Berlin After Hours
After Hours is the Planned vs Rogue series where Katie brings you their favourite things the team did when the cameras weren’t rolling.
Stop for a Beer Along the Spree
As is the case with most of Germany, you’re never far from an excellent drinking hole in Berlin. The Spree is the longest stretch of river in the city and acted as a natural divider during the country’s soviet era. These days, it is dotted with bars, clubs and parklands, but the historical significance of the waterway is proudly on display as a reminder of Berlin’s dark history and bright present and future.
A round of Berlin Pilsners to start off a pleasant afternoon session on the Spree Stranded at Jannowitzbrücke.
One particularly sunny afternoon, in search of a nice cold stein, we set off along the Spree. Starting in Jannowitz right by the old bear enclosure (yes you read that right) we headed north along the east side of the river. We stopped in at Stranded at Jannowitzbrücke, a small bar serving only two draught beers with tables right on the water’s edge. After enjoying the local tipples with a side of people watching thanks to the tour boat jetty next door, we took in a peaceful stroll along the river’s edge.
Brauhaus Georgbraeu is well situated along the Spree with a beer and food menu appealing to hoards of tourists.
A short walk up towards the Berliner Dom is the small pocket of Berliner Innenstadt, where you can find an impressive selection of venues with a fantastic view of the river and cathedral in the distance. We stopped in at Brauhaus Georgbraeu for a drink and snack, but fair warning, as a tourist you will be in familiar company here due to the broad offering and convenient location. The combination of beer, setting and atmosphere ensures a great time will be had by all.
Holzmarkt 25 combines beer, food, parklands and play equipment, making it the perfect sunny day stop.
On yet another sunny day in Berlin, and still within a small radius of that now-defunct bear enclosure, is Holzmarkt 25. Essentially a big, open-air arts hub with bars, various food vendors, art exhibits and playgrounds, we found few places as quintessentially ‘Berlin’ as this. The venue was teeming with locals on the beautiful summer day that we visited, and was the perfect launch pad for a night on the town, which brings us to our next activity…
Go Clubbing
Pretty much the clearest shot I could get inside Ritter Butzke.
Personally, I’ve never been too much of a clubber. But with local legend (at least in our eyes) Wolfgang by our side, we found ourselves swept up in the chronically cool and casual manner in which Berliners approach nightlife. I’m afraid we did not even attempt the famous Berghain experience, and our misguided attempts to enter the KitKatClub were resoundingly unsuccessful - twice, even with our local guide in tow.
Eventually we made our way to the much more accessible Ritter Butzke, a warehouse-come-nightclub in the south side of the city. The inner courtyard is surrounded by multiple dimly lit rooms, each sporting their own DJs, lightshows, and apparent lack of ventilation. As I entered the first room, the combination of pounding music, blinding strobe lights and collective body heat hit me like nothing I’d experienced before.
In full transparency, a couple of drinks and a relatively quick dance by Berlin standards which more than likely outed by as a non-German was enough to quench the my clubbing desire for the night. It was absolutely one of the most memorable experiences we had in the city, made all the more wonderful by sharing it with our local friends.
Sample Various Currywurst
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no sausage connoisseur. They’re just not really my thing and even in the country that has perfected them as well as anyone can, I still managed to steer clear of them for the most part. Benny, on the other hand, loves a good sausage, resulting in a wonderful enthusiasm for the Berlin delicacy of currywurst.
Benny getting some of the good stuff at Cult Curry Mitte.
Whilst Benny’s first taste of the spicy sausage in the red sauce was actually in Cologne, he never passed on the opportunity to enjoy some more while in Berlin (and Bavaria for that matter). And with over 2,000 currywurst stands throughout the city today, there are plenty of opportunities.
Go Thrift Shopping
It’s to be expected that in a city with such a focus on sustainability, thrift shopping is on another level coming from Sydney (and I love thrift shopping in Sydney).
We both walked away with some excellent purchases from ReSales Berlin-Gesundbrunnen.
We decided to spend one of our free afternoons in Berlin indulging in some thrifting, and headed to the Prenzlauer Berg area. We bobbed around in a few thrift stores, marvelling at the quality and curation of the items in each of them. ReSales, which has stores around Germany, proved to have the best selection for our tastes and we each left with some great items. With ReSale’s pointed focus on environmentalism and sustainability, their mission to provide used clothes for all occasions and all budgets is evident in their stores.
Go to a Party Hosted by Locals
Wolfgang enters once again, inviting us to a friend’s birthday party on a boat moored on the Spree. The date is our final day in Berlin before heading south, so naturally we agree that it would make the perfect send off for an incredible week in Germany’s capital.
Our prediction turned out to be incredibly true, and we spent a beautiful sunny afternoon that turned into a dramatically stormy night on board with an amazing group of locals and globe trotters celebrating a friend’s 40th birthday.
Benny’s delight was captured in a short video of the party.
It was an incredibly wholesome experience, and Benny even got to borrow a guest’s guitar for a while (if you know Benny, you can imagine how big this was for him after a month and a half without his beloved strings). We enjoyed a vegetarian potluck on top of the riverboat which also serves as an exhibition space for local artists. Then, we saw a BEAVER. Because Berlin is so dedicated to rewilding its waterways where possible, literal beavers hang out there and say hello.
The famous (?) Berlin Beaver.
A big storm rolled in as the night went on and we moved down into the gallery portion of the boat, which had a piano and plenty of floor space for dancing. Because it was Berlin, there were plenty of musicians among us. We spent the rest of the night singing and dancing while waiting for the storm to pass. It never did, and in the end, we ran the short distance back to our apartment through the torrential downpour.
