A Berlin Travel Guide: What To See & Do

A Berlin Travel Guide: What To See & Do

As promised, here is the first in three parts of my Berlin guide! I went for a week last November with a friend which was a bit of a spontaneous trip as we both have wanted to visit for a long time and just bit the bullet and booked. It's really easy to find somewhere to stay in Berlin with hotels, apartments and b&b's scattered all over the city - in the end, we settled on Jean Louis' Air B n B (check it out here) situated on Richard Platz in Neukölln, perfectly located in walking distance of shops and supermarkets and the metro station. Jean Louis and his family (and adorable cat!) were accommodating and friendly and his home was clean and stylishhh.

The kitchen/dining area in our b&b 

We wanted to cram in as much as possible during our stay and tried to see as much as we could, which wasn't hard as all of Berlin is brimming with colour and culture. Here are some things I recommend to see and do in and around one of Germany's best cities.

The Berlin Wall

Though it may seem like an obvious one, the Berlin Wall is a must if you want to visit a really interesting place and absorb yourself in Berlin's history. There are several parts to visit but we chose the Gedenkstätte section where you can also visit the small museum for free and go to the top for a panoramic view of the wall.

The East Side Gallery & a trip to an Photoautomat booth

The East Side Gallery is located along the river Spree in Friedichshain which is the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall still standing. This part of the wall is covered in different paintings from around 100 artists including the famous "My God, Help me to survive this deadly love" by Dmitri Vrubel and others. It's a must to explore to see one of the most colourful and creative parts of Berlin.

A Berlin Bucket List Must is getting your photo taken in the famous Photoautomat booth. They are all over Berlin and are only 2 € for a strip of four black & white photos - a cheap and cheerful memory to take home from your travels.

Neukölln & it's surroundings

Neukölln (which I still can't pronounce properly) is a great place for travellers wanting to explore a bustling area of Berlin with plenty of shops, cafes and bars. Walking around the area alone is enough to entertain you with street art a plenty and many things that will catch your eye and give you some creative inspiration.

The Ramones Museum

For all music lovers, this is a must visit. The museum is quite small and easy to get around. It's covered from head to toe in Ramones memorabilia and merch from their clothes, old concert posters to photographs and more. You can watch a documentary on the band as well as snippets from gigs and interviews. Afterwards you can enjoy a drink and cake whilst Ramones tunes are played throughout and, you also get a free badge with your entry fee - win!

Museum für Kommunication Berlin

We hadn't actually planned to visit this museum but failed on finding the place we wanted to go so spontaneously 
went here instead.

The entry was only about 3 € if I remember right and we both really enjoyed it. 

It was interesting us both being communications students

so we enjoyed learning about the evolution in telephones and post. 

I think the museum might actually be designed to entertain kids, but hey

we're big kids at heart and it was a lot of fun!

Checkpoint Charlie

Similarly to the wall, this is one of those must-visit parts of Berlin if you like a bit of history! There are several other Berlin Wall memorial areas surrounding, a Checkpoint Charlie museum and gift shops. 

The Christmas Markets & The Fernsehturm de Berlín 

Obviously you need to visit around the Christmas period to experience the Christmas markets so if you do plan to visit any other time of the year, I understand this may not be relevant. Nevertheless, if you do get the chance to go around then, the markets are a must! It was bitterly cold during our visit so there's nothing better than walking round a market where you can get mulled wine, beer, hot crepes and waffles and hot chocolates - is there? Nah. You can also take a spin on the ferris wheel or go ice skating and get some cute souvenirs to take home. Perfect to get you in the festive mood.

Fernsehturm de Berlín

Situated near Alexanderplatz, the tower is the tallest monument in Germany and can be seen from all over Berlin. You can also take a trip up the tower where you can be wined and dined with an epic view over Berlin, which sadly we didn't do - but seeing it is pretty amazing in itself!

Music @ West Germany Venue

On our last evening, we were lucky enough to catch Weyes Blood accompanied by some amazing talent and jamming inc. Aldhous RH & Sean Nicholas Savage followed by a dj playing all the good tunes. I was so thrilled to discover Weyes Blood, from California (who has the voice of an angel) and Sean Nicholas Savage from Canada as they are so different to anything i've ever heard before, and were true performers. Shout out to Weyes Blood who gave me a free CD!

That's a wrap for today's post - I hope you liked it. I'll be back tomorrow with where to shop in Berlin!

Made With Love

Made With Love

Myself plus a friend were kindly invited along to the launch of the Made.com showroom in Liverpool's Metquarter to admire the current collection, eat one too many macarons and have a natter with the other guests. It was a lovely little evening with a cheeky prosecco on arrival, sweet treats from Patisserie Valerie and delicious canapés by Casa Italia (both places located in the Metquarter), a dj, beauty treatments by Urban Calm and the chance to walk around and look at the gorgeous A/W15 collection and meet some lovely new people.

We were also given tablets which you could scan over the + tag on all the items you liked, create a list then email to yourself to buy online later. Snazzy eh?

I managed to catch the lovely Annabel Kilner, UK country manager of Made.com, for 5 minutes to ask her a few questions about her and Made.com...

So, tell us a little bit about Made. com & yourself...

So, Made.com was started up 5 years ago. The founders spotted a gap in the market for great design at affordable prices, particularly online - so of course there is Ikea that obviously sells good and affordable products but design wasn't their key thing at the time then you've got John Lewis, M&S, and Next but they're not particularly design lead and then there are the higher end brands - so there was a gap in the market for something different like Made.com.

The other thing about the market, particularly in the furniture industry, is that they will normally order in advance twice a year, whereas we have a very different business model. We are a made-to-order business so essentially we design something, prototype it, sample it, photograph it, put it up on the website and then it's made to order for the customers. We really look at the demand for that product and then order just in time for it.

What is the process of buying and marketing for Made.com?

So we're constantly bringing out new collections- around 30-50 new products a week and then they go onto the website. Essentially if we see that they don't sell very well then we will probably stop them which may happen to around 10% of products but it enables us to see what's popular and then we can continue to manufacture those ones quickly. 

Then that helps you see what'll be good in the showrooms?

As for the showrooms, we have 3 now-Leeds, London Soho, and now Liverpool, of course! So what we've actually done for this particular store is we've looked at what have been the most popular items in Liverpool that've sold so far and then the customers can essentially walk in and find exactly what they want and imagine it in their own home. 

So what kind of trends do you think we'll be seeing interior wise in the coming Autumn/Winter season?

I think we'll see a lot of metallic, copper and bronze's like our Alana Bed then a lot of rich velvets as well. We've got the Wolseley velvet sofa which is very popular as well as our Scott sofas that come in leather as well as velvet which we've noticed really pick up at this time of year. 

What's your favourite thing about working at Made.com?

My favourite thing about working at Made is the fact that there's a very dynamic culture so we're not afraid to try things out and get things done. It's a very fast-paced environment and as you can tell we're always bringing out new products - it's just very exciting! 

What inspires the product team?

The product team are always out looking for different trends in the market. They'll also look at what our competitors are doing and also what's going on in the fashion sector. Broadly, they just look at all the trends that are going on. They need to design to cater to different styles and tastes. We have a fairly eclectic style at Made.com, so we're not just about traditional, not just about modern or retro- it's a real mixture of everything so that enables the team to find lots of different things.

We work with a community of designers because they all have different styles. We have a main studio where we design but we also collaborate with over 50 designers who are bringing out new product designs all the time that we'll then manufacture for Made. 

So items that can fit into anyone's home?

Yes! So we're looking for strong accent pieces that when people walk into your home they go 'Wow!' and the product is a real conversation starter, they love the item too and want their own- that's what we want people to do.

Lastly, how did you get into interiors?

I used to actually work for another interiors company before Made.com called Mydeco.com and for me, I personally love doing up my own home, I have a real taste for it.

I can imagine your home looks as amazing as the store!

Yes! My home is 50% Made.com. But yes, I think originally for me it was the opportunity to work in the E-commerce and I love homeware so it made sense to go into that. It's such a fragmented market so when the opportunity struck, I took it.

...and that's a wrap. Ok maybe that seemed slightly longer than 5 minutes but I swear it was, it says so on my phone. It was lovely to meet an inspiring entrepreneur like Annabel and get an insight into her job and Made.com. I hope you enjoyed it too!

Lots of love, Lucie Rose x

Special thanks to Carousel PR for organising a great event & a special thanks to my lovely pal Una for taking some of these photos- you're a real sweetie!

A Bordeaux Travel Guide

A Bordeaux Travel Guide

I sometimes forget how lucky I am in to live in France and have the opportunity to hop on a train or do a car share and be in some of the country's most beautiful and buzzing cities within a few hours. I don't visit as much as I'd like to or should but with my sister just moving to the outskirts of Bordeaux last week- I took this as a chance to finally see somewhere new! In return I agreed to help her move in and sort out her new apartment, give n take and all that. A short 10-15 minute tram ride from her apartment and we were in the city centre ready to explore (and eat)!

I think the first thing that grabbed me about Bordeaux was the gorgeous architecture! You can't get any more typically and traditionally French than the buildings in Bordeaux...it felt like Paris but without the overload of tourists, cars or noise.

We headed straight to la Rue Sainte Catherine aka an absolute haven for shoppers. There is every shop imaginable along this street as well as cafés and restaurants to stop for a break and do some nosey people watching. The road starts out with markets, individual boutiques and make up stores then towards the other end of the street are old favourites like H&M, Zara, Mango and Pimkie as well as a must-visit when in France, the Galaries Lafayettes with all the high end brands. You could easily spend a full day here exploring all the different shops and getting a whole new wardrobe...so get saving!

We left slightly later than planned and had some errands to run beforehand so by the time we arrived in Bordeaux it was already mid lunchtime so we hunted around for somewhere reasonably priced to eat that would leave us satisfied but not so full that we'd need to take a nap! Luckily we came across this little gem - Locadillos.

We were that kind of starving that any idea of food made us weak at the knees so when we saw this place with it's modern, chilled vibe, customers dining al fresco and homely interiors - we were pretty much drawn in.

I'm not going to lie, I was a little confused by the menu seeing as I can barely speak Spanish but the friendly staff explained it all to us, what was on offer and we finally settled on the lunch menu at only 9,50 euros a head. You choose two different types of montaditos, a side and drink. Me and my sister both had a delicious glass of chilled wine each (when in Bordeaux ey), the 'Azteque' and 'Di Buffala' montaditos with patatas bravas on the side. 

As if this restaurant couldn't get any better, we were also given a little mobile (we're talking Nokia circa 2005) with a number and were told we would receive a text when our food was ready to collect...how amazing is that?! Best text I've ever received.

 The meal was presented so perfectly I almost didn't want to touch it, but I was hungry so of course I wasn't going to just stare at it, was I? Nah. As you can tell by the photos (are you drooling?) it was pretty damn beautiful. Everything was delicious with lots of flavour and it left us both feeling full up and satisfied but not stuffed...which in my eyes, ticks all the boxes! 

The 'azteque' montadito had chicken, fried onions and homemade guacamole and the 'di buffala' had juicy tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and homemade pesto and the patatas bravas drizzled with a red pesto type sauce. There was one big flavour party happening in my mouth guys. ANYWAY before you end up drooling all over your computer/smartphone- in short, this restaurant was like a little gift sent from the food gods. If you're heading to Bordeaux, you must visit here! DO IT or regret it for the rest of your sad montadito-less life.

Locadillos: 137 cours victor Hugo, Bordeaux.

While my sister was off at the hairdressers (her priorities), I went for a little wander round the streets myself and stumbled upon Freep'Show. I felt right at home as soon as I stepped in the door...The Cure was playing, I was surrounded by vintage clothes with a disco ball above my head and the walls lined with vinyl …basically, I was in my element. There was everything from vintage dresses to skirts, shoes, bags, leather jackets and much more- for women and men. A real little treasure tucked away in the city center of Bordeaux- don't miss this place if you're a vintage lover! 

Freep'Show friperie: 80 rue du loup, Bordeaux.

We made a little pit-stop at Place Saint-Projet, a nice little spot with open terrace cafés to stop and recharge your batteries over a drink and do some people watching!

We took a walk down the Garonne riverside where you can see Bordeaux from a different perspective. There are more shops (yes, more), cafés and river cruises to be enjoyed in this area as well as it being a popular spot for joggers, cyclists and picnickers (is that even a thing idk)...a nice quiet part of Bordeaux to be discovered!

Because looking at nice pictures of cakes doesn't make you put on weight and it's (almost) as enjoyable.

After a long day of walking about, eating, window-shopping (it's a hard life) we called it a day and headed back to my sisters apartment. I've been through Bordeaux on my travels but never had the chance to see it properly like this so I was glad to finally discover what it has to offer and I already want to come back again! 

It's a buzzing but easy-going city with something for everyone whether you're keen on museums and galleries, trying out the restaurants, shopping or of course, drinking the Bordeaux wine! Luckily my sister will be in fact studying wine for her year there so if she ever needs a second opinion when wine tasting eh!