markthalle neun

you have to walk a few minutes from the u-bahn to get to markthalle neun, and then watch out for the entrance, set flush into the flight facades on eisenbahnstrasse, but you will find fresh flowers, organic greens, eggs, and preserves, fresh fish and meat, great tea and coffee, home-made cake – much to while away a friday or saturday morning or afternoon, when the market is open.

there are special events like naschmarkt, hosted by slow food berlin. that the market itself was revived from its rather desolate state to a small but buzzing community, makes it even more special.

i can wholeheartedly recommend the open smoked salmon sandwich with a glass of dry white wine for lunch, but there's also pulled pork (on a platter, or a sandwich), if you can bear waiting until 12.00 pm when their stand officially opens (other stands start serving lunch earlier, so no worries if you're hungry before noon).

commendable: the small stall of the biodynamic farm in weggun. they sell eggs, berries in summer, and preserves. at certain times of the year, they sell organic meat, which you can pre-order at their stall. read more, also about their 'adopt a hen' programme, here.

markthalle IX, eisenbahnstrasse 42/43, 10997 berlin (kreuzberg). market days: friday and saturday, 10-18.00 h. closest u-bahn stops 'goerlitzer bahnhof' or 'schlesisches tor' (both on the u1).

qigong in berlin

quite recently, i had the good fortune of taking portraits of my friend gabriele, an artist and qualified qigong teacher. she was practising qigong when i took the pictures - there is such a quietness and beauty, such a flow to these ancient movements.

a one-day workshop with gabriele is likely coming up at the end of the month (31st march), take a look at her blog for more details, which should be up soon. the beautiful room with wooden floors where she's teaching is close to schönhauser allee station (s-bahn, u-bahn and tram). her classes are generally held in german, but by all means, do contact her via her blog if you have any questions.

++++ UPDATE ++++

the qigong workshop will be taking place on 31st march, and address the symptoms of hayfever: how to prevent, and/or support treatments of hayever symptons with excercises and acupressure. the workshop will be held in german. more info here.

++++ UPDATE ++++

the bargain book shop

when a friend told me he was going to open a pop-up store in december, and it was going to be a shop for discounted illustrated books, i thought: oh that's going to be dangerous --- for me!

and it is indeed. i could spend hours browsing the architecture, art, design and photography books, leafing through their thick pages, mulling over which ones to get. i'm really quite partial to some steidl books i have seen, and some architecture tomes, and a book on japanese art, and... most of them are half price, which makes it very difficult to stay reasonable. you may well set out to get a xmas present and end up sneaking in an extra book (or two) for yourself into the shopping bag.

good to know: the books are from all over the world, a big proportion of them in english.

the shop is open one month only (until dec 31, 2011). don't miss it!

find it here: the bargain book shop, immanuelkirchstr. 33, 10405 berlin (prenzlauer berg), open mon-sat 12-20h (sun closed), closest station: tram M2, knaackstrasse, the shop's website, on facebook

++++ UPDATE ++++

the bargain book shop will now permanently reside at this address!

++++ UPDATE ++++

kolor berlin

berlin has seen a veritable flood of design shops in the past years, but less than a handful, it seems to me, are original. kolor is different. true, it's small, and you will have to walk five minutes from schoenhauser allee station, but it's so worth it.

kolor berlin is a design studio with a little shop in the front room, which doubles as showroom for the duo's interior design practice. every month, a product is featured, the stock is growing by and by. but give me a small hand-picked selection over swamps of pointless tat anytime.

my faves are without doubt their light features - coloured light cords with simple bulbs, hanging from the ceiling like an art installation. simple table lamps with black, white or copper bases, or lights you can stick between the books on your shelves. i'm also partial to the neon colour theme currently running through various objects, from paper clips to necklaces and luxuriously upcycled desks.

while kolor doesn't run a fully fledged online store yet, you can email them at order(at)kolor.de to enquire about availability, price and shipping of anything you see here or on their site. english spoken.

if in berlin, you should absolutely come to take a look. this is the kind of place where you'll find something to take home for your friends, but most likely something for yourself.

find them here: kolor berlin, kopenhagener str. 64, 10437 berlin / prenzlauer berg. nearest s-bahn/u-bahn/tram stop: schoenhauser allee. phone +49 (0) 30 - 231 801 46, currently open mon-fri 12-19 h. closed sat and sun. enquiries about price, availability and shipping under order(at)kolor.de

ferry rides

did you know you can ride various ferries in berlin with a simple s-bahn/u-bahn ticket? i love doing it for a day out, preferrably for a picnic, weather permitting (although i have had perfect picnics in stormy weather, not much is stopping me.)

bear in mind though, that these ferries are shuttles, so you must leave at the other end, and if you want to go back straight away, board again. may seem funny, but otherwise the ferries tend to fill up with passengers taking round-trip after round-trip. and there are not too many seats, so go a little early to queue on the pier (say 10-20 mins in advance, 40-45 mins in summer and on sunny days - i'm not kidding you).

check out the BVG (berlin public transport) website for timetables. also note, some ferries only run in the summer. the one across wannsee runs pretty much all year. i once took the ferry in deepest winter, going through drifting ice.

news and a question

well, hello, it's been a while.

quite a few things have happened:
i've been on holiday to france
nylon korea has featured an interview with me and introduced this blog (a huge thank you, nylon!)
goldhahn & sampson has their new cooking classes up for booking
an exciting tomas saraceno show is opening tonight at hamburger bahnhof, museum for contemporary art

since it's been a bit quiet here lately, i thought i'd ask you what you would like me to feature here - more cafés and restaurants, or shops, or art events and galleries, or walks and random discoveries? anything goes, let me know!

(oh, and before i forget: the images show an evening playing boules with my friends this summer. berlin can be lovely.)

save the date (and some euros)

soon i will be on holiday, but before i quickly wanted to let you know about two things:

the summer fest at LCB (literary colloquium berlin) in wannsee is coming up fast. sadly, i won't be in town this year, but i have the most wonderful memories about it. the building itself, less than a 5-min walk from the s-bahn station in wannsee, is a rather grand castle'esque villa on a sloped site on the lake. walk around the villa and enjoy the view, the stands where (often small indie) publishers present their books, the atmosphere. food and drinks will be available too. walk down the steepish slope to stand by the water and watch the boats sail by.

readings and books in german, but even if you don't speak german, it's lovely to go.

sommerfest at LCB (literary colloquium)
saturday, 20 august 2011, from 15.30 Uhr
this year's guest of honour: klett-cotta verlag and authors
more info here.

the second thing is for all gardeners and plant lovers:

if you've ever been to the mauerpark fleamarket, you'll be familiar with the garden outlet just by the entrance to the fleamarket site (entrance at bernauer strasse). until the end of august, they are clearing all stock for their summer break. all plants are 50% off. when i was there, i got some herbs and was eyeing some big hydrangeas (which will flower year after year, even if they are past their bloom for this). hurry!

summer sale at blumen und pflanzen wunder
bernauer strasse 52, 13355 berlin, open daily - don't know the exact times, but go between 12.00 and 17.00 and you should be on the safe side!

p.s.: if you go and buy plants, do take a picture and post a link in the comments, i'd love that!

bixels

sitting down at bixels' big wooden table with a salad and an apple juice, then a chocolatey chocolate cake with some coffee (oh, the special glasses and oriental looking glass carafes that go with it!) is a very good way to have lunch indeed.

bixels, mulackstr. 38, 10115 berlin, open monday-sat 12-21 h.

p.s.: the oriental style rug caught my eye. like it!

+++ UPDATE: sadly, bixels closed its doors. i'm glad i took the pictures as a memento of a beautiful place. the pace of change is getting ever faster, it seems.  +++

cooking at goldhahn & sampson

remember i blogged about goldhahn & sampson before? that place is a treasure trove of delicatessen from around the world, and to make it even better, they run a cooking school. i've wanted to take the class on french cuisine for a while, and finally - thanks to a prize i won over at slow travel berlin (thanks a million, paul!) - i did.

jan kreuzinger, who also runs a wine store on neukoelln's weserstrasse, was teaching us not only how to cook the dishes planned for the night - onion soup with gratinéed bread, a salad with duck breast, filet steak with potato gratin, spinach, carrots and red wine braised shallots and (as if we could still eat) a hazelnut crème brulée - but was also answering loads of questions. not only did i eat very well that night and enjoyed good company, i also learned an awful lot.

the range of cooking classes is wide at goldhahn & sampson, so if you're more into thai cuisine, persian cooking, or baking, chances are you'll find something to suit your taste.

for a bigger set of images, take a look here.

find shop and cooking classes here: goldhahn & sampson, dunckerstr. 9, 10437 berlin (prenzlauer berg), phone 030 411 98 366, open mo-sat 10-20 h, sun closed

glimpses of berlin

the other day at the botanic garden.

the sun is out! surely a good time to start the beergarden season. prater, anyone?

slow travel day berlin, sunday 13 march 2011

come on, be spontaneous and don't miss the first slow travel day berlin, tomorrow, sunday 13 march 2011. sorry for the short notice, but i only heard about it today.

the slow travel day will take place at the circus hostel on rosenthaler platz. there will be two city tours, a berlin wall tour, starting in the morning (meet and enrol at 9.15 am), and an urban sketching tour, starting a little later in the day (meet up and enrol at 1.45 pm). there will be a coffee tasting with sweet treats in the afternoon (from 4 pm; provided by berlin reified and foodie in berlin). also, film screenings, a beer tasting and music by dj robert lippok, founder member of legendary berlin-based electronica legends to rococo rot and more.

see, you can't possibly miss this, can you?

slow travel day berlin, at the circus hostel, sunday, 13 march 2011, tours at 9.15 am and 1.45 pm, more events in the afternoon and into the night, check out paul sullivan's slow travel berlin for more details.

see you there!

glimpses of berlin

lunch with sylee the other day. s was there as well. what a good time we had! at sgaminegg, of course.

schaedel & sattler

want a hearty stew for lunch, or a risotto? are simple wooden tables your thing? are you ready for the surprise that bare concrete walls can actually feel warm? schaedel & sattler is just that kind of place.

apart from the swiss/alpine-kitchen-inspired lunch dailies - the cooking is unpretentious and earthy -, i am particularly taken with their choice of small sweets to go with your coffee. i had an orange macaron, which was perfection.

bear in mind though that the place is small and has quite a number of regulars, so if you want to try it for lunch, go early, say 12.00 or 12.30. otherwise expect a little wait to get a table or have your lunch at one of their wall-mounted miniature tables, perched on a stool. or go after lunch for a coffee when the place has quietened down to a little hum.

if you are into architecture, read more about the building, designed by bararchitekten berlin, here.

find it here: schaedel & sattler, oderberger str. 56, 10435 berlin, open mon-fri 8-16h (please note this place is closed on weekends and doesn't serve dinner.)