Simple Social Graces: List from Berlin

There's nothing like a quick trip to Berlin to energize Simple Social Graces! Here is a list of tips and info should you find yourself going there!

Places to stay:
My darling friend Bernardo Santarelli (berlinflatsnow@gmail.com) rents two studio apartments for really reasonable rates by the night or by the week.
Here are some pics:
CASETTA BERLIN
KIKI
Tell him I sent you! And check out his awesome riot queer boy punk band Noisy Pig!

Since this trip was for work I stayed at a hotel with my colleagues called the Mandala Suites. It was REALLY NICE and for a fancy hotel was pretty reasonably priced. If you are traveling for business and want a comfortable hotel in the center of town, this is a great choice. My room was huge and had a terrace and a kitchen larger than those found in most NY apartments. The gym was nice and both the view from the breakfast room and the breakfast itself were fantastic.



Places to eat:
Berlin has great food culture and although many people think of German food as one dimensional, I've had excellent luck. The most popular street food is the doner kebab which is the Turkish gyro. I usually get the vegetarische kebab which is just delicious bread with salad and yogurt sauce or a falafel. The other thing you might see is the currywurst stand, which sells sausage with a curry tomato-ey sauce. Not for me, but I'm sure it's delicious.
Last year when I was in Berlin I had a lovely dinner with Bernardo and two friends from Vancouver Beez and Dave. We went to Ristorante Bei Gino and I loved it so much I made a beeline for it for our first meal this trip. It's southern German food so there's an Italian influence which makes all the flavors bright and exciting. For a starter I had the most amazing beet soup I've ever had in my life, sweet and savory and horseradishy. I could have had a vat of it. It will take ages to replicate but I'll do it I swear. For my main course I had a cheesy, oniony schnitzel which was better than most mac and cheeses Please try to visit if you make it to Berlin.


Also, one of the places we ended up was the center of music and nightlife, the Kulturbrauerei. In the center of the it all is a huge grill for all kinds of meats. Again, not for me, but it did look amazing!

Misc. and nightlife:
The conference I was, Popkomm, is a once a year chance for music business people from all over the world to get together. It's a hectic few days of non stop meetings but also a great chance to see people from all over the world, and hear some amazing music. I always spend a lot of time at the Sounds From Spain stand because they have great goodies. The Catalan Arts society also has a stand and usually the Basque Music Society does as well, but I didn't see them this year. I was lucky enough to be based next to the Lithuanian Music stand and picked up this Lithuanian Folk Music CD, hoping to get into my roots (great great grandpa was from Vilnius.)

I also was lucky enough to be given this bottle of Rioja at a Rightsflow cocktail party. I didn't have a chance to drop it off before we went out for the night but I discovered Berlin security people are fantastically reasonable. In both clubs I went to the security people just told me to leave it out, in one case in a bin and in another sort of hidden in a corner. I really appreciated the lack of drama put forth towards the foreigner traveling with a huge bottle of wine!


The coolest place to hang out in Berlin is again another Bernardo haunt, the Barbie Deinhoff in Kreuzberg. Good cheap drinks, good music (not too loud!) and cozy chairs makes for a perfect place to meet up at the beginning or end of your night. The only complaint for this tender New Yorker is that its mega smokey so you might have to wash your hair before you go to bed!

I can't wait to spend some time in Berlin when I don't have to work and rent a bike and tool around. But until then, I'm happy with what I've got.