September 20 to 26, 2022. Berlin, Germany.
Hayden and Andrea’s.
We had nothing really planned for this, the final stage in Berlin.
The first week would be spent at H&As then after that we had rented an apartment, just around the corner.
Getting to rekindle our friendship with Brianna was top of mind.
They were moving to their new home in Granada in November, so we were there to help out as much as possible.
The weather was cooler, so now eating outside wasn’t possible.
As Hayden and Andrea were working Monday to Friday and Brianna was at Kita, we were free to come and go.
That is until Brianna came home at 4pm, then it was our turn to keep her occupied.
Our weekday morning ritual was to wave goodby to Hayden and Brianna and then prepare our breakfast.
This was usually followed by a walk down to The Barn Coffee Roasters.
There they made a very acceptable Long Black.
On our first visit to Berlin this trip, we were regarded as regulars, so much so that they offered me a Loyalty Card.
September 26 to October 11, 2022. Berlin, Germany.
Clara Vahlenstein in Vahlenstein’s Distille
Limehome Berlin.
As I have mentioned our new accommodation wasn’t far from Hayden and Andrea’s place. So it was relatively easy to wheel our luggage there, even over the rough cobblestone paving of the Berlin footpaths.
Limehome was a comfortable, if little crowded, room with a kitchenette and a good view over Prenzlauer Allee.
Once we settled in and discovered what was in the place, we went out and shopped.
We were going to be self catering for the next two weeks – well mostly.
That night we popped into our favourite German restaurant, Metzer Eck, just for old times sake.
The weather has turned cold and it was threatening rain so we figured we had better eat inside.
When we walked in, we were treated like old friends and immediately given a table. It was only after we had been there a while and people were being turned away, that we realised it was booked out.
We then looked at the sign on our table, which read: ‘Reserved for friends’
We did feel special.
Metzer Eck has a proud history in Berlin.
This family owned bar and restaurant has been on the same corner of Straẞburger and Metzer Strasse for over 110 years.
It was opened by a housemaid, Clara Vahlenstein, in 1913, after she had a lottery win.
It was then known as Vahlenstein’s Distille and was a restaurant come pub and very popular in the area.
The pub survived the First World War, the Depression and the Third Reich.
After the clean up from the Second World War it was given it was given its current name, Metzer Eck.
In 1951 Clara Vahlenstein died and the business passed to her daughter, Charlotte. In 1957 Charlotte’s daughter Bärbel joined the business.
In 2000, Bärbel son Horst Falkner, the great-grandson of the founder, took over the restaurant with his wife Sylvia.
After a short illness, Horst died in 2007, leaving the business to Sylvia, who is still running it today.
It’s certainly not a flashy place, its just a good, honest Berlin restaurant that specialises in excellent, yet simple, German fair.
Living right on one of the busiest streets in Berlin, we were constantly reminded of the city by the ubiquitous sound of emergency vehicles racing past.
In Berlin these sirens greet you when you arrive and farewell you on departure.
As I have mentioned before, even Brianna can mimic the sound of a Berlin siren.
When we were wandering around at the start of our first visit to Berlin, we came across a cafe called ‘Daisies’. We wondered if it was owned by the Daisy who ran the Coffee Room next door to Hayden and Andrea’s apartment.
Daisies was down in Mitte and one day we decided to go and check it out.
The woman who owned it might have been Daisy but she certainly wasn’t the one we knew.
Our Daisy was very English, while this one was very Chinese.
Unfortunately coffee wasn’t worth the walk.
However the area was.
This part of Berlin looks more like a small German village square than part of the capital city.
Einstein Kaffee is a chain of coffee shops in Germany. They became our go-to place when the more specialist places weren’t available.
The coffee was good, staff friendly and there was always a place to sit.
As common as the emergency vehicles sirens are in Berlin, is the pedestrian crossing Amplelmann or ‘Little traffic light man’.
These characters were developed in East Berlin in 1961 by traffic psychologist, Karl Peglau (1927-2009)
They are now everywhere in Berlin and not just on the eastern side of the city.
Another observation about Berlin, is just how slow building construction is.
When we last visited Hayden and Andrea, in 2019, the block opposite their apartment was a building site – it still is and doesn’t look as though it will be finished any time soon.
In 2019 and again now, in 2022, we visited Kaschk by BRŁØ. It’s a coffee and craft beer cafe.
Good coffee in the morning and good beer at night – what more do you need.
We certainly were leaving Berlin with more luggage than when we arrived.
So a lot of our last days were spent trying to squeeze it all into our suitcases.
We were up early on our final day and got a taxi to the airport.
Our trip home was firstly Berlin to Barcelona, on Vueling and then Barcelona to Dubai and then Dubai to Melbourne, with Emirates.
All in all it was about 22 hours in the air and 5 hours waiting.
That’s a very long time sitting on your bum.
In summery it’s been a strange trip.
The highlights being, time with Hayden and Andrea and watching Brianna grow and mature, two weeks in Portugal with Ev, Steph and Aida and having the entire family together in Granada for Brianna’s third birthday.
The travelling has also been interesting and, in many respects, an eye opener.
The open support of Germany towards Ukraine and growing distrust and dislike of Russia.
Seeing Portugal again after so many years and traversing England, Scotland, Ireland (both north and south) and Wales.
The shock of the continuing troubles in Northern Ireland and the surprise in the prosperity that’s over the border to the south.
And of course the continuing decline of England.
The sad state of their economy and their disfunctional government.
All this was tempered by Thea’s unfortunate illness and hospitalisation in Barcelona, which resulted in us missing out on Cam and Fran’s wedding in Italy.
Summer of 2022.
Saturday, October 19th, 2024Part 8: Our final 3 weeks in Berlin.
September 20 to 26, 2022. Berlin, Germany.
Hayden and Andrea’s.
We had nothing really planned for this, the final stage in Berlin.
The first week would be spent at H&As then after that we had rented an apartment, just around the corner.
Getting to rekindle our friendship with Brianna was top of mind.
They were moving to their new home in Granada in November, so we were there to help out as much as possible.
The weather was cooler, so now eating outside wasn’t possible.
As Hayden and Andrea were working Monday to Friday and Brianna was at Kita, we were free to come and go.
That is until Brianna came home at 4pm, then it was our turn to keep her occupied.
Our weekday morning ritual was to wave goodby to Hayden and Brianna and then prepare our breakfast.
This was usually followed by a walk down to The Barn Coffee Roasters.
There they made a very acceptable Long Black.
On our first visit to Berlin this trip, we were regarded as regulars, so much so that they offered me a Loyalty Card.
September 26 to October 11, 2022. Berlin, Germany.
Clara Vahlenstein in Vahlenstein’s Distille
Limehome Berlin.
As I have mentioned our new accommodation wasn’t far from Hayden and Andrea’s place. So it was relatively easy to wheel our luggage there, even over the rough cobblestone paving of the Berlin footpaths.
Limehome was a comfortable, if little crowded, room with a kitchenette and a good view over Prenzlauer Allee.
Once we settled in and discovered what was in the place, we went out and shopped.
We were going to be self catering for the next two weeks – well mostly.
That night we popped into our favourite German restaurant, Metzer Eck, just for old times sake.
The weather has turned cold and it was threatening rain so we figured we had better eat inside.
When we walked in, we were treated like old friends and immediately given a table. It was only after we had been there a while and people were being turned away, that we realised it was booked out.
We then looked at the sign on our table, which read: ‘Reserved for friends’
We did feel special.
Metzer Eck has a proud history in Berlin.
This family owned bar and restaurant has been on the same corner of Straẞburger and Metzer Strasse for over 110 years.
It was opened by a housemaid, Clara Vahlenstein, in 1913, after she had a lottery win.
It was then known as Vahlenstein’s Distille and was a restaurant come pub and very popular in the area.
The pub survived the First World War, the Depression and the Third Reich.
After the clean up from the Second World War it was given it was given its current name, Metzer Eck.
In 1951 Clara Vahlenstein died and the business passed to her daughter, Charlotte. In 1957 Charlotte’s daughter Bärbel joined the business.
In 2000, Bärbel son Horst Falkner, the great-grandson of the founder, took over the restaurant with his wife Sylvia.
After a short illness, Horst died in 2007, leaving the business to Sylvia, who is still running it today.
It’s certainly not a flashy place, its just a good, honest Berlin restaurant that specialises in excellent, yet simple, German fair.
Living right on one of the busiest streets in Berlin, we were constantly reminded of the city by the ubiquitous sound of emergency vehicles racing past.
In Berlin these sirens greet you when you arrive and farewell you on departure.
As I have mentioned before, even Brianna can mimic the sound of a Berlin siren.
When we were wandering around at the start of our first visit to Berlin, we came across a cafe called ‘Daisies’. We wondered if it was owned by the Daisy who ran the Coffee Room next door to Hayden and Andrea’s apartment.
Daisies was down in Mitte and one day we decided to go and check it out.
The woman who owned it might have been Daisy but she certainly wasn’t the one we knew.
Our Daisy was very English, while this one was very Chinese.
Unfortunately coffee wasn’t worth the walk.
However the area was.
This part of Berlin looks more like a small German village square than part of the capital city.
Einstein Kaffee is a chain of coffee shops in Germany. They became our go-to place when the more specialist places weren’t available.
The coffee was good, staff friendly and there was always a place to sit.
As common as the emergency vehicles sirens are in Berlin, is the pedestrian crossing Amplelmann or ‘Little traffic light man’.
These characters were developed in East Berlin in 1961 by traffic psychologist, Karl Peglau (1927-2009)
They are now everywhere in Berlin and not just on the eastern side of the city.
Another observation about Berlin, is just how slow building construction is.
When we last visited Hayden and Andrea, in 2019, the block opposite their apartment was a building site – it still is and doesn’t look as though it will be finished any time soon.
In 2019 and again now, in 2022, we visited Kaschk by BRŁØ. It’s a coffee and craft beer cafe.
Good coffee in the morning and good beer at night – what more do you need.
We certainly were leaving Berlin with more luggage than when we arrived.
So a lot of our last days were spent trying to squeeze it all into our suitcases.
We were up early on our final day and got a taxi to the airport.
Our trip home was firstly Berlin to Barcelona, on Vueling and then Barcelona to Dubai and then Dubai to Melbourne, with Emirates.
All in all it was about 22 hours in the air and 5 hours waiting.
That’s a very long time sitting on your bum.
In summery it’s been a strange trip.
The highlights being, time with Hayden and Andrea and watching Brianna grow and mature, two weeks in Portugal with Ev, Steph and Aida and having the entire family together in Granada for Brianna’s third birthday.
The travelling has also been interesting and, in many respects, an eye opener.
The open support of Germany towards Ukraine and growing distrust and dislike of Russia.
Seeing Portugal again after so many years and traversing England, Scotland, Ireland (both north and south) and Wales.
The shock of the continuing troubles in Northern Ireland and the surprise in the prosperity that’s over the border to the south.
And of course the continuing decline of England.
The sad state of their economy and their disfunctional government.
All this was tempered by Thea’s unfortunate illness and hospitalisation in Barcelona, which resulted in us missing out on Cam and Fran’s wedding in Italy.
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