Berlin is a fascinating city, more than eight centuries old, popular with its architecture, sunny summers and cold winds of autumn. As every German city, it is well-arranged and carefully combed. The building facades are in bright, yet serious colors. The inhabitants of the city seem to be observing all kinds of rules. The errand boy would open the door of the car for you and convey your briefcase to the building with a welcoming, friendly smile.
Once you are in the lobby, you meet the kind staff on the reception, everybody looks so happy to attend to your needs. Everybody is smiling the entire time. The rooms are tasteful and in the spirit of Berlin: with clear lines, perfectionist atmosphere, and warm color accents, clean, soft and cozy beds
In one of the hotel’s atrium, there is a huge blue aquarium, called Aquadom with a selection of fishes from the tropical underwater world. The city zoo is the biggest in the entire world. A plenty of hotels are situated near the zoo, with rooms that have a view to the ostriches and antelopes looking back at you. There is a hotel in the Cuban spirit – with a cigar shop where you can exchange smoke rings with Latin music lovers. In one of the hotels there is a Lavazza espresso machine and a stereo in every room. There are hotels known for their conference facilities: comfortable rooms and peace in the summer garden restaurant. International cuisine is presented by the restaurants, as well as regular jazz brunches.
Streets are filled with cheery chicks. In a lot of neighborhoods you can go around with a bicycle. The leaves of the linden trees turn yellow during the fall, and perch upon the pavement. Life seems to move pretty slowly, there are little shops for everything –from luxurious soaps to birthday greetings and all kinds of colorful souvenirs. You can have breakfast in the rain in small, intimate cafes, affable, charming and inexpensive.
If Berlin was a man, he would be an old, white-headed grandpa smoking on a pipe, sitting on a bench in the Street Under the Lindens, and reading The Good Soldier Svejk. The Germans consume almost as much beer as the Czechs. The largest ethnic minority of Berlin is Turkish. Citizens of Berlin often joke that Berlin is the “biggest Turkish city after Istanbul.” There are some unusual restaurants in Berlin. In two of them you can dine in complete darkness, often served by blind waiters. In one of them you can pay as much as you wish. There is a restaurant for anorexics, a restaurant with avant-garde cuisine, a restaurant which serves Paleolithic Stone Age cuisine. There is a potato restaurant where everything is made of potatoes, and a restaurant where everything is made with garlic, including ice-cream. In Germany you can also try chicken with chocolate. All this sounds like Gianni Rodari tales, but it is Berlin’s dining reality.
Accommodation in Berlin is usually impeccable, because German people are striving for perfection in any aspect of their culture from attitude to cuisine. They have everything you need: spacious rooms, modern showers, strong Wi Fi, bikes for hiring, and a free mini bar.
It’s a city for irregular people, which stimulates everything eccentric and different, so if you feel you are mad, you must go to Berlin.
