greetings from berlin! in addition to exercise there are few things in life that lift your serotonin levels like a trip in the company of great women.
ready to take off.
morning view.
i am not sure what in berlin strikes me as full of life. in itself the concrete gloominess is brightened only by street art and tivoli lights marking restaurants and stores this time of the year. the magnificent promenades are not lined by lush trees as they are from spring till fall, but somehow there is a buzz.
prenzlauer berg.
friedrichshain.
kreutzberg.
the mecca of cheap breakfasts and beer (that is better value than water) is something of a haven for a foodie on a budget like myself. moreover, since the weather did not exactly favor long strolls around the city – it was piercingly cold and rather humid even when the rain was not turning into sleet – we took advantage of our cosy apartment in friedrichshain, the little bars in the neighborhood and a myriad of ethic restaurants.
margaritas as my favorite from last visit, santa maria.
little sweetness from downstairs: the nuss ring.
the neighborhood was familiar to the rest of the pack, but offered plenty of new for me. my last trip centered around kreutzberg and it was gratifying to dive into the nooks of new blocks and streets.
the most important part of traveling are without a doubt your companions. our group dynamic consisted of plenty of impromptu craziness, but also the power of life experience, sensitivity and intelligence that was not necessarily the academic kind. there was room to breath and to air out the most embarrassing and humiliating details without feeling crushed by a condescending attitude whether it was past hurts and issues of trust, the pain of missing our kids, the uncertainties of creativity or whether the store downstairs was too far for another round of drinks.
the travel records of my lovely companions can be checked out (in finnish only, i'm afraid, but with better pics than mine, naturally) at stella's, dorit's two and jenni's blogs.
love you all.
i returned home at 6.30 am from dancing and went looking for some love in the room next door. they took a picture. gee thanks.
about a month ago i was in berlin for a week. almost purely on business, i enjoyed the atmosphere at tempelhof airport.
after my sweetie joined me for the weekend, we slowly inhaled the urban landscape, the trippy decor of our psychedelic hotel nhow and devoured the amazing food available everywhere in the city.
although i'll return to the highlights of the trip later, i wanted to tell you about a little gem of a restaurant we enjoyed our saturday dinner at.
little otik is located rather deep in kreuzberg. the place is a casual locavore haven with a daily changing list of seasonal, organic and, needless to say, local ingredients.
our dinner tasted fresh and felt lavish, and we were recommended an excellent grüner veltliner to accompany it.
the owners are a couple from the states and the service – i'm guessing since none of us spoke german – mostly in english. the place stemmed from a monthly pop-up restaurant of a sort the guys organized at their apartment for strangers. because of the success, they decided to invest in their own place.
the interior was created using recycled elements and scavenged items from the streets. the result is a rustic, minimalistic space with welcoming warmth.
and the strange name? little otik is a film based on a czech folk tale about a childless couple who take a root of a tree resembling a baby as their child. the wooden creature gains life from their love, but shows unfortunate appetite, carnivorous and insatiable, which leads to neighbors being led to the basement for a murderous feast.
