No, not the genius scientist. But the legendary coffee house in Berlin, Kurfürstenstraße, is the Einstein, I am talking about.

The plan for my day off on Thursday, was to get some fresh air, doing some work in the garden. Despite the rain, I started out as soon as some daylight allowed me to see. Maybe one hour later, just as I was uprooting the last of my spent tomato plants, my sweetheart was ready to start his day.

He announced, he had some business in town and would I please accompany him. He was going to look at a venue – actually a restaurant at a tennis club – where the next bigger bridge tournament could be held at the closing day of Berlin’s Bridge Week. The place, this yearly event usually takes place, closed recently, because the owner died unexpectedly. So he had to find another place to take the 70 or so players for a tournament and dinner to. He would invite me for breakfast at this tennis club, if I came along. I am usually caught by the prospect of food, so I agreed, cleared up the mess I had started with my tomatos and got changed.

However, things didn’t go as planned. First we spent some time finding the tennis club, as the address given on the internet was wrong. We ended up at a huge sports center next to former Tempelhof airport, with no restaurant to speak of. Turns out, the tennis club in question just rents some courts for their members to play on at this complex. After some search we finally reached our destination. But the restaurant was way too small for my sweethearts purposes. And honestly, neither one of us wanted to breakfast there. It was a rather sorry place.

So we both had a little brainstorm and went to another two or three venues. But nowhere was a spot open at the date, the Berlin Bridge Week has the event set for. I was becoming grumpier by the minute, as my day off was dissipating before my very eyes. Spent in traffic queues, endless searches for parking space and bleak Berlin weather.

Until sweetheart said the one thing to cheer me up: let’s go to Einstein for breakfast. My mood instantly changed. Einstein is a Berlin legend. Set in a beautiful villa in Kurfürstenstraße, it is one of the two coffee shops in Berlin, I really love. Serving decent breakfast all day long. It was way past lunchtime, already.

It’s been forever, since I last was there. And I have to say, the experience was as pleasant as I remembered it to be. Attentive and friendly service, great food, beautiful settings, decent coffee and a cheery, yet relaxed buzz in the big rooms full of idle guests. The founder of this parent house to a chain of coffee houses all over Berlin bearing the same name, but in no way comparable, is Austrian. Maybe this explains the homey feel, I always get there.

With this urban stopover, my day off was saved and my mood swung back to great. On our way home, we tried for one more place to hold the Bridge at and were leaving with a prospect of succeeding. So all was well in the end.