We stayed in May and weather was beautiful. Lena has a great apartment in a culturally diverse part of Berlin. Besides being in Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain and Neukölln are the neighborhoods on either side easily reached on foot. So lots of options for restaurants, cafes and markets. The U/S-Bahn and Uber can get you elsewhere easily such as the museums and sites in Mitte or the Grunewald forest.
The apartment is exactly as shown in the pictures. One flight of stairs up to her place. Tall ceilings. Simple modern furnishings. Clean.
Functional galley kitchen to start your day off with a simple breakfast and coffee with small deck overlooking the central courtyard. No toaster so we just warmed up bread in the oven. The coffee maker is a dripper for a pour over. You can get specialty beans from any of the cafes around and they’ll grind for you or pick up some pre ground at Aldi, the discount grocery in Markthalle Neun across the street. It’s inexpensive and quite good for the early morning coffee fix. Lots of locals shop at Aldi for the good prices. Also Multi Kulti is small grocer next to Kaffee9 if you walk thru the MarktHalle. Lotto corner store if you look outside the living room window for late night beer wine or snacks. Turkish Market (tues and Fri) a short walk for great produce, hummus, tzatziki, spiced olives etc. and to die for vegan donuts at brammibal’s. Across the canal on Paul-Lincke had an awesome lunch at Spindler (tuna melt and vegan bowl) and Ramen at Cocolo.
Lena suggested the Long March Canteen next door for small plate / sharing oriental food. We took our son and friends residing in Berlin, there for his 30th B’day celebration. Excellent food. Everyone had a great time. It’s a busy spot for a Wednesday night. Too many awesome meals to mention and places we didn’t get to check out in 9 days in Berlin. Street food Thursdays nights in the markthalle and nice wine bar and Italian place on the same street. Venture over to Friedrichshain for more good food and coffee (Silo and Happy Baristas). Enough food and drink talk.
Bright living room with big windows to check out what’s going on in the street below both day and night. She has Netflix for a quiet night in with food and wine if you had a large day and you’re bagged. WiFi connection is good. Bedroom is cozy. The bathroom is modern and good water pressure for a hot shower or bath. The bathroom and the spaciousness of the apartment as well as location sold it for us. We could easily chill in the apartment as to go out.
The dishwasher was easy enough to figure out, but the washer / dryer (bonus) wasn’t so straightforward. Overall a perfect stay that checked all our boxes and we felt so comfortable there. Will definitely stay there again next time we’re in Berlin.