Find me in my new blogging house: www.ilanatravels.com

After more than 5 years of blogging about Berlin, I decided that it is about time to add Berlin as part of my biggest travel adventure in a new blog: www.ilanatravels.com.

As Berlin remains my big city love, I will often share posts and tips about my city, but meanwhile, I will keep discovering new destinations in Germany and abroad!

Thank you all for reading my posts and ope to see you soon to the new house!

For more social media fun, don't forget to follow my Instagram too: #ilanaontheroad and my Snapchat too: ilanaontheroad

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Foodie Berlin: Bamboo Asian Restaurant in Zehlendorf

Out of all Berlin's neighbourhoods, besides Dahlem, Zehlendorf is one of my favourite destinations where I like to go as often as possible. Its classical architecture and slow life in the middle of the many green areas were one of the top reasons I chosed to relocate to Berlin. There are many restaurants in the area, but many of them Italian style, so when I discovered, at the ground level of a white classical house, Bamboo, on a side street close to the Zehlendorf S-Bahn, I just followed my love for Asian food and took a seat.

It serves Vietnamese-Japanese food, with a smile, although I found the service a bit too slow. But the friendliness can help excusing this downside. The interior is again not their strong point, with so much kitsch for the educated eye and very cheap furniture. It also has a lot of bamboo and many flowers which bring more warm to the ambiance. But this is maybe the disadvatage of the slow service, it gives you too much time to notice inconveniences. 
My first part of the order was simple, but relatively new for my usual menu in an Asian restaurant: An energizing matcha shake and yasai tempura, veggie tempura. The matcha shake was the star of the menu. Made from an apparently easy combination of milk and matcha tea, and some ice, it has the right portioning of matcha with that specific taste that I always love. It is energizing enough to not need to order any coffee or tea. Not even the Vietnamese coffee that I otherwise love so much.

The tempura was tasty, with a lot of Chinese cabbage include, but also cauliflower and other autumn vegetables like tomatoes or eggplant. Moderately fried, without too much oil and accompanied by a good soy sauce it makes you feel full and happy for new discovery tour of Zehlendorf. The seeds of black and white sesame bring even more taste to the plate. The other veggie choice I wanted was yaki veggie, tofu veggie skews with teryaki sauce, but my love for tempura won over.

The second part of the order was the unusual for me Philadelphia rolls: salmon sushi with Philladelphia cheese. As in the case of the tempura, all the ingredients were fresh and good looking, maybe the sushi was too stuffed with so many things and was looking a bit like blown up, but it was tasty and if you ignore the weirdness of the combination, it was really good. Plus, the slices of orange were a good add to the salmon taste so, besides a good meal and additional free wi-fi, I was also offered inspiration for my foodie wanderings.

The prices are moderate, with various lunch offers during the week. It is a great choice for families, as it have enough big tables and spaces as well as an aquarium that can keep children entertained for a couple of minutes. 

Ku'damm shopping guide for Valentine's Day

Is this time of the year again, when intensive shopping or windows shopping are a must for finding this special thing for your special one and only. There may be other things going on in town right now, like the lovely Berlinale, but when love is in the air, you cannot resist the temptation to think about a special elegantly wrapped something to offer before or after the movie. As for me, I am so much in love with Ku'damm and this West side of the city, that I just used the journalistic pretext for another trip at the shops, accompanied by my little 4-month baby. From a very early age he should learn how to properly show his love so I decided to sacrifice myself for his bright future.

The good news is that there are sales everywhere this week, so there is possible to find always something interesting. Wolford or Agent Provocateur or the more affordable Palmers do have some interesting collections for bold people. If not, the traveller in me can be very happy with a travel-inspired scarf by Hermes. 

If the beautiful white dress by YSL or the skirts from the new collection by Botega Venetta are not up to your standards, no one can resist some beautiful flowers. 

Or some perfumes, both for him or for her, available at the Douglas store. The good thing with these stores is their professional customer service who is well trained to help the customers. More Valentine's oriented, the Occitaine en Provence shop sells creams and fragrances with a kiss touch. 

If looking for unique fragrances, the Delfi store has plenty of them, starting with the name of some - Juliette has a gun - and with various oriental aromas. Just a drop of perfume and you are in love. The ambiance inside makes you feel you are invited to be part of a secret perfumed experiment. I found many of the perfumes too heavy and sophisticated for my taste, but there are some fresh, fruity fragrances for people like me too. 

The famous German fashion brand Jil Sander, which happens to like very much, for its minimalist lines and clothes fit to the busy life, has two stores on Ku'damm and there are sales running in and out so you better watch your account out.  

More affordable, COS also has sales, but many of the products are sold very fast, so the better you visit the shop, the better. This urban style with pastel colours goes very well to any occassions, from shopping sprees to very important business meetings. 

Many of shops decorated the windows with season's greetings. As Valentine's Day and the Chinese New Yeare are the most important events of the week, expect a lot of monkeys and hearts in the windows these days. For unlimited budgets, the latest Dolce&Gabanna Collection has a lot of heart-shaped models and interesting ethnic prints for colourful personalities.Some of the Chanel shoes in the nearby window can go very well together. 

The lady in you will be delighted by the latest Mulberry is so delicate and gentle. It also suits very well the modest fashion. 

After the first 10 shops, my baby fell asleep. He woke up 10 shops later and when he realized that probably is no hope to see any car or toys stores today, turned back to sleep on the other side. Meanwhile, I was still undecided if I have to chose one of the beautiful sets from the Amazonia Collection by Villeroy&Boch, or to make a stop at the Sassoon Hairdressing sallon, or maybe to chose one of the colourful bags from Picard - but in this case it gets complicated as I need a new pair of shoes too. 

With or without a special gift, Ku'damm has many romantic places for a successful date: Either the historical Grosz, or the more elaborated Balthazar Restaurant with its Vesper bar, there are enough reasons to spend more time there and share special moments with your special someone. My motto is that you do not need a special day to celebrate love, as it is an everyday's exercise, but after all, why not use this opportunity for celebrating togetherness?

A well kept secret of Berlin: Georg Kolbe Museum

Berlin is the city of special museums, but only few of them are on the usual touristic routes. Some of them are hidden in secret corners of the city, out of sight, but easy to be found by the real lovers of art. Take, for instance, Georg Kolbe Museum. It is situated in an area without high tourist attractions, but easy to be reached after visiting the Olympic Stadium, either by train - S-Bahn Heerstrasse and around 10 minutes or walking - or by bus. 

I wanted to visit this museum for a long time, but there were always new temptations around in my area so I left it for later. This autumn, without too many opportunities to go out of the city as often as I wanted to, and determined to see the Jean Arp exhibition - Navel of the Avant-garde - before closing, I finally made it. Representative of the Berlin Secession movement, Kolbe was considered one of the biggest sculptors of Germany. He collaborated with Mies van der Rohde for the building of Barcelona Pavillion and had a relatively limited collaboration with the far-right regime.  

The museum is the first open in West Berlin after the war, in 1950, hosted in the house that Kolbe used to work between 1929 and 1947.

Human bodies are spread all over the garden and the entrance, silent apparitions at human scale. Their tensed postures made you think that they are alive and ready to share with you some secrets.

Only the wild nature balances the wild energy of the statues. The huge trees put everything in a new perspective. It is so much strength and natural power everywhere that I start my tour with a long stay in the garden, trying to feel the synchronisation and contrasts between human and nature forces. 

The exhibition spaces are big,wrapped in the natural light coming out of the wall-sized windows. It also has a library. I met Jean Arp's work before, at the Modern Art Museum in Strasbourg. The exhibition at Kolbe Museum was focused on the pictorial sign of the navel, carved in stone, shaped in plastic or bronze, considered the humankind bond to nature. Arp puts into question many of the principles of the traditional art not only through sculptures, but also collages and paintings. 

Outside, more human bodies are watching the entrance, surprised in their private worlds but still keeping the sight outside, like a warning to the accidental visitor that they are there to stay.

From the terrasse of the Cafe K, serving vegetarian dishes and good coffees, I finished my museum trip spending more time looking at the forest of bodies. Nature not only inspires art but also show to the art and artists in general the right proportions. 

Germany for refugees, the information level

O

I recently discovered at my local library a booklet published by Herder.de and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung dedicated to introducing Germany to the refugees. It has a lot of useful - basic - information, in German and Arabic, but also many funny aproaches - to keep it diplomatically.
The package of information is also available as apps.

Read the rest of the review at: http://foreignpolicyfocus.blogspot.de/2016/01/germany-for-refugees-information-level.html

Jackson Pollock at Deutsche Bank Kunsthalle

I am not a big fan of Jackson Pollock and I've seen some of his works at museums across the world without changing my mind. As I always enjoyed the exhibitions at Deutsche Kunsthalle at Unter den Linden, I decided to give one more try and try to learn a bit more about the artist hoping that I will get closer from his philosophy too. 

The exhibition is focused on presenting the largest canvas the artist ever painted, a Mural, a summer commission from the art collector Peggy Guggenheim for the hallway of New York city hall. In order to bring more information about the artistic trend Pollock belongs to, photography or paintings by, among others, Gjon Mili, Aaron Siskind, Barbara Morgan or Andy Warhol, David Reed or Lee Krasner.

Pollock studied early under the American regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton. When it comes to mural work, he outlined the influence of Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Jose Clement Orozco. Picasso was also a source of inspiration but he soon found his own way and focused more on the vitalist expressionism specific to most of his late and famous works. 

A pleasant discovery of this exhibition was the work of Lee Krasner, Pollock's wife and inspiration. More than once, she suggested a title for his works that he finished under inspirational trance. Her paiting is an emotional explosilon of red on the canvas, the colours looking as going out of the space of the painting for entering the outer space. 

The exhibition as such is very well organised, with many useful information, offering the chance to get to know not only Pollock and his work, but also the intellectual ambiance of his time.

Pollock mural is a chaotic conflict between colours and shapes, many of them repeating itself at least as a combination of the same colours. The aggressive strokes of black are well tempered by the salmon pink and the sweet yellows. The big traces of blue are like the rainbow after the storm. Practically, there is not a classical story or center as any part of the canvas has its own story and relevance for the painting. Such a vortex of contradictions may have offer a lot of discomfort to the workers of the New York City hall, I suppose. It may remind a lot about nowadays works of street art that most probably Pollock would have embraced it for its raw vitality and creativity. 

The exhibition is running till the 10th of April. Mondays, the entrance is free. 

Meiji Era in Photography

The Museum of Photography in Berlin is well known for the impressive collection of Helmut Newton works. However, regularly here are organised various exhibitions dedicated to extraordinary photographic works. One of them I visited this summer and still can be visited till the 10th of January and is dedicated to a place where I was lucky enough to live for one full year: Japan. It covers 250 photographies from Meiji era in German collections. Photography was considered a way to induce Europenization of the Japanese culture, similarly with the hot air balloons, gaslights or engine. The first example was given by the Emperor himself, appearing photographed in his new European uniform, the sending the main incentive for the well awaited change.

But the change cannot happen over night and the tradition and modernity will coexist till today. The art of photography will equally help the strengthening of tradition, widespreading images about kabuki theater, tattooed fighters or tea house girls - what we know as geishas. In a way, it also delivers to Europeans that exotism they were always looking for in this part of the world. The lady photographer featured as the representative image of the exhibition is a proof in this sense: a woman with the camera in a society where the social roles are clearly defined but dressed in a traditional way in the modest posture the society is waiting from a young lady.

The neo-confucianist line of the Enlightening era represented by Meiji was that a portrait was a symbol of visual praise for the achievement of a virtuous work. For me, the nature representations are by far one of the most beautiful snapshots. When simple communication fails, the nature can offer to the traveller the simplest way to be thankful. Beyond the politics and other strategical reasons, the beautiful Meiji photography brings Japan to Berlin.

A visitor at the Spy Museum

It is not every day that I am very excited about a PR and marketing campaign in Germany. The one for thel launch of the Spy Museum is one of them, and from the middle of the summer the city was invaded by attention grabbing billboards announcing the event. Although I wanted to be among the first to check the fantastic spy adventures announced, I had to wait till the beginning of November until the visit was possible.  

The building in Potsdamer Platz is offering two full floors of historical installations, presenting more or less recent historical spy stories. The lengthy presentations are available in video and written format, in English and German.The visit starts with an introduction in the history of intelligence, from the old Egypt to Rome and Joshua.

Most part of the exhibition is dedicated though to the Cold War times, that made Berlin one of the European capitals of spies. Touch screens are providing interviews about the various genesis of intelligence services in the East and in the West of Germany.

Old stories are presented into a creative interior design ambiance with special effects of lights and shadows.

When the historical introductions are too long - although very interesting, especially with former Stasi operatives, the famous East German secret police - there are some practical example set toexplain to yo how the operative work can be practised. Special secret messages can be hidden in nuts. 

Or in shoes.Or in cigarettes, or in various parts of the car. Practically everywhere. If you are not too strong at heart, you may risk to become very paranoid, even the Cold War is over.

After you see the section dedicated to different gifts that can instantly kill everyone only by smelling, you may need a rehab. The famous umbrella that killed the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in Central London in 1978 is there, still waiting for a full reconstruction of facts, many years after the crime was commited with a simple touch.

True is that at the end of the long visit I really felt overwhelmed about too much information, like I was at the end of a long class in the history of intelligence. Some colourful covers of James Bond movies brought everything back to the entertainment work.

I had a different impression about what a spy museum should be, expecting more action and intelligence challenges, also for the visitor. But I am sure also that the usual glamour we associate with this kind of work is rather the result of wishful thinking. The Spy Museum in Berlin provides lessons of history and for now, it might be enough.

Foodie Berlin: ZUKA Dessert Manufaktur

Very often when I expected a lot of time enthusiastically to go checking some cakes place everyone was talking about and left it with a big disappointment. I discovered ZUKA around one year ago during a walk with a friend, entered to see what it is all about and waited and waited till paying a visit. Somehow, I wanted to be sure that this place is for real and will stay open for longer. 

I went there during the week, around the middle of the day and it was almost empty. Some guests were enjoying the last summer days and were enjoying the outside places. However, I remember to see the place almost full in the evening. The overall design of the curvaceous location with a window wall was a bit disappointed as I expected more elegance after looking at the tempting pieces of cake. Another disappointment was the absence of wifi, something almost normal for many German places. 

After a bit of hesitation, I ordered a peach green tea tart and an eclair. After the disappointing KaDeWe eclair experience where I paid a lot for being offered a very sugary pastry, this time the sweetness was moderate, but the pastry a bit tasteless. The cold cream of the filling and the sweetness of the dots of chocolate changed the impression and till I was done I was having my sugar shoot. Before going further with the tasting, I allowed the very normal cappuccino to clean my mouth.

The fine green tea wall with a strong macha taste hide a white mascarpone cream, the only sweet part of the cake, with peaches on the top. Every single bit of it revealed new pleasures and alll the three elements of the cake balanced and completed each other. At the end of it, my eclair impression was just modest. 

The cakes can be also ordered for home. The prices are acceptable and the service is moderately friendly. Every single sweet temptation is offered on a small golden paper, and looks tempting enough to feed even the most sophisticated sweet teeth. This time, my sweet adventure was not disappointing. 

Piet Mondrian exhibition at Martin Gropius Bau

At the beginning of September, I enjoyed a lot of free sunny weekends, a good opportunity to carefully check some art events and exhibitions in the city. As I regularly do twice the year, one of the stops was Martin Gropius Bau for the retrospective of Piet Mondrian works. It reunited works from Den Haag, the largest collection of Mondrian works. 

The exhibition, that can be seen till the beginning of December, offers an overview of the evolution of Mondrian's work conception. Although his abstract works are more known to the public, his beginnings - realistic, inspired by the 17th century tradition of Dutch landscape, or influenced by Cubism, De Stijl or impressionism - were often obstructed by his popular abstract works. The famous 'Line' is part of the current works exhibited, but discovering the previous styles was for me by far more challenging and interesting. The exhibition, separated into spaces that are dedicated to various stages in the artistic life of the painter, is revealing an artist that permanently reinvented himself.

The development of his work with lines went through different stages, and architecture, besdes  theosophy, played an important role in reshaping his identity. It worked together with the vision on the space and changing perception of it. Many were also his influences, gathered during the various inspirational places he visited. Between 1912 and 1917 he went through a Cubistic stage following his stay in Paris and the delapidated buildings, probably the consequence of the WWI damages, prompted his abstract beginnings.

At the end of the exhibition I felt the same way after reading a good book: the sadness that it finishes. Maybe till December I can give it one more try... 

Registering a new born baby in Berlin: the challenges

After the kid is born, the normal step is to go on and give him a bureaucratic identity, in other words, to register the little baby as a citizen in the making. As usual, the German bureaucracy did not disappoint me and everything went fast but this time, it involved some money spent...we do not know for sure on what. It starts with one of the parents going early in the morning at the city hall, in the front of the door of the special section in charge with birth certificates. You may write your name on a list, with the date of birth of the child and the hospital where the baby was born and wait till someone comes, looks at the list and calls your name. Be ready to have a copy of the passports or ID cards of the parents, and their birth certificates - international version. 

Easy peasy - the parents are married

Let's start with the beginning. If the parents are married, things are simple. The child is registered on the spot, with the name of the husband and the mother with full rights. The birth certificate is delivered either in the same day or 10 days after. You will be handled 1 copy - for 10 Euro - and another 3 free proofs that should be further sent to the insurance company and the authorities in charge to give financial support to the new born. There is also a declaration that should be signed by both parents where they agree about the name to be given to the baby.

This easy variant is also available for the registration of the child in the hospital where the mother gives birth.

Different challenges - the parents are not married

The things are a bit different when the parents are not married and also having different citizenships. There is a declaration of paternity - Vaterschafterkennung - the father should sign either during the mother's pregnancy or after the child is born - it costs 30 Euro. It is accompanied by a long legal explanation of the German right and other subtelties. Usually, you need an appointment for this declaration. 

When one of the parents does not speak German, a translator - not official, but not a relative of any of the two parents either - is requested. For the work of this special person - that may take around one hour - that accepts to do the translation, you pay 20 Euro that goes to the city hall but not to the translator. I found it a bit strange the procedure, to be honest. I would have prefer to give this money to the translator who waited a bit more than expected and did a great job than to waste it for some undisclosed purpose. 

There is also the possibility to do the paternity declaration in the front of the Jugendamt, also by appointment and with a translator, but for free. The disadvantage is that as for now, there is not easy to get a date with the authorities till the end of the year so you better pay and get what you want faster. Without the birth certificate, you cannot get the money from the insurance and the Kindergeld - a monthly amount the state gives you for the child - and the sooner you have it the better for the financial well-being of your small family. 

Another specificy of the German family right is that by birth the mother is automatically having full right over the child. If you want to share the right with the father - I will write another post soon about what I discover that it is the disrespect of the father as an active and responsible member of the family - you need another declaration and official appointment, this time in the front of the Jugendamt, the authority in charge with families and especially children. 

To be continued...

As for now, the happy owners of the birth certificate - international one is the best, written in English and French and German, as for a passport and citizenship some embassies will request the official translation and many of them the apostile for authentification (to be read more money to the bureaucracy) - are ready for new bureaucratic challenges. It seems that this story never ends, at least for now...

Foodie Berlin: Koshary Lux, Oriental Street Food

There is rarely something that can surprise me in terms of food in the Western part of Berlin, but this summer offered me many reasons to think that there are so many things on the move here too. As one day in August I was slowly walking around Savigny Platz, a colourful place with spicy smells caught my eyes and called my foodie curiosity: Koshary Lux on Grolmanstrasse 27. 

In a friendly ambiance with an even friendlier service, here it is served 'Oriental Street Food', trying to mix the shuk - market traditions - from Marrakesh, Beiruth, Algier or Cairo. The menu has one of success dishes on Friday evening - the Moroccan carot salad (with chilli and cumin), dates salad with goat cheese and celery, walnuts and baby spinach, meaty sandwiches and tomato soup. Many choices for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. For the beginning, I ordered a fresh Egyptian lime lemonade with mint that was so fresh and delicious - moderately sugarly - that I wanted one more time and the recipe too. Do not expect shawarma or falafel or humus and it is good this way.

The portions are available in both small and big portions, offered at affordable prices. Although hungry, the Koshary mix fed me enough although if not that spicy - introduced to me as moderately - I would have been tempted for one more try. It has lentils, rice and maccaroni with tangy tomato sauce, topped with caramelized onions, chickpeas and a pistachio-spice blend. Brought in a very simple metal bowl it has an interesting mixture of tastes and aromas that makes you think to busy shuks and unknown worlds.

For the end of my short first stay, I took a dessert too: a muhallabiya - milk pudding with rose water sirup, almonds and pistachios. A natural sweetness of the pudding meeting successfully the springles pistachios and almonds which offer a good balance. 

This order was enough to open the appetite for more. Maby they introduced some more meals for the autumn season. If not, still there are some things on the menu that would love to test anyway.