Belated Berlin

How could anyone resist bringing boxes and boxes of these home? I was just about to leave the supermarket (when travelling, I treat foreign supermarkets like museums – as a way of seeing into another culture – plus, there’s always chocolate) when I saw a display of these and I couldn’t resist grabbing a stack of them. Other than that, and several slabs of chocolate, I was rather restrained this time round.

Arriving on a Sunday meant that I was kept away from the farmers’ markets and, although the Christmas Markets were very atmospheric – especially after a glass of warm cherry beer – I was content to look rather than buy. We walked our legs off, covering miles and miles cris-crossing the city each day. But, as the Husband said, the more you walk the more you can eat and what with the cold and the exercise we needed few excuses for regular refreshment stops. There were lots of opportunities mapped into the day for checking out the Swartzbier in a variety of locations (can you tell that the Husband had time to plan for the trip?!) but it wasn’t much of a sacrifice as there was plenty of good food available, especially in the brewpubs.

Visit Brewbaker, next to Bellevue S-bahn station (official German site here), for what the Husband called kick-arse Swartzbier as well as well-flavoured pumpkin lager – we had spent the early afternoon waiting for it to open at the nearby Valmontone restaurant so didn’t get to sample their much-recommended food. Make sure you’re around Brauhaus Lemke, which is very near Alexanderplatz, at lunchtime for an all-you-can eat (of very decent food) buffet for €6.80. The Husband was in heaven, especially when their Original turned out to be a very good accompaniment to lunch. Must try focusing on German wines next time!