Dates

Dave and I have been intentionally carving out time to explore our new city, either while the boys are in school or by using sitters. Especially while the weather is so nice.

One Friday, we went by bicycle to brunch in Mitte to Father Carpenter, a restaurant with super yummy food and coffee drinks hidden in a courtyard on Münzstraße.

We then biked across the Spree to Brandenburg Tor

and to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

We spent some time in the museum under the memorial, which was a very powerful and sad experience. It recounted the systematic murdering of over 6 million Jews by the Nazis. We only went through half of the museum before needing a break.

To lighten things up, we continued our tour through the Tiergarten until we settled in at the Zollpackhof Biergarten across from the Bundeskanzleramt, the German chancellery, where Angela Merkel works.

One Saturday night, Dave and I went to dinner and to experience the Night Out at the Museums. On this night, dozens of museums around the city are open until the early mornings hours. All for one price. They host tours (some in English), bands and offer cocktails. We especially liked the English tour at the Deutsches Historisches Museum.

Another Friday, we again took our bikes for a city tour. Food is always an important part of our tours!

We started our ride by going to Oderburger Straße in search of brunch. We stumbled across a cafe with savory waffle “sandwiches”.

We then followed an online bike tour heading toward Kreuzberg. Our first stop was at the Neptunbrunnen (Neptune Fountain) by the historical Rotes Rathaus (red city hall).

We continued on and settled at a market specializing in Turkish foods and goods.

We went home via the famous Oberbaum Brücke. We are guessing we rode around 15 miles that day.

One Saturday night, we went to a Musikfest Berlin event the Berlin Philharmonie. It was the Staatskapelle Berlin (Berlin Opera Symphony Orchestra) playing Stravinsky and Boulez. If you ever have a chance, go to this music venue. It is unique and beautiful.

Afterwards, we went to a brewpub and Biergarten called BRLO Brwhouse. Not only was the beer super yum, but Dave had some pretty mean BBQ ribs and I had a tasty feta watermelon salad.

The building is made up of 38 shipping containers. Here’s a daytime shot I got online.

One Friday, with less time in our schedules,we simply stayed close to home and enjoyed lattes mit hefermilsch (with oat milk – our fave is Oatley barista blend from Sweden) and a piece of cake at the cafe down from our apartment building.

{Unser Cafe}

It’s always packed and we’ve never been there before. We combined the break with some planning for the family.

That Saturday, we headed west to Charlottenburg. My osteopath is next to a well known Jazz cafe called the A Trane. Which is how I heard about the place.

We first had dinner at a pizza place around the corner that specializes in gluten free options, which was ideal for Dave.

At the club, we saw Eb Davis and the Superband.

We talked with Eb, who is from Arkansas/Memphis and has lived in Berlin for 28 years. He loved the Memphis connection (Dave and I met in Memphis) and we loved the music.

I especially enjoyed the tenor and alto saxes, as I played the alto in high school. Somehow, we got the table right in front. VIPs. Ha!

Wonder what our next adventure will be? Stay tuned…