Well that’s my second Berlin trip this year done and dusted. And I must say I don’t feel quite as in pieces as I did after my last one, having not run 26.2 miles this time!
Though I’m still shattered. I left for Gatwick Friday afternoon and met up with two of my friends before flying into Berlin to meet the other two. We were staying in my friend Charlotte’s parents house so the whole trip was very cheap (let’s not talk about how my taxi there and back from the airport cost more than the flight itself…). We got to her house late that evening.
The next day was a whirlwind of Christmas markets, Starbucks, SO much food and lots of girlie chatting, as you can imagine. It was cold but thankfully we had no rain so we wrapped up warm and did lots of walking so it was fine.
The first Christmas markets we went to were on the grounds of a beautiful German palace in Schloss Charlottenberg.
Charlotte is German so having someone there who can fluently speak the language is just perfect. She knew how to get everywhere and where was good to go. Like our own personal tour guide 😉
There were so many Christmas markets all over the city and they were all such good value for money. The food and drink was very well priced and not extortionate like it can be in the UK for this sort of thing.
The food on offer was just incredible. Chocolate covered fruit, gingerbread, stollen, marzipan everything, cookies, biscuits, bread, cheese, meat, chocolate, sweets…I could go on. I tried as much as my stomach would allow.
I shared a skewer of chocolate grapes with one of my friends (surprisingly refreshing) and later had what I can only describe as a marzipan teacake (bottom left). It was marzipan-flavoured marshmallow fluff covered in dark chocolate. Lovely but messy! Top left was a big blob of sponge filled with plum jam (sauce?) and covered in vanilla custard. I shared that with two of my friends but I only had a couple of bites as, disappointingly, it did nothing for me. A bit bland and not that sweet for my tastes!
One of my friends had a waffle with Nutella on it and it looked AMAZING.
We then enjoyed a nice walk around the palace grounds and then hopped off to the Postdamer Platz area for a bit of normal shopping and sushi lunch.
Berlin has so many sushi restaurants and we all love it so it was the obvious place to go. I do love a conveyor belt as well – you can be very choosey! 😉
There were a few markets here as well to mooch around which were also very good.
As evening was drawing in we headed to our final market in Ku’Damm, where the broken church is (I ran past this in the marathon as well).
It was beautiful with all the lights. It did get busier as it got darker but it was still very pleasant. My friend and I decided to share a ginormous cheese pretzel and a ginormous sweet pretzel (covered in sugar and chocolate – words cannot describe jut how bloody delicious this was).
Cheese pretzel heaven right there
We later also shared a meat skewer. She was my partner in crime in trying different foods. We managed to get lost from our other friends when we became distracted by large meat skewers. These things happen 😉
Though we did find the problem with wandering off… we lost our German translator and struggled to work out what kind of meat it actually was. Turns out the guy just didn’t understand the English word “pork”. It was very tasty though.
We then spent the evening in PJs with our duvets and hot chocolates watching Love Actually. I think I’m pretty set on Love Actually being my favourite Christmas film now. It’s just perfect.
The next morning we left before eating breakfast so we could have a late breakfast/brunch out. Though it turned out we didn’t actually start eating until about 1pm due to the length of time it took to get somewhere good for restaurants and then the service was so slow! But it was worth it in the end.
We then did some more shopping and moseying around the sights and then headed for an early dinner (we had to leave for the airport at around dinner time).
I think my favourite sushi are the ones with butternut squash (the dark brown filling ones) and the egg ones. SO good. With miso soup I was literally STUFFED.
Then we headed back to Charlotte’s to pack and get ready to go. But first Charlotte’s mum had made an epically amazing sticky toffee pudding (funny to eat such a British pudding considering how Germany everything else had been!)
Just to tide us over for the flight, you know? 😉 As you can probably tell, it was delicious.
A perfect weekend of fun, catching up with friends and indulgent food. I fully recommend Berlin for the Christmas markets. Very cheap, lovely atmosphere, lots of home-made items in stalls selling clothes, jewellery, decorations, etc. and all the food and drink was to die for!
Have you ever been to Berlin? Or Germany?
Do you enjoy Christmas markets? What do you look out for the most? For me it’s all about the sweet treats!
Holy good food! Someone would’ve had to roll me on onto the plane. Oh & can you please explain how your taxi fare was so expensive? Did he get lost or what?
Jessie recently posted…Fitness Tuesday: Holiday Workout
Sadly the taxi was expensive because I live an hour and a half from the airport. Just the way it goes! The Berlin flight was very cheap in comparison because it’s such a short and easy flight for us. But it was worth it!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…The definition of insanity
That is such a gorgeous tree. I would love to go to something like this I’ve been to the German Christmas market in Birmingham a few times, but I’m sure it has nothing on being abroad at a market.
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes recently posted…My alternative tips to stay happy and healthy at Christmas
The decorations and lights all around Berlin were fabulous. Big buildings just covered in blankets of lights. It was just so quintessentially German, as you can imagine. Incomparable to the British versions sadly.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…The definition of insanity
It looks like you had a fantastic time! The chocolate overload looks particularly amazing, and if there had been a vegan Nutella waffle I would not have been able to stop myself from eating about six of them.
Germany always looks just gorgeous, both in summer and in winter. It doesn’t surprise me that prices there are far more reasonable than in this country…perhaps because their economy is in a much better state to start with!
Jess recently posted…Year of Hell…I Mean Running, 2014
Sadly there really was nothing to indicate if things were vegetarian or vegan – it was a bit of a minefield!
Yeah Berlin is both lovely in summer and winter. There’s just so much more space than the UK. For example, the underground station has huge open spaces between the platforms which are just empty – just large areas to walk through I guess! And there are so many parks and lakes. One of my favourite cities for definite.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…The definition of insanity
Wow it looks amazing! I love the German markets, they win every time. I liked Berlin when I went in the summer, and would like to go back, although it was rather huge- Vienna was good as most of the markets were within walking distance- I always worry about getting lost on the trains.
I love seeing all the pretty decorations, but I love the food at the markets- crepes, or marzipan, gingerbread or pretzels…. it’s all so good!
Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Keeping cosy
Yes Berlin is massive, which is why when I went with Ben and my dad we kept to a very tourist area and just walked about. But with my German friend everything becomes a lot more accessible as she can guide us about. We’d be on the tube for 20 minutes here and there just exploring different areas. There’s just so much space!
The food!!!! It sounds like you had a wonderful time!! I would love to be able to get away for a weekend soon! My work schedule just hasn’t allowed for much of that lately!!!
Staci @ Hoosier Running Mom recently posted…My First Skydive: October 2011
It was a very flying visit which left me rather pooped on Monday but it was worth it. It was just fantastic though – the perfect amount of time to eat stupid amounts of food and catch up with friends 😉