Start your Friday night off with some proper good scran at HelloGoodpie (Falckensteinstraße 9, u-Bhf Schlesisches Tor). Finding a decent savoury pie with all the trimmings in Berlin was until recently pretty much impossible, so major props to Irishman Matthew Minch for succeeding in his mission to bring gourmet Brit-style noms to the masses. Dig into a huge plate of mash, tomato gravy and top with one of the many pies they have on offer - the oddly-named Cheesy Helmut is out of this world, stuffed with cauliflower, cheddar, and gouda - for just 6€, choose a couple of sides from their extensive salad bar (2.50€), and wash it all down with a BRLO pale ale (or two, or three, or a crate...). It's hard to know how Berliners managed for so long without savoury pies on the menu - struggling through -20 winters without regular plates of warming comfort food is surely a fate worse than death. Matthew and his international team of pie enthusiasts also do a good line in desserts, so find a cosy corner and start bulking up your winter blubber with one of their super-chocolatey brownies before braving the cold...
Once you're done with loading up the layers, take a walk over the Oberbaumbrücke towards S Bahnhof Warschauerstraße. If you can pick up a steaming cup of Glühwein on the way, all the better. Admire the twinkling fairy lights that line the banks of the Spree, and avoid the so-called 'viewing points' that are actually just turrets full of beery piss - your shoes will thank you. Take the S7 across to Hackescher Markt and get a little bit lost on Museum Island before finally succumbing to the inevitable and consult Google for the directions to the Maxim Gorki Theater.
The theatre is currently hosting an exhibition about refugees, both in Berlin and across the world. The Herbstsalon programme is winding down, but there are still a couple of days left to wander the labyrinthine corridors and explore the huge collection of films, archive material and haunting artworks. MGT is A LOT bigger than it looks - even power-walking through the exhibition takes at least an hour - so leave yourself plenty of time to soak up the vast array of information available. It's also worth checking out the programme for the next couple of days, as the theatre has also been hosting debates, plays and movie screenings on the same topic - all of which are completely free to attend.
By now it's probably quite late and no doubt you're feeling a little wiped after the intensity of the MGT exhibition, so hotfoot it over the bridge to the Hackescher Höfe and ensconce yourself in Cafe Cinema. It's as Berlin as you can get - dark, moody lighting, candles dripping wax all over roughwood tables, jazz squalls over tinny speakers. It's magic, and surprisingly the prices are pretty reasonable considering the tourist-heavy location. Order a large glass of red or a Hemingway Sour, and spend the rest of the evening watching the smoke curls winding their way to the ceiling, and the old Berliners staring into their pints. Bliss.
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