Kaffee in Berlin series: #5 Five Elephant Coffee & Cakes

FIVE ELEPHANT COFFEE & CAKES 

Off to explore a different area of Berlin, we found ourselves in the leafy street of Reichenbergerstrasse (Nr 101) in Kreuzberg, parallel to Görlitzer Park. Directions here.

Here a subtle but clearly popular cafe and roasting house has established itself well into the hipster and ex-pat demographic of Kreuzberg. Five elephant coffee has a very nice taste; strong enough without being bitter. A very melbourne like blend. 

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The cakes part of their title is equally important, and an array of homemade cakes is yours for the choosing. However I cannot recommend strongly enough the chocolate cookies. A mix of white and milk choc-chips, the cookies are just the right texture and consistency to enjoy on their own.

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Sitting outside is extremely pleasant since the street has little road traffic. Nevertheless the various rooms and interesting interior would also make it a pleasant place to enjoy a coffee inside during the cooler months.

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In summary, Five Elephants Coffee & Cakes comes in at a good recommendation, particularly for the cookies and the smooth coffee, however I was disappointed to be ignored by three staff at the counter when trying to order...:

Coffee: ★★★☆

Service: ★★☆

Atmosphere: ★★★☆
Recommended Drink: Cappuccino
Price: €2,50
Best quality: The cookies, but the coffee was indeed good too.

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Berlin getaway: #1.2 SZCZECIN Rose Garden

SZCZECIN - ROSE GARDEN

 

After kilometres of walking through and around Szczecin and through the Park Kasprowicza and Rusalka Lake, we arrived at the Ogród Różany - or Rose Garden. Directions here.

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Unfortunately we were just a couple of weeks too early for everything to be in full bloom, however it was still a very impressive example of just how many variations of roses exist. 

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Luckily after closer inspection we were treated to individual examples of the many variations.

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And not just the gardeners were keeping as busy as a bee....

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Nevertheless it was well worth the visit, and I would recommend a visit particularly from May until the end of Summer. I assume there are different species in bloom through the spring/summer season.

MJT.

Komische Oper Berlin: Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro

LE NOZZE DI FIGARO / DIE HOCHZEIT DES FIGAROS / 

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

If you haven't already had a chance to see this very witty production at the Komische Oper Berlin, currently "Opera House of the Year", then there is one last chance this coming Friday ... the 13th at 19:30. 

Care of www.komische-oper-berlin.de

Directed by Barrie Kosky, who is now Intendant of the Komische Oper, this is a fast paced, well-comedic-timed production. While it is a long opera (3.5 hrs) it remains a very good opera to introduce newcomers, and the benefit at the Komische Oper are the individual seat subtitles, whereby you can choose your language of German, English, French or Turkish. 

Care of www.komische-oper-berlin.de

Tickets are still available, either online via 
www.komische-oper-berlin.de and naturally there is an english portal, otherwise in person at the ticket office at Unter den Linden 41, or at the box office just before the performance.

Photo: Gunnar Geller

And the cast for the final performance in this season should be:

Graf Almaviva Dominik Köninger

Gräfin Almaviva Brigitte Geller

Susanna Jasmina Sakr

Figaro Philipp Meierhöfer

Cherubino Annelie Sophie Müller

Marcellina Caren van Oijen

Basilio Stephan Boving

Don Curzio Peter Renz

Bartolo Stefan Sevenich

Antonio Hans-Martin Nau

Barbarina Adela Zaharia

Erste Brautjungfer Saskia Krispin

Zweite Brautjungfer Mechtild Sauer 

Conductor Hendrik Vestmann

Continuo Matthew Toogood

Nikolai's Adventures

 

NIKOLAI THE HUSKY - NIKOLAI'S ADVENTURES IN BERLIN

A quick refreshment at the Barn (check out "Kaffe in Berlin series: #2 The Barn") with Nikolai. #Nikolaithehusky

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Photography Playground OM-D Olympus Berlin

Photography Playground OM-D Olympus Berlin

We recently went to the Photography Playground hosted by Olympus. 

  

FrankLovesEllen has posted about our experience and included some of the pictures that we managed to take. Check out the blog here:

In short, in exchange for your passport you were given a new Olympus Camera for 90 minutes. You then walk around the 1930s factory, which Olympus had converted into various exhibitions and lighting situations, in order for you to test the qualities of their cameras. And at the end you were given the SD Card to keep your photos. 

All in all a pretty cool deal - especially for free!!! €€€€

But check out FrankLovesEllen.blogspot.com for more of the details.  

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Kaffee in Berlin series: #4 Ampelmann Shop

AMPELMANN SHOP UNTER DEN LINDEN

Amidst the building works currently disguising Unter den Linden at the intersection of Friedrichstrasse now stands yet another Ampelmann Shop. To describe what that is and why it is signifcant to Berlin I will leave for another blogpost. However I do wish to make mention of the coffee that is now available at this particular location.

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Firstly it should be known that Unter den Linden is a tourist hotspot, being the boulevard linking two of Berlin's iconic landmarks - the TV tower at Alexanderplatz, with the Brandenburg Gate at the entrance to the Tiergarten. As such, most of the shops and restaurants in this vicinity cater to a tourist market and so prices are often inflated. 

One of the biggest reliefs when the renovated Ampelmann Shop opened on this particular corner, was that their prices remained consistent with their other shops, and that the coffee is not only good value, but actually quite nice. 

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Within the shop itself they have a coffee wagon, with benches and tables nearby where you can rest while drinking your coffee (although, I doubt you would linger, as one is still inside the ampelmann shop...) and it has an interesting indoor/outdoor feel with the fake cobblestones and crossing lights. 

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It was curiosity that initially drew me in to sample their "introductory rate" of coffee (at the time, only €1 for an espresso - what it really should be anywhere in Europe!) and not only was I pleasantly surprised, but I was shocked that a "non-coffee" chain in a densely tourist populated area could  produce such a satisfying espresso. The prices have since risen 50 cents, which brings the Espresso to €1,50 and the cappuccino to €2,50 - however those are quite standard prices in Berlin. And cheaper compared to many other options on Unter den Linden.

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So if travelling-by on your Berlin sight-seeing tour, be assured that this is a reasonable coffee pit stop, and most likely you will then be encouraged to pick up some truly Berlin souvenirs in the Ampelmann Shop itself. Corner of Friedrichstrasse and Unter den Linden (Part of the Westin Grand building) (Directions here)

And for the history of the Ampelmann and the cult that has grown out of it, check out their website here: http://ampelmann.de/

Finally, they also offer a loyalty card with stamps - 10th coffee free!

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In summary, the Ampelmann Shop Coffee comes in at a good recommendation, particularly given the location being a tourist area:

Coffee: ★★★☆

Service: ★★★★ 

Atmosphere: ★★☆
Recommended Drink: Espresso or Cappuccino
Price: €1,50 or €2,50
Best quality: The effort in creating the store and the coffee wagon.

Berlin Craft Bier Fest 2014

BERLIN CRAFT BIER FEST 2014

Quite by chance we found ourselves at the weekend at a beer festival - promoting local craft or micro-breweries.

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It was held at the RAW-Gelände, Revaler Strasse in Friedrichshein, which we immediately recognised as one of berlin's famous nightclub and dance areas, which we hadn't ever visited during the day... It is located in a discarded Tram Depot near S-Bahnhof Berlin Warschauer Strasse, address Revaler Strasse 99 (Google Maps here)

Unfortunately the beer festival was only two days 30-31 May, however they have a website www.craftbierfest.berlin and I assume this festival takes place more often than once a year.

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We only sampled a couple of beers with lunch, mainly because the wind and pollen was causing our hayfever to spiral out of control. But we tried a pale ale quite similar to an Australian wheat beer, and two local Potsdamer beers from Braumanufaktor.

Of the two Braumanufaktor beers we drank, I preferred the Hell (meaning light, as in colour clarity - don't be fooled, the alcohol content is the same as the weizen 4.8%).

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However the best discovery of the day was actually a Londoner Pie maker (wow, that sounds dangerously close to Sweeney Todd) with a selection of meat and vegetarian pies. We all decided on the wild mushroom pies, which were delicious.

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Obviously catering to expats, this company is suitably named "hello good pie" and their website www.hellogoodpie-Berlin.de They only started operating in 2013, and as they proclaim on their website, the flavours cater to a German pallet and naturally to the longing expat community. 

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We will be looking out for Matthew Minch (chef) and his pies everywhere we go in Berlin now. Absolutely delicious!!