on the list of things we love about berlin, public transportation is featured prominently. i have a monthly pass for the first time in my life, and though it’s just a small piece of paper (not even a card!), the freedom it gives us is breathtaking. we can go anywhere in the city, anytime (well, after 10am anyway), by bus, tram, metro or rails. no need to worry about gas prices, insurance or where to park.

at 53 euros/month, the cost comes at around 1.76 euros/day, which is nothing for a big city, and especially given the mileage we put on it. the public transportation system here is as efficient as you would expect (despite some incidents now and then.)

the possibilities make me ridiculously happy. i’ve never felt better about our choice of leaving the car behind :)

it feels like it hasn’t stopped raining since we came back from portugal, in the end of june. gloomy days, cold and wet, as if it was back to school weather already. it makes us shy away from summer foods and turn to warmer comforts instead… like hot chocolates, cappuccinos and pancakes!

madame zucker is a breath of fresh air in these parts of neukölln. berlin cafés tend towards the shabby side, but not here. the mismatched white & red furniture is fun and light, there are wooden floors, red polka dot table cloths, a fresh flower in every table, low-volume music… it all seems to say “you’re too tense, relax here for a bit, have fun”. the word gezellig comes to mind :)

and then… we might have a slight obsession with pancakes, crêpes and the likes – it’s one of the first things we look for when we move. nothing beats a good breakfast for comfort, right? it’s my favourite meal of the day.

we’ve had other pancakes in berlin, but they were “cakey”, or drenched in cheap chocolate… do people really think they can replace nutella?! fools!! so it took a few tries until we found madame zucker’s pancakes, which were hiding just around the corner from our house, tucked away on the middle of an unexplored menu. behold this banana beauty:

it’s perfection! :) yes yes, they also have cakes, croissants and the typical german brunch fare – although why anyone would settle for less than exquisite pancakes on a cheat day is beyond me, but apparently some people (*cof* boyfriend *cof*) like variety. bah!

madame zucker, on wildenbruchplatz 5, is open everyday from 10am to 8pm. now you know :)

one of the things that was hard for us in the slow carb diet was the prescribed 30g of protein for breakfast… you start looking at the labels, and unless you want to eat steak, chicken breast or protein shakes for breakfast, your options look rather grim.

that was until we discovered the almighty frittata!

frittatas are cool. they take little active time to cook, keep for a day in the fridge, are filled with protein and if you can get your hands on egg whites from a carton, the waste is minimal. we love them! :)

we use a variation of mark’s sausage & egg breakfast bites for ours. you need 8 eggs (we use 7 egg whites + 1 full egg), about 250gr of minced meat and whatever else you want to add (mushrooms, spinach, sundried tomatoes, etc).

cook the raw veggies and the meat until they’re done. mix it with the eggs, then pour it all on a greased pan. put it on the oven in medium heat for 20 minutes or until everything is well cooked. plim!

if you break the frittata into 4 equal parts, you’ll get about 20gr of protein in each part. add some lentils and ham to top up the proteins, some avocado w/lemon juice and voilá! problem solved!

…make our cheat days a lot sweeter! :)

these little beauties are from cupcake in krossenerstraße 12, friedrichshain, 10245 berlin.

what a cute little car, it could almost fit in a hug! i wish they still made these, i wouldn’t think twice! :)



actually, i’d probably have one in every color…

i’ve had quite a few bikes throughout the years and the countries… but i had never had a real dutch bike. i dreamed of it, so pretty and elegant… so, when we came to berlin, i made a point that this would be the country where i would choose a dutch bike. well, here she is, straight out of a nearby second hand shop:

it’s actually a raleigh, which means it’s a british bike, from one of the oldest bike companies in the world. but nevertheless, the concept is pretty much what i wanted: a simple & sturdy bike, with pedal brakes and a sort of moustache handle, that i can ride upright (and not bent forward, like on mountain bikes).

it’s been a pleasure to ride it around :)

things haven’t been right for awhile. if i’m being honest, i think i’ve had back pain of some form or another for over a year… in the beginning i’d notice it more when we had to drive for long stretches (driving from portugal to slovenia), a persistent and nagging pain on my lower back that shot all through my right leg until it became uncomfortable to sit. then it started appearing when i had been sitting for awhile… which in my line of work is everyday. then 2 months ago or so, it got so bad i had to lay down, load on painkillers and just… wait. that’s the thing with backpain, everybody tells you to slow down and wait. most of the times, it goes away by itself.

mine did too, to a certain extent, but never fully. and then about 3 weeks ago, after a trip to ikea, it came back full force and with a vengeance. i could barely walk or turn in bed, and even loaded on painkillers, it was excruciating. so we got some heat patches, and took a trip home, almost directly to the emergency room.

an x-ray and an mri later, and my doctor told me i have a spinal disc herniation. basically, the cushion between my vertebras has been abused and is being forced out of its place and into my spinal canal, pressing on the sciatic nerve. this is what makes my leg hurt. it looks like this:

the treatment? well, after a week of rest, a cocktail of drugs and a shot of corticosteroids, i am almost as good as new, pain-wise. the doctor says this won’t ever go away, i’ll just have to learn how to live with it, which includes not doing heavy lifting or sitting for long periods, and strengthening the lower back. so i’m taking up light swimming this summer, doing some back exercises and just generally taking it easy. if you spend a lot of time sitting down, you should too!