If you're in Berlin and bored of all the clubs and bars on offer (really?!) then here's something a little out of the norm.
#ThatTowerAgain & 5 other ways to recognise Berlin
This week the sun has made the occasional welcome appearance. It's on days like this when you look around anew with the sun glinting in your eyes and a little bit of warmth in your heart and think, ok, Berlin is a pretty cool city. Here are 6 things that make the city so recognisable, and so loved.
Coffee, coffee, coffeeeeee
I like coffee. No scratch that, I love coffee. No, scratch that, I LOVE good coffee. In Berlin the coffee is occasionally hit and miss. My heart sinks when my coffee comes out with that tell-tale over bubbly topping which suggests the foam came out of a machine. The benefit is that you do always seem to get a biscuit on the side with these coffees though. So, y'know, plus sides.
Animals of Berlin
Tempted to get a dog but know that you can't look after it? Then don't come to Berlin. 3 months of living in Berlin and you'll be cooing over the thousands of dogs in the streets. 6 months in and you'll be googling potential breeds that you might be interested in and 9 months in you'll be waking up at 6 in the morning, going down 5 flights of stairs with your little plastic bag and desperately trying to pick up your new dog's poop; or you won't, you'll be leaving it for others to step in, hey, it's Berlin.
The disappearance of autumn
It's my first Berlin autumn, in fact it's my first real autumn in a long time. When I was living in New Zealand the seasons tended to go from summer to winter with only a little nod at autumn. A Berlin autumn, however, likes to assert itself as a proper season and not just a bridge between hot and cold. For months on end the leaves have been turning from green to brilliant golden hues and then drifting down in piles.