Dream Masquerade Carnival, my summer highlight // Part 1

As the year is coming to an end I realised I never posted anything about the amazing event I went to this summer in London, England. Maybe it was due to the fact that my health wasn't all that great back then or just the lack of motivation to sit down and write about this event. Though I'm still going to tell you about this amazing trip before it is really to late. 

On Friday morning me and my husband traveled to Eindhoven in the Nethelands to meet up with our travel buddy Liv. It was really early that morning but this didn't stop me from being overly excited for this trip and seeing all the airplanes at the airport. There is something magical about them and they always make me smile when I see them at the airport. We would meet her at 6 a clock in the morning so we left the house around 4:30 just to be on time and luckily we did so, cause we had some troubles along the way when we went to the airport. 

Quickly we found her waiting in front of the check-in desks, I did all the paperwork for this trip and was prepared like a pro. Alright maybe a bit to prepared and organised but at least I had everything with me and double checked everything once again. Bags where checked in so we headed over to customs and the security check. Which we passed smoothly, yay our trip could finally begin! 

Our plane would leave around 8 a clock and one hour later we would arrive in England at one minute past 8 local time. We where real time travellers that time, this was such a funny feeling. But being in England at such an early time could only mean one thing, we have plenty of time to explore the city!!! It was my first time in England so I didn't know what to expect from it. 

When we landed we needed to take a bus to the city center, this was also a first one. I guess this trip was based around experiencing things for the first time. Like figuring out how public transport works, finding our way to our hostel and being in a country where I needed to adjust to their funny accent before I could understand them properly. Not that I don't understand English at all but when they where talking in some kind of dialect I couldn't follow it that well. 

Our first stop of the day when we arrived at the big King's Cross station in London was visiting the Harry Potter store. I'm not a huge fan of Harry Potter as in I don't collect all the items, or have read the whole book series but I do love all the merchandise, movies and the story in general! So I would say I'm an enthousiast? I had my eye on one thing and if I would find it in the store I would buy it. It was a little pin from Hufflepuff, cause I'm a proud Hufflepuff member. Sadly they didn't had it in store anymore so I was a bit bumped about it. Though being there in the store was truly magical. And it made me want to watch the movies again or read the series one day. Not sure that will happend though. I love collecting books and visiting bookstores but I hardly read them. 

After our first stop we found our hostel quit quickly and checked our bags in before checking out our room cause we where sharing the room with 2 other friends and the mom from one of them. So instead of checking in we went outside again to explore the area a bit and found a food court with amazing food stalls and even some vegan ones! Nothing beats a food court with vegan food options, we had the perfect location to stay over that weekend. 

The other girls would arrive in the early afternoon so we stayed in the area waiting for them. The first one to arrive was Petra, she was already staying on Londen for a couple of days together with her boyfriend but wanted to stay with us for the weekend. Ayumi and her mom arrived shortly after Petra and our group was complete! Our first day together as a lolita crew could begin. 

Both Petra and I had a store on our list we wanted to visit on the first day so after we checked in and where a bit settled in our room we went out again. On our mission to find both stores. I really wanted to visit the Sew Over It store in Clapham, I'm a big sewing fanatic and they had some patterns I really wanted to buy. But I told myself I could only buy one pattern cause it would go from my event spending budget. I ended up with one pattern and the biggest smile on my face. I couldn't believe it that I actually visited the store. It is one of my favourite sewing pattern brands so being there was magical, and I'm so glad that everyone joined me. 

As for Petra, she wanted to visit the cutest store in London I think. It was a kawaii, fairy kei store with the cutest items from Japan. This store was so adorable and they had so many items I wanted to buy. They had items from Listen Flavour which is an amazing casual brand with adorable illustrations on their clothes and of course big plushies, cute stationary and other cute things. If this wasn't the day before the event I would have definitely bought something but I wanted to safe as much money as I could. 

On the way we spotted a cupcake shop with vegan cupcakes, how is this even possible? Here in Belgium you are lucky to find one restaurant in your own town that can make something for you or when you live in a bigger city like Antwerp or Ghent you have a couple of options but a special cupcake store that sells vegan cupcakes in whole London is like heaven to me. Everyone ended up buying one or more cupcakes to try out. I bought 3 in total to share with my husband. We planned on having them as dessert when we went out for dinner but we ate to much at the restaurant that we saved the cupcakes for breakfast on Saturday. Nothing is more appropriate than having sugary sweet cupcakes first thing in the morning while getting ready for a big lolita event. 

My first day in London was a blast and I couldn't wait for the days of the event. I was amazed by the beautiful buildings, the food and overal politeness from the people we met at the stores and restaurants. It was nice to be in a country where you understand the language and I enjoyed every single moment of it. One day is really short to really explore the city and see all the things that London has to offer so London is definitely a city I would love to visit again one day but next time around Christmas. This has been a dream of mine for many years, to go Christmas shopping in London and enjoy all the fairy lights as well as the Christmas displays from the stores. So maybe one day this dream will become a reality. 

Our day ended way sooner that we all hoped for but since it would the an early start the next day we tried to go to bed pretty early. Though I think it was around midnight when we where finished with talking, looking at all the pretty dresses and planning out our schedule for Saturday morning.

But more about that in my next post!

OT-Tulips, a dutch OTT party in Amsterdam

Yesterday was the day that I went to Amsterdam for a small high tea event at the "tassenmuseum" which is a handbag museum. Together with my friend Lise and my husband we drove to Amsterdam.
On our way we had lots of talks about the difference in communities since it would be Lise's first meet in The Netherlands except for Under The Sea last year. As well as some general lolita talk hihi.

It was so nice to talk about our thoughts and ideas of what people would be wearing and our expectations of the museum as well. Since we both thought at first it was a mug museum since a "tas" in Belgium means a mug instead of a handbag.. Cultural and language difference on point this day!

We arrived a little bit to late because of the traffic as well because of the fact that we can't leave the house
on time for some reason. But I'm so happy that Josine was a bit late too so we could travel together to the venue with her when we arrived in Amsterdam.

Photo by Ladypickering on Instagram

Must say both girls looked amazing! Lise was wearing her gorgeous Grazia JSK from Innocent World with a handmade headpiece and Josine was wearing a stunning hat from Voodoodolly and a ruffle dress from Atelier Pierrot. She makes me want to get into this brand too. That dress was so pretty!

Once we arrived at the venue we found our group still waiting for the food to arrive. Due to some problems in communication at the location there where some troubles. Not massive problems but big enough to cause some stress at the start of the event and a lot of chair switching in the end.
But we had a great high tea non the less, I really loved the teas of the day! Even the black tea one, and I'm not a fan of black tea at all.

Photo's by Livlotte on Instagram

Since we needed to pay an entrance fee to get into the venue which is located inside the museum we could visit the handbag museum at anytime. Though you aren't a lolita if you don't make hundreds of pictures of your friends to get that perfect outfit shot. The room where we had the tea party was stunning and the perfect backdrop of amazing outfit shots. Even though the light wasn't that great for photo's. But because our food had some delay and we wanted to have some good pictures we had only half an hour left for the museum.

To be honest it was long enough for me, the handbags where gorgeous but I only had two favourites in the whole collection. It was a carriage handbag with stunning details even little things like bagage was put on this handbag, and the other one was a chocolate handbag both perfect for a lolita coord or to put on display in your room.

After a couple of hours spending together with my friends and getting to know some of them a bit better it was time to leave the venue. We where able to make a group picture as well thanks to a lovely tourist. Must say it was a bit scary giving a way my camera to a stranger for a photo but this way everyone that was still there was on the picture! And he did a great job too, so I'm happy.

At this point the group split up since some of us wanted to have more pictures since the ones from inside weren't so great to see all the details of the coords. So it was time to say goodbye to most of them, it was great to see everyone again and to admire all the coords of the day. Everyone looked amazing in their favourite coord for this tea party.

Our little group of 7 went to the other side of the river for some more pictures cause the light was a bit better outside. Lots of shadows which is so much better than full sunlight. Some of us wanted to have more photo's so they could pick the best one of the day to post on social media. Sadly I din't have much photo's of myself or one together with some other girls nor my husband this time. Which is very shocking for me! Normally I have some couple/group shots to share but we only made singles this time how weird is that!

But I was able to film some things so I can make a little impression video for my channel. I still need to figure out how I can manage to make photo's and film footage at events so I can make both a blogpost as well as a video cause I love both. Thanks to my dear friend Liv I have some food pictures to share of our high tea. I hope that you like my little report on my day at the OT-Tulips tea party in Amsterdam and hopefully there will be a next edition soon cause it was awesome!!

A lesson in history⎜Berlin Travels

While summer is already over and we are in 2017 I still wanted to share my stories about Berlin. I didn't know what happend with my life after I came back but for some sort of reason I didn't got any time to sit down and write about it.

But let's make a come back and take the final sprint in my Berlin Travels series!

It was Monday morning and I hadn't planned much for the upcoming days. There where some things on my list that I wanted to see and do but not in a particular order. Since we wanted to visit the Jewish Museum I thought it would be nice to have a walk through the Jewish neighbourhood of Berlin. I had a map in my travel guide of a walk that would lead us around.

So that was our plan of the day, have a stroll around the Jewish neighbourhood and enjoy the time we had in Berlin. We left our hotel around 10 a clock and took the tram to the next station where we would start with our tour.
Like a propper tourist I had my camera around my neck and my travel guide in my hand to read all about the things we would see.
I love it so much when you have a good travel guide with a detailed map, I'm not so much of a digital person when it comes to vacations and finding my way in a city.

One of the stops we had on our strip was the "Neue Synagoge" I had high expectations of this place. I though that everything was covered in gold, gorgeous details and a beautiful golden dome. After we got through the security and metal detectors we went inside. It was impressive non the less but very dark inside. You where able to see some pieces of the Jewish history, school work and buildings as well. Very interesting to see if your are into learning about different cultures. We also got tickets to visit the golden dome, which would be the highlight of the whole thing. But to be honest I was really disappointed about this one. The way towards the dome was amazing until we arrived at a small door with a concreet stair behind it. It was super small and not glamorous at all in comparison to the rest of the building we had seen. But non the less we entered the small stairway to visit the golden dome. I didn't know what to say when I entered, but I do think you could see the disappointment on my face. 

It wasn't gold at all, everything was covered with concreet and very empty in general. We weren't allowed to make any pictures upstairs but now I see why. Unless you want a 360 view of Berlin it is not worth the money I think. I had a great time in the dome searching for all the buildings that they mentioned on the information boards and there was still something to learn about the Jewish culture and buildings. But it wasn't as pretty as it looks on the outside. 

We continued our walk after the tour in the Synagoge and explored this part of Berlin a bit further. One of the stops we made was at a small Japanese tea house. We weren't planning on going inside but the sign Matcha Soy Latte and Mochi where so appealing to me that I needed to try it. It was the first time I tried a Matcha Latte and it will definitely not be the last. I loved the decoration that they used, the wall was covered with tea pots and everything was so peaceful. It felt like a dream to drink some tea here. This little tea house was located in one of the buildings that used to be a classroom of the Jewish community. I found it such a magical place, since it was surrounded by gorgeous flowers and plants growing onto the buildings.

This was the best place of the day if I needed to choose my favourite spot that time. In the middle of the big city but feeling like you where in a magical world. So perfect! 

Our day wasn't very busy to be honest, we walked a bit further but I was getting pretty tired so after a couple of hours walking we decided to go back to the hotel and grab something to eat. While we where on our way to the station we passed the most amazing building I've ever seen. It was a huge building covered with leaves from the plants and huge trees in the front garden. This building was a clinic, very pretty I must say. I love it when old buildings are covered with plants. It gives it so much character and a romantic feeling at the same time! This was a great way to end our day.

Desserts a la carte ⎜Berlin Travels

Our last day together with Vanilla Bear was there but what are we going to do? It is Sunday and all shops are closed, yesterday we made some plans for a lunch date but that was it. There where no real plans afterwards. 

We wanted to go to a coffee bar at first but this place was closed as well, luckily I had a very special place on my list of shops that I wanted to visit on my stay in Berlin. It was OhLala, an all vegan dessert shop! Besides the desserts they also had some normal savory dishes on the menu and those where vegan as well. 

This was one of the reasons why I wanted to visit Berlin so badly, there are so many vegan restaurants in this city. It's unbelievable how much there is! We went to OhLala and waited for Vanilla Bear to arrive so we could order our foods. I went for a crepe with homemade nutella and vegan whipped cream, a "Haute Couture" dessert which was heavenly and a soy latte. 

As a vegan you don't get to eat desserts like this very often, it was rich, creamy and airy at the same time. With the right amount of sweetness and sour touch from the glacing. Best dessert I ever had in my life!  It was funny to see that both me and Vanilla Bear where filming our food so we had some footage for our youtube video. I bet that the customers in the store thought we where pretty weird when we are filming hihi. 

After our dessert it was time for some sightseeing, since there wasn't much going on in Berlin on a Sunday we found a hidden gem. It is the flea market at Mauer park, I didn't know where to look first. People where singing or playing the guitar, some where having a bbq or a picknick and this was all before we entered the flea market. The atmosphere felt a bit like a hipster festival with lots of young adults. 

The flea market itself was impressive as well, this was inside a wooden fence for most of the part. We entered the market through the main entrance which was decorated like a summer camp. You know those typical summer camp signs with wooden poles and a banner on top? This market had the same entrance, I found this so cool! Besides lolita fashion I really like hippy/hipster like fashion although I don't wear it I can definitely appreciate it, especially their view on life is quit interesting. It is really laid back and with respect for all living things. But enough of this lets move on with the market itself. 

When you enter the market you get overwhelmed by all the stalls, this is one huge market. Featuring small independent artists and creators as well as some antiques sellers with items going from clothes to diner tables and beds. I found some really awesome accessories but I didn't bought anything since I was doubting if I was able to use it. I did bought some cute socks and almost bought some loli-able collars those that you can wear on top of a t-shirt to have a peter pan collar. But the price was pretty high for the quality, so I passed on those ones. 

Sadly enough I didn't made any photo's at this market which is a shame, since there was so much to see and to eat as well. They even had a whole section for typical german foods and at the other end of the market there where more food trucks, even one with some vegan dishes. We spend most of the afternoon strolling around this markt, looking at all the artists with their awesome clothing, bag and jewelry designs. 

But it was time to grab some dinner and head back to our hotel. We went back to the pizza/pasta place where we went on the first day, though this time I went for a pizza. One without cheese please so it's vegan! I'm a bit bummed that I don't have the name of this restaurant anymore cause I highly recommend it, the price is super cheap and the dishes are amazing! 

After dinner we headed back to the airbnb of Vanilla Bear so she could grab some items that wouldn't fit into her suitcase. She asked me if I wanted to send it to her in America when I was in Belgium since this would be the cheapest option. So all packed with her stuff it was time to say goodbye! 

Our time together was amazing, it was like we where close friends way before we actually met on the first day. It is sad that I wont see her again till I go to America or when she comes to Belgium or closer to Europe. But I do have the memories of the three days with her which is also very special to me. 

Being a part of lolita fashion gives you the opportunity to make friends from all over the world. Though I think for the Europe community it is a lot easier to make friends overseas since it is easier to travel between the countries without any troubles. Do you have any friends overseas? Please let me know I would love to hear your stories as well.

See you next time, 

Love Poppy xx

Royal Princesses ⎜Berlin Travels

On the second day there where more awesome things on the program. After breakfast it was time to get ready since we would be meeting up with Vanilla Bear again for a visit to the Charlottenburg Castle.  We decided to meet up at the station close to my hotel, it sounded all so perfect. We would meet at 12 in front of the S Bahn. And there we where, standing in the shade while I was checking my phone.. I got a text from her that we was arriving but when I looked at all the people that came off the train there was no Vanilla Bear. How was this possible?

After a lot of chatting online we found each other, did you know there are two stations with the name Charlottenburg? Well I didn't, alright maybe it is one huge station but still she was like on the other side of the park! I still can't believe it how this could happen.
But thankfully we where able to hop on the bus that would bring us to the palace.

Both of us dressed up in lolita going to a palace just like Royal Princesses, only the carriages with the horses where missing. But with some imagination a bus can do the trick, everything is better than walking right? We bought our tickets in the souvenir shop as well as the photo permission to make photo's of the interior. Which made me really happy cause that would mean I had something to film for my vlog and blogpost of today. But sadly enough we can't publish any of it since it is only for private use, so you can find the pictures of the palace on my facebook profile.

The inside of the palace was amazing, lots of golden details and stunning rooms! I have seen many palaces in the last few years and I must say that this one was one to remember esspecially the first green room omg it was gorgeous. So many details and paintings on the ceilings just breathtaking.
We had an audio tour inside the palace telling us lots of interesting things and I highly recommend this to any tourist that is visiting Berlin.

 

After our tour inside the palace we headed back outside to walk around in the gardens, since we bought a ticket for the main palace we where allowed inside some buildings that where in the garden as well. One of them that we visited was a tomb, this one was also nice to see but not as special as the main palace. We walked a bit in the garden and took some pictures together before we headed to the city centre for some food.

In front of the palace there was a food festival with lots of foods from over the world, there was even a BBQ Corn stand! I love corn on the cob, it is sweet and juicy and ... aaah I'm getting hungry again.
Vanilla Bear spotted some BBQ stands that made her think of home, she wanted to have a real American BBQ when she was back home. Since we didn't had any cash with us we couldn't buy anything at the fair so we went to a vegan restaurant that I wanted to visit.

The restaurant is named Soy, it serves Vietnamese dishes which is my kind of food. I'm not the person that likes the typical european kitchen of potatoes, vegetables, meat and gravy. Even if the dish is vegan I'm not a huge fan of it. But give me something from Asia and I'm all in for it!
It was really hard to choose something from the menu because we had so much choice. As a vegan you have mostly one or two options in a normal restaurant but when you are in a vegan one the choices are endless and you want to try everything that is on there.

While we where waiting on our order I started to look around a bit more, the atmosphere in this restaurant was so unique. It is laid back and has a zen feeling to it. Something I would love in my own house as well, even the music was adding to the atmosphere. It was so relaxing just sitting there and staring in the distance.

The dishes where amazing, I ordered a noodle dish and rice paper rolls filled with fresh veggies while Alexander ordered a noodle salat which was super delicious as well. I wish I could take this restaurant with me back to Belgium, it was that good. Vanilla Bear ordered a dessert afterwards and I tried a bit of it, this was like heaven. This was the first time I tried this dessert, it was sticky rice with mango and coconut milk/sauce on top of it. Do you know what this is called? If you know please let me know so I can look up a recipe for it cause it's so good!

When we where about to leave back to our hotel at 7 in the evening I ordered some drinks on the go at Soy. They had this as an option so we could have a drink along the way. Vanilla Bear noticed that I wasn't the quickest when it comes to eating and drinking so when we had about a 3 minute walk to the station I needed to drink my drink very quickly. Since we aren't allowed to bring our drinks onto the tube, it was such a hard job! But a good one cause it was delicious!

It was time to say goodbye and our paths would separate at the Alexanderplatz Station. This day was filled with lots of wow's and ooh's, funny moments and delicious foods. I had one day left with Vanilla Bear before she would leave back to America. Tomorrow would be a chill day, stores are closed and there is nothing to do besides some musea. But we found an amazing place which I could visit every week. Find out what it was in my next post!

Lots of love,
Poppy x

The start of a new adventure ⎜Berlin Travels

Every time I go on vacation I have the same problems, packing clothes seems impossible, time management doesn't seem to be working and the biggest problem is that I'm to excited for the flight. Which end up in not sleeping the night before I leave. This seems to becoming my ritual, not the best one out there but it gives some sort of comfort as well.

Like many of you already know I went to Berlin in Juli for the first big event of Ribbon City which is the Berlin Lolita community. Planning for events is something that I love to do, booking the hotels, finding the travel options and mostly coord planning.
Though this trip was going to be a little bit different than our normal event trip.

I think it was around december 2015 when I spoke with my dear friend Vanilla Bear about her summer school program in Berlin. At first we talked about exploring Germany together or that she would come to Belgium to meet up which would be so cool. But since I wanted to go to the Urban Fairytale event I thought that I could come a bit earlier so we could finally meet. And that's what we did, she extended her trip with one week while I came one week earlier.

Over time we discussed about the things we wanted to do and see together, it is nice to have some sort of plan when you are going on a city trip. Even though I'm not the best at planning things in general I had my list of things that I wanted to do.
In preparation for our vacation I started to look up all the information I needed, like adresses and routes to get there. Every thing would be in my handy dandy folder which was super convenient.

I mentioned before that the night before is mostly a short one, not because we always leave in the middle of the night to catch our flight at 7 in the morning. But because I get excited about everything, this time I was getting really nervous as well. Since when I set a foot onto the plane that would mean I was going to meet my dear friend for real!

We left at 3:30 in the night to be on time in the airport, that would have been plenty of time don't you think since we needed to board at 6:30am. Our ride towards the airport wasn't a smooth one, I got sick in the car and panicked when I thought that I didn't brought my pasport with me! As some of you may know I live in Belgium but we always take the plane from Amsterdam airport, since my parents in law are living in The Netherlands. Luckily I had my pasport with me and the sickness passed by as well, although we needed to make multiple stops along the way.

There is something about seeing the planes that makes me get butterflies inside, they are so big and awesome looking. Or maybe it is because of the fact that you can go to the other side of the world with it, see the fluffy clouds and all the cities below which look like a playmobile village from the top.

For this trip I only brought my essentials, but I was still able to fill up 1 giant suitcase, a carry on and a backpack. Why is it that I always have so much items with me on vacation? Do you have the same problem?

There was one thing that I didn't brought with me and that was my own camera, which I missed so much during this trip. But sadly enough it needed to go back to the factory for repairs, thank god my dad has a really good camera as well and I was able to borrow that one for this trip.

I was planning on doing a daily vlog series for my youtube channel but with such a big camera how is that going to go? As excited as I was I started with my vlog in the airport, talking to the camera and overcoming my shyness as well. It is not as easy as it looks..

Around 9 we arrived in Berlin, since I did all the bookings myself we needed to find out how we would get to the airport. I was sort of familiar with the public transport lines but still, walking around in an airport and not speaking much German I found the right busline that would bring us to the right street where our hotel would be.

It felt really weird to be on public transport to begin with, to be honest I'm not a fan of busses, metro lines or anything that combines lots of people, small spaces or crazy drivers on the street. But I was with my own little map that I got at the information point in the airport before we left to our hotel.
While we couldn't check in right away we left our bagage and headed towards the city centre, no idea of where to go we started walking. In case you are wondering who we are... I was together with my partner in crime, aka my husband.

At the Alexanderplatz station we would meet up with Vanilla Bear, it was finally time after talking to each other online for so long. Since I was a bit to early I headed over to Starbucks to order my favorite drink, a soy latte with caramel sirup. It was hard to sit still while you are getting so nervous about meeting a friend.

All sort of thoughts are going through my head.. Will she like me? What do I need to say to her? Do I want to film it? no that would be so akward... Luckily Alexander is so sweet and always tell me to relax and start a conversation with hello or hi. Best advice ever I swear!

And there she was... standing in front of the Starbucks cause I said we where waiting for her at that same shop. I started screaming her name and run towards her, the moment she looked up and saw me we started hugging each other. I feel a bit sad that I didn't got this on camera now that I'm thinking about it again since it was so sweet. We had an instant click, kept on hugging and where both super happy to see each other.

After a little chat at the station we decided to go to a fancy chocolate restaurant, this was the first time I went to a chocolate themed restaurant. All the items on the menu had chocolate in them, weird but amazing as well. I went for the only vegan option on the menu and ordered a fruit soup with chocolate ofcourse. They had one without any milk products in it, I was so happy. One of the waiters came to our table with a chocolate truffle to grind above our dish for extra flavour, isn't that cool?

At a certain point it started to get to an sort of akward silent moment, both of us where eating and at that point we both wanted to give each other a small gift from our home country. I was feeling so insecure about the gifts that I collected for her, she wanted to have some Belgian Chocolate and a special drink which made me travel all the way to Antwerp to get it but that doesn't matter. I also found a japanese sheep keychain in Dusseldorf for her when I was on the Japantag and I added a bracelet with matching earrings to her gift set. Maybe I went a bit overboard on the chocolate, luckily Alexander told me to stop buying anymore chocolate for her since I was already at 500 grams. They where all in different flavours so it was hard to pick just one right?

She had for me a jar of Maple Almond butter from Justin's this brand is so good! As well as some peanut butter cups with dark chocolate, she also had one with milk chocolate but I gave those to my niece cause of the milk that's in it. I must say that I was so happy with it and didn't opened any of it on my trip in Berlin. But on top of these things she had a water bottle, not just any water bottle, a glass water bottle from Starbucks with the skyline of San Fransisco on it. OMG this was not what I was expecting at all! I still can't believe that she did this all for me, since the water bottle was super hard to find. She is such a sweetheart! And it made me think that I want to try extra hard next time to find unique items for her too.

Since we where in a chocolate mood that day we visited two chocolate stores, the restaurant has a store as well with stunning chocolate sculptures which you can see in my vlog. One of them was a vulcano, with actual steam coming out, it would be a great science project if you ask me. Vanilla Bear wanted to have some amazing gifts to give to her boyfriend so we headed over to the second chocolate shop. You would think that a chocolate bar isn't that special but at the Ritter shop you can make your own chocolate bar. Or at least pick all the ingredients and toppings for it.

She went for a milk chocolate bar with double cherry flakes inside and the cutests golden stars as decoration on top. I wanted to make one as well but they didn't have the vegan option for sale at the counter. If I really wanted I could buy a bar that wasn't customized but that wouldn't be the same in my eyes. Even though I wasn't able to make my own bar it was so nice to see how they made them.
It felt like I was in Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory!

Our day ended at a pizza pasta place where we could eat a pizza or pasta for under 5 euro, it was about 3,5 euro if I remember correctly. With the help of Vanilla Bear we were able to get back to our hotel and get some sleep before we would meet again in the morning on the second day.
The first day was a long one cause the lack of sleep but I wouldn't change a thing about it. Well maybe the fact that I didn't make as much photo's as I would like but this is something that I want to take with me to my next trip.

Even though I didn't made many photo's I had some nice memories of our first day in Berlin, while the photo's where transferring to my hard disk I already started to think about our trip for the next day. We are going to visit the Charlottenburg Schloss, I was charging my batteries from the camera and was ready for a short night again. But it would be all worth it in the end, I'm sure about it! And besides, there is nothing that a bit of concealer can cover up..

Lots of love,
Poppy xx