I’m a photographer from Brazil, based in Berlin. I’m attached to this city since 5 years and I have been trying it out from top to bottom, from inside out. Here are some of my personal highlights.
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.
You can grab a coffee or a juice right next door to the KINDL Center in the old brewing Hall at König Otto, complete with all the fascinating brewing equipment from its completion in 1930 it is a hall reminiscent of German Expressionism style… or as stated on their website. :)
The central ‘Mitte’ area of Berlin is packed tight with galleries and museums, which means you can cram a lot into a short amount of time, if that’s what you want.
The best of the lot is the Me Collectors Room, which shows off large chunks of the Thomas Olbricht collection alongside other contemporary private artworks. The permanent ‘Wunderkammer’ display offers over 200 pieces from the Renaissance and the Baroque periods, with a solid focus on the strange and macabre. There’s even a Mark Ryden original that fits in nicely.
Cosmoveda is a hidden xberg gem. It's an Ayurvedic supermaket that happens to come with a kitchen with it. There you can find a delicious Ayurvedic lunch menu (with soup, main and a little dessert) in 3 different sizes, prices starting at just 5,90. Not to mention you can shop the ingredients that you just ate in case you want to try to cook Ayurvedic yourself.