Sharon Mertins (1977)

I remember my first visit to Berlin in 1996 when I was 19, walking down Oranienburger Strasse, sitting in shabby little bars and surrounded by orange mohawks, leather trousers, washed down buildings, and protest banners. The view of the ‘Tacheles’ from those little bars is one of the most colorful pictures my brain has ever taken.

These days, Mitte consists mostly of fancy boutiques and high end restaurants and galleries. Nice, but I can’t help feeling a certain nostalgia for years that I never lived in Berlin. Maybe I was left with that teenage wonder……

Despite all the changes, however, hints of that old Berlin can still be found… In the middle of newly renovated buildings and modern supermarkets, lives the ‘Schokoladen’ with it’s run down walls decorated with pink paper lights and overgrown vines. Walking into the ‘hof’ is like stepping back into the roaring 90′s when it started; soon after the fall of the wall and at the beginning of that period of no limitations for a bohemian artistic lifestyle. The walls are still a washed down grey, and the windows still haven’t been painted. During the week, the space is used as gallery space for local artists and every weekend they hold concerts with independent bands, and parties.

It’s the kind of place with crowded little smoky rooms filled with people dancing, and where stepping out for air is a necessity.

It has outlived its old neighbors, but is fighting to keep its doors to the past open.

Throughout the past few years, Prenzlauerberg has gained a reputation for being more family oriented than an area with good vibrant nightlife. But there are still a few places up there that I frequent when I’m in the mood to have a late night out…

Every time I walk into Soupanova I feel the urge to giggle. It might be the clashing colors: yellow, orange, green, red, pink, lilac…or the Indonesian light ornaments and all the mirrors around that reflect them, the flower stamped chairs, or maybe just the bartenders who always seem to welcome people with a big smile and a little giggle to go with it. I guess I like it because all the colors and flower ornaments around suddenly get me in a good mood….like being invited into someone’s living room somewhere in a warm part of the world.

The place consists of three rooms: Chill room, bar room, and live music / DJs / reading room with a nice flowery stage. Anything can happen in the third one. Sometimes, if the occasion calls for it, they have karaoke! They serve freestyle food, a mix between Indonesian, Thai and Indian, like dumplings and the famous ‘Intersoup’ with coconut milk. They have cocktails, spirits and fresh juice. The only down side is that they only have two kinds of beer. But the vibe there is always nice, and whenever the weather permits it, they have outside sofas.

Being a vegetarian in Berlin is nowhere near as big a challenge as in other cities. The choices we have here are fantastic. And one of the favorite things to eat here is falafel. In Kreuzberg, you can take your pick depending on which area you find yourself in due to the large amount of Turkish Imbisses.

But all falafel is not the same, and very often, ordering it at the first imbiss you find can lead to complete disappointment. One of the most delicious and freshest I’ve had here is the one at Nil Sudanese Imbiss, where you can get the best ‘Tamiya’ (Sudanese version of Falafel). Their homemade peanut sauce (which they put on top of the Tamiya) makes my mouth water just thinking about it, and their lentil soup and peanut soup in wintertime are an absolute delight.

They have many different options for vegans and also offer fish and chicken options. ‘Nil’ started off small in Friedrichshain and then opened up another even smaller Imbiss in “Wrangel kiez” both of which gained a lot of popularity. The only problem I found there was that there was never any place to sit other than a small bench outside. But to my pleasant surprise, Nil just took over the corner of Boppstrasse and Kottbusser Damm with plenty of sitting space outside right next to the small park.

Ah Berlin! ‘Arm aber sexy’ (poor but sexy)! And sexy it is, in many different ways. Flea market culture has allowed many here to experiment and improvise ornaments and furniture. Berlin prides itself on its originality when it comes to home decoration and the price reduction you can achieve with just a little bit of creativity.

Of course not all of us are gifted with such dextrous hands to make our own kitchen cabinets out of wine boxes or hanging flower vases out of recycled bottles. But there are a lot of people here who are. And some of them have opened up lovely shops with ‘home made’ products with what they call a ‘Shabby Chic Style.’ One of my favorite of these places is Jean et Lili.

Here, you can find painted door knobs, soap holders, bottle lamps, vintage aluminium storage units, wooden kitchen mini cabinets, and all sorts of little bits from here and there, all really uniquely finished and really original. Most of their furniture items are hand made right here in this city, with love, and can be pre-ordered. Their prices are very friendly and even just a little peak in the colorful little shop is quite a treat.

The shop I frequent is the one in Kreuzberg, but they also have another one in Prenzlauerberg on Winnstr.9 (see website for details).

The flea market culture is something particularly wonderful in Berlin. But with so many people wanting to partake in this experience, popular flea markets like Mauerpark and Boxhagener platz have become something of a battle to walk through in the past two years.

As all of these markets started getting fuller and fuller, and rent prices started going up in the neighborhoods of Prenzlauerberg, Kreuzberg, and parts of Friedrichshain, many artists and international students moved their creative bohemian lifestyle down to the Neukölln streets. This little migration has changed the face of Neukölln drastically.

There are new ideas flowing and shops and bars popping up all over the place. And with these new additions came the ‘Nowkoelln Flowmarkt.’ It’s still small enough to have a very meticulous look through it and still local enough to find your next door neighbor selling homemade chocolate cake and coffee. But hipper than other flea markets since it’s participants and visitors are mostly that wave of international creative types. You can still find odd little things like old 1950′s ornaments or modern locally hand made trendy products. And all for flea market prices.

It only happens every third Sunday of the month, but it’s always a nice relaxed atmosphere, sometimes with street performers and ‘bio’ food stands. But most importantly, without the big tourist traffic jams….