International Berlin

Driving in most of Berlin was a breeze, especially since I'm used to San Francisco. Not at all like driving in most major European cities due to the relative lack of pedestrian zones, narrow streets, one-way streets, cobblestones, and that sort of thing. But there are a lot of cyclists, some large and confusing six-way intersections, and a few places that had me dodging delivery trucks and pedestrians on narrower streets - still, pretty standard urban driving. And plenty of parking! I'm not used to major cities with so much parking and so much of it free and/or cheap. Our apartment was through the A&O Mitte Hostel/Hotel. We were trying to keep the trip really cheap, so got a studio apartment with two double beds for 4 people at 84 a night. Hard to beat the price, and the apartment was clean and nice enough, in a typical Berlin courtyard across the street from the actual hostel. The building was shared with regular residents, which was not expected but was fine. Quiet location. The hostel itself is right on the edge of Kreuzberg, Mitte, and Kreuzberg-Ost which was convienent to most of the places we wanted to go, although it was two long blocks (aka 4 blocks) to the nearest U-Bahn station, a little further than I would have liked. The neighborhood immediately around the hotel was really quiet, with only one currywurst stand a block away and one little imbiss in the immediate vicisinity, but a 10-minute walk had us in the middle of super-busy Kreuzberg. The hostel staff was frustrating. Only one key for 4 people? They told us we could leave it at the desk (since were splitting up at various times) but when we tried to do so we always got attitude. It worked out, but it was annoying. Still, I would consider staying in the apartment again, but I wouldn't stay in the hostel itself.

We arrived Friday afternoon, and were starving so we walked to Santa Maria, one of the three "Maria" restaurants serving hipster-authenticish Mexican food in Berlin. I'd been to their two other restaurants on previous visits. The food was good and decently priced if not super cheap. The carnitas is the stuff dreams are made of, and the chiliques were quite good too. We then split up, my friends to the East Side Gallery, and my husband and I to the Tempelhof airport to see the Berlin Fest music festival. I'd never been to Tempelhof before, but it is SUCH a good venue for a festival, and I'd imagine worth visiting no matter what for the history. What was really cool was that all the festival workers were dressed up as if they were 1960s airline employees, and you had to "check in" to get your wristband at former airline check-in counters! Super cool. Then we walked out onto the old tarmac, which was set up with 4 different stages, an art village, and lots of vendors. The incredible history of this airport - Nazi origins, US Air Force base, site of the Berlin Airlift - and now, repurposed as a concert and club venue - feels very "Berlin" and was super awesome. The show was great, it wasn't too crowded, the Killers were amazing, and I'd happily go to another festival in this location, helped by it's super-convenient location well within Berlin city limits (unlike many large festival venues) and just a short walk from an U-Bahn station. This was my first German music festival, and I was impressed with how well organized it was, and also with innovations like a traveling beer man with a keg on his back and a thin tall flag attached to his keg - so that patrons could get their beer refilled without having to leave their precious spot watching their favorite bands play. Brilliant!

After the show we had to spend nearly an hour getting back via U-Bahn which was totally overwhelmed with fest-goers. Stopped for currywurst near our hotel, of course. The next day, I went off to Hackeschermarkt and browsed the weekend market there. Nice mix of local crafts and some really tasty bureks. Wandered around the area until lunch time, where we headed to the Neues Synagogue area nearby to Mogg & Meltzer Deli in the old Judischer Mädchenschule - Jewish girls school - which houses a few restaurants and an art gallery. The theme is "New York Jewish Deli" in theory but in reality it's "hipster" with high prices for a "deli" and indifferent service. That said, the reuben sandwich was amazing and the coleslaw fantastic. My husband had a lox and cream cheese bagel, which was fine except the bagel was not toasted and not that great (apparently getting good bagels is a problem in Berlin). Afterwards we got caught in a rainstorm, so we took shelter in cafe Bravo across the street for more coffee. The rain finally let up, and we hopped on the U-Bahn to the Computerspiele museum (Video game musem) on Karl-Marx Allee. What a fun, quirky museum - definitely recommended for nostalgic nerds. It was fairly crowded and there were tours of the museum and tour-guests got to play games off limits to the general public, like the pain machine, so if old video games are your thing, consider booking a tour. Met back up with our friends at the Ampfelmann Strandbar on the banks of the Spree across from the Museuminsel. Overpriced but a lovely place to grab an outdoor beer on a nice afternoon. We also checked out nearby VEBOZ, a strange little drive with an East German/Soviet theme.

It was dinnertime and since we'd enjoyed our tacos so much last night we decided to try another Mexican place in Berlin new to us - Taqueria Ta'Cabron, in Kreuzberg-Ost. If you'll let me get informal for a minute, let me say - OMG!!! While I like the Maria restaurants, this place is a REAL AUTHENTIC TAQUERIA, complete with lesser-known taco and burrito fillings, like Conchinita Pibil from the Yucatan, fantastic homemade salsas with a real kick, and best of all, handmade corn tortillas and chips. OMG OMG OMG. And best of all the prices were like that of a real taqueria - 4 euro for a plate of 3 tacos, and 2.50 for the cheaper mezcals on the menu. I wouldn't neccessarily go here if you're just visiting from Los Angeles, but if you don't have regular access to good tacos, this place is so worth checking out. And it's on Skalitzerstrasse, which is a nice stroll with it's colorful lights and a few nearby friendly dive bars (we didn't go to any on this trip, though). Instead we headed back to Kreuzberg proper, found the area around Kottbussertor U-Bahn to be totally crazy on a Saturday night. The bars were packed, but the biggest "bar" was the sidewalks filled with 20-something kids drinking beers from the many liquor stores in the area. Since there was no room at the bars on the main drags we followed suit, but on our way back to our hotel we passed Misfit, which is a dive on the inside but has a lovely biergarten in the front, complete with tiki torches, sand, pretty lights, and good prices. The next day I got up early and walked around the Michelskirche near our hotel,a beautiful Byzantine-style Catholic church from the late 1800s, now missing a roof due to the war. Very powerful. I also checked out the parks in what were formerly canals and was struck again by how many green and verdant spaces Berlin has, despite it's reputation as a graffiti-covered concrete city.

Met up with the crew and check out of our apartment, sadly. Our last stop was Aroma, in Charlottenburg over in the west. (Driving there took us through Potsdamer Platz which was also cool - hey, I'm not used to driving in famous cities!) Aroma is an authentic Cantonese restaurant with some of the best dim sum I've ever had. Not "good for Berlin" or "good for Germany" but just good, PERIOD. Their turnip cake and har gow alone are probably the best I've ever had, anywhere. We stuffed ourselves silly, but lunch for two was still under 25 euro. They don't open til noon, though, so we grabbed a coffee at the nearby Jules Verne, a lovely French-style cafe that also had a nice-looking brunch buffet. I prefer staying in the east because it's more exciting but I have to say, spending warm mornings under leafy branches in quiet, lovely west Berlin, I always wonder why I don't consider staying in the west more often. And then it was time to go back to Stuttgart, bummer. Not that Stuttgart isn't lovely, but I am so irrecovably in love with Berlin and it's energy and diversity and life that it's always sad to go back. While most tourists visiting Berlin are probably going to focus on sightseeing, if they are at all "foodies" I would really consider doing some research into what Berlin has to offer as an international food destination. Particularly given that Prussian cusiene isn't one of Germany's greatest regional foods, you might be better off sampling some of the delicious and affordable ethnic restaurants in the city.

"Why do the richest states have the crappiest roads?" I specifically want to know why so much of the autobahn network in Baden-Württemberg is under construction? Traffic would be heavy enough, but all the road construction on A5 and A8 right now... just... makes... me... angry....

Thanks for the foodie tips, Sarah! I'll be headed back to Berlin in March, and while I love Turkish and Thai (two cuisines Berlin EXCELS at!) I'm excited to try others. The Mexican food I'd previously had there was, unfortunately, terrible, but I'm glad there's one that might live up to my strict standards. If you hear anything about good Cuban or other Caribbean in das Hauptstadt, let me know!

Tom - I have no idea why there's so much construction but I really think that has added to my perception of driving on the autobahnen being difficult. If my introduction to driving in Germany had been in Thuringia, or Saxony-Anhalt, I would think it's fantastic. It looks like a lot of the construction on the A-8 and A-5 is to widen two lanes to three, which is a good idea, but how freaking long is it going to take? From what I can tell, the construction has been going on for years and there's no end in sight. Emily - Normally I avoid Mexican restaurants in Germany, period, because German-Mexican food is a crime against humanity. But I can totally vouch for all the Marias (particularly Maria Bonita in P-berg, best tacos out of the three, also the cheapest of the 3, they are all slightly different in theme/pricing, with Maria Peligro being the most upscale, with a creative menu but the food was less flavorful than the others both times I've been there) but I'd still say Taqueria Ta'Cabron beats them all hands down. Everyone in the joint was speaking Spanish or English, a good sign for sure. All of these places are firmly aimed at homesick expats used to real, good Mexican food. That said, I'm terribly homesick for Mexican most of all, and after living here for over a year and half my standards may have slipped a little. I don't know I'd suggest people go out of their way there if you come from a city with good taquerias (like Chicago) but it's totally worth it if you're in the neighborhood, and it's Mecca if you're living in Europe.

"It looks like a lot of the construction on the A-8 and A-5 is to widen two lanes to three, which is a good idea, but how freaking long is it going to take?" I'm not sure about A8, but most of the work I encounter on A5 is just resurfacing maintenance. No idea why they decided to repave half the length of the road between Frankfurt and Basel all at once. I've lived here for over two years, and they've added more construction than they've finished.

If you ask a local from western Germany, you'll get a grumpy answer about how they had to send all the money to the East. My suspicion is that it has a lot more to do with far lower density in the east allowing road maintenance funds to be more concentrated on the major routes.