EXBERLINER Issue 170, April 2018

at the fifth and seventh floors – bad luck for
those on the remaining six storeys. As one
resident once quipped, “He can’t even build
a proper elevator; how can he build a city?” If
you’re not put off by the prospect of copious
flights of stairs and want to see what it’s like
to live inside an architectural icon, there’s a
two-bedroom flat on AirBnB going for €125/
night and a 40sqm holiday rental on wunderflats.com
for a mere €1180/month. For just
€7 (€4 in winter), you can also get a taste
of Brazilian design at Marzahn’s Gärten der
Welt with São Paulo landscape architect Alex
Hanazaki’s “Earth, Air, Fire, Water” garden,
an interactive space filled with pools of cascading
water and sculptural stone walls. —EM
Altonaer Str. 6, Tiergarten
BRAZIL IN BERLIN
owned waxing salons in Berlin, where a
clientele of Germans and expats – men and
women – go not just for the stereotypical
full monty but for legs, arms, eyebrows,
the works. What makes Brazilian waxing
special? “We use hot honey wax,” says Marx
proudly. “And we don’t work with any fabric
to tear the hair off. That makes it a lot faster
to get rid of all the hairs, and it doesn’t hurt
that bad... if you are used to it!” —AC
Wax in the City, Walter-Benjamin-Platz 5; Alte
Schönhauser Str. 33/34 Rio Waxing, Linienstr.
214; Muthesiusstr. 12
momentum
5— 8
12—15 apr
Apr 27 / 28 / 30, 2018 8 pm / Apr 29, 7 pm
BLOODY, MEDIUM
ODER DURCH
Tickets & Infos: (030) 754 537 25
by Anestis Azas
und Ensemble
www.halle -tanz-berlin.de
phone:
440 44 292
German Palomeque
Berlin’s most authentic
French bistro
Brazil in a bookshop
The first
depiladora
Waxing took a while to grab hold (and
yank) in Berlin. Long notorious for their
au naturel body hair style, German women
favoured the razor when they finally converted
to the hair removal mainstream. In
fact, it wasn’t until 2005 that Berlin’s first
waxing studio, Wax in the City, set up shop
– and its German owners weren’t entirely
sure how to go about it. So they turned to
Brazil’s best professionals. Originally from
Rio de Janeiro, Cleide Marx had been working
as a depiladora (waxer) for eight years
when a friend-of-a-friend put her in touch
with the Wax in the City crew. They offered
her an all-expenses-paid trip to Germany,
and in November 2005 she trained the first
generation of Berlin wax practitioners –
mostly Brazilian expats, with a few German
cosmeticians in the mix. Some of her
trainees stayed at Wax in the City, which by
now has multiple locations all over Germany;
others went on to open salons of their
own. Marx herself split off in 2006 to found
Mitte studio Rio Waxing with her German
husband. Today there are some 16 Brazilian-
It’s advertised as a Portuguese-Italian bookstore,
but walk into the unassuming A Livraria
on Torstraße and you’ll find one of Berlin’s
most beloved Brazilian hotspots. Founded in
October 2006 by two friends from Italy and
Brazil, this jam-packed shop crams Italian
prose next to literary classics by João Ubaldo
Ribeiro, teach-yourself Portuguese textbooks
and live-orchestral Samba DVDs. But the
main attraction for non-native-speakers
has to be A Livraria’s selection of souvenirs,
from framed prints by folk artist Jose Borges
to football scarves to artisan-made earrings.
Wannabe-tourists can pick up a pair of
Brazilian flag socks complete with matching
cap, wallet and miniature drum keychain,
for that unmistakeable “why did I buy this?”
holiday feeling. Actual Brazilians head to the
grocery section for pan de queso mix and organic
cachaça – or they drop by after hours,
when A Livraria’s bustling basement comes
alive with Forró parties, percussion concerts,
plays in Portuguese, literature readings and
more. Check their Facebook page to see
what’s on – or just swing by the store, grab
yourself some goodies and a Portuguesedubbed
copy of Dear John, and you’re all set
for your evening of tinned feijoada and homemade
caipirinhas by the radiator. —ED
Torstr. 159, Mitte, Mon-Fri 10-19, Sat 11-17:30
Adalberstr. 83, Kreuzberg
Kotbusser Tor (U1, U8)
PFEFFERBERG THEATER
Schönhauser Allee 176
10119 Berlin
chezmichel-berlin.de
and
APRIL 13. 14. 15.
19:30
Mon-Fr: 11:30-22:30
Sat-Sun: 15:00-22:30
Reservations
www.pfefferberg-theater.de
030 93 93 58 555
APRIL 2018
17
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