Back to Berlin

Delicious Currywurst, beautiful parks and interesting history and landmarks; Berlin is a city with a lot to offer. I recently returned for the fourth time to visit a friend and was more impressed than ever. On the first day, my boyfriend and I went up to the dome of the Reichstag. It’s free to go, you just have to pre-book online. What was supposed to be a low-key night out quickly turned out to be anything but; typically Berlin! It’s truly a 24 hour city and locals think nothing of hitting a club at 3am. It’s pretty normal for a party to continue for two or three days. My kind of place. On the second day (slightly bleary-eyed) we headed to Potsdam, a city about 40 minutes away from Berlin. Potsdam has an incredible park, ‘Sans Souci’, which hosts several incredible palaces. I’d strongly recommend hiring bikes if you decide on a trip as the palaces are quite spread out. The New Palace and its grounds are truly breathtaking. In the evening, we ate in ‘Transit’, a trendy Thai and Indonesian restaurant. The restaurant serves delicious food in bowls and each bowl is only three euros! You only need three (maximum four) to feel completely stuffed. Afterwards we hit Odessa bar which was chic, elegant and served the most lethal cocktails. The remaining bit of wall is worth seeing, stop at Pirates for a drink and then grab a 5 euro lunch of currywurst, chips and a beer next door (the food in Pirates is priced for tourists). We stayed with my old housemate Niels in Mitte, but if you’re looking for a cheap base, I’d highly recommend the Wombats hostel where I stayed last time I visited the city.

The Reichstag dome

Rocking a headset and and H&M necklace

So cute!

A book in a vending machine! Loved this

The incredible New Palace

Neil's first curry wurst!

Argh! Donkey terror!!

The boys enjoy their beer

And so does the girl

No thanks

A Very Stylish Break Part 1: BERLIN

Berlin is one of the most interesting, friendly and art-friendly cities I have ever visited. My friends and I had an amazing time and had so much fun over the course of the four-day break.

My favourite activities included seeing the amazing Helmut Newton 'Sumo' exhibition and swimming and sauna-ing in the Badeschiff on the river Spree.

An evening out in White Trash Fast Food was fun on Saturday night, as was an unbeatable meal of Happy Hour cocktails and delicious sushi in Bar Zaza. We stayed in a hostel (www.wombats.eu) which has been voted the cleanest in the world (it was great) which, together with the ultra-friendly staff, made budget holidaying surprisingly pleasurable.

If you are not lucky enough to have your own personal guides (thanks to Niels, Basia and Martchin) then I would highly recommend the Wallpaper City Guide, £4.95 (www.phaidon.com, www.wallpaper.com) which offers slick suggestions for a stylish stay.

A present I nearly bought for one of my guides (but I didn't as I was told not to)

An interesting poster in the Jewish Museum

Inside the Jewish Museum

Outside the Reichstag (we weren't allowed to look in the Dome)

Doggies that look like my doggy!

Funky grafitti

More art (yes, it snowed!)

A very hairy camel in the Berlin Zoo

My favourite leopard at the Flohmarkt (fleamarket)

Buckles at the Flohmarkt

Buttons at the Flohmarkt

I did this for you, Saz!

Loved this

These posters were a series - really cool

Cool wallpaper in Zaza

Sparkly bunny

An awesome window

Liked this skirt

The old and the new sit next to each other comfortably

Jeremy Scott for Adidas

Even the seat of the Untergrund was stylish!

Fab old dining room protected by glass at Potsdam Platz (forgive that yellow hat; it was a C&A sale purchase to protect my ears from the cold)

The Untergrund windows were printed with the Brandenburg Tur

Another of the series

Brandenburg Gate

Cigar-smoking statue

Doorbells

A piece of artwork by Miss Jayne Pankhurst

Loved this look - the jumper was from Topshop

Green beer which was YUM

Metallics

As inspired by the previous picture

Loved it

LOVED IT