Boheme sauvage 2

We played casino too !

Boheme sauvage

I've been to one of the best party ever in town. I guess that Berlin nightlife gets an old-fashioned dose of glamour. Berlin hipsters are laying off the electronica and puttin’ on the ritz at a series of parties around the city held in the hippest clubs and most historic hot spots. Making it past the velvet rope at the roving Bohème Sauvage party is not about who’s who, but what you wear. The dress code is dapper, dandy, diva or flapper. This swanky mode is quite a contrast to Berlin’s normally laid-back street look. Fedoras take the place of hoodies, hair is finger-waved instead of flat-ironed and makeup runs to the smoky eye paired with carefully painted Cupid’s bow lips in blood red. Hostess Inga Jacob started the party as a salon for 40 people in her Berlin group house, and it quickly grew to a monthly must-do for 300 to 400 people (with countless numbers turned away at the door of the venue du jour). She’s inspired not just by the styles of the Roaring Twenties, but also the philosophy. “It was an excessive time, but it was also a time when everything was new,” she says. These days, everything’s old, and good vintage can be hard to track down. Musician Dominik Bretsch scoured eBay for his dashing top hat, pairing it with a black suit, bow tie and one perfect red rose. The spitting image of Louise Brooks, with a sweet pink bow tied around her brunette bob, writer Geneviève Schetagne laughingly says of her white drop-waist shift: “It’s actually my wedding dress!” Almost anything goes (but jeans and sneakers are verboten), and there’s room for modern mixing—think flapper grunge, or Bonnie and Clyde in HotPants. Bohème Sauvage guests can partake of absinthe, lose their (fake) reichsmarks at the small casino, watch a burlesque show and cut a rug to hot jazz, swing, Balkan, tango or klezmer after a complimentary Charleston lesson. A cigarette girl not only has tobacco and chocolate treats on offer, but also sells oversize fabric flowers, long strings of beads and men’s suspenders for those guests who feel under-accessorized. Elsewhere in Berlin, Forties fans hot to fox-trot hit the jackpot with Swing Royal at the newly renovated Admiralspalast Theater. The event serves up big bands, jive and glamour girls, and a minishop with vintage fashion and accessories The 100-year-old venue once counted an ice skating rink and a bowling alley among its public pleasures, and now shines with a retro flair on these evenings that pop up about every three months. Berlin’s army of swing aficionados come out in full force—after all, they’ve been taking lessons all over the city to prepare. For those who need a regular fix saloon-style, each Sunday brings Coconut Grove to the restaurant-bar White Trash Fast Food, a kitschy Chinese restaurant–turned-club with design elements from tiki to biker. It’s practically a hipster Disneyland. “Make sure you wear an evening dress,” growls the tattooed man at the bar when asked for a table reservation. Patrons happily knock back cocktails such as Moscow Baby Mules and Pisco Sours, and recent acts include Pinkspots, a cute Andrews Sisters–type trio who harmonize Thirties-style with originals and swinging versions of old songs such as “Chim Chim Cher-ee” in German. With Germany now officially in a recession, these parties also offer good value. Yet one more reason to party like it’s 1929. I'm a fan.

Festival of lights

The FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS is taking place from 10 to 21 October 2012. Berlin sparkled as a range of illuminations and projections light up more than 70 famous landmarks and spaces, including Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral and the radio tower. For the first time, the landmark Europa-Center, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the west of the city was illuminated.

Special “lightseeing” tours on the Light-Liner bus, by boat on the Light-Ship, on foot with the Light-Cruso or by rickshaw with the Light-Velo gave locals and visitors alike the chance to experience the creative compositions up close.

Festival of lights Berlin October 2012

Lugosi

I remember when Lugosi was only a name attached with a Bela. Then it was a movie directed by late Tony Scott "The Hunger" with this unforgetable opening scene in the club and since last evening for me in Berlin, It is a bar a bit gloomy in Kreuzberg that bears his name. The lights are dim, the spartan atmosphere, the naked walls. No bed, no chair is ready to lounge or slouch, but edged tables and wooden chairs. A bar for people who like to sit upright, despise bourgeois coziness and appreciate a quality range of spirits and soft drinks. On the card and for those who does not know them you should definitely try La Mortuacienne - French precious lemonade recipes from the 1920s, with the taste and the color of grapefruit, lemons, oranges and tangerines. The card provides the right drinks for experts - some classics and many successful creations, like this: a shot of absinthe, infused with the juice of blackcurrants and Riesling wine. The shimmering dark purple drink, called Lugosi and leaves on the tongue a pleasant bittersweet aftertaste I guess. As usual we had wine but unfortunately was not that tasty but we had a great time.