Ars Vini: a little bit of Switzerland in Berlin

There's one tthing about me: I LOVE cheese,no, I WORSHIP cheese!
So there's been some time I was craving for a fondue and a raclette. So I decided to look for a Swiss restaurant, and yesterday we went to try out Ars Vini.They are specialised in fondues (cheese, meat and chocolate), they have 2 venues, we went to the one in Mitte, at the angle of Templiner Strasse and Zionkirschestr.

First, the place is very nice, you feel welcome right away, the staff is very nice. If you order wine, they will advise you, make you try a few samples,... Well, as I don't drink wine I just had a vodka with orange juice.

We had the Classical Swiss Fondue, we thought we'd get 1 or 2 pots for all of us (we were 5), but no, each one gets a small pot with a "dosis" for 1 person. You get with it a small salad and bread, I also took an extra portion of potatoes. It was so delicious! A delight for my tastebuds! I'm so looking forward to have my own place for quite some time and invest in a fondue pot and a raclette grill to throw "cheese" parties at home! ^^
And the "portion" of fondue was really a lot, but with my huge appetite, I was the only one to eat it all and even helped my friends out! :D After this, a kirsch to digest a bit and we went on with chocolate fondue, served with fruits. We had almond chocolate fondue, such a delight once again, but this time we ordered for 1 person and shared between 4 of us. It was really a delicious dinner and plus we had lots of fun!

When paying, the waitress asked us if it was the first time we were coming, and with one friend, we answered at the same time: "yes, but that's not the last"! We are already planing another visit, next time I might try out the meat fondue (I also love this one - yes I love meat, potatoes and cheese, this restaurant is kind of a paradise for me).

Play, Berlin

Yesterday night, I went to play Wii at Play, a Wii Bar (and it seems they also have Kinekt now). It's a large bar with a TV screen and a Wii Console at every table.
I love the concept! Yesterday, we were around 20, so we split into two tables, on my side, with my mate we won tennis (more thanks to the badness of our adversaries than thanks to me), I proudly lost at Mario Kart (well, I ain't got my driving license ^^ ) and I annihilated some guy at Boxing !!! :D
I also tried their cocktails (of course), my Mai Tai was not bad at all! ^^

For some reason, we did not have to pay (the guy organising the event told us it was free for us) but the prices are 8€/h for a 6-person table or 19€/h for a 12-person lounge (for once I would pay to play games instead of being paid to play ^^ ). And I was thinking, that could be an original idea for a date, instead of the classical bar/restaurant/moovie (I sometime try to think about original stuffs for a date in case one shows up ^^).

There are two Play in Berlin, we were at the one on Alexanderstr and the other one is attHauptbahnhoff (central station).

==Greetings from Berlin==

Berlin's Christmas Markets: Schloss Charlottenburg

So here's my last article on Berlin Xmas markets, I didn't do them all  I guess.
Today was the one by Castle Charlottenburg, my first reaction when getting off the bus was: wow! It's indeed a wonderful place. It's worth seeing just for the lights play on the castle's front.

Then, the markte itself is very pretty, there's  a stage where a chor is singing, some unique handcrafts booths, one of "birds house" I really liked.

There was also a Raclette seller, you know that chesse I can't resist, well guess what? I didn't resist!! ^^ It's so delicious!

It was a nice walk, despite the hords of people, but I couldn't expect otherwise, it's last advent Sunday.


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==Greetings from Berlin==

Berlin's Christmas Markets: Postdamer Platz

Today after a journey to hell (I went  to a big shopping mall in the center of Berlin on a Saturday afternoon one week before Christmas) I went to Postdamer Platz Christmas Market.

Well, it is nothing extraordinary, they could make something better out of it, but there's so soul, no atmosphere. The plus is the sledge slope, but then the booths are almost like everywhere else.

And like everywhere, they sell those gingerbread hearts with written on it "Ich liebe dich" (I love u" or "du bist mein Schatz" (you're my sweetheart), craps like that, and I got the idea that just for fun I could buy myself one with written on "ich liebe dich", because I love myself! ^^ Untill, I saw this one:

 

No need of translation I guess, if I wouldn't have been alone I would have hung it around my neck, but well alone that's not fun that's stupid. It's now hanging at my wall, I'm thinking of eating it when I won't be single anymore, best before is august 2012, got some time. :D

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==Greetings from Berlin==

Berlin's Christmas Markets: Opernpalais (Staatsoper)

So here's #3 of my series! ^^ Tonight, I went to the Xmas Market of Opernpalais, a trendy restaurant next to the National Opera (Opernplais = Opera's Palace; Staatsoper = National Opera).
I kinda struggled to get there, on internet when I looked up for the way, it told me to get 3 buses, but I arrived for the 1st change, I saw that the last bus of the 2nd line I was supposed to get came around 6pm... and it was already 7:30pm. Well, I found another to get there.

The place is very pretty, especially the illuminated buildings all around. One of the alley has " a star sky" small electrical lamps on a large net, with lights yellow and green on the building, it was very nice. It a cery charming market, nice night walk around.

The bad point for me: too many food booths, too many booths only with gloves/scarves/hats and few unique booths, many of them can be found on other markets.

But it's cute and it's woth seeing at least for the background.

PHOTOS

==Greetings from Berlin==

Berlin's Christmas Markets: Alexander Platz & Roten Rathaus

This week is my X-Mas Markets week. Almost every evening I'll go to one of numerous "Weihnachtsmarkt" of Berlin. I love Christmas Markets, coming from a region at the border with Germany it's also part of my local tradition, and I just can't help it, I love it, especially once snow has felt down, and of course best part is at night time because of the lights.

So this evening I went to Alexander Platz, in the center of the city, the one just by the train station is cute, mainly food but also nice handcrafts. You got an outdoor icering and you can play also a kind of curling (or petanque on ice since you got no broom and can't step on the ice). A little further is a giant shopping mall, and behind it is a little fun fair, with the snow, the smells, the music and the lights it was very nice to walk around, I was a child again, sparkles in my eyes.

Then, kinda half way between Berliner Dom (Berlin's Cathedral) and Alex Platz station, you can find the Roten Rathaus (red townhall), and there is a very charming Xmas market, with a big wheel I'll try to ride this week end by daytime (best for the view it might offer). There's a bigger ice rink, by a beautiful statue, the decoration are also very cute. Well, it was really a charming walk, deep in Christmas Spirit, but better than words are photos.

One week and still homeless

Well, it's been one week since I have arrived in Berlin and I'm still staying at the hotel, no more in a nice single room (my company paid for it untill till Friday) but in mixed dorms...

So on Monday, my 1st work day was ok, I go to meet some collegues, I already have tons to do, but the texts can sometimes be funny. But it's hard to really get to know my collegues, I'm still having lunch alone, ans as I have no excuse to talk to them about job-relate dissue it's hard for me. But it should get better soon... I hope... at least the one around me and my bosses are cool.

I visited a few rooms this week end, hope this will work out before Wednesday, but there's so much people looking for rooms, now I'm widening my search and would go to up 1h ride to work (I can start between 9 & 11 am).

This afternoon I went to see one Christmas Market, but I guess it's more charming at night with lights... Later on, I went to visit the East Side Gallery, it's a part of the Wall dedicated to art, it's 1300 meters long, I did only a part of it since it was getting freezing cold and dark, will see the rest next week end.

Not much so far, my social life being around 0, it's getting harder & harder to eat alone at restaurant, but once I'll be  settled in a room that might change, there are always CouchSurfing meetings and I'll have to look for regular activities where I could meet people.

==Greetings from Berlin==

Back home...

... but not for too long! Just coming back from Germany, I'll be taking a train back to Berlin on Saturday night and my new life as a Berliner will start on Sunday.

I really enjoyed this short stay in the German capital city, it is a very charming and interesting place. Yesterday, I took the free guided tour organized by New Europe. They are present in a few major European cities as well as in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. They offer theme paying tours and also a free tour of the city. This free tour is tip based only, and it was worth it! Our guide in Berlin was awesome, he had great stories to tell, it was really interesting and we learnt a  lot. We walked 4 hours without seeing time passing by. I highly recommend it to you, it is so enjoyable to learn about the city you're visiting!

==Greetings from Metz, France==