Favorite italian restaurant, great simple food, friendly staff and the coolest atmosphere (vinil music only). Smart to make a reservation before you go.

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.

Flughafen Tempelhof was once the symbol of nazi-pride when Hitler notoriously comissioned construction of the smallest duty free shop in the world (and a beautiful example of fascist architecture). After the war, Tempelhof became one of the frontiers of the cold war with the U.S. battling the communists (who undoubtedly wanted to get rid of the small duty free shop altogether) via the Berlin Airlift. It turned out to be a huge succes, and enabled the allied forces to remain their presence in Berlin and save the small duty free shop. The real free-market victory will come in about two years though, when project developers will take over and start building houses, blocking my view onto the airfield.

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.

Little Vietnam in Berlin - crazy crowded market halls stuffed with commodities from overseas.