Buried deep under Berlin’s famous Alexanderplatz (check the Alexanderplatz article) are the remains of a 4.5 billion year old UFO hushed up by the authorities and covered up from view. Apparently the East German regime was well aware of the implications of such a startling secret on the socialist state and so it built the Fernseheturm (check the Fernsehturm article) on the very site between 1965 and 1969 to hide it from public consciousness.

In 1995 however, an artefact from the space station was discovered, leading to the formation of a team of techies and hackers trying to reconstruct the puzzle of its existence. This is the ‘c-base’ project. Those involved meet in their own “space station” at the very back of an unobtrusive Hinterhof, working round the clock to try and uncover the terrible truth hidden for years by the powers that be.

Of course there are other activities too – the c-base does not restrict itself to looking just into the existence of aliens or UFOs – but as you can understand they’re a pretty secretive bunch, loath to any publicity or attention. So keep this under your hat.

Thankfully their activities also involve the serving of beer (just €2 a bottle for “aliens”) and some wild parties which are flagged in advance on their website. You’ll have to ring the bell at the door to be let in and if you ask nicely and are “compatible” they may even give you a tour! But remember, it’s all hush hush.

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C-Base Spacestation | Bars, Relaxing | Beer for “aliens” € 2
Rungestraße 20 | Kreuzberg | +493028599300
Top secret

Berlin is nowhere near Mexico unfortunately, and the search for a good Mexican comedor in this city can be a hungry one. I’d just about given up all hope when I met a dog out for a cycle with his owner. It was dark and he had a light on his back as he jogged along beside her. They stopped at this cosy-looking place in Kreuzberg and she recommended I go in. “Es ist fantastisch!” The dog looked intelligent so I did.

Ta’ Cabrón is warm and comforting with simple furnishings, a couple of Mexican wrestling masks and the plastic cacti demanded by stereotype. Specials are written up on a board proclaiming various types of tacos (from €4), quesadillas (from €3.50), tostadas (€5.50), burritos (€5.50), enchiladas (€5.50), tamales (€6) and molletes (€6), all with various fillings, along with nachos (€1) and guacamole (€3.50). You help yourself to cutlery so if it’s delayed, you’ve no one to blame but yourself. I ordered a taco gobernador (€6) and a beer (€2.80) and was delighted to be served an authentic taco (with real tortilla!) stuffed with shrimp. I helped myself to the homemade hot sauce. Absolutely delicious. Maybe even too delicious - portions are unfortunately never big enough.

Joaquín Robredo from Culiacán, Sinaloa is two years in business. It really is “¡Ta’ Cabrón!” to have a genuine Mexican taquería in Berlin! It quickly filled up as I was eating – it seems I’m not the only one to be grateful.

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Ta’ Cabrón Taquería | Snacks, Restaurants (Mexican) | Quesadillas € 3.50
Skalitzer Str. 60 | Kreuzberg | +493032662439
Tue – Thu 13:00 – 23:00, Fri – Sat 13:00 – 00:00, Sun 13:00 – 23:00

You shopped til you dropped? You walked your feet sore? You need some relaxing? Then Liquidrom is the right place. The main attraction is a huge salt water pool where you can float around while colorful lights and smooth music surrounds you. On weekends also Live bands play.

Besides the pool a minimalistic with warm colours designed Spa is waiting for you. In the stylish Sauna area you will find a steam bath, a Finnish sauna (90 degrees), an Himalaya Salt Sauna (60 degrees) and a Kelo Panorama Sauna (80 degrees). Outside is a small warm pool where you can watch the stars after a special infusion which happens every full hour in the Finnish Sauna.

You will have the best view in the courtyard while lying on one of the comfy loungers with a soft mattress and a fluffy blanket. But try to come here on weekdays if you don’t want to fight for a lounger and space in the Sauna.

If you want to let someone knead your body make sure to book a massage before you come there, or just ask – on weekdays you might have luck. A bar offers you special drinks like smoothies or shakes and light food.

Don’t be afraid if you forgot your swimming equipment: You can rent there towels, bath robes, slippers and swim clothes.

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Liquidrom | Relaxing | 2 hours € 19,50
Möckernstrasse 10 | Kreuzberg | +4930258007820
Sun – Thu 10:00 – 00:00, Fri – Sat 10:00 – 01:00

Coming to Berlin but starving for an original American breakfast? Then you have to check out “The California Breakfast Slam” in Neukölln. It’s the only place where you can find “Fluffy Pancakes”, “Texas Style Turkey Sausages” or “Organic Poached Eggs on Cured Ham Slice”. For us Germans who are used to “Brötchen” (buns) and marmalade it is maybe a little bit unusual to have a hot meal for breakfast but in Berlin you can not escape the multicultural influences.

The kitchen chef Patrick Blasa is also a musician and comes from California. He’s always missed a delicious home breakfast since he came to Berlin 8 years ago. One day he stopped looking for it in Berlin and just started to offer it himself. But this food is not like you would find it on every corner in the states, it claims some gourmet twists as you can see on the menu which changes every weekend. Patrick himself cooks in the kitchen and always considers the good quality of the food he buys for the dishes.

The California Breakfast Slam happens only on weekends. Make sure to reserve a table if you plan a slam there – or just drop by if you are in the area, you may be lucky!

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The California Breakfast Slam | Coffee & tea, Festivals & events, Restaurants (American) | Starter € 3.80
Pflügerstrasse 19 | Kreuzberg
Sat – Sun 10:00 – 16:00

Why should I eat Canadian Pizza in Berlin? This is what you might ask the first time you hear about Ron Telesky in Kreuzberg. The answer is easy: This place is different than common Italian pizza restaurants. Here you can get big, thin pizzas with every topping you can imagine: Fresh Pesto, candied walnut, mango, potato, feta sauce and many more. A special thing you should try is the hot maple syrup – but be aware, this is really hot!

The two German owners of Ron Telesky have learned their trade in Canada so they know how to get the Canadian feeling: inside a big moose head on the wall and a mural with a typical lake and mountains on it; outside you can sit either on trunks or in a Canadian canoe while having Dr Pepper Coke and Moosehead Beer. This is real Canadian lumberjack-luxury!

And if you live somewhere near this place you can also use the delivery-service which brings your pizza on a special bike.

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Ron Telesky | Snacks, Restaurants (Canadian pizza) | Piece of pizza € 2.00
Dieffenbachstraße 62 | Kreuzberg | +493061621111
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 22:00, Sat – Sun 15:00 – 22:00

Those poor folks who move to Berlin in winter will invariably leave by March, convinced that everything they ever heard about the city was just hype. I moved here one year in late September, just in time to catch a glimpse of the fleeting beauty of summer in Berlin. Everything moves outdoors. Cafes, restaurants, biergärten. The city relaxes in the heat and humidity.

The pleasure of watching a film outdoors, though, is one most Berliners seem unable to get enough of. Practically every neighborhood, greenspace, and central courtyard erects a screen, sets up hundreds of deck chairs and opens a small bar. Best of all, bringing a picnic is encouraged!

Unfortunately, as in most cinemas in Germany, non-German films are typically dubbed into German. Call me a purist but I would rather watch Mongolian Ping Pong in Mongolian, than in German; film is art and if Almodóvar wanted to make a film in German, he would. This is, sadly, an argument lost on Germans. But there are always cinemas, even open air ones, that offer some content in original programming, often with German subtitles. The best one for this tends to be Freiluft Kino Kreuzberg in Kunstquartier Bethanien. Keep an eye out for the following abbreviations: dt.m.engl.Ut, German with English subtitles; engl.m.dt.Ut, English with German subtitles; OmU, original language with subtitles (probably German); or OV, original version (no subtitles).

Info about the cinemas in Volkspark Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg and Rehberge can be found here.

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Freiluft Kino Kreuzberg | Cinemas, Relaxing, Theaters | Ticket € 6.50
Mariannenplatz 2 | Kreuzberg
Box office opens 30 min before show begins

When a place called Angry Chicken opened up in Kreuzberg, by the same lovely people who own Kimchi Princess, I was skeptical. Angry? In this town even the mildest of salsa is regarded suspiciously. Germans just don’t really do spicy. So I wondered, how angry could it really be? 

A couple of years ago Korean Fried Chicken, that other KFC, was all the rage in NYC. Food writers in the Times wrote with lyrical prose describing the crunchy, blistery fried skin, the tangy, garlicky sauces, the tender flesh. Although I lived in Korea for some time, I couldn’t recall fried chicken being such a big deal in there. It was what you ate on the stagger home, drunk most likely on soju; it was street food. Ah, but it was delicious and spicy and now some enterprising young kyopos, Korean Americans, had brought it across the Pacific.

Fast forward a couple years and Angry Fried Chicken has landed in Kreuzberg. Gluttony, I think, best describes my relationship to this place. The only problem here really is choice. Of course you can go for straight up Angry Chicken (spicy), but you might also like So So Angry Chicken (extra spicy), or even Sexy Chicken (soy garlic), or Furious (extra hot) perhaps?

And for those timid, spice-shy Germans, for whom even ketchup is too spicy, you could start them off with the Friendly Chicken (classic crunch).

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Angry Chicken | Restaurants (Chicken) | Spicy Chicken from € 3.50
Skalitzer Str. 36 | Kreuzberg
12:00 – 22:00 daily

An outstanding piece of architecture; an outstanding museum.

Jewish life in Berlin and in Germany. There might be people who only associate that with the Holocaust. But the Jewish Museum proves that two millenniums of Jewish-German history have got heaps of other interesting stories to tell. You get it all displayed from the beginnings to the Middle Ages, up to the modern times, culminating in the Holocaust, having another look at the present.

So don’t see this museum singularly as one of the many Holocaust sights you can discover in Berlin but maybe rather as a commemoration to the important influence that Jewish life, culture and thinking had on German (and certainly European) economy, culture and identity.

Integrating the main exhibition, the new building by American star architect Daniel Libeskind is a very interesting exponent of the new Berliner architectural landscape. Libeskind plays with allegories like voids, zigzag footprint, a “garden of exile” and many more interesting details – I could go on (read more about the architecture on Libeskind’s website), but trust me when I say you won’t be disappointed going there.

Another highlight for me next to the architecture and the exhibition is the “Rafael Roth Learning Center”. I could sit for hours in front of one of the 20 computers and read interesting stories. Who would have thought that some Jews even emigrated to Shanghai to flea from Nazi-Germany?

Get more information about special exhibitions and the museum in general at the very well arranged website!

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Jewish Museum Berlin | Art & culture | Admission (regular) € 5.00
Lindenstraße 9-14 | Kreuzberg | +493025993300
Mon 10:00 – 22:00, Tue – Sun 10:00 – 20:00 | last admission 1 hour before closing

Who ever designed this bar – he must have had a lot of fun. I can imagine if I was to stick all the furniture and other things onto the ceiling I would probably see all the smiling and astounded faces of the future guests.

Well, when I went in there the first time I wished I was that someone as I thought it could have been my idea – what a genius person! Something like that was my first impression of Madame Claude.

The name itself refers to the location’s past as a brothel. But they also call it a “Bar for common people“. That may explain why you’ll get cheap bottled beer and foosball (though the table is slightly battered – but hey, it’s for free!). On top of that there is an extra room further down which they use for live music performances (mostly stuff like Brit Pop, Alternative, Electro, Indie Pop / Rock or Folk).

I recommend for you to check their Facebook for coming events. Amongst my friends the Madame Claude got famous especially for their music quiz which is on every Wednesday. In the past I found myself more and more attracted to the open mic sessions on Sundays. There might be no one outside on Sunday evenings but seemingly everyone is at Madame Claude.

So pay attention to all the details on the ceiling and walls and remember the person who had fun making it!

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Madame Claude | Bars, Music | Beer € 2.30
Lübbener Str. 19 | Kreuzberg | +493084110861
19:00 – open end daily

I don’t remember how many times I passed by this empty building standing strangely alone on Skalitzer Straße, the main road in Kreuzberg. It says “Farbfernseher ab 98,- DM” outside, being the same old television ad put up by the abandoned electronics shop before.

I had to be dragged into it by a friend to find out that hell was going on behind the doors. I found myself in a little cubical room full of party animals. I remember how surprised I was about the party so hidden behind a door to another world.”This is so Berlin”, I thought.

A field of bulbs on the ceiling, the bar up the stairs, the tv shows drink prices in the font of Space Invaders, the loo – as usually in these sort of clubs – is not really clean after a while but decorated nicely. The DJs play anything the newer Berliner electronic scene has to offer: all from minimal to house.

Prices are reasonable: € 3.00 entry (Fri & Sat), beers for € 3.00 (0.5L bottles). The Farbfernseher opens Wednesdays to Saturdays, from 21:00 onwards. On Friday and Saturday nights you can expect the party to last until around 7 am!

Note: As the room is pretty small the bouncer wouldn’t let you in if it’s too packed. Try to be there before 01:00 or after 03:00 (Fri/Sat)!

Be prepared to return home with clothes smelling like cigarettes but with the memory of an awesome Berlin experience.

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Farbfernseher | Bars, Music | Entrance Fri/Sat € 3
Skalitzer Str 114 | Kreuzberg
Wed – Sat 21:00 – open end