Yay, I’m back!
I had
the.
most.
fantastic.
time.
Today I thought I’d show you the tiniest TARDIS of a button shop you’ll ever see …
Knopf (that’s German for Button) Paul
Zossener Str. 10 (U7 Gneisenaustrasse)
I set off on Monday morning after a hearty German breakfast of coffee,
rye bread, cheese and salami!
rye bread, cheese and salami!
The Kreuzberg district is about 10 stops on the U-Bahn … about 20 minutes journey, with a couple of changes. I have to say the transport system in Berlin is heavenly.
Everything is really easy to navigate and I had a 48 hour go-everywhere-ticket for 19 Euros - Perfect!
I should have read my own notes! Closed on Mondays … grrr … (at least it would be easy peasy to go back the next day, having done the journey once!)
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 | So, I wandered around this little haven of cafes, stationery shops and bohemian clothes shops that is Kreuzberg. |  |
Ararat Bergmannstr. 39 fab stationery shop (expensive but magnificent!) |  |
 | … before settling to have a coffee in the sunshine, and plan another little adventure … |   |
The next day I went back … and … success!!
Open!
The owner, Paul, has been selling buttons since the 1970s. There are, quite literally, millions and millions of buttons here!
What’s really amazing is that the staff know exactly what’s where. While I was there there must have been at least 8 customers with very specific requests and each one was served within the twinkling of an eye. It’s clear that this is not just some little curiosity shop - artists, dressmakers and theatrical costume designers all come here for advice and help.
If you click the picture above of Paul, it will take you to his website (which you can translate using Google Translate or use this link to the translated page)
Anyway, let’s look at some buttons!
Click on any pic to go the flickr set - going towards a larger Berlin collection, which will not be all sewingy stuff ... but a lot of funky photos nonetheless … I took over 400 pics in 3 days LOL ... I'll do a few more blog posts of the really special stuff over the next few days …
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Prices range from about 40c to over 20 Euros and they only take cash.
This is pretty normal in Berlin - only the big brand shops will take a card of any kind, but a problem for me, as I couldn’t get cash out of any of the machines with my debit card as apparently it was not Europe-ified !
So, as it was my last day and I was very low on cash, I only spent 4 Euros … on these little beauties … they’re acrylic with embedded wheat husks ... I took a while to choose this gradation ...
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So, that’s the end of our little trip to Knopf Paul …
I notice (with utterly squeaky delight) that I have 98 followers?! So, once we hit 100, I think a little celebration with a giveaway is in order, don't you?
