A Long Weekend in Berlin
Berlin is one of those cities that will just always feel so cool. In 2003, Berlin’s mayor famously described the city as 'poor but sexy,’ as a way of capturing Berlin’s way of life. Bohemian, but with an edgy grit. It’s a city with a reputation, cultivated from decades of artistic rebellion, cultural experimentation, and unapologetic self-expression.
Raunaq and I went to Berlin for a long weekend over Easter, and can confirm that while the city isn’t as cheap as it used to be, it is still seems to be just as sexy. It’s probably even sexier than we experienced, considering we missed out on the legendary club scene (cough cough Berghain). Uber-cool underground clubs aside, read on for what we got up to on our 4-day trip.
Wednesday
We started the long weekend on a Wednesday night, arriving in Berlin in time for dinner. Our first stop was Goji, a Cantonese restaurant located in Charlottenberg, where we promptly stuffed ourselves with different types of dumplings. After dinner, we headed to Stagger Lee, a vintage cocktail bar known for its excellent drinks. There’s a huge selection of cocktails, but you can also go off-menu. Raunaq asked for something whiskey-based and smokey. The bartender created an old-fashioned variation, dubbing it the Don Lockwood 2.0, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it was one of the best cocktails I’ve had on the continent. In fact, we might have cocktail-peaked.
Thursday
Thursday morning started with coffee from The Visit and some shopping. We were staying at a hotel in Charlottenberg that was only a few minutes walk from Kurfürstendamm, the largest shopping street in the city. If the first thing I seek out when traveling is Asian food (see note at the end for why), the second is probably UNIQLO. I know that it likely falls under the ‘fast fashion’ category, and it’s definitely not “Berlin cool,” but they just make such good basics! I can’t resist picking up a few things whenever I’m in a city with an outlet. There were many other brand flagship stores on this street, as well as the famous luxury department store, Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe). Apparently, KaDeWe also has a gourmet food hall, with caviar stands and oyster bars, if that’s your thing!
Shopping errands out of the way, we were ready for some historical sites. But first - lunch. We took a bus to Stadtmitte, and queued up with the rest of the city for spicy Szechwan noodles at LIU’s Nudelhaus. You could literally smell the chili from down the block.
I heartily recommend ordering the Zijiang spicy noodles, and, if you are messy noodle-slurper like I am, also shelling out the extra 60 cents for a plastic bib. These noodles are drowning in the most delectable chili oil, the type which will splatter all over you if you aren’t careful. But these noodles were way too good to eat carefully, or slowly for that matter, so I happily slurped and splattered away under the safety net of my bib. This is easily the best place to eat when you are in the city center. I’m salivating a little bit now just thinking about it. A top meal of the weekend.
Post-lunch, we passed by Berlin Wall remnants and Checkpoint Charlie on our way to the Topography of Terror museum. Admission is free, and the indoor/outdoor space details the rise of the Third Reich, the creation of the SS and Gestapo, and ramifications of the Holocaust and WWII. I really appreciate when museums like these are free to the public, making history accessible to all. Like all of Germany, Berlin is a place where its history will always precede it. Visiting these sites is a poignant reminder of the city's tumultuous past and its journey towards reconciliation. But the experience here was also a bit unnerving. Some of the sentiments and speeches from the 1930s described in the museum were eerily familiar to today's climate. With anti-democratic and alt-right movements growing across the West, the museum’s message felt alarmingly relevant.
—Turn’s out, there is no good transition when talking about fascism and genocide, so I’m not going to even try—
After the museum, we headed to the East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain. Once the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, artists from all over the world were invited to paint murals on a long remaining stretch of the wall, turning it into the largest outdoor art gallery. Many of the paintings reflect sentiments of hope, freedom, and resistance against oppression. The most well-known painting, nicknamed “the Kiss,” depicts Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German leader Erich Honecker locked in a fairly passionate-looking greeting. You’ll know it when you see it: it will have a huge line of people waiting for a picture. Which leads me to say that while the East Side Gallery is historically significant, it does have a bit of an Instagram-y feel to it. Nevertheless, it stills make for an interesting and thought-provoking walk. And while we didn’t have time to explore the wider neighborhood, Friedrichshain seems very cool!
Finally, we walked over to Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg for a few beers. It’s a once-historic market that’s now a trendier foodhall with different street food-style stands. We probably would have stayed there for dinner if we didn’t have other plans, but that night, we were visiting Thomas and Christine, a German couple that Raunaq met many years ago while traveling through Mongolia.
Their apartment was eclectic and warm, filled with art, records, and travel mementos. Thomas made homemade goulash with Bavarian dumplings, we drank lots of beer, and had an evening of great conversation. To me, they were an embodiment of the city: writers for a left-wing magazine and active in local protests, knowledgeable about the German punk scene, disdain for most places in the city that we liked (Markhalle Neun, for example - because it’s so expensive, no self-respecting local would actually go there). Just, you know, classic Berliners.
Having lived in Kreuzberg for decades, they talked a lot about the city's transformation, particularly the growing gentrification and the difficulties it presents for artists and longtime residents. "We moved to Berlin in 2003, and even then, it felt like we had arrived too late," Thomas reflected. I found lots of parallels in what they were saying to our experience living in San Francisco: two progressive and dynamic cities, both grappling with the challenge of preserving their unique character amidst rapid change. It was a fun and enlightening night. Plus, it was cool to hear the three of them reminiscent about their Mongolia travels nearly 20 (!!) years.
Friday
We started off Friday morning with breakfast at Coffee Drink Your Monkey. The plan for the morning was to walk through some of Charlottenberg’s art galleries, but since it was Good Friday, everything was closed. Whoops. We regrouped, and decided to head to Hamburger Bahnhof for the afternoon.
Pre-museum, it was time for me to try my very first döner kebab. Döner’s are ubiquitous in Germany, but no place moreso than in Berlin. It’s a food integral to the city’s DNA. We arrived at Oggi’s Gemuse Kebab right when the stand opened. I must have looked a little too eager, because the guy shaving the kebab meat leaned over the counter and handed me a few juicy strips of chicken as we waited for our wraps. Was my excitement that obvious? But the anticipation was well worth it, because these massive döners were absolutely delicious—flavorful, fresh, and impossible to eat without making a mess. A Berlin classic.
The Hamburger Bahnhof museum was right around the corner. It’s a contemporary art museum housed in a historic railway station building. We first checked out the visiting exhibitions from international artists, but I most enjoyed their “Collection for the 21st Century.” It’s a collection of Berlin art from the fall of the Wall until present day, and gave more insight on the political, social, and economic dynamics of the city than any tour would (in my humble opinion).
To end the day, we headed into Prenzlauer Berg for the dinner and drinks. First, a stop at LQV, a small wine bar that felt very local, the type of place where people popped in from the street to chat with the owner. Followed by a decadent Turkish dinner as Osman’s Tochter, where we ordered way too many mezzes and still ate every single thing. After, we took a long walk through the neighborhood and ended up at 100 Gramm bar, but only lasted one drink because the crowd was a little too Gen Z for me.
We fell into bed around midnight, exhausted and still impossibly full, around the time when the rest of Berlin was starting the night. My clubbing days might not officially be over, but they are certainly circling the drain. Gute Nacht.
Saturday
We woke up to amazing weather on Saturday. Winter in northern Germany is long and gray, and this first genuinely warm day felt like a collective sigh of relief. "Yes,” the city says, “we've made it." It was a tangible shift.
Today, we wanted to explore more of Mitte, southern Prenzlauer Berg, and Neukölln neighborhoods. Without too much of a plan, we started near Hackescher Markt in a search for coffee and breakfast. The place I wanted to go (SOFI) had a massive line, but we ended up having literally the best pastries of my life at Canal nearby. Sorry, Paris, there’s a new baker in town.
Very much by accident, we stumbled into Hackesche Höfe, a cool collection of buildings with different connecting courtyards and corridors. All the shops in the interior were interesting and quirky, and I loved the Art Nouveau architecture. There are also a few not-so-hidden alleys covered with murals and street art, and many small peaceful gardens throughout.
In general, the whole area between Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte is great for wandering. Ivy-covered buildings, quirky theaters, and repurposed warehouses pop up here and there, and the streets thrum with a free-spirited energy. There are lots of vintage shops and cafes, ideal for treasure-hunting and people-watching, respectively. I also found the most perfect slightly oversized denim jacket, right before we stopped for lunch at Wen Cheng for Chinese hand-pulled noodles.
Raunaq insisted we walk down Karl-Marx-Allee street. It is one of those classic, socialist-era boulevards: wide, imposing, lined with monumental Stalinist buildings. From Alexanderplatz (and the TV Tower) to the famous Cafe Moskau and Kino International, and ending at Frankfurter Tor, Karl-Marx-Alle is a 2km walk back to the time to the Cold War era and the days of the GDR. Quite a fitting way to round out our East Berlin neighborhood tour.
We ended the day in Neukölln, a neighborhood well known for it’s huge Turkish community. The warm weather meant that is was a perfect day for a rooftop bar. I was a tiny bit worried that Klunkerkranich would be intimidatingly cool, but it turned out to be very relaxed and welcoming to all types of folks. It’s on top of an old parking garage above a mall - if you can’t find it, just walk into the Neukölln Arcadane and follow the crowd. We ended up staying for hours, even when the afternoon turned hazy and cool, and Raunaq even got to experience his very first drag show!
And because it seems we only cared to eat Asian or Turkish food on this trip, we ended the night with kebabs at Adana Grillhaus.
Sunday
Our flight wasn’t until the evening, so we still had a fair bit of time this day for sightseeing. Lest you thought we were skipping all the most well-known places, Sunday morning started with the solemn Holocaust Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Reichstag (if you want to tour the glass dome, book your Reichstag tickets in advance - we tried and failed to get same-day tickets).
Raunaq tried to convince me to get me on a bicycle, but was unsuccessful. It’s not that I can’t bike - but why bike when we have two perfectly good feet?! So, we walked through Tiergarten park to see the Victory Column, and then ended up back in Charlottenberg. Raunaq was right, though - you should rent a bicycle. The park is huge and would be much easier explored on wheels.
Even though it was Easter Sunday, more places were open in Charlottenberg I expected. On a scale of 1-10, how surprised would you be to hear that we ended up at another noodle house? This time it was Lo-Men’s. The Taiwanese food was delicious, but even I have to admit, we were noodle-d out at that point. If I could go back in time, we would instead have tried Mr. Chai-Wala, a south Indian restaurant right next door. Next time!
The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around the neighborhood, before we took the train to the airport.
Bye, Berlin! Thanks for making us a little cooler by association.
A few notes if you’re planning a trip:
I often get questions on this, and feel like I need to add this disclaimer to any travel-related post: Because quality Asian food is hard to come by in Switzerland, we often seek it out during our travels - no matter the county. So, if you find yourself wondering why our Berlin eating priorities lean heavily towards noodles and dumplings instead of currywurst (or other more typical German foods), that’s why!
Berlin is big! Really big! Don’t be fooled: what may look like a short 10-minute walk can turn out to be a 45-minute train ride. The public transit throughout the city is great, but just plan on it taking a while. I highly recommend getting a 24-hour ticket (AB sector) for each day, which will get you unlimited transit on all buses, U-bahns and S-bahns. It’s also a good idea to plan your days around a couple neighborhoods at a time. We ended up criss-crossing the city more than we needed to, due to different commitments and spontaneously rearranging our agenda due to the weather. It’s worth it to map out your exploring a bit more logically than we did.
If the Pergamon Museum is on your list, sorry. It is closed…until 2037!
Both Raunaq and I have been to Berlin before (albeit, 10+ years ago), so we skipped or breezed by a few of the more well-known city sights.
And finally - We're not really the type of travelers who try to cram as many sights as possible into a single day. Instead, we prefer a more relaxed approach, with a couple of key sights in mind per day, leaving plenty of time to wander and eat all the delicious (typically Asian, ha) food we can find. Again, Berlin is massive, and you’ll never be able to see it all on a trip. But personally, I think this is the best way to explore the city, anyway. The essence of Berlin isn’t just in its landmarks, but also in its people and vibrant city life. Enjoy!
