy center and see a different part of Berlin. Our guide was himself an artist. A very different way to get to know Berlin, we loved it. The tour finished at their offices where we all made our own street art, with stencils and graffiti. I made Elvis art, Eric made an Ozzy tribute to his cousin Jeff, of whose passing we had just learned of the night before.

We had burritos at Dolores on the way back to our hotel. Wow, amazing! Even better than the first Mexican place we went to. How I long for such awesome burritos in Bratislava! The walls were decorated with maps of Mission Dolores in SF, made me miss California!

That evening we headed to Huxley's Neuwe Welt because Juanes was in concert that night. I love Juanes and have been a huge fan for over 10 years. We happened to see a flyer in the first Mexican restaurant. I couldn't find any tickets available online so we decided to try our luck at the venue itself. I was so nervous when I saw the huge line of people waiting to get in but when I talked to security, they confirmed that there were still tickets available! Unbelievable. If Juanes were playing in California, it would be sold out weeks in advance for sure, we were so lucky! The concert was so much fun. Everyone was singing along, dancing (Eric really enjoyed it, too). I was singing Juanes for a week after!

Sunday we took in the Pergamon Museum. We don't often do the more traditional museums because of time, but this one sounded so interesting, we had to check it out. I would definitely recommend it. Just the sheer size of the Gates of Ishtar are worth a visit. It is really amazing to think about the grandiosity of these ancient civilizations, really makes you appreciate the deep and rich history of places like Turkey and Mesopotamia (Iraq/Iran).

Our last stop was the Topography of Terror Museum, near Checkpoint Charlie. Having both just finished Bloodlands, a book about the atrocities of WWII, it was all very familiar to us. It's a great exhibit, with lots of information and photos (best of all, free). A must-visit in Berlin.