Where do hipsters do their Christmas shopping?

Christmas markets are a well known German tradition and you will find a Weihnachtsmarkt in practically every German city, town or village. 

In Berlin there are Christmas markets for all tastes.

If you're a tourist, chances are you'll end up at the market at Alexander Platz. Avoid!!!

If you're looking for an atmospheric Christmas market, the one at Gendarmenmarkt (€1 entrance fee) or the one by Schloß Charlottenburg are your best bets.

If you live in Prenzlauer Berg a Glühwein at the Lucia Weinachtsmarkt in the Kulturbrauerei is a must.

If you're a hipster you have a choice. 

There's the Holy.Shit.Shopping market for one weekend in December or the Weihnachstrodeo X-mas market with two floors of stalls selling jewellery, clothes, handbags, calendars (and much more) made by local designers at reasonable prices. 

But for the true hipster-in-Berlin-at-Christmas experience, head to Neue Heimat for an afternoon and evening of designer shopping, street food, ice skating and live music.

The Christmas season is now over so sadly the markets have all closed, but there will be plenty more opportunities for shopping and chilling in the new year.

Neue Heimat next Sunday anyone?

A BBQ on the runway

While the rest of the world is busy building new airports and adding runways to existing airports, Berlin has decided that one airport is more than sufficient. Unfortunately things haven't quite turned out as planned and two years after the official closing of Tegel, the airport is alive and busier than ever. (More on the subject of airports another time...) 

However, Berlin did manage to close down one airport and to turn it into a giant park with picnic/BBQ areas, rollerblading and cycling paths, basketball courts and dog exercise areas.... welcome to the Tempelhofer park!

Last May Berliners (unfortunately the non-German residents were excluded) were called to vote in a referendum to decide whether the Templehofer park should stay as it is or to give way to a large-scale property development, including a public library. Non surprisingly (in a city constantly battling between modernisation plans and staying true to itself) around 65 percent of voters rejected the development plans and decided to keep Tempelhofer Feld as a public park. 

So if you're looking for somewhere to go on a Sunday, possibly without crowds of tourists or hipsters, Tempelhof is the place to go. Oh and don't forget your kite!

Where do hipsters go on Sundays?

A colleague recently asked where he could find hipsters in London. My other colleague and I answered in unison: "Hackney".
If you're wondering where the Berlin hipsters hang out on Sundays the answer is Neue Heimat.
NH is on Revaler Strasse in Friedrichshain, on the RAW grounds (or Gelände in German).
It calls itself a village market, which appears to be the latest Berlin trend. (Unfortunately these days I'm probably the last Berliner to spot a new trend given my almost non-existent social life, but I did briefly visit another street food market in the summer: Bite Club Mitte). 
NH consists of several large and spacious halls filled with stalls offering a variety of gourmet street food: from Korean tacos with kimchi to gourmet burgers, South American arepas and vegan cheesecake. There is plenty of choice when it comes to food and of course drink. The portions are rather small and the food is not cheap, but then again hipsters are not know for stuffing their faces.
So if you want to spend a relaxing Sunday afternoon savouring exotic snacks from around the world with Berlin's hippest crowd make sure to head to NH. They also have live music in the evenings.
P.S. Sadly there was no currywurst or sushi in sight.