The quest for the perfect coffee bar – Part 2 – Spring

In spring we moved from the Gleimstreet to the Senefelderstreet. The distance to both apartments is only 1.5 km. However, the Balzac coffee store was not anymore to the way to our work. And so the search for the perfect coffee was continued. At the beginning we really stopped from time to time at the Balzac before we went to work. We even left our s-bahn to go to them before our journey to work continued. However, we were convinced that there needs to be good coffee nearby. Thus to our way to work we tried several coffee places. Of course some coffee stores were not too bad. However who offered a coffee for 1.10 Euro did not meet our expectations. We were expecting the best and we knew that the price was normally around 2.70 Euro. Two places that had all the premises did not succeed. Kaffeewirtschaft was the first one. It is cozy and it has it all to be successful.







However the barista is so not interested what he/ she is doing that that was it. No fun, no customer.

Coffee is made without passion, therefore no success. Most likely they are waiting for the many celebrities to show up (according to facebook a few of them visit frequently) and then they produce the perfect coffee. Well people like us would stop by every day if there were the perfect coffee however it seem they don´t need the extra effort.

The quest for the perfect coffee bar – Part 1 – Winter

The quest for the perfect coffee started long before Berlin. In Berlin however it has its peak as there are coffee stores everywhere. In very tiny stores local barista try the art of coffee. Of course our search was in our neighborhood. Of course we would not mind taking a detour to get an excellent coffee every day but it should not be too far away. So the search started in Gleimstreet in Berlin, then to Schönhauser Allee, to Torstreet and Rosenthal square. While doing this for some days we tried very interesting ones. First on the list is Impala Coffee Store Pappelallee.





This coffee store is doing its own coffee. You can find in the middle of the store several bags of fresh coffee beans. The coffee is really nice as well, just a little bit too strong. Across the road there is the Manolo which is impressive as it has a nice French touch.








The employees are not really friendly and they do not give any personal touch to the place. The coffee is okay, nothing special. On a Saturday walking around a bit longer we found Sankt Oberholz. Really busy place, still very cozy and cool.








The coffee as well as the flair received highest score. However the way to get there is too long for daily pleasure. That is why the Balzac at the Schönhauser Allee became our daily coffee store. The distance was perfect from our apartment in the Gleimstreet and to the local transportation. The staff is very friendly, relaxed atmosphere and very good coffee.

And after sometime all the barista got used to pouring my latte into my Starbucks cup so that it stayed warm, I did not need to waste a paper cup and the coffee did not taste like the paper it was served in normally.

Huck Finn

Everyone knows Mark Twain´s adventurers. And everyone dreamt at one time to go on an adventure tour on a raft. Those dreams come true at the Havel lakes at Berlin/ Potsdam. And actually you don´t have to build those rafts. You rent one at Huckleberry`s Tours and with the help of a small engine you can go on tour without a boat license. We booked a tour with overnight stay.








Thus we enjoyed the ride, the sunset and the unique atmosphere under the sky. Of course a good BBQ, beer and wine need to be part of such an adventure trip as well as to get into your sleeping bags. Fantastic! We enjoyed every second. Well, almost. “ Tom Sawyer aka “Scout” Michaela lost the map. It feels into the water and drowned immediately. However, we had our mini tour in our minds and found a great place to sleep for the night as well as our way back on the next morning...

Favorite Italian Restaurant

How we missed having a real good Italian restaurant in our neighborhood. Our last favorite one was 6 years ago in Regensburg – actually our neighbor `Laurin`. At that time to sit outside at the Laurin was our terrace which we hadn´t had in our apartment. The food, the service and the wine was fantastic so that we made sure we had dinner there several times with a view over the Danube. In Ireland we could not find a favorite one. And when we returned to Regensburg, the Laurin hasn´t been that great anymore. The wine was still good but the service and the food was disappointing. L´Osteria in Regensburg was an alternative, delicious and gigantic pizza however it was too noisy. In Munich we could not even find one. And the first weeks in Berlin it was tough as well. Of course there were many other good restaurants in Munich and Berlin – however no Italian. Finally we found one in Berlin – Lo Sgranocchio which means ´nibbels`.







On Michaela´s birthday we found it by accident, looked at the menu and people sitting there were telling us that the food is excellent. The chef said there is no good food here with a smile. Nevertheless, we got a table and were not disappointed. We had a perfect night out. Food was even so good that I entered feedback on Qype (my first one). Have a look (German only):






„Wir waren gestern Abend im Lo Sgranocchio und sind restlos begeistert. Der Service war super: Der Sohn des Hauses, Mimmo ist witzig, charmant, kompetent und fix. Und das Essen war schlichtweg sensationell. Wir behaupten sogar, es war das beste italienische Essen, das wir je hatten! Und das schließt Restaurants in Italien mit ein. Allein die Antipasti sind eine Sensation: Octopuss- und Rinder-Carpaccio, gegrillte Auberginen, Parmaschinken, Käsevariationen (inkl. einer besonderen Variante mit Büffelmozzrella) und natürlich leckeres Gemüse in Olivenöl. Die selbstgemachten Pasta waren so breit, dass sie fast als Lasagneblätter durchgegangen wären. Und die Fleischsoße entpuppte sich als sehr leckeres Lammragout. Die Pizza Quatro Stagioni war auf den Punkt gebacken: Knusprig, aber nicht zu hart und ebenfalls sehr kreativ belegt. Wir haben uns sogar hinreißen lassen, eine Nachspeise zu nehmen: Das Tiramisu ohne Ei war wahrscheinlich auch eines der besten, die wir je hatten. Und das Eis mit heißen Kirschen bekamen wir gratis dazu - ebenfalls super lecker.Und auch die Weinempfehlung war hervorragend (der erste rote Hauswein auf der Karte). Ein karamelisierter Espresso rundete das Festmahl schließlich ab.
Alles in allem also nichts, was in irgendeiner Form "von der Stange" gekommen wäre. Hier wird alles sehr sorgsam und liebevoll ausgesucht, zusammengestellt und zubereitet.
Am Ende mußte ich den Inhaber und Küchenchef Nicola einfach umarmen, um mich zu bedanken. Und das tue ich gerne noch einmal: Danke, Nicola! Und Hut ab!
Wir werden bald wieder ins Lo Sgranocchio gehen. Und sollte sich Nicola noch einmal so selbst übertreffen, dann wird das ohne Zweifel unser Stammitaliener.“







After one week we had to go there again. We had invited some people over to our rooftop and then we went to this Italian restaurant. Nicola recognized us and was happy about my feedback and thus we got some grappa on the house. Of course he got another feedback on Qype:

„Keine Woche nach unserem ersten Besuch im Lo Sgranocchio wollten wir es wissen: wir wollten, ob unser erstes Mal eine Eintagsfliege war und brachten auch gleich 4 Freunde mit, um auch deren Urteil zu bekommen. Um es vorweg zu nehmen, alle Daumen zeigten allesamt nach oben – Höchstwertung! Claudia, unsere waschechte Italienerin adelte Nicola sogar mit dem Kommentar, dass das Essen schmeckt wie daheim bei Mama in Italien.Dieses Mal hatten wir perfekt rosa gebratenes und liebevoll am Tisch aufgeschnittenes Rumpsteak auf Ruccolabett mit feinem Käse garniert und die Pasta mit Muscheln und Trüffel. Erstklassig! Der Hauswein schmeckte genauso gut wie beim ersten Mal und der Kräuterlikör und Grappa , den Nicola nach dem Tiramisu und dem Karamell-Panna Cotta kredenzte, rundeten das Festmahl ab. Nicolas Sohn Mimmo hatte zwar frei, aber Tochter Magdalena hat ihn hervorragend vertreten. Sachkundig, extrem nett, gut gelaunt und flink. Vater und Tochter spielten sich die Bälle blind zu, so dass unser Tisch eine schöne Unterhaltung und viel Spaß mit ihnen hatten. Ein rundum gelungener Abend, nach welchem wir nun absolut sicher sind, dass wir unseren Lieblingsitaliener gefunden haben. Wir werden definitiv noch oft wieder kommen.“

http://www.qype.com/review/2023328
www.losgranocchio.de

And for my birthday we - of course ordered some food from Nicola as well.

Rooftop

Many of you thought that we will never find a steady home again and that we will make the decision to stay in one place for a longer period. Well finally we made it. Beginning of March we moved to our new home. We signed a contract of minimum 12 months stay, as well having an unfurnished place. This meant that after 2 years all our furnisher which were stored in Swabia moved to Berlin. We even had to buy our own kitchen. This was our first kitchen ever. What an adventure! And it was an adventure when we unpacked all those boxes which were packed over 2 years ago in Ireland. So many things which we did not even know that we had forgotten. Unbelievable! A lot of things we loved, they were like being brand new to us. However, other things like clothes we gave away immediately as they were old, ugly or just not necessary. That was a relief! Now we live in the Senefelderstreet in Berlin (Prenzlberg) and like our new hood (Kiez).




Größere Kartenansicht



We already enjoyed the first spring days on our roof terrace.

Whoever likes to have one or two drinks on the roof overseeing Berlin is welcomed to enjoy an early sunny summer day or a late nice warm summer night. We are looking forward to seeing you!

Hatari

Who has seen the movie `Hatari `with John Wayne and Hardy Krueger? If so you know the scene when a rhino attacks the open Jeep in which one of the hunters is sitting in. The rhino is next to the open car and tries to escape. John Wayne sits on a special seat on top of the car´s hood and tries to catch the rhino with a mesh.






At one point the rhino cannot help it and tries to escape by attacking the car and hits with full speed and its big horn the driver´s door and thus the thigh of the driver. The rhino escapes while the driver needs the ambulance. Of course I wanted to be like John and Hardy when I was a kid (maybe even now). However, I was never keen to get into troubles like in this scene with the rhino. Well, I never became a `go getter` or a big game hunter either like those two. I hunt animals only with my camera and from distance - it is safer. Nevertheless, on our South Africa trip this year we encountered quite a similar story. Everything started as usual - relaxing afternoon safari in Hluhluwe national park. We had another 13 km to go before returning to our camp and 50 minutes left before the gate closes. We had seen 10 rhinos already when another 4 adult rhinos with a little one showed up in front of our car. We started taking pictures and were waiting for the rhinos to disappear in the bushes.






However, they liked it on the street and were not planning to go into the bushes. Time went by we worried that we would not arrive at the gate in time which means to pay a penalty. Moreover, driving in the park when it is dark is kind of risky. So we tried to pass – slowly. When doing so the male rhino made sure that we understood he did not like this. He turned around again and again and marked his territory which we should not pass.







Well we did it nevertheless and that is what he really did not like at all. When he went aside we took our chance and passed him. We managed to do so. However, we still had the other 3 rhinos and the little one in front of us. They were scared started to run and tried to escape, however they stayed on the street. We wanted to drive slower to make sure to give them enough time. Remember - there was a rhino behind us. When we looked in our mirror this one was chasing us full speed, with his dangerous horn coming closer and closer. With 40 km/h we drove on this dirt road surrounded by rhinos (~1000 kg heavy). The animals in front of us panicked and the one behind us was furious. We were captured between rhinos and had no clue how to escape. So we decided to give the male rhino behind us the opportunity to go to his group even if there was a slight chance that he would attack our car (like in Hatari). We drove to the side and stopped so that the rhino could pass. It did and then it stopped right next to our car, looked at us furiously. We thought that was it. Then it turned around and went to his family. We were soaked in sweat and adrenalin was flooding thru our veins. We made it. Now we had another 40 minutes left to go back to the camp. A look in front of us was telling us that there was no way to take this road as the rhinos had blocked the road to protect the little one. We had little hope that the stress level of the rhinos will be lowered soon.






Thus we turned around and had to go a way which was double as long as the one we had intended to take. We were never making it in time to the camp so we called the office to let them know that we were running late. It was dark already and the road appeared narrower than by daylight. We hoped not to encounter any more rhinos. That was actually our first night safari on this trip – little joy we felt. Finally we got off the small dirt road and were on the main road which was bigger. Only 10 more kilometers to go, 30 minutes late... We almost made it…. But of a sudden a huge male elephant was standing in the middle of the street and started coming towards us with the usual warning signals of an elephant.






Of course we made sure we used our back gear. That is not easy at all if it is in the middle of the African night and the road is not marked. We stopped at a certain point and hoped we got rid of him.. The hope did not last long when the elephant showed up again behind the curve and came towards us. So we backed off some more. Finally he let go and went into the bushes. The last 3 kilometers to the camp we managed without any further challenges. We drove through the gate, happy that we made it. After the first safari beer on our porch we could smile again about what had happened. And with every sip our shaking disappeared ….