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Buying the Cheapest Train Tickets in Berlin
The sound of the underground… We arrived in Berlin during the summer – a perfect time to be outdoors cycling or walking. However with only four days in two months without guests, we had no time to wander around our local area, let alone buy bikes. So we did the normal thing you do in London: we bought daily travel cards and discovered this fabulous city. If only we’d known how many options there are for buying train tickets in Berlin – we would have saved so much money and since we love you all so much, we are going to share what we have learnt. Tickets can be used…
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Underground Tours Berlin
The sound of the Underground… We’ve actually been wanting to go on an Underground Tour in Berlin for ages. We picked the subway/ bunker tour and it was amazing. Let me tell you all about it. On the website it says you will have to wait in a queue and it’s first-come-first-served, but we got there ten minutes before the start, grabbed tickets in less than 30 seconds and we were off soon after (it was a weekday in November though…). There was a random door on the street that we opened and down the stairs we went! We started in a WWII bunker that was converted into a bomb…
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Tax doesn't have to be tax-ing in Berlin
Help! I need somebody… Help! Not just anybody… I hate doing taxes. In England it’s bad enough, but having done it now for many years I’ve managed to get it down and finish it in less than ten minutes. Oh yeah!! However, here in Germany it’s full of long German words like Einkommensteuerreformgesetz and Berechnungsvorschriften or Solidaritätszuschlag. Basically, even google can’t explain this stuff to me and now the tax people are nagging us to sort this out, in a big panic we went to an accountant. And it was the best decision we have made since coming to Germany. OMG WHAT A LEGEND. I will give you all his information at…
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Take That in Concert
Could this be the Greatest Day? I still remember hearing the song ‘Could It Be Magic’ for the first time. I was a child, lying in bed and the radio was on. Instantly I loved the song and knew I would become a fan. Then, the first poster I ever bought was of Take That – in the days when there were still five of them. I had started a crafting business with a friend making buttons and friendship bracelets and we had managed to make around £20 – not bad for two girls probably still under 10 years old. Amongst the things we bought was that poster that went…
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Abonim – Japanese and Korean Bar in Berlin
I guess some things don’t mix like you hope… We were invited by a Japanese friend for dinner at Abonim – she had been recommended it and we were all looking forward to trying it out. The place is rather cozy, but in a nice way. It’s big enough that you get to enjoy a corner for yourselves without being disturbed by the other guests and the food was great! We had a fabulous platter of sashimi – with scallop (my favourite) being the highlight. The dumplings were divine, the chicken delicious and generally everything tasted very fresh and of a high quality. We stayed till almost midnight, although it’s only open until…
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Berlin's original ice cream!
I scream, you scream. we all scream… for ice cream! You should by now all know that ice cream is my absolute favourite food ever! I won’t tell you about those days in Kyoto where I would eat 8 a day just so that I wasn’t losing too much weight to fit into my clothes… ahem… instead I will tell you about Berlin’s original ice cream: Florida Eis. It all began in 1927 in 15 Klosterstraße in the North-West area of Spandau in Berlin. Ice cream is actually still sold at this address now and even though we’ve not been there yet, we often see the ice cream pots in…
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Teufelsberg in Berlin
The hills are alive… Autumn this year is just one big sunshine hit. It’s wonderful. Every day it is getting a little colder but the sun blazes through warming us up as we continue to discover the great outdoors of this city. I’ve wanted to go to Teufelsberg [Devil’s Hill] in the West of Berlin for ages now and we finally made it! Although the plan had been to go and check out the whole historical part of the hills, we actually just ended up going on a hike/ walk through the Grunewald to see the view of Berlin. After WWII, 70% of Berlin had been reduced to rubble. This meant there…
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Bad Wilsnack
Under the sea… Autumn is officially here and I’m cold. If you are feeling the chill, I know the perfect place to warm yourselves up. Bad Wilsnack is an hour by train from Berlin, but still in Brandenburg State, so you can get a nice cheap ticket (€23) for yourself and four friends as long as you travel together. [A sneaky insiders tip: sit on the right side of the train and look out of the window just after you leave the main bit of Berlin and you can get a lucky glimpse into the naked world of men who like to wander around without clothing and sunbathe. I was a little shocked…
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Hairdressers in Berlin
Snip snip snip… I am one of those apparently VERY rare specimens of people who don’t enjoy getting my hair cut. At all. I have to put my neck in a weird position while someone I’ve never met touches my head and scrubs my hair. It’s weird. In Japan they give you a towel to put over your head, but here in Berlin and in London I never know what to do with my eyes. Stare at the ceiling? Close my eyes and imagine I’m getting a head massage? It just doesn’t work for me. I don’t want to hear about my hairdressers problems in life. I don’t want to…
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Cocoro Japanese Restaurant
Living on a prayer… You all know how obsessed I am about Japanese food, so I was surprised when a friend suggested we go to a place I’d not even heard of. Cocoro is next to our favourite kebab place Mustafa and the super-famous Currywurst 36. This street has a LOT of good food peeps! I had the chicken teriyaki don (chicken in teriyaki sauce on rice) and I have to say it was delicious. Everything tasted fresh and juicy – the rice was cooked to perfection too, which I find rare outside of Japan. The Genmai Tea was beautiful. Often it is said that because of the differences in the water…