More snippets of Berlin

We have finally come to an end of my Berlin travel posts. Hopefully in the near future when I come back to this city, I will be able to visit the amazing glass cupola of the Reichstag. Because of the new security guidelines, visits will have to go through a preliminary screening and visitors will have to register 3-days in advance online at the Reichstag website. Unfortunately we did not have the luxury of time.

Another thing that I’d like to do in Berlin next time around is to visit the food or farmer’s market. I have simple wishes, I do not ask a lot =)

Below are more pictures that I took during our 4-day Berlin long weekend trip in March of this year. They are daily street scenes, some of our dinners (they did not merit their own post), more historical monuments and places and things of interest.

One of our dinners at Restaurante Malatesta, an Italian restaurant in Gendarmenmarkt. We shared a spinach salad doused in balsamico vinegar and showered with roasted pine nuts. Dutchman had homemade ravioli with buffalo milk and ricotta cheese filling while I had seafood risotto which was quite salty. For dessert, see next picture. Overall: 3.5 stars out of 5.

We shared our dessert: Creme caramel at Restaurante Malatesta. 3 stars out of 5... Bonne Maman's creme caramel at Albert Heijn is much better. I must add that the older Italian waiter who attended to us was a such a sweet gentleman. He thinks the Dutchman is American because he ordered Coke, haha!

Mini cars are so easy to park in the city.

I was speechless to see the massive Nespresso shop in Berlin! Wow, look at the variety and the inventory, and how do they stock all of them so high up? This one is located on Friedrichstrasse.

Nespresso capsules.

Beer bikes even go late into the night in Berlin. If I am not mistaken this concept started in the Netherlands, I blogged about this 5-7 years ago, but this has since been banned here. I can understand why because Amsterdam and Utrecht for example where these beer bikes started are full of canals. When the boys get rowdy and intoxicated with alcohol they might find themselves drowning in the canals! Scary.

The Berlin MINI.

Some random architectural interest, building bridge and sculptures. In Budapest, they have similar statues guarding doorways.

Berlin has a Galeries Lafayette but it does not come close to its Parisian sister. It embodies the same style though, the atrium and the dome.

Das Sachsenhaus, proud of its 'Made in Germany' stuff.

We also had dinner at the Spanish restaurant chain called Maredo. We had high hopes of this restaurant but our experience was summed up into a 3 stars out of 5 rating. My salmon was OK and the scampis as well but it lacked the ooomph. I even forgot what Dutchman had. The dinner was saved by the dessert: Appelstrudel with ice cream and whipped cream. This is 4.25 stars out of 5.

I cannot help it but I am attracted to the green colour.

At Alexanderplatz, some (cheap) Don Lucas Brut (cava sparkling wine).

A small protest rally on Alexanderplatz.

The 17th of June Avenue (Strasse de 17 juni).

Grosse Stern (Great Star), is the central square of the Grosser Tiergarten on the 17th of June Avenue.

As we drove out of Berlin, we followed the Polizei =)

From Berlin, Dutchman and I went to nearby Potsdam for a half a day visit. Potsdam is hands down very pretty. More about it next...