Like its close neighbour Paradiso, Melkweg (meaning milky way, it was once a milk factory apparently!) is a music venue with a diverse and constantly surprising line up.

Amadou and Miriam in the Max hall - Melkweg

Having been renovated not too long ago it now houses two stages – Oude Zaal and The Max – both of which have plenty of room for dancing as well as surrounding balconies for slightly more sedate viewing! Not far from Leidesplein you can find plenty of places nearby to grab a bite to eat before heading to Melkweg for the latest pop act or discovering a new act from the world music scene.

Ticket prices vary depending on the act of course but you can normally snap up a bargain – like Paradiso you have to also buy a temporary membership when you get a ticket.

As well as visiting acts it also holds regular dance nights.  You can find out more at here

Written by Emma Harbour

Oude Kerk in the heart of old Amsterdam is currently home to the World Press Photo exhibition. In the peaceful surrounds of one of the oldest churches in the city – the name Oude Kerk means literally ‘old church’ – the stunning stained glass and ornate church organ juxtapose against the brutal reality of some of 2011′s best press photography.

World Press Exhibition 2012

You may have seen the winning entry, a heartbreaking pose of a mother cradling her son having found him in a makeshift hospital in the midst of the Yemeni uprising by Samuel Aranda. But it is the lesser known images and stories being told that make this exhibition a must see. Amsterdam is the first stop on a world tour of the exhibition.

2011 was full of big stories from the Japanese earthquake through the to Arab Spring. All these are stunningly captured here, but I found the lesser told stories really caught my attention. Pictures capturing the harsh reality of child marriage, or the amazing sight of the world diving championships that leave you in awe. Or the wet and muddy Irish rugby players on a cold winters night next to the smiling nun presenting her radio show.

Most of all for me the photostory of an elderly couple – he looking after her as alzheimers robbed her of any recollection of their 60 years together – that really touched my heart and demonstrated the power of photo journalism.

It is a wonderful exhibition, and relatively small so you can easily fit in an hour going around before exploring the sights of central Amsterdam. The exhibition runs from April 20th – 17th June 2012 andis 8 euros to get in and open Monday – Sunday. You can find out more here

Written by Emma Harbour

Citadel Music Festival - Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin – 31st May to 25th August 2012

Often labelled one of Europe’s best preserved fortresses, the citadel hails from the Renaissance era, having been built during the mid- to late 16th century to protect the town. Today, the venue is a historic marvel with a much more contemporary purpose: the impressive edifice plays annual host to the Citadel Music Festival, featuring a suitably legendary line-up of bands and artists. Now in its sixth year, the event has secured its reputation as a draw for some huge international names.

Open Air Concert at the Citadel, Berlin

Unlike many other music festivals, the Citadel does not try to cram in as many acts as possible over a long weekend. Rather, the occasion spans almost the entire summer, with headline acts performing at their own, dedicated event – basically creating a selection of independent concerts across a variety of genres, whilst maintaining an impressively high standard of shows.

Birds Eye View - Citadel Fortress

Other highlights include The Cranberries on 25th June, Snow Patrol on 29th, Alanis Morissette on 7th July and The Pogues on 9th August. The full line-up, including ticket prices can be found at http://citadel-music-festival.de/events

Written By Natalie Holmes

As one of Europe’s culturally most unusual capital cities, Berlin has become a Mecca to which national and international creatives continue to flock. The Berlin Biennale, which takes place every two years, is a forum for contemporary art of global renown and significance. Launched in 1998, the Biennale is a platform to bring together the fragmented artistic aspects of the city whilst at the same time celebrating this diversity as an inspiring and important part of Berlin’s creative appeal. 2012 sees the Biennale host its seventh event, which will, as always, explore developments and showcase cutting-edge work and ideas from the front line of the city’s art scenes.

This year, the event will be curated by Polish photography and film artist, Artur Żmijewski. Hailing from Warsaw,  Żmijewski recently represented Poland at the 51st Venice Biennale. His work has a strong focus on social activism – a theme that continues through the Berlin event.The full programme is due to be released shortly, but in the meantime the preparatory and periphery projects provide an exciting hint of what’s to come.  Berlin-Birkenau, for example, is a project by Polish artist Lucasz Surowiec, who is bringing hundreds of birch tree saplings from the area around the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to Berlin, where they will take root across the city, creating a living memorial.Palestinian artist, Khaled Jarrar, has designed and created a beautiful postage stamp for the state of Palestine,  featuring a Palestine sunbird on a bright yellow background. Using Deutsche Poste’s “Marke Individuelle” a design your own stamp scheme – Jarrar has already sold over 20,000 stamps, making a poignant statement about the artist’s wish for his country’s freedom.

There is also an extensive theatre programme happening at HAU. Three documentary theatre groups – Teatr.doc and Joseph Beuys Theatre from Moscow; art center Krétakör from Budapest; and the First International Congress of the Jewish Renaissance Movement in Poland (JRMiP) – will explore political issues through a variety of performance arts.

Written by Natalie Holmes

If you’re looking for accommodation in Berlin during the Bienalle, take a look at our apartments

Given Berlin’s pancake-like natural landscape, it’s almost impossible to believe that a snowy ski resort nestles a few hours’ drive away.  In fact, the ‘mountain’ resort of Fichtelberg is 350km south of Berlin, a stone’s throw from the Czech border and the sleepy German town of Bayreuth

Slopes of Fichtelberg

Depending on snow levels, every Sunday throughout winter, CHB board shop runs a shuttle from Berlin to Fichtelberg.  Desperate for some winter sports action but lacking the time and funds for an Alpine adventure, I recently decided with a group of friends to go to Fichtelberg and see if it really is possible to take a day-trip from Berlin and get quality skiing on real snow.

The key to making the most of a day is rising early. We woke at 3am after little or no real sleep to catch the bus from Alexanderplatz at 4:15. Bleary eyed, we doubted there would be many others mad enough to join us, but the coach filled up slowly but surely and we departed just after 4:30 with a full house.  Despite some oddly-timed and badly-soundtracked snowboarding videos that the overenthusiastic coordinator feel the need to subject us to, the journey was smooth and there was plenty of time to catch up on some much needed sleep before the quick breakfast stop at 7:30.  After that we gazed unhopefully out the window at drizzling rain under grey skies and bleak landscapes that lacked any sign of the white stuff.

As the bus wound laboriously through the hills, I was convinced our journey was wasted, but as we rose higher the rain turned to sleet and then to snow. By the time we finally arrived in Fichtelberg just after 9:30, a snow blizzard was in full force providing a perfectly timed layer of fresh powder for these weary but excited new arrivals.

With a peak at just over 1200 metres, Fichtelberg is ny no means an epic, mountainous  landscape, but it does provide more than sufficient conditions for a great day on the slopes, including two black runs and a multitude of red and blue runs, as well as a plethora of schools, hire outlets and cafes. I took  a one and a half hour private lesson followed by a two hour group lesson with three others. My snowboarder friends went off and thoroughly enjoyed the day, and during the après-ski debrief we all agreed it was well worth the journey.

The slopes at Fichtelberg are often open for night skiing until 9pm, but today we finished at 4pm and had a couple of hours to sink some beers before the long journey back to Berlin, which was basically spent sleeping, except for the short stop at a McDonalds drive-thru, which was, in all honesty, a disappointing end to an otherwise wholesome and healthy day (the beers, of course, adhere to Germany’s purity law so I count them as an essential part of the outing).

We arrived home, finally, just before midnight on Sunday, bodies aching and tired to our limits, but still smiling and vowing to go back next month.  Next time, though, we will probably hire a car or take the train, and maybe even stay overnight to enjoy Fichtelberg’s magic in our own good time.

The journey takes about five hours each way including stops and costs €52 per person including a day’s lift pass, plus €15 if you need to rent snowboarding equipment. Ski lessons and hire can be done separately through any of the many outlets in the village.

Written by our Berlin resident and soon to be snowboarding expert Natalie Holmes

Berlin’s art scene is saturated. There are new galleries popping up all over the place, but in my opinion when it comes to art, more is more. More opportunities for artists to create and share their work, and more for us lucky locals and visitors to enjoy and reflect upon. It’s almost shameful that I’ve been in Berlin for such a long time without having scratched the surface of this thriving scene, but thankfully the wheels are finally in motion and, having dipped my toe in, I’m about to take the plunge. In this series, I’ll explore Berlin’s galleries and cultural spaces large and small, on a journey of discovery and inspiration. We start with a stalwart whom I’ve already come to know and love.

Haus der Kulturen copyright: Farbkontrast

Haus der Kulturen der Welt
The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), or House of World Cultures, is one of the first places I visited and one to which I always seemed to return. The building envelops an impressive auditorium whose shape, combined with the curved outer supports, give the structure its affectionate but somewhat unsavoury nickname, ‘the pregnant oyster’. The auditorium, which seats just over 1000, has become one of Berlin’s leading concert halls, meaning that HKW plays host to ever more impressive events. But their curation is far from mainstream, which is why I seem to find myself at their door, curious and intrigued, time and time again.

Exhibitions at HKW tend to be multidisciplinary, inclusive, socially responsible or research-based, often dealing with art-science crossover topics. Last year, for example, I attended a festival there called Über Lebenskunst (the Art of Living), which featured workshops, installations, lectures and seminars, and an exhibition, all focused on the theme of how to live a more sustainable lifestyle by consulting artists, scientists, theorists and the general public. The venue is also host to the now famous Transmediale festival. This years highlights include Animism, an exploration of how “the human and the animal, reality and imagination are systematically destabilised by animation”, coming in April. Then in September, in typical self-reflexive style, the HKW will address “the architecture of the former congress hall and the history behind it form the focal point of Art, Architecture and Ideology”, in a project entitled Between Walls and Windows.

Also look out for film festivals such as Busan Film Festival and Première Brasil, as well as Wassermusik Süd-Süd, which explores the relationships between the countries of the south through music, films and discussions.

In the spirit of longevity and dedication for which the venue and its exhibitions are renowned and respected, Über Lebenskunst will be making a comeback to evaluate and progress. The International Literature Award is also running through from February to June, “drawing attention not only to outstanding contemporary prose writers but also to the diversity of world literary creativity and the intermediary function of translation.”

Written by Natalie Holmes

When you move to a new city, all sorts of unexpected feelings pop up, seemingly out of nowhere. Excitement about the new and anxiety about the unknown are two sides of the same coin, and when I first came to Berlin I was shocked by how uncomfortable I often felt. When travelling, I had relished the foreignness of places, and now, as a new resident I craved familiarity.

Eckbert Zwo

Not long after moving here, we discovered Eckbert, a humble, unassuming restaurant then located on the corner of Maybachufer and Bürknerstraße in Kreuzberg.  Strolling past on a chilly autumn night, we were drawn in by the simple but cosy candlelit interior. Inside, the welcome was just as warm as the ambience, and while the food itself was at the time pleasantly exotic and unfamiliar, there was something about the warmness of that place and the friendliness of the staff that made me feel instantly at home.

The traditional German food is, admittedly, comforting too. Vegetarians are catered for in the form of Pfannkuchen, a German version of pizza, but much healthier, with a thin, crispy base and creme fraiche topping and a choice of other accompaniments such as leek or apple.  The stars of the show, though, are the spectacular meat dishes, such as the organic beef goulash and bio bratwurst. Seasonal specialities are also well covered: watch out especially for entire menus dedicated to asparagus (late spring) or Pfifferlinge (chantarelle) mushrooms (mid-summer) creatively served in every culinary form imaginable.

My favourite item on the menu by far is their homemade Serviettenknödel.

Serviettenknoedel image Copyright: "Takeaway"

 A type of traditional German dumpling made using breadcrumbs that are twisted into a napkin (Servietten) with herbs and spices and then boiled before being baked or fried. Served with a rich Jäger or creamy mushroom sauce with or without meat, this dish is heaven on a plate at any time of year.

Eckbert moved to Görlitzerstrasse 53 two years ago to a larger but no less gemütlich venue and remains, for me, a trusty old friend who never disappoints.

Written by local Berlin resident Natalie Holmes

Amsterdam Fashion Week

Are you a fashion victim? Do you know something about Dutch designers?
If the answer is no, then I suggest you come to Amsterdam during fashion week. You do not need to be a journalist or a VIP to get in touch with the new local trends and find some accessible shopping opportunities. Fortunately ‘Amsterdam Fashion Week’ allows all kinds of people to discover more about the fashion scene in Holland. Take a look at the website http://www.aifw.nl/ and look at the Downtown programme and chose which things you are interested in and you can go around the city and discover fashion exhibitions, pop up stores, photography shows and much more. I was able to discover some really nice shopping places and some great new designers too.

Wardrobe#1

What I liked most was the Wardrobe#01 concepts tore. When you enter the shop (before 31st January) at the Magna Plaza mall on the 2nd floor,  you see a sophisticated place with a lot of different choices from Dutch designers collection and a lot of talent around you. The store is owned by the brand Melangetrois.: 2 young female designers with a passion for simplicity with a keen eye for detail! The concept behind is to recreate the perfect wardrobe for a woman: accessories, jeans, coats, shirts, bags. Everything a woman should have in her closet! I loved the idea and I loved the way it was developed. There are many labels exposed and you will have the chance to discover the new talents on the Dutch scene. Have a look at www.fashionnl.com to discover more about the brands.

Shop of Cool

What I found especially exciting was the Mini Shopping Centre of Cool: this small store in the Amstel area, hosted a really original exhibition of illustrations by artist Annebel Evers: through her particular eye, she reproduced her vision of the most famous designers in the world: Armani, Fendi , Chanel and  many more.

Another highlight for me was the exhibition of jewellery by Johanneke van Helden. You can see her 3D vision in her necklaces and you will remain astonished by the beautiful detail and the originality of shapes.

Shop of Cool

Check out http://www.minishoppingcenterofcool.nl/ and you can get more information about the shop and its concept and the artists. Have fun during the next Amsterdam Fashion week and discover for yourself this wonderful world of Dutch designers!

Written by : Fabrizia Sbrega

The Darling - Vintage Shop Amsterdam

If you are in Amsterdam and you want to avoid the most commercial places when shopping, the place to be is: The 9 streets. ( De Nagen straatjes). Lose yourself in the delightful and peaceful small and narrow routes spreading between Prinsengracht and Herengracht and you will find yourself in a trendy neighbourhood where you can not only enjoy unique fashion pieces but also interior designer stores, restaurants, cafés and much more.

One of my favourite shops is The Darling. It is a vintage shop where you can find nice clothes and some quirky necklaces and bracelets. The space is divided in to 2 floors: as soon as you enter you will find the clothes and accessories collection but if you go the first floor you will have the chance to enjoy a cup or three of coffee or a delicious cupcake and mouthwatering Macaroons.

If you are a vintage lover, I am sure you will also find time to enter Zipper. This store has a huge collection of all kinds of vintage accessories and clothes and you can smell something really authentic. You can find items of the 50′s, 60′s, 70′s and 80′s and some of them are from big brands such as Nike, Levi’s, Adidas. The shop is very colourful and you can feel a good vibe when you enter.

The Pompadore - Vintage Shop Amsterdam

My suggestion is to walk around the 9 streets and discover off the beaten track areas where you’ll find some eccentric shops & beautiful restaurants. You will enjoy visiting the Gamekeeper, an expert in all kinds of games from all over the world. Your kids will love it. If you walk a bit you can observe an explosion of colours in the E.Kramer window, a candles store of all shapes!

If you are exhausted and you want to take a break and you are a pastry fan, take a seat in the luxurious Patisserie Pompadour. The interior design is from the 18th century and it is the perfect frame to this delicious and elegant tearoom. Find your favourite tart or pastry and enjoy the beauty of the place. Get lost in these streets and you will not regret it!.

Article & Photos by : Fabrizia Sbrega

This isn’t Cannes or Venice. It’s not Sundance or SXSW. This is Berlinale, a film festival like no other. Unlike its more glamorous contemporaries, Berlin’s version – like the city itself – manages to be sexy without the pretension; cool without condescension. Dubbed the people’s film festival, Berlinale is the largest publicly-attended film festival worldwide, with almost 300,000 tickets sold and nearly half a million admissions.

Having lived in Berlin for the last three festivals, I can vouch for the accessibility of the event.  While some of the premieres are predictably tough to get in to, there are plenty of opportunities to catch some excellent films, both newcomers and old classics.

Berlinale/Photographer: Peter Kreibich/ Copyright: Berlinale

The festival shows about 400 films each year and is comprised of various sections. The Competition is the main event for international premiers, and Panorama focuses on new indie and art house releases. Perspektive Deutsches Kino is a section dedicated to emerging homegrown talent, and Generation showcases productions for younger audiences.  The Forum is for more avant-garde entries; Berlinale Shorts features a great range of experimental short films.  Berlinale always delivers excellent material in the fringe Retrospective category, tickets for which are some of the easiest to come by.

In addition, foodie film fans would do well to keep an eye on the Culinary Cinema section, as Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick explains: “We show films that stimulate the appetite. Afterwards, we serve food prepared by top chefs who have been watching the films themselves. During dessert, there is a talk about the issues the film raised. In the late screenings, by contrast, we often show films that rather spoil one’s appetite as they look closely at the often disastrous state of food production.” Clearly one for anyone interested in sustainability and the environment, too.

The Homage section this year is dedicated to the luminous Meryl Streep, and audiences will be treated to a cross section of her work from 1979’s Kramer Vs. Kramer to recently released and critically acclaimed The Iron Lady.

Tickets can be purchased online or at participating venues, usually at the beginning of February, so watch this space.

Written by Natalie Holmes