You may enjoy some peeks around Berlin that I shared with illustrator Sandra Juto while we were out and about on Saturday in Berlin (Mitte). It was such an inspiring day, Sandra fills me up where sometimes people can only take, she is such a giving person… Thank you Sandra for being a total rock star!
I laugh so much with Sandra and for me, this is what I need when I’m away from my desk because I often get so caught up in only talking about design, decorating, blogging with my friends that there is never any down time for me to just “be” the crazy, playful and very silly Holly that I have been since I was a child. I don’t always want to be the leader, the teacher or the business idea generator. I love to follow, to share, to fade into the back of a room with a glass of wine surrounded by good friends crammed together on a sofa. We can often get so consumed with our projects that they take over our entire existence, have you noticed that with your own life and business? Especially as creatives, and for me as an American, business is sometimes all I think about. I learn with my German and Scandinavian friends over here that the topic of conversation is so much different when out socially than what I’m used to – we barely speak about business and when we do, it’s for a few minutes and then we move on to other topics. My goal for the new year, and yes I’ve already started to set them, is to think and talk less about business in social settings and to spend it instead on being more mindful, joyful and playful. I want to clear my head to make space for new things to flow in. That way, when I am back at my work desk, I can work with more passion and more efficiently. Sounds like a plan, man.
A few days in Berlin with my dear friends and students and I already feel revived and ready to take on all of my projects and this is a very good thing. I even went to the spa in my hotel for some relaxing treatments and as I looked out from my massage table to the glimmering Berlin TV tower, which reminds me of a huge disco ball, I felt nothing but total bliss. And that evening, when my friends and I opened a bottle of Sekt and shared it on the roof terrace of my hotel overlooking the city, I felt so grateful for all that I have in life and all that this blog and my presence online in general, has brought to me.
Now back to the point of this post! Would you like to see what Sandra and I saw while out on Saturday? I’ll also link below to some places that we ate at and shopped so if you are in Berlin sometime soon, you can visit them too. All of these places are in the same neighborhood called “Mitte”, so you can easily visit them all in within a single afternoon.
Places I Visited:
R.S.V.P. – Stationery shop, very sweet and organized. Lots of great washi tapes, too.
Marron – Great interiors shop, many things from Donna Wilson whom I love and furniture from companies like HAY. The overall style is very Danish.
The Barn – For coffee and pastries. Loved the decor in this cafe with the deep grays and rustic woods. So calm. Delicious cafe latte.
Do You Read Me? – A delightful magazine shop and some design books too. I bought the new Milk Deco, and interiors book from France made by the same people who publish the gorgeous Milk magazine. I’ll show you some peeks on decor8 later today.
Monsieur Voung – Delicious Vietnamese food, great prices, lovely atmosphere. I had the glass noodle salad with chicken and it was light and fresh.
Cafe Fleury – We ate brunch here on Saturday, charming little French cafe with great breakfast. I’ll definitely return again + again.
Barcomi’s Cafe & Deli – Delicious cakes and cookies – we split carrot cake, had it packed into two little bags, and walked around eating and exploring. It’s delicious and was the first “American” style carrot cake I’ve eaten here in the past few years so for me, it was a real treat.
No More Sleep – A small and very cozy coffee bar owned by Frederik Frede who is the founder of Freunde von Freunden and they’ve now printed their blog as a book and I saw it in his cafe and it looks great inside, very happy for them all! It’s near to R.S.V.P. so you can grab some Japanese washi tape and then go over for a coffee! :)
Pizzeria I Due Forni – Best pizza in town, it reminded me of the pizza napoletana my friend used to make… With the amazing flat delicious crust and really good house red wine served in no frills glasses – loved how relaxed and loud this place was – lots of energy!
Others:
Cupcake Berlin – 100% American style cupcakes – the baker is American so it’s a pleasure to go to Berlin just for a little comfort food fix. Note: They catered my book launch at the Soho House a few weeks ago and they also catered an event that I had with DaWanda in 2008… Everyone loves Cupcake Berlin!
Green Tea Café MAMECHA – Such a sweet interior and the menu items looked delightful. (Note: I didn’t eat there, only peeked in from the street).
Dudu – For sushi, recommended to me by a reader, though I didn’t go in. Everyone told me though that it’s great.
That’s all I can think of for now… Berlin is a big “foodie” and cafe place. There are also tons of places to buy clothing and shoes. I didn’t see a lot of interior design stores though, I found more in Hamburg, but maybe I wasn’t in the right neighborhood.
I had such a fun time in Berlin thanks to my friends and will return again when I can! A special thank you Sandra, Johan and Lutz for making my visit memorable and fun!
(images: holly becker)
November 28th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Seems like you had a fantastic time. I love Berlin, was there last summer and I can’t wait to go back.
The photos are great by the way ;)
Lizzet´s last [type] ..When life gives you lemons…
November 28th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
In America, one of the first questions we ask someone is “What do you do for work?” When my husband was in Europe, he found that one of the first questions was “What are your interests?” The question of your job didn’t come up as often. It’s as if we, in America, often define ourselves and others by our work, whereas, in Europe (at least where my hubby was), they define themselves by the rest of their lives. I like that! There’s so much more to us than our work…
Heather´s last [type] ..Thanksgiving
November 28th, 2011 at 1:51 pm
I’ll be going to Berlin soon and this is very useful!! Thanks for sharing Holly!!
November 28th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
I adore Sandra’s blog… makes me want to run off to Berlin. My favourite shot here is of the tiny boxes with the little characters inside…. the kind of find that would make me truly giddy!
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November 28th, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Holly,
You are totaly right, balancing thinking and speaking about our work and the rest of us/our life is sooo important! Especially we as creative people have to clear off our mind – just to create space for new and fresh ideas. I think inspiration loves flowing into empty spaces as it is a playfull, sparkling and shapeless energy by nature … and our task it is to give it shape.
For me it’s quite interesting to read this post, as a German I quite often think, I can draw inspiration from the American way of building up businesses … probably there are so many things we can learn from each other and we definitly should :) and balancing the amount of our thoughts about business and our further interests is one of it.
Work it’s just a part of life but we are not our work, even if we really love what we do…
Thanks a lot for the inspiration!
Have a lovely day, Holly.
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November 28th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
such gorgeous images.
i am assuming these were taken with your phone…i’d love to know the app.
i love the effect of the softness around the edges.
thanks!
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November 28th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
I’ll be in Berlin next week. Thanks for the tips!
November 28th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Great tips Holly, can’t wait to visit Berlin!
Have a lovely week, Sara x
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November 28th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Berlin is one of my favorite cities in the world!
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November 28th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
@melissa deakin- the app is called Instagram!
November 28th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
WOW…what a great time!!!!
Happy Monday.
hugs
Char.x
November 28th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
I love Berlin, thanks for the tips. If I could I would go there tomorrow for a “reload-visit”
November 28th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
oh Berlin! We moved from Montreal to Berlin. Stayed a year. Fell in love! I Due Forni is super, right!? I used to go there a lot. And Monsieu Vuong too! Now I live in Frankfurt, but I am going to Berlin next moth for a three month stay and this post just made me even more excited that I already am. Nice pics and suggestions, Thanks ;)
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November 28th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Lovely post (as ever) Holly-the Instagram shots are just great and it’s so nice to see more shots of Germany where I have spent many a happy time-thank you! Caroline x
November 28th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Funny, been reading your blog for ages and now you visited my neighbourhood! Glad you enjoyed it! Definitely been to good places. Next time check out Fire Bar and Dada Falafel and Eismanufaktur (they have icecream in winter!) and many many more.
November 28th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
Loooooove Berlin – favourite city. Two years since the last visit… (it’s a LONG way from Australia). Must go back soon. Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm for this amazing, wonderful city.
November 29th, 2011 at 2:17 am
Hi Holly! I was just wondering if you created the frames around your images or if you got them somewhere else? I would love to know!
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November 29th, 2011 at 4:26 am
ah holly how wonderful to see your pics from your trip to berlin, i can only imagine that you had a great time with sandra
November 29th, 2011 at 7:28 am
Lovely visit and places Holly. Very inspiring story too, love your thought.
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November 29th, 2011 at 7:32 am
i love these types of posts….i so wish i could visit one day. :)
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November 29th, 2011 at 9:04 am
what a fancy trip you got! Berlin looks so beautiful in the photos!!!
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November 29th, 2011 at 10:21 am
Cafe Fleury, wasn’t it amazing?!!
I lost my favourite ring there (puzzle piece) on April, underneath the couch, no one ever found it.
I stll believe it’s there. It gives me another reason to visit Berlin again. And spend another afternoon at cafe fleury :)
Great post! Thx <3
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November 29th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Great post and reminder that business and work shouldn’t consume our lives even though it is so hard with so much to do and so few hours in a day. Its always good to remember the most important part of our lives which are definitely the wonderful people in them! :)
November 29th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
Such pretty pictures! I’m back in Berlin for Christmas and can’t wait! x
November 30th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
Lovely pictures. Such a wonderful city! Thanks for sharing
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