Unlike Rihanna who hung out with the entire German locker room after the World Cup finals, I can’t exactly say I was hot & bothered by the results. In fact, when Mario Goetze made that crucial last minute goal, I flew into a tizzy!

It would have been AMAZING to see Argentina win, not only because I’ve never been before, but also to breakup Europe’s dominance over the championship. To cope, my foodie brain immediately lunged into overdrive. My tongue watered and whined about wanting more vacío over schnitzel all the while settling for swallowed pride and muttered congrats to German fans on ending a 24 year drought. Eventually, my thoughts shifted from soccer stats to travel memories.

My first adventure in Deutschland took me to the capital city of Berlin. If you’ve never visited, Berlin is a great intro to modern German history due to its balanced diet of old East and West remnants seamlessly blending in with the new. It’s also a cool city to check out:

Great art in all forms (beer included!)…Outside of classics like the Jewish Museum, Neues Museum & Bauhaus Archives, Berlin has some of the best graffiti I’ve ever witnessed! Great street art is particularly exhibited at curated Berlin Wall memorial, East Side Gallery.

Eclectic cultural cuisine… A large part of Berlin’s international flair can be seen through its varied restaurant options. Oddly enough, my fondest foodie memories stemmed from unexpected, global encounters including delicious Jamaican at RosaCaleta!

Fantastic shopping…From the 646,000 square ft mall, KaDeWe to the various concept shops & vintage stores along ultra-hip district, Mitte and bohemain-meets-hipster, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, you’re bound to come across many unique finds…I flew back with extra hand luggage after falling in love at Adddress!

A very eccentric nightlife that never sleeps…For a New Yorker to say this, it’s official that the hours here are crazy! Clubs in Berlin have more of a turned-up, house party vibe with some experiences being waaay more seedy than others! Some clubs like Berghain are virtually impossible for tourists to get into due to testy bouncers and strict door policies. For the first time in my life, I was turned away for looking too stylish!

Whatever you choose to indulge in, be prepared to spend a lot of your time shuffling back and forth either via cab or metro; Berlin’s a big city that’s fairly spaced out.

For my next adventure, I’m looking forward to heading south and exploring the outdoors since I’ll be visiting in slightly warmer weather. I’m adding tree camping at Waldseilgarten on my wish list…

Hmmm ok, maybe I DID score like RiRi after all!

 xo Khadijat