Wim Wenders shot Wings of Desire here. It's a quiet place to work and definitely a gorgeous place to visit. Combine it with a visit to the Philharmonic, just across the street. Affiliation is 30 euros per year and you have lots of desks all over the library to choose from.

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

This place is like being in the Canary Islands, where my hometown is. The wonderful botanical garden has around 22.000 different plant species. I can find here all the tropical species from the island where i grew up: birds of Paradise, palms or dragon trees.

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.

Secret place that is almost always empty.