One of the most beautiful pieces of Berlin actually is a piece of another city (Al-Hillah, Iraq). Normally Berliners are laid back and like to hang around, drink beer and chat till sunrise. Sometimes they do get excited though, and then they start taking old war-battered stones and piecing them together to (re)form walls. The results are great as can be seen all over Berlin, but the Ishtar gate in the Pergamon museum is where they’ve really outdone themselves.

A small but never-the-less great museum for photography-lovers. It’s there that I fell in love with dear Helmut. Mr. Newton was this man who loved women bodies, dramatic stagings, and his wife. An original who was down-to-earth and respectful despite living a glamorous life. After every visit I feel inspired, more confident and proud to be a woman and own my body. You will find at the Helmut Newton Fondation a collection of his photography work, personal belongings, and condolence letters wrote to his wife after he passed away. In addition of that, a space dedicated to June Newton’s work, a little cinema room as well as two temporary exhibitions for contemporary artists ( check website for more infos ). Helmut Newton will remain one of my human and artistic crush, I can only recommend to pay yourself a visit there to learn about his work, his life, his love. p.s.: and it’s some hundred meters only from the C/O Gallery.

Delicious beer and marinated camembert.

I often go exploring into random and dilapidated areas of Berlin. I like the thrill of finding new nooks and crannies with strange visual sites. A few months ago, an old housing colony was abandoned, and many objects (such as couches and front doors) were left at the edge of the city to rot or to be scavenged. This is a view from a non-descript area of the S-bahn train tracks (between Sonnennallee station and Treptower Park station) into the most Southern part of Neukölln district.

Besides being the friendliest shoemaker in town, he also offers quality for good value.