Kaffee Burger

Just the other day I headed around the corner to one of the city’s favourite East German retro locations: Kaffee Burger. Yeah, you probably know it. If you've stayed in Berlin for more than two nights you definitely do. If you somehow missed it, then there's no other way around it: you're going to have to come back.

It’s not a Café at all of course. It’s a unique hovel of original retro furnishings and papier-mâché walls, with all the trimmings. It’s a club and a bar all in one – but it’s not like any of those horrible big places that you are thinking of called “Melt” or “Liquid” or whatever. It’s a genuine former East German bar to start with and there is way too much brown. The drinks board still shows prices in Ost-Marks. It feels like everyone's a communist brother or sister, united together in good spirits. Actually, everyone’s a tourist (or pretending to be one) and is probably trying to get laid.

The music is good fun too - mainly because the slide from Indie to Pop just happens so seamlessly and, most importantly, because no one is afraid to dance. Most nocturnal Berliners spend all their night at a club looking for an excuse NOT to dance. And there are so many ways to do that: you can smoke, continuously order cheap drinks or just stand there looking bored and play with your fringe. That’s not the way in Kaffee Burger though. People dance and sweat and kiss.

At about 3am I was standing at the edge of the dance floor looking across to one of the older guys who I had come in with - he was still whipping around like a frog in a blender. Beside me a young American couple, who had just got to know each other, had broken off their snogging and were looking on in amazement: “Who let that bald guy in? He's going crazy!”, she said.

I went home at 5. It was Monday after all.

KdR

This week it's time to re-visit an old stomping ground of mine: Klub der Republik. It's been a long time between drinks at this bar. In fact it's been so long, that as I headed there on the weekend I suddenly started to become a bit concerned that it might have been closed down and made way for a hostel. But - don't worry - it's still there.

For those that haven't been, this bar is reached via a dodgy courtyard on a set of steps made from scaffolding. The first floor ex-ballroom has floor to ceiling glass looking out to the street - and it has the most unique 70s lighting system you've ever seen.

But it's still the same old Klub der Republik. Cheap drinks, good music and everyone very cool - of course. What I always liked about it was that the coolness here seems to have a real "down-to-earthness" about it. For instance, on this occasion, after an hour of sitting around looking cool and not dancing, my friends and I realised we were actually sitting in the middle of a private party. We thought the disapproving looks from the others were just the standard dirty looks that you get in Berlin whenever you walk in anywhere.

But, ah, igad, it was more than that: we'd crashed Leon's 30th birthday party. But when he found out, he had no problem with it. We should just grab some meatballs and cheese and melon skewers, he said. The beer and vodka was free. Now, THAT is the spirit of Christmas.

Berlin Music Week

So Berlin Music Week has been and gone. The city's biggest celebration of modern music of the year... and I attended none of it. Not even with one of my favourite bands playing, Hot Chip. Now that takes some doing. Working on Friday and Saturday, I then also missed the final day on Sunday due to "the most important cricket game of my life" - the German national club final.

For the past few weeks, the Berlin radio stations were pushing this city-based music festival until we couldn't really take it anymore. On Saturday night they then had to close Tempelhof Airport - the main location of the event - due to overcrowding. Ironic really, considering it was once one of the largest buildings in the world.

The new event is a winner for the city's coffers though. The council has already said it's going to happen again next year. Nothing like a bit of tourist dollar!

Berghain Eisbein

After five years of putting it off, I finally managed to get in the door of Berghain this weekend.

For those that don't know... this is apparently the world's number one club. It's the sort of place where hysteric guests scream when they've been let in by the bouncers. Anyway, after a build-up of half a decade it was never going to quite meet expectations - but it didn't do a bad job.

After waiting the best part of an hour in the queue and seeing my body temperature drop to 10 degrees Celsius, my friends and I just managed to look disinterested enough at the front door to get in. The group of Australians behind us were turned away - tourists aren't welcome. Inside we were greeted by more security controls (no-one checking boarding cards though) and a demand for 12 Euros. I would have paid that money just for the interior architecture alone.

I mean, what a set-up! What looks like a rotting, disused power station from the outside, is actually an engineering masterpiece. It's got an elevated dancefloor, HUGE speakers hanging from the roof, motorised blinds that go up and down at sunrise and more dark rooms and chill out nooks than you could poke a stick at.

Oh, and the music wasn't bad either.