I went to Berlin, Munich, & Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany

in September 2022 to visit the then-Fiancé-now-Husband, and here's a list of the places that I've experienced to fuel your own adventure!

Nov 24, 2023

Okay, so I did not at all expect to fall in love with the city of Berlin and the country of Germany as much as I did (so much so, that I find myself feeling more nostalgic for the places we visited than my then-Fiancé-now-Husband, Sean, who studied there for a year! What is this phenomenon! …one could only label it irony).

Whenever I’ve thought of traveling to Europe, it’s always with a yearning to visit Spain & France & Italy. So it’s actually kind of funny that my first personal trip ends up being none of those three, and is actually Germany of all places. Nothing against the country, just that it has never graced my thought space for more than a minute, and that single minute has usually been filled with all of the ignorant clichés: Germany is up-tight & stiff, full of nit-picky rules to follow, with a food scene comprised of only pretzels, sausage, sauerkraut, and beer. Nothing like getting to know a place first hand to wipe away all preconceptions, and getting extremely humbled while doing so.

My two weeks in Germany was spent 90% in Berlin, 8% in München, and 2% in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. So naturally, most of this travel guide will be about Berlin, until I go back for another visit! 🙂

Berlin

It didn’t take more than a day in this city for all of my Germany-is-prim-and-trim-and-clean-and-everything-is-on-time notions to be wiped cleanly away like a good Clorox swipe to a post-meal table of messy eaters. There is graffiti on every inch of concrete, litter unashamedly promenading, public transit that was sometimes late and sometimes early… definitely not the freshly shaven Munich that I was expecting, but still miles better than New York City and its streets full of garbage bags.

But once the shock factor faded away, Berlin’s beauty hit me at full force. He effortlessly weaves the past into the present. History has been honored, revived, and preserved into the practicality of the Now and into the intentionality of the Future. Berlin is the paragon of someone who has gotten a handle on his identity: he knows his roots and has accepted his past as paramount to molding who he wants to be versus being shackles that stunt him. He walks confidently in his style and doesn’t care about fitting in with the other German cities.

Now let’s talk about where we putzed! These will be categorized by Berlin borough (or Kiez in German) so if you want to hit up a slew of these in a day, it’s already somewhat organized for you to do that 😉

Map of 12 Berlin boroughs — map of the 12 Berlin boroughs from berlin.de

Neukölln

{very diverse population; not many sights but tons of food; this was where I stayed during my visit!}

destinations

Ring Schmeide Berlin // a chill jewelry maker that recruits other budding jewelry makers. We worked with one of his trusted hires, Francesca, to create our wedding bands (I could not decide on a design to save my life); loved that we were able to support local while also checking off a wedding to-do item.

food food

{repetitive word usage to emphasize legit-ness of its qualification as being meal material; defined as anything that contains nutritional value to fuel that hot bod of yours}

Best Gemüse Kebap // there are so many of these stands selling gyros on the streets of Berlin, so I can’t say if this one is better than ALL the other ones out there, but they are definitely better than the ones I’ve had in America (and possibly equivalent to the one I had in Athens, Greece).

Kitten Deli // solely sells vegetarian and vegan Mediterranean items, but what she lacks in animal protein she makes up for in flavor. Kitten Deli is perfect for one of those moments where you’ve just finished a pastry crawl through the city and feel like you need to make amends to your body for all the sugar consumed.

Asude Yemek Dünyasi // oh ma gawd, this. THIS! The food here is the warmth your belly needs on a rainy cold day, and really just any day. And also wallet-friendly! I still dream about the meat-over-rice situation they sell. 🥹

Ammazza che Pizza // what I love about this place (besides their amazing Neapolitan pizza) is they provide you all of the add-on-top-of-your-pizza oils, vinegars & seasonings without your asking. Nothing is more empowering than feeling like you know how to use all of these condiments like an unabashedly particular Neopolitan pizza connoisseur.

schnackos

{defined as anything from a nibble to a dessert; anything edible that the responsible adult in you wouldn’t comfortably qualify as meal material but wish could be}

La Maison // home of the bomb-est of bomb ham-cheese-butter baguette sandwiches and croissants with a high quality-to-price ratio. You don’t need to live in Paris to make those French lifestyle dreams a reality if you just start coming here on the reg.

Gorilla Bäckerei // cute modern chic bakery that makes some crazy good croissants; I’d rank their croissants THE BEST in Berlin 😍

Moriz // not sure if German rice pudding is really any different from other rice puddings, but they’ve opened my eyes to the potentials and now rice pudding is something that sits fondly in the back of my brain

Fräulein Frost // the cutest ice cream shop that carries all of the classic German flavor options and is the perfect candidate if you’re looking for a budget-friendly everyday treat destination

Croissanterie // local bakery that sells light bites and—you guessed it!—CROISSANTS! I’d come here for the simplistic open-faced croissant sandwiches they effortlessly display behind glass.

Cafe Bread // we stopped here on our way to Ring Schmeide for a quick bite before a 4-6 hour session of ring making; definitely the classic, “caj” (as in, casual!) Bäckerei you see at every corner in Berlin; wouldn’t recommend you go out of your way to try them out, but just fine if you’re in the neighborhood and are in dire need of an energy source.

streets of Neukölln featuring herds of little kids and a thumbprint cookie — left: herds of little tots discovering the world // right: thumbprint cookie from a corner Bäckerei

fresh strawberries from a corner produce market & pretty building covered in greenery & graffiti — left: fresh strawberries from a produce market // right: what a typical Berlin building looks like