Things are moving quickly here in Berlin.
Gone are the days of massive flats, empty and waiting to be lived in. Gone are
reasonable rents, illegal ping-pong bars and bullet-holed facades. Well, almost
gone. But it won't be long now.
Clubs that have been open since the fall of
the Berlin wall are closing to make way for chi chi shops, posh apartment
blocks and media companies. When you're looking for a room in a WG (shared
housing) you have to beat twenty others and still pay a premium price. One of
Berlin's most wonderful traits, its greenness, is steadily disappearing to make
way for, yes, more expensive flats.
As they say, all was better in the olden
days.
Imagine how chuffed I am to be living very
near one of the few proper authentic bits of the city still around. In the
middle of Neukölln, there's a village green housing the oldest blacksmith in
town plus a garage for old-fashioned horse drawn carriages. The surrounding
town houses are gorgeous, spacious and light. The local thrift shop is enormous
and filled with stuff no one in their right mind ever would buy - it's all just
too dusty and disgusting. But what a joy to rummage through it all. Here in
Rixdorf, the annual hay bale rolling competition and the Weinachtsmarkt
transport you back in time. Squint and you can imagine yourself a hundred years
ago. It's just lovely.
It's easy too: just take a walk on
Richardplatz and the surrounding streets. Have a chai tea and some cake at
Barini, opposite the thrift store, while you're at it. Buy tickets for a puppet
show in the theatre next door and visit the figure skating shop, just because
there is one. This is Berlin at its best.
Alt-Rixdorfer Weihnachtsmarkt, second advent weekend in december, Richardplatz, 12055 Berlin
Barini, Böhmische Straße 46, 12055 Berlin, 030 25059718, website
Berger Wohnungsauflösung, Böhmische Str. 13, 12055 Berlin, 030 68224987
Central Rixdorf Theater, K&K VolkArt, Böhmische Straße 46, 12055 Berlin, 030 26378812, website
Eisprinzessinshop, Richardstraße 76, Berlin, website
Rixdorfer Schmiede, Bürgerstr. 17, 12347 Berlin, 030 6942232, website
No comments:
Post a Comment