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Berlin Weekend: All the Details

In conjunction with the Berlin travel post, here's all the nitty-gritty details, in case you're planning a trip to Berlin (and it's an excellent, walkable, interesting city to visit) and want to follow some of our footsteps.

Friday
  • Arrive! We stayed at Art'otel in Mitte. It's a bit off the beaten track, as we wanted to be near where our temporary 2010 apartment was but it's a lovely hotel, our room was huge and the people were very friendly. It's equidistant from Alexanderplatz and Gendarmenmarkt, which had the big Christmas Markets we most wanted to visit. 
  • Our first meal was at Momotaro Tavern just under the TV Tower. Burgers and Asian dishes seems like a strange combination but the food was spectacular. The girls ate chicken burgers and I got a yummy pho!  
  • The Christmas Market was just around the corner and was the largest we walked through. It had an ice skating rink (ring) in the center, too. 
  • We walked back to the hotel because it was raining and freezing. And got into an Uber to KaDeWe, the big department store on the west end of Berlin near the zoo. We did some shopping, hit some of the stores in the neighborhood (I got the best warm, waterproof jacket at Jack Wolfskin) and walked the smaller Christmas Market there. 
  • After a quick metro (U-Bahn) trip back to the hotel, we rested a bit in the room and went to Tapas y Mas, the Spanish tapas spot in the neighborhood we'd go to with the kids. The tortilla Espanola is still excellent. 
    • Picking Sweet Nuts at the Alexanderplatz Christmas Market
Saturday
  • I found a breakfast place near Gendarmenmarkt called Chipps known for hearty American/German-style breakfasts. Seriously good. 
  • The Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market was 2€ to enter, but it was worth it. Lots of beautiful homemade goodies and yummy snacks we were too full to eat. 
  • Once we were done, we went straight to Rausch chocolate shop, the absolutely best chocolate place on the planet (in our opinion). We picked up treats for us and for the family holiday gifts.   
  • We spent the rest of the day wandering through streets and shops until we got so cold we ended up at the Cinestar in Potsdamerplatz to warm up, eat lots of popcorn and watch the new Grinch movie. 
  • We really wanted to give the girls a taste of the Berliner currywurst, so we walked back through Gendarmenmarkt and ate dinner at Meisterstück Berlin-Mitte, that got great reviews for their German sausages. It's not a cheesy German restaurant, just seriously good sausages and sides. 
Eating the Yummiest Pretzel at the Market

Sunday
  • We ate breakfast at the hotel and headed back to Tegal airport for our quick flight home. The girls had school the next day!
BerlinerDom -- That Dome is Looking a Bit Rustier 

Read more about our trip here. 




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