It’s insane to write this, but this was my first full week in Berlin since I first moved here in September. I had such an amazing time in Rome, Amalfi and Malta over the past two weeks, but I also loved this week of exploring my new city. I started off the week strong with drinks at the Saphire Bar in Prenzlauer Berg, followed by vegan currywurst from Curry36. Luckily my friend has a car in the city, so it makes exploring the city during the dark winter months much easier. After such a lovely Monday I followed the week with Christmas celebrations with Alice, my first German dentist appointment, gym time, my booster shot and a Sunday stroll!
Tipsy Monday at Saphire Bar and curry36
My friend drove us to Saphire Bar on Monday night to start off the week with a little cocktail celebration. After two drinks I was ready for food so we popped over to Curry36 for some delicious vegan currywurst and fries. Definitely a solid way to kick off my first week back in Berlin!
CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS IN NOVEMBER
Alice and I will be traveling again in December, so we decided to celebrate Christmas early in our apartment. We got an Advent Calendar for the kitchen and on the 6th we celebrated St. Nikolaus Day one month early by filling each others shoes. I love learning about new cultures and St, Nikolaus Day is one of my favorite traditions I’ve recently learned. It’s similar to filling stockings on Christmas, but in Germany it happens on the sixth of the month. On the fifth of the month kids put their shoes outside their door and in the middle of the night they’re filled with candy and stocking stuffers to be opened on the sixth. Alice filled my shoe with fruit and liqueur. I filled hers with chocolate and face masks. It was perfect!
GYm Shark
Week two of my new fitness goal. I successfully lifted weights 4 times this week and did cardio to found out my workouts. I am planning to write up my current weight lifting plan in a separate post, but if anyone has any tips or plans they follow… please send them my way! I’m making everything up as I go.
GINGER BEER FROM SCRATCH
Alice is the queen of kombucha and cultivating drinks at home. This week she got a new ginger bug beer starter and we began the process of fermenting ginger beer in the apartment!
KANTAR DATE NIGHT
I first met Phil and Alice while working at Kantar in NYC and this week we had a reunion dinner. We got drinks before hand at Mama Bar and then made out way over to Gazzo for gourmet sourdough pizza, natural wine, limoncello shots and good vibes. I loved out pizza, but the waiter was also an amazing part of this experience. He was so funny and casual. He didn’t hesitate to sit down with us for a drink and in return we found out that we are all neighbors. After dinner we bar hopped in Neukölln before heading in for the night.
MY FIRST DENTIST APPOINTMENT!
After visiting the dentist in NYC and being surprised by the high dental bills, I was a little nervous about going to my first check up in Berlin. However, I was delightfully surprised by the bill of zero euros. The dentist I went to see was so calming and his whole staff made me feel very relaxed and at ease. I’m not a big fan of the dentist, so me being relaxed in a dental chair is a huge compliment to his practice. I’m excited that I found an amazing dentist on my first try and I’ looking forward to my next cleaning.
Booster shoT!
At the end of the week Germany announced that anyone is eligible to receive a booster shot and I was the first one in line. My first vaccine shot was J&J and I think the evidence is starting to show that it may not be the best choice. For a booster shot I decided to go with the Moderna shot and hopefully future research will prove that it was an okay decision. Who really knows right now…?
The whole process of receiving the vaccine shot was super organized and efficient, go Germany. I signed up online, but when I arrived you didn’t even need an appointment slot. You simply walked into the building, passed through security and a brief health screening, and then followed signs for your preferred vaccine. I followed the signs for Moderna, but there were more people walking to Pfizer and that freaked me out a little. I decided that it was probably because most people probably received Moderna the first time and now they’re mixing vaccines for added effect, but who knows. Once I was in the building the anmeldung process was really simple and the forms were available in English. I got the shot, waited 15 minutes and then wandered around Charlottenburg for a little before heading home.
The next 24 hours after my shot were very sweaty. I chugged lots of water and slept for almost 12 hours, but besides the vaccine symptoms, I think I just needed a good weekend of rest. After getting the shot on Saturday morning, I woke up Sunday morning and felt amazing. The fever and sweating from the vaccine acted kind of like a little cleanse. Now I’m all healthy and vaccinated!
SUNDAY STROLL
I carried on the tradition of Sunday strolls this week by spending the entire afternoon outside on the canal. I met up with my friend at La Maison for coffee and tea, then we headed north and stopped at Admiralbrücke and got pizza to go from Il Casolare. I visited Admiralbrücke during my first week in Berlin because it’s a popular hang out spot, but I didn’t have anyone to hang out with. This Sunday I got to visit the bridge and share a pizza with a new friend while the sunset. It was a cute market of my almost two months in Europe!
