Of course Greece is not known for pearls, so forget about the headline. But this is a very tiny place (a little bigger than a pearl, though) with very good greek food - to go and to have there. The restaurant in the back part of the location looks just like you were on a greek island with the fisherboats bobbing up and down along the waterside. Well, there is no water, but there are the little chairs and all the stuff on the walls and in the shelves that spread this relaxing taverna atmosphere.

I went there with Holger Volland (one of the other authors of this blog) and he took the picture, that’s why I am ON the picture paying my lunch - and Holger’s, too, because it was his birthday!

Kaliva, Wielandstrasse 37, 10629 Berlin (Charlottenburg), Tel. 3100 4550.

Open Mon - Fr (I believe!).

Ok ok… for those who want to get to know the range, here is one of the luxury coiffeurs in Berlin Mitte. Beate Kahlcke Friseure & Spa welcomes you in a Zen atmosphere and the only things, that touch your hair, are her hairstylists and pure Aveda products. Of course this is not the 10 EUR cut&go league so check your wallet carefully before making an appointment. My personal experience with Beate dates back to Easter 2004 (I remember the date!), when Beate cut my dreads off, that I had cared for with a lot of dedication for 8 long years. Only a year later, when I came back to her, she admitted, that she had done that for the first time in her life and that I was somehow lucky it worked out fine. Well, since then I regularly return to her and I am always very happy (and very poor) after it.

Beate Kahlcke Friseure & Spa, Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 11 in Berlin Mitte
(it is located next to the Hotel Lux 11 if you want to combine the two)
Tel. +49 - 30 - 280 91 91, take U-Bahn to Alexanderplatz or Weinmeisterstrasse, www.beatekahlcke.de

David, I just love your postings … for those of you who want to get ahead the used-furniture-food-chain, think about where used furniture comes from before it gets pre-selected for you by Prenzlauer Berg taste - right! It’s the deceased.

This is not an attempt to trick you into murder, but to look out for the A&V (Ankauf & Verkauf) - Stores all over Berlin. Trash stores that get their stuff from liquidating apartments after their inhabitants have left (and there’s no one to get the stuff or no one wants to get the stuff). They’re mostly run by traders who let themselves into some bargaining. If you’re nice they might also give you a coffee or tee or beer or schnapps …, but I for my part would not ask.

There are few less glamorous places in Berlin but also few more exiting ones: dig through stores cramped with trash and valuables, climb over sideboards into hidden side-rooms, discover series of exquisit wine glasses next to old mustard glasses. Find yourself your own personal collection of silverware (as I did) or a cupboard, a wrist watch, bysycle or toilet seat. It’s all there.

Small- and pretty cleaned up type.

You can recognise these stores often by chairs and closets, sometimes carpets lining the sidewalk next to them. Be careful not to get lured into one of the stylish ones (take a look at the sales person). They often relocate. There used to be at least two on Prenzlauer Allee, supplying Prenzlauer Berg, the first one between Danziger Str. and Stargarder Straße, the other one south of Danziger. Now I would look on Greifwalder Str. and Danziger Straße towards Friedrichshain. Or go to one of the districts further out of the city: Weissensee (worth a trip anyhow), Pankow, Treptow.

Inside: imagine it a bit darker.

The pictures are from the web and therefore not too realistic — if I pass by one, I’ll make a better one to post it here.

Absolutely no need to go traipsing around a flea market to find weathered furniture… there are a number of Kaufbar dotted around Berlin. Basically, its a combination of furniture shopping and a cafe. Go in, take a seat and order a drink… what better way to decide on your new furniture piece?

This one in Friedrichshain is not far off Boxhagener Straße… Gärtnerstraße 4, Friedrichshain 10245 Berlin

Look it up on google maps

The best place to shop for cheap, cool clothes, fancy furniture or strange things you don’t even want to know what they were made for is the flea market at Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg. Every sunday a wild mix of people strolls through the large area with its hundreds of small and large stands. If you are tired, take a rest at Schönwetter, a club/bar with large outdoor seating.

Bernauer Strasse 63-64 · Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg

Alles fürn Fünfer

The Modulor Shop located in the heart of Berlin Kreuzberg is every designers dream. On 1200 m2 you can find any material you ever dreamed of. More than 14000 different items wait there to be touched, smelled and bought. If they could only lock me up there for one night, i would be a different person the next morning.

Opening hours: Monday - Friday. 9 am - 8 pm; Saturday 10 am - 6 pm.

modulor, Gneisenaustr. 43-45, Berlin
www.modulor.de