Being Tourists in Berlin

I think this is the longest I have been without posting on my blog, however, I have a good reason, last weekend we had guests come to visit all the way from Hong Kong! So instead of my usually relaxed weekends that are focused around baking and watching sport mostly, we were off out being tourists in Berlin for a few days!

Mainly the weekend consisted of seeing the usual tourist sights here in Berlin, the remains of the wall, the Reichstag, Brandenburger Tor, the Memorial to the Jews of Europe and the list goes on here in Berlin. We also ate out a lot, meals that included a delicious halloumi burger and lunch in a lovely Italian restaurant, as well as the foolish task I set upon myself of cooking for 8 that went surprisingly better than I thought it would. However the stand out visit for me was our visit to the Pergamon Museum on Museum Island in the centre of Berlin.

I had been to the Pergamon Museum before but after a long day attempting to make the most of my ticket and visiting all of the museums on the island – not advisable! So I was really excited to go again and truly remember what I had seen, as you enter this museum you will not be disappointed by what it has to offer, the glorious gates of Babylon stand proudly in the entrance rooms of the museums and the sight is impressive, all I could think was ‘how did they get them here’ but I was in awe all the same.

The Impressive Gates at the Pergamon Museum

The antiquities they have to offer are breath-taking and impressive and unlike some of the museums the size of the Pergamon Museum is great for a 2 hour trip. However the one disappointing aspect of the museum was the logical flow in which you were guided around the museum was not smooth and left me feeling slightly confused and a little lost as to whether there was any chronological  to the exhibits or whether it was just a case of ‘look at all this cool history stuff we have’.

I would still recommend the Pergamon Museum to anyone visiting Berlin as a tourist as the site of the gates is very impressive however, if you are a history buff or expert this one might not be for you!

I am also extremely happy to be getting back to my normal weekend routine this week and I am currently in the process of baking my next exciting recipe!

My Week in Pictures

As you may have read this week I was back in the UK visiting my friends and family in sunny Poole, I had an amazing time whilst enjoying the May sunshine that seems to have graced most of Europe over the past few weeks. As I have lived out of my suitcase for the past week, I have no recipes or cooking disasters to share so I thought I would share my week with you in Pictures.

Sunday – was the first day in the UK, after arriving late Saturday night, and I spend the day with my dad shopping at Gunwarth Quays Outlet Shops .

New UGG Shop at Gunwarth Quays – Must Go Back!

I was lucky enough to have my Dad spoil me!

My New Clothes

Followed by a drive through the New Forest and dinner in a lovely country pub!

Driving through the New Forest

Monday – I went to see my best friend and her daughter who is just beautiful and growing so fast.

Cuddles with Alice

Later that afternoon it made us very happy to hear the ice cream van down the road!

Ice-cream from the Ice-cream Van

Then we enjoyed the evening with a BBQ in the garden – with some of my favourite BBQ food including Halloumi!

Grilling on the BBQ

Tuesday – was spent with the bestie again and involved shopping in town, of course! I was also lucky enough to witness one her firsts – rolling from her back to her tummy, which made me a very proud Auntie!

Alice on her Tummy after a Successful Roll

Followed by a trip to spend the evening with a few drinks and snacks with some of my closest friends.

Enjoying my Evening with the Girls

Wednesday - my bestie and I (are you seeing the trend) spent some time with Alice’s nanny, my gran and my mum, so it was yet again a very busy day that did not end there;

Alice with her Nanny

Later that evening I met my dad for dinner and the cinema at Tower Park, we saw Men In Black 3 which was amazing and I highly recommend you see it!

MIB3 Cinema Tickets

And yesterday I headed back to Berlin and the excitement of starting my new job in the morning! However the UK will be missed, but I had a great time at home the past few days so I thought I would also share with you my favourite picture from my entire trip;

Jenny, Alice and I

I hope you enjoyed my pictures as much as I enjoyed spending the time taking them

Over and Out for now!

Visitors in Berlin

This week my boyfriend and I had some of his family staying with us. His cousin and his auntie live in Mexico so it was great for them to detour to Berlin whilst visiting family in the UK. They picked a great week to come as the weather has been lovely in Berlin and it was nice to take some days off of work and enjoy the wonders of Berlin.

This week for the first time we went on a walking tour of Berlin, it was a free tour lead by David from NEW Berlin, and it was just great, he was both informative and interesting and taught me some things that I did not know even after living here for over a year. The tour really is free and there is no catch so if you are ever visiting Berlin I highly suggest you go on one of these.

Later that afternoon, after some lunch in one of the many delicious bakeries in the centre of the city we went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. I am so disappointed to report to you that this museum was awful, I have wanted to go since I first visited Berlin 2 years ago but I certainly will not be going again or recommending it to anyone who visits. It was overpriced in comparison to other museums in Berlin and was far too cluttered and disorganised, the exhibitions had no flow and I felt that many of them were irrelevant to the focus of the museum. I cam away from there very dissapointed!

The Famous Sign at Checkpoint Charlie

After the museum we went for dinner at Casa Italia on Unter den Linden, the weather was lovely so we sat outside with a lovely view of the Brandenberg Gate in the evening sun. The pizza was delicious and reasonably priced and their home-made ice cream for dessert was just to die for!

My Banana and Chocolate Ice Cream from Casa Italia

From here we made the short walk to the Reichstag and went up to the dome to look around and watch the sunset. This was the fourth time that I have made this visit and it still does not bore me, the views from the top are breathtaking and the mini exhibit displaying the history of the building is really interesting and just the right length. Again, if you are ever in Berlin this visit is free and highly recommended.

It was great to have visitors and sometimes it is  fun to explore Berlin as a tourist rather than as a resident, now it is our turn to plan our trip to Mexico!

Another Great Anniversary

I had the best day yesterday; my boyfriend and I celebrated our anniversary together. Last year we had just moved into a new home in a new country so the celebrations got lost amongst the chaos. So this year we decided to do something special.

We had a spending limit on presents, which is always ignored but it is at least a guideline, we are going to Canada on vacation later this year and that is taking all of our spare cash! Regardless I was so happy with my presents. As you may have gathered I love cooking but this love is sometimes hindered by my kitchenware, my collection of gadgets and dishes has definitely increased recently but it still needs some work. I am happy to announce my latest additions as a beautiful apron, I might be a good cook, but I am a messy one, and a cupcake cake stand which has encouraged me to adapt my chocolate cake recipe into cupcakes.

My Anniversary Presents

We both unfortunately had to work that day and the next so the celebrations could not be anything too exciting, so we decided to go for a curry at our favourite Pakistani restaurant ‘Sadhu’. The food is delicious and they have a great selection of curry dishes and side orders. The service is always great and the staff are really helpful, we have eaten there a shameful number of times but would always go back.

I had a great day and cannot wait to spend the next one doing something even more exciting together!