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Tag: Germany

Back in Berlin

So almost exactly a year after my last visit, I’m back in Berlin! After checking into easyHotel Berlin—same as last year—and dropping off my baggage, it was time to get some food in my belly.

When I visited Berlin the very first time, I already visited Markthalle Neun, At the time, they were already closing, so I didn’t really have the opportunity to check out the market itself. This time round, however, it was Street Food Thursday, meaning the food stalls were open late! Of course, brewery Heidenpeters was still there to provide me with some beer to accompany my dinner…

While I was in the neighbourhood, I paid a quick visit to Hopfenreich, before heading back north of the Spree river again.

The newest kid on the block—only soft opening tonight—is the Manifest taproom. Unfortunately, they only accepted cash their first night, which severely limited my time there. But they had a dog, so that’s a plus at least. And their beer menu, that was impressive too!

The shortened visit to Manifest at least give me the opportunity to visit Message in a Bottle as well.

A bit closer to the hotel, and already familiar, were BrewDog Mitte, and the Mikkeller bar. In the latter I finally had the an opportunity to have my Mikkeller Passport stamped!

Off to Berlin!

Wait, what? Straight to Berlin? What happened to Wien and Budapest? Well… because Hungary suddenly closed its borders for tourists, I had to change my plans a bit. The sleeper train adventure has been put on hold for now, and on this trip I will only visit Berlin and Hamburg, meaning I’m going straight from Brussels to Berlin. I’m still keeping it classy though: first class tickets all the way!

As usual, I had to change trains in Köln, giving me the opportunity to quickly grab something to eat. Don’t be afraid to ask them to put your order in your own reusable packaging, even abroad! No time to grab my usual coffee in the coffee bar just outside the station, so a train coffee had to do… Really nice of Deutsche Bahn to serve it in proper cups, at your seat!

Now just a couple more hours of podcast listening—I was running behind a bit anyway—and enjoying the view, and I’ll be back in Berlin!

?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶ & Berlin Trip

It’s—finally and hopefully—almost time to take another trip!

The recent reinstatement of the direct sleeper train from Brussels to Wien was too good of an opportunity to pass up, and a very convenient—and safe—way to get to Budapest, the main destination of this trip. Of course I will also spend some time in Wien itself, and I’ll be taking the long route back, spending a two more nights in Berlin, and a couple of hours in Hamburg.

Not surprisingly, this trip I’ll be collecting a couple of new stamps in my BrewDog Beer Visa again—at BrewDog Budapest and BrewDog St. Pauli—but this time the first stamp in my Mikkeller Passport as well. Of course, wherever I go, I’ll try to visit some local breweries and beer bars, and enjoy the the local specialities as much as I can!

A €21 train ride to Prague…

Made all our connections — although the last one was tighter than planned — so we’re now on the final stretch to Prague. Enjoying our first views of the Czech countryside, while the sun sets…

Köln Trip

It seems I somehow never posted anything about my Köln trip. So when I found out about this a couple of years later, I decided to delve into my photo archive, and publish at least a couple of photos of that trip!

Most of my trips revolve around craft beer, or at least include some beer bars or breweries. Köln is a bit different: very traditional, and the city only had one craft beer bar when we visited… What the city did have, and stil has, is Kölsch! So of course, on the evening of our arrival, we went to one of the best places to drink it: Brauhaus Päffgen!

The second day we started in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum⁩.

After Himmel un Äd for lunch at Peters Brauhaus, and a visit to the Römisch-Germanisches Museum (no photos), we visited the only craft beer bar in Köln: Crafbeer Corner Coeln.
We enjoyed dinner—Kotelett mit Kartoffelsalat—at Lommerzheim.

On the last day, we had some Currywurst for lunch, and after some more sightseeing, a beer at the Gaffel am Dom. We ended our trip with some Bratwurst mit Kartoffelsalat at Max Stark.