Berlins...

I've been to berlin a few times now. as a city I've seen many much nicer places to be honest. but what I like about berlin is the people (very multinational - similar as here on the island) and the cultural side of things; not just clubbing, but concerts, art galleries and of course also the gastronomy - lots of choice and very reasonably priced.
 
I've been to berlin a few times now. as a city I've seen many much nicer places to be honest. but what I like about berlin is the people (very multinational - similar as here on the island) and the cultural side of things; not just clubbing, but concerts, art galleries and of course also the gastronomy - lots of choice and very reasonably priced.

The Salvador Dali exhibition was great. Was disappointed with the food. It wasn't that I didn't have some nice meals - more that it was all international and little sense of German cuisine (though that might be a good thing...). I want to go back to Germany, but probably someplace like Munich and eat lots more sausages.
 
I'd give it another whirl. It is a gritty city but is rich with history and if you have a good amount of time you can explore some beautiful spots.

Plot out some touristy things to do, east side gallery (MUST), holocaust museum, holcaust memorial, the Olympic stadium tour, pergamon museum and museum island, Soviet Memorial in Treptower park, obligatory pics by the TV tower, Berlin cathedral, beers and smoke in gorlitzer park.

Your favorite record labels headquarters and shops. Muting the noise for innervisions fans. Stil vor talent was cool and friendly.

Also try going mid June for Berlin beats and boats - a dozen or so boat parties from a ton of clubs, labels and agencies cruise simultaneously around the Spree so you get party and touring rolled in one.

Data plan on your phone so you can google map and utilize trains everywhere, will save your legs and $$.

Me and my wife to be are a couple of club rat party kids so we hit a good majority of the clubs between our two weeks there (2015 and 2016). We plotted out ahead most of the parties we would hit but allowed free days to hit those tourist spots previously mentioned as well as time to roam around eating, drinking, shopping and exploring. Between the two trips we went to berghain a few times, watergate, weekend club, ipse, else, Ritter butzke, kater blau, boat party. Saw tons of djs we love, Sasha, Ame, AndHim, Ricardo, Tennis. Tons more. Only got turned away at Sisyphos but will return for that one...plus eventually need to go to CDV, Suicide Circus, ://aboutblank, Tresor.

Caught a Deftones concert at Columbiahalle. Nice to see bands you like in different locale.

Go for burgers at The Bird, Maroush for a chicken schwarma, Cocolo Ramen was pretty good, Rotisserie chicken from Hühnerhaus (make sure to watch/listen to the DJ set AndHim played there), elephant coffee and cheese cake.

Day trip via train to Sachsenhausen concentration camp if time permits.
 
At the moment there is an amazing street art exhibition called the haus (more than 100 artists created their art in an old bank over 5 floors). probably that also could be amazing for someone visiting in May (but you probably have to wait) :)

Another amazing benefit of Berlin: amazing food for unbelievable prices. Enjoy!
 
btw: i moved to berlin several month ago. if anyone wants to meet for a coffee/beer/hierbas - feel free to pm me.
 
Just got back. In short, really loved Berlin. It's funny because in the US everyone tries to make things "the next Brooklyn" in terms of somewhere being the next really cool spot to go, but I feel like that whole hipster vibe was really invented in Berlin. Really cool city with so many different layers to it.

Clubbing Highlights:
- Club der Visionaere: Really think this is among the most unique venues and multi-dimensional places in the world. You have the sunset time, when the place is absolutely rammed (was there on a Sunday) and it's very much a seen/be seen type atmosphere. I hated that end of it, too much nonsense and no vibe. But then we came back after hours right before the sun came up and it was like a completely different place - everyone was happy, dancing, very socialable. We stayed until like 930am and had an absolute blast. So funny how a place that really doesn't have much to it can take on two totally different personalities.

- :// about blank: A fun time for sure, though I had read so much about it that I was a bit disappointed by what it actually was. I was surprised that it wasn't very lively at all despite being packed and drawing a crowd that at least looked the part + having a door that cared enough to ask why you were there, what the party/DJ was, etc. That said, the garden area is very cool and it was fun to huddle around the bonfire and watch the sun rise there. We came back there for a daytime session, too, and it was a great, chill pregame for a long afternoon/evening of revelry.

- Sage Beach Berlin: Perfect spot for day drinking. They had a house music party benefit for East Africa the day I was there, and it was a really good time.

- Suicide Circus: Boy, what a death trap this place is! Complete shithole, and the whole place seemed to fill up with legitimate smoke machine smoke every 10 mins. Ironically, also one of the more fun venues we visited - funny how this works doesn't it haha. Also - don't use the pisser here. By far, the worst bathroom I've ever been in my life and saw a dude wankin it to the guys pissing in a doorless stall.

- Chalet: Haunted house meets a club, it felt like. Very cool. Depends on the party but went on a Tuesday and it was perfectly busy for our tastes + very international.

- Berghain: Tried twice. First time was Saturday morning at 8am, no wait but also no go, just a simple "Sorry guys, not today." We also tried around 3am on Sunday, and again no line, but we got up front and the bouncer waved us in. My heart skipped a beat but then he asked to see our wrist and he said he thought he saw that we had a hand stamp from the club (we had four hand stamps from the past 36 hours :D). He said generally once it hits midnight Sunday, it gets hard to let people in without hand stamps. Not sure I've ever heard any Berghain bouncer be this candid before but take that as you will. We had a beer at the stand at the end of the road and a couple people who were also rejected told us the bouncers said "no hand stamp, no entry."

Non-clubbing Highlights:
- Stayed at the Circus Hotel. Was there for 5 days, which seemed long to be in that type of room, but it would be great for a clubbing weekend when you're too drunk to notice how hard the bed is.
- Mitte is a cool neighborhood to stay in, pretty central to everything.
- Enjoyed the East Side Gallery, Jewish Museum and the Reichstag building. Don't waste your time going to Checkpoint Charlie.
- Currywurst for life.
 
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Cool review @baseballman

Interesting what you say about Checkpoint Charlie - what specifically didn't you like about it?

Are you talking purely about the tiny piece of the wall you can see on the street? or the museum itself?

I felt the museum was just far too involved. Too much reading and too much detail. Your brain literally gets overloaded with information and I didn't think it was particularly clear in what order you had to navigate the building.

Some fascinating exhibits in there it goes without saying. But overall I felt like it needed an overhaul.
 
Cool review @baseballman

Interesting what you say about Checkpoint Charlie - what specifically didn't you like about it?

Are you talking purely about the tiny piece of the wall you can see on the street? or the museum itself?

I felt the museum was just far too involved. Too much reading and too much detail. Your brain literally gets overloaded with information and I didn't think it was particularly clear in what order you had to navigate the building.

Some fascinating exhibits in there it goes without saying. But overall I felt like it needed an overhaul.

Didn't do the museum. I had heard it wasn't worth it either so I never really considered it TBH.
 
Got a family visit in a few weeks too. Only been on lads trips so any recommendations of things to do or places to eat as a family ?
 
Suicide Circus: Boy, what a death trap this place is! Complete shithole, and the whole place seemed to fill up with legitimate smoke machine smoke every 10 mins. Ironically, also one of the more fun venues we visited - funny how this works doesn't it haha. Also - don't use the pisser here. By far, the worst bathroom I've ever been in my life and saw a dude wankin it to the guys pissing in a doorless stall.

If you think it's bad in there, probably just as well you didn't have to try getting through a Sunday session in Berghain. Open mind and complete imperviousness to excrement and public exposure would be a definite benefit :lol::lol::lol:
 
Just checking the tight leather hot pants I've bought will be ok.....

They are black.

The queue can be mental Saturday night. Apart from once I always went on Sunday morning between 9am and 11am or so - it can be pretty hard downstairs even then but atmosphere is really good in the daytime and hardly ever any queue to speak of. The door sometimes looks closed, but it isn't.
 
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