Berlin - Brandenburger Hof Hotel

There's no two ways about it. Berlin is a looooonnnggg way from home.

 But for Australians there's no better time to travel to the German capital than now.

With our strong exchange rate and cut-price airfares, the arctic chill can turn on a magical winter wonderland at this time of year.

And there's no better place to make your travel base than the Brandenburger Hof Hotel in Berlin's ritzy Charlottenburg just off the famous Kurfurstendamm shopping precinct and near Europe's largest department store the Kaufhaus des Westens. (KaDeWe)

The Brandenburger Hof is one of those destination hotels.

I could easily pull up sticks here for a few weeks...

Of course it helps that it's a five star hotel with a Michelin star restaurant Die Quadriga.

This is the view from our room of the twinkling bejewelled Christmas Tree in the atrium courtyard.

The one-bedroom suite is modern yet soft and inviting.

I wanted to ship this bed back home with me

after a long chilly day of sight-seeing, there'splenty of room to put up your feet.....

...very relaxing...

... or catch up with some blogging..

Nougat, marshmallows and iced gingerbread to keep the energy up

luxurious bathroom with heated floors, double vanity, deep bath and roomy shower

beautiful body treatments and a spa suite for a rejuvenating massage...

Through the lobby is one of the coolest lounge bars

cocktails and an excellent wine list..

And some interesting pieces of art collected and curated by the hotel's owner

love this mirrored piece..

There are several private dining rooms to book for dinner or a meeting. German Chancellor Angela Merkel can sometimes be spotted here.

Breakfast is the real piece de resistance. It's more like an elaborate ceremony.

several courses featuring the Nordic staples of yoghurt, eggs...

cheese, fruit, pickled fish and buttered chive bread.

The service is impeccable. And yes we did feel like royalty for the day.

To top off a perfect stay we were able to snaffle up some standing-only tickets to the Berlin gig of Bryan Ferry's current tour.

Third row from the front at the intimate Admiralpalast Theatre.

My Only Love.

You have got to come here.

Berlin - KaDeWe Food Emporium

OK, calling it a food emporium doesn't do it justice. KaDeWe's 6th Foor deli (which is short for Kaufhaus des Westens - Department store of the West) is how most gourmands would picture the Afterlife to be like...... football fields of the best food the world has to offer.

Smoked salmon from Norway, thick double cream from Devon, Echire butter and fois gras from Paris but surprisingly no vegemite from Australia! In fact no products from Australia at all that I could find. Easy to miss though. KaDeWe boasts 34,000 different items, 3,4000 wines and 1300 types of cheese and an indecent array of sausages and wursts.

This one caugt my eye - it was studded with fresh green peppercorns

This is another German favourite - jellied or potted meats

The ham section alone was the size of the entire David Jones Food Hall in Sydney.

Fancy some pickled champignons?

or wild rabbit (in the foreground)

You haven't tasted chicken until you've had a roasted Bresse chicken from France

And then there were the fish and crustaecean bars

don't get on his bad side...

And how's this for a creature from the deep?

More varieties of olives than you knew existed

And stuffed marinated vegetables for a meze platter to blow your mind

And of course I couldn't go past a glass of bubbles at the champagne bar

Hanging out for some Thai I tried a beef stir-fry at KaDeWe's Asian stall.

  It was delicious but sadly a thinly disguised Chinese dish. The only Thai ingredient they used was fish sauce.

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The other 6 floors in the store aren't nearly as interesting as the food hall - just the usual cosmetics and designer wear that you could find anywhere in the world. KaDeWe had just gone into receivership when I visited. I hope it survives its financial woes. It would be sad for the 40,000 to 50,000 daily visitors to miss out on this truly unique experience.

Berlin - The Turkish Markets

Still grey and overcast in Berlin. Sunny change expected on Thursday - when I leave for London. Danke Schoen!

On our way to the Turkish markets nestled on the banks of the Landwehrkanal, we take a little detour so Ria and Chris can show me the last remaining section of the Berlin Wall that's been preserved as an ominous reminder of the communist era.

It's covered for its length with grafitti-like artwork exploring the wall's many evocations.

In fact much of the art work along this old east-meets-west border is confronting.

Ah yes, we're finally here...... at the Turkenmarkt in Kreuzberg. Berlin has Europe's third largest Turkish population and most of the city's immigrant community comes here to shop for fruit and vegetables and exotic fabrics.

The makets only sell seasonal produce

This ginger smelt pungent and spicy

Lots of cool climate root vegetables but I was surprised to see limes

And of course with spargel season running hot there are phallic-looking white asparagus everywhere.

The marinated vine leaves will make delicious dolmades

And this stringy salty cheese is a local delicacy used in sauces and dips

This wasabi cheese was a taste revelation. Nice grab-you-at-the-back-of-your-throat finish.

Time for a warming ale... we grab the window seats at the bar across the road for a bit of people watching.

A sensible combo - a glass of wine comes wtih an obligatory glass of water.

But unlike the French and the Italians no complimentary nibbles!