New Berlin Spas at KaDeWe or How to Spend A Rainy Day in Berlin
So, you're in Berlin and it's cold and raining and snowing and there's a forecasted blizzard coming in that is set to ruin your fun....Waaaaa!
No worries mate! Skip the walking tour, ditch that bicycle tour, and avoid the drizzly boat tour. Stay inside, in the one locale that can cradle, comfort and nourish you all day long: the KaDeWe (Kafhaus des Westens). It is Europe's largest department store filled to the brim with luxury and excesses that might make you poop your pants. This 100 year old department store will shock even those who dread shopping and blatent consumerism. There is much more to experience here than designer clothes, shoes and handbags.
In October of 2006 KaDeWe completed it's most recent expansion to include not one, but four unique spas or "Beauty Lounges" on the 3rd floor offering world class treatments blending European and Asian techniques. For the non-Spa goer the fifth floor will delight kiddies of all ages with it's eclectic toy selection and impressive hands-on-museum-esque electronic department. Bibliophiles will find the fifth floor's book selection aggreeable as well; there always seems to be gangas galore on coffee table & art books that cost an arm and a leg at local museums. The fifth floor also offers unique leather journals and handmade papers and paper crafts that are often overlooked by the average luxury shopper. If you are more the crafting type and want to check out crafting from a German perspective go on down to the second and third floors; from there take the Passauer street exit that leads to the parking garage; KaDeWe owns the building that houses the parking garage and they have leased KaDeWe's former notions and crafts section to a new craft company called Idee.
When hunger hits it's time to go on to the sixth and seventh floors. The sixth floor has every type of food imaginable on this planet. You can sample meats from around the world, take home an ostrich egg for tomorrow's breakfast and endure what is possibly the smelliest cheese counter on earth. You will get separated from loved ones due to the sheer size and intricacy of the floor, and rejoice upon your reunification (a true Berlin experience...pun intended) after two hours as they greet you with bizaare fruits and unique pastries. You can also eat at any of the many mini-restaurants for a quick bite of lobster and caviar or sushi.
The final and uppermost floor, the seventh floor, houses the Wintergarten and it's cafeteria "LeBuffet". The food is overpriced, but good. There are a number of chefs on duty prepared to make whatever your heart desires. Of course there is a Le Buffet, as well as a small sampling of some of KaDeWe's pastries and cakes brought up from the sixth floor. There are freshly pressed fruit juices, fine wines and my personal favorite Bionade. When you dine in the Wintergarten it's more for the experience and the jaw dropping views offered by the glass encased room. It is also largely non-smoking, which as you'll soon learn, is still hard come by in Berlin. There is truly something for everyone at KaDeWe.
