überlin

When we heard there was a cafe called Bullys Bakery here in Berlin, we just had to pay them a visit to show off our very own bulldog Olive! As soon as she waddled into the cute Neukölln store, she was greeted by 2 1/2 year old Kurt, the eponymous bully, and very much the big dog around here. About five times as big and half as excited by new friends, Kurt tolerated little O’s attempts to scale his mountains of muscles before going for a sleep in the back.

Even if you aren’t a dog lover, you’ll find much to enjoy in Bullys Bakery: a great flat white (the yardstick I use to measure the standard of a place’s coffee), beautiful cakes and delicious Flammkuchen. A German speciality, these sauceless pizzas are an überlin fave, and the ones we ate at Bullys, especially the chorizo, egg, goat’s cheese and rocket, the best we’ve ever had. So if you ever find yourself on Weserstrasse, pop in for a coffee and cake, and say “wüf” to Kurt for us!

Olive needs a little bit more practice modelling perhaps, as she has a tendency to run in the opposite direction, but she nailed her close-up!

Dress: Kenneth Cole | Shoes: Phillip Lim | Necklace: One | Leggings: COS | Sunglasses: I.a.Eyeworks

Not content with having two lovely cats here in Berlin, we decided to keep things interesting and throw a new puppy into the mix! Maybe we’re mental, but after moving to another country, where we didn’t know anyone or even speak the language, we thought that looking after a puppy would be <ahem> a walk in the park. We didn’t count on the sleepless nights and constant playing, walking and training that make this pretty much a full time job. But when we look into those big bug eyes our hearts melt, and it’s all worth it.

This wasn’t an easy decision (especially with two cats!) and we only found Olive after six months of searching for a breeder who cared as much about their animals as we did. We first found Chien Royal, whose photos alone are worth checking out even if you don’t feel you can commit to the real thing. Unfortunately they didn’t have any pups left so they recommended Martina at Kleine Franzosen, whose dam had just had a litter. We waited ten weeks until Olive was ready to leave her mum, but thankfully Martina kept me up to speed daily with how she was getting on and posted lots of photos on her Facebook page so I didn’t miss out on her growing up. I really can’t thank her enough for all her help and advice – she’s clearly committed to breeding happy, healthy bullies, and making sure they go to the right homes.

Olive is now settling in really well (she can “sit” already!) and the cats even are adjusting to their new sister . If you fancy keeping up to date with Olive’s adventures, then you can check out her very own Tumblr here.