Berlin blog
Our most recent articles with recommendations and the most up-to-date happenings in this vibrant city!
Tempelhof
Monday, February 13, 2012
The former airport turned park and event center is extremely easy to reach from the Miniloft apartments. Walk three minutes to Naturkundemuseum U-Bahn, then it’s a quick 10 minute metro ride to Platz der Luftbrücke. Guests attending events at Tempelhof appreciate coming home to the lively restaurants and galleries of the Miniloft’s central location, and fashion week guests in particular appreciate our stunning modern design.
Berlin Marathon
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Miniloft apartments are extremely convenient and comfortable for marathon runners. A 20-minute walk (or quick run) or 15 minutes with public transport gets you to the Marathon start and finish line at Brandenburg Gate. Runners appreciate being able to cook their own meals in the comfort of their own apartment, and of course we’re happy to recommend our favorite neighborhood restaurants for carb-loading.
How to get to the Berlinale
Monday, February 13, 2012
The main Berlinale campus at Potsdamer Platz is easily reached from the Miniloft Mitte apartments. Take the S-Bahn (Nordbahnhof to Potsdamer Platz, door-to-door travel time 20 minutes), or a "Kurzstrecke" (short trip) taxi, which costs 4 EUR. Please note that the discounted short trip price is only valid for taxis hailed on the street – go around the corner to Luisenstrasse and pick up a taxi heading south. There are always plenty of taxis.
Berlin Half Marathon
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Berlin Marathon gets a lot of press, but its upstart little sibling, the half marathon, is just as speedy and just as popular (well, the race fills up fast). Accreditation begins in just a few days! It may be -18 degrees outside right now, but soon you'll be running down Berlin streets in shorts on a (hopefully cool yet not-too-cool, overcast, but not rainy) April day. The starting gun fires on Karl Marx Allee, and the route wends its way past central Berlin's landmarks, around Alexanderplatz and down Unter den Linden
Berlin Modernist Housing Estates
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Berlin's Unesco heritage sites include the obvious crowd pleasers Museum Island and various palaces, but also a scattered group of less gaudy jewels: the Modernism Housing Estates. Located outside the city center (which spared their destruction in WWII), they're worth the trip, and not just for urban planning buffs. The six subsidized housing estates (Siedlungen) were designed by Bruno Taut, Martin Wagner and Walter Gropius between 1910 and 1933, and testify to Berlin's innovative housing policies, especially during the über-progressive Weimar Republic.
Bauhaus Archive: Villa Katsura
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Bruno Taut and Walter Gropius described Kyoto’s Katsura Imperial Villa, built for the emperor in the early 17th century, as a paragon of architecture. A new exhibition at the Berlin Bauhaus Archive reinforces how much the Bauhaus architects were influenced by Japan's clean lines and elegant simplicity.
ITB Berlin 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Berlin hosts the world's leading travel show, the ITB, with over 11,000 exhibitors from more than 180 countries and regions, and 170,000 visitors! We love to host travel-industry folk at the Miniloft apartments. It's always interesting to hear stories from those who work in tourism, and so exciting to think about the millions of possible vacations in store...
The Tiger Lillies Freakshow
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Miniloft guests often ask me where they can see Berlin cabaret, in the raucous tradition of the Weimar Republic. Cabaret as Brecht knew it is a thing of the past. (Although Brecht's Dreigroschenoper and Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny are frequently staged at theatres like Berliner Ensemble - Brecht's own theatre - and Deutsches Theater. If you speak German, these theatres are a must.) But this month I'm happy to have a ready answer to the cabaret-questers: the Tiger Lillies Freak Show, modern-day punk cabaret. The dark, perverse trio with a cult following have been around since 1989,
Fashion Week, Berlin Style 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Berlin's fashion week kicks off the winter season and draws stylish ones from all over the world to chilly our chilly metropolis, a shiny event to brighten the end of January. There are four non-stop days of shows, with a focus on German and up-and-coming designers. The main runway is at Brandenburg Gate, with shows and parties scattered around the city. Catch Copenhagen's Wood Wood
RisOtto
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The aptly named RisOtto serves – what else? – risotto, and nothing else. And such delicious, creamy rice bowls they are! The menu changes daily, usually with five savory choices and a dessert option ranging in price from 4,90-8,90 EUR. You could go simple with peas and lime, a bit more fancy with white beans, ham and thyme, or try the "mother of all risottos": risotto milanese with saffron and butter.