wanderlust wednesdays: spa day in berlin

  Berlin, Germany.

Travel time from San Francisco: a transcontinental flight, hopefully around ten hours, but if it is over 20 this post is for you. Ideal trip length: day, if you are already in Berlin. Nice to haves: Extra Euros. Directions: Cab it, or take the U-Bahn to Potsdamer Platz.

After a long (and quite horrendous flight -- but more on that in a future post) to Berlin, I was a bit distraught and my mom gave me good advice: go to the spa. This is something I probably would never do in the States, but I was on vacation and let's just say the incident on the airplane (with me) almost caused us to land somewhere over France.

I googled some spas and for some reason decided on Ono Spa at the Mandala Hotel in the center of Berlin. I probably liked the name, and the idea of standing on the 11th floor and looking down at the main street.

The staff was very friendly and understanding of my German skills, which at the time were nonexistent. They helped me pick a massage and offered me cucumber, ginger, or lemon water. I even got a nice nut and cheese plate after the massage. There was absolutely no one else there at the time, or at least it seemed that way, which really added to the atmosphere and gave me some much needed peace and quite.

I got their basic classic massage. It was just what I needed to make the transition from airplane rollercoaster to fun times in my favorite city. I also got my nails painted this snot green color, which I've been trying to find ever since and finally found the color at Target this week. Afterward I got a drink at the Qiu Lounge Bar on the first floor and skyped my sister with the bartender.

The Mandala Hotel Potsdamer Straße 3 10785 Berlin 

pricelist

Have you been to a spa in Berlin? What was your experience? Leave a comment below and share your travels!

go for the wedding, stay for the sun...

Palo Alto. March. 2013.

It is wedding season. As we await the decisions of Prop 8, it is hard to celebrate nuptials that are legally sanctioned without thinking about all those that are unable to do the same. Of course, anyone can throw a party in celebration, but the recognition of a union between two people that want to share the rest of there lives together, and all the pleasure, pain and tax deductions that come with it, should be universal regardless of sexual identity. I have been to quite a few weddings, and the diversity in ceremonies is vast, further highlighting that unions are already consummated (pun intended) in a variety of ways, be it religious, secular, or something in between. Why then is marriage stuck to this very strict and antiquated definition that it's main purpose is pro-creation? Moreover, why isn't the act of raising children, even if not biological, not considered an important necessity to continue the human race?

Let's hope for the best for all humanity and assume there will be lots more weddings in the future, giving you reason to travel and stay at hotels. And maybe some of them will be in Palo Alto. And maybe you will have to share a hotel room with two friends to afford to stay the night. And maybe you will be rushing to the wedding because your ride is late.

And maybe you will let tears run down the side of your face as you beam with happiness when the priest announces Husband and Wife. And maybe you will have an amazing time chatting up fresh in-laws and family friends of the Bride at the reception. And maybe you will reminisce about all the dance floors you dominated as a career flower girl circa 1992. And maybe watching the young girl dancing with the Bride will bring you to tears, because you miss being a little girl dreaming about being a grown up bride, even if you realize you don't think you ever did that.

And maybe the Bride and Groom will have an endless glow that surrounds them as they take photographs, entertain and start their new lives as a married couple. And maybe they will also have a sweet suite on the top floor where you might be able to have a classic hotel after party. And maybe the Bride calls down for a lot of champagne classes and plastic cups. And maybe you talk about playing beer bong. And maybe you realize you can no longer party like you used to and you instead find pleasure in unwrapping all the little things in the hotel room and going to sleep in a fluffy robe in a giant bed. And maybe you just like looking at the bath tub. And maybe you don't work out in the hotel gym, even though you brought your clothes.

And maybe you stand in awe at the hotel attendants ability to pack all you and your friends' (along with the centerpiece you took from the wedding) bags into your car perfectly. And maybe you leave the Four Seasons and instead spend the next day at the Rosewood Sandhill resort pool and bask in the sun to get over your champagne hang over. And maybe, you'll be laying out next to your best friends. And maybe you dream about the chance that someday they, too, can tie the knot, and then you can do it all over again.