Intermission

Hello again. Sorry, I know it's been a while between decent posts. We had absconded internationally again, visiting Denmark and Sweden. It was tremendous and Copenhagen is truly brilliant - so many bicycles and sexy bicycle legs! Still, it does feel good to be back home in Berlin. 

By the way, we ate very well in Copenhagen, mostly, but it was pretty tough to find vegetarian and gluten-free options. Much, much harder than Berlin, at any rate. (That's not entirely the reason I'm glad to be back but it's a contributor and blog relevant).

In the meantime, while I work up the enthusiasm to write another donuts post, here is a photo of me enjoying a beer on the mean streets of Berlin, just in case you didn't believe me when I wrote about how awesome it was.

Prost!

Rude Shock, Happy Ending

I didn't buy my usual bargain beers at the weekend just past. Our bags were heavy enough with Vicky's booze (gluten free beers and organic cidre) so I gave our shoulders a break and the beers a miss. It would be okay, I naively thought; I have rum at home.

Well, I finished off the rum on Monday and decided to have an alcohol-free day on Tuesday. What I fool I was. It was a rough day at work, I was home later than I'd hoped and, after I flopped onto the bed, Vicky popped open one of her beers and settled in next to me (we are too povo for a couch). 

I put my shoes back on and trekked five doors down to the Asian mini-mart (note: not open on Sundays) where I was charged the exorbitant sum of €2.40 for two cold beers. Okay, sure, some of that cost is the pfand deposit but I won't be the one to return the bottles. Doing so would rob the neighbour children an income.

My point is: if you're a recovering alcoholic, Berlin may not be the best place to visit. If you're anybody else, it's flipping ace. If you're a small boy, there's money to be made in my building's recycling bin. 

Glutenfrei, Vego Hamburger?

A couple of weeks ago, Vicky and I went to Hamburg for a long weekend. It was a lot of fun. Hamburg is, after all, a party city. Check it out.

Obvs, we went to the Reeperbahn. You know all about that, I'm sure. A nod's a good as a wink to a blind bat, eh?

ominous clouds in the background, too

Bier bei Berlin

The 3 litres of beer below costs me only €2.19 and it was not bad at all.

Goldener Price Prize-winning dirt cheap beer!

Blimey I love it here.


My liver, not so much.

alles gute zum Geburtstag!

As you may or may not have been aware, it was my birthday not too long ago. I spent it in Rome and had a really cracking time. I won't go into that too much because this is a blog about Berlin, not Rome, although I freely admit that the rules about what I'm going to post are pretty much non-existent and ever in flux depending on my whims. Anyway, this intro is here to lead into the next bit, which is the awesome birthday surprise Vicky had waiting for me on our return home:

Even the Berlin Beer has a Bear on it

same upright arms, too

Catch this Cab? Only for unfulfilled thrills.

Not too long ago, when I was still young, Vicky and I were strolling through Kaiser's supermarket. (Yes, we shop like kings, dammit, like KINGS!). A few shops prior to that, we were also strolling through the aisles at Kaiser's when the following caught my eye:

Glutenfrei Beer: Liebharts Bio Reisbier

In Berlin, there is more than one type of glutenfrei beer. Even better, none of these beers cost $10 a bottle. Yay! I've tried a couple since we arrived in Berlin, but this is the first one that I bothered photographing.

Up until arriving in Berlin, I hadn't had beer in about 2 years, so I can't really give this one a proper review. But, it wasn't totally gross, AND it cost me less than 2 euros for a 500ml bottle. Winning!

also beer update

So it turns out the reason that the children's beer is so awful is because it is supposed to have a shot of woodruff or 'small schnapps glass of raspberry syrup' added per bottle. 

Children's booze!

These Germans have a range of beers for children:

Berliner Child-le White Beer

And it's alcoholic:

Only lightly alcoholic at 3.0%, sure, but that's fair enough. They're only small.

I bought a sixpack of the stuff in Prenzlauer Berg, which is the awesome suburb in which we live. It's also referred to as "pregnancy hill" due to the high proportion of little-uns waddling around everywhere. Truly, it is a parents' paradise.

In case you're wondering: it tastes rubbish. Of course.