We had come to discover all the facets that Berlin has to offer however is was the nightlife and particularly a good dance that we needed. All the city’s districts have something different to offer at night and we were up for seeking out as much of it as possible, although saying that we kept finding ourselves back in one of the many bars of Kreuzberg!
A place that seems particularly unique to Berlin is YAAM (Young African Art Market). This community focused riverside outdoor beach club is dedicated to African culture, with DJs, drinks, food and stalls to match. We even found Kinkeleba, a Senegalese Tea! Although probably better in the summertime because of its outside nature we enjoyed huddling around the oil drum fires and chatting to the regulars, many of whom were from Senegal and Gambia, places we have visited when we travelled around Africa in 2013. It is unusual to find such a relaxed, communal, reggae atmosphere and as it is so close to the East Side Gallery it is definitely worth stopping by on the way to Kreuzberg.
When looking for a bar it is almost certain you will find what you want in Kreuzberg. From smart sumptuous cocktail bars, to grungy punk bars covered in stickers, and everything in between, there will be a place for you to find your perfect libation and vibe. With so many to choose from it is a great place for a bar crawl, however when we attempted this we liked every place we stopped so much that we did not get very far! Perhaps that is why we had to keep coming back here and can’t wait to come back again.
What made these bars great was an atmosphere of pure enjoyment, whatever your age, whatever you were wearing and wherever you had come from all were out to chat, drink and be merry. On top of this the night does not get started or finish until late and like all of the city’s rules they are there to enhance your freedom not deplete it.
On our second night, after a brief sojourn in Kreuzberg, we ventured to Mitte to eat at Lokal. This sleek Berlin favourite is simple and unpretentious, the everchanging seasonal menu keeps it buzzing with locals and we were lucky to get a table. The German wine and the über cool German waitress merrily sent us on our way to Bravo Bar. Here we were welcomed in by friendly young Berliners and danced the night away to a bizarrely eclectic mix of songs, from club classics, to rock anthems and the Spice Girls.
Needless to say our start was slow on our final day however slightly sped up by being kicked out of the room as 180 guests were about to check in for Friday night and the start of Berlin’s weekend club scene. Our flight was early Saturday morning so we had not booked accommodation, planning instead to dance up until the last minute before heading back for some important November birthday celebrations.
Zur letzten Instanz is the oldest restaurant in Berlin and where we ended our German culinary experience. The restaurant may be old and serve traditional classics however the atmosphere is far from stuffy and the food is delicious. The roasted pork knuckle is incredible but not so sure the eggs in mustard was for us.
After again enjoying quaffable German red wine it was time to try to get into Berghain, a world famous club with a notoriously difficult door policy. Berghain is so revered by global ravers that there are endless blogs offering advice of how to get into this club Mecca. The blogs are contradictory so we decided to go as ourselves and make the most of our night whether we got in or not.
As we had an early flight we decided to go for opening and queued for barely half an hour before we were inside the best club in the world. It deserves all its hype. The production is like Pyramid stage at Glastonbury and the party atmosphere like the heyday of Warehouse Project in Manchester, our only regret was we had to leave to catch our flight. Times are not better than these, we both left a little piece of our raving selves in Berghain. We’ll be back.
