More friends coming

After a day of heavy and successful cleaning (breaking only a few decorations whilst doing it), Elsis and I enjoyed a very tidy flat. We even managed to fix the curtains we had bought the day before. Nice and blue in the bathroom, so now nobody can peep inside any more.
We met Jeena at Tegel airport in the evening (her flight was half an hour early, same as Elsis' on Tuesday - weird), and went back to my flat - beautiful sunset on the way, so great sunshiny weather this weekend - for some beer testing. Each of us had several glasses with different brands to check what beer we should buy for the Friday and Saturday party. They didn't like the Pils and went for Czek beer. It was the cheapest, as well.
Passing through Crellestraße, we had seen Karen and her friend Massimo sitting in the italian restaurant across the street, and invited them to join us for the weekend, whenever they felt like meeting lots of nice people. Karen had taken care of my flowers whilst I was away, they had survived beautifully. She's a member of HC now as well, and already found nice hosts for her trip to Italy.
Later it was two more beers with Holger and his spanish guest at "Leuchtturm", and then back to bed quite early (not even midnight), to get up in time for the opening of the new H & M store "COS" on Kurfürstendamm. Looks like a long day today, more chatters arriving all through the day and night, the car from Antwerp around midnight. Nice birthday party! :)
Oh, by the way, two more birthday presents: They are painting the hallways and staircases in our house. Lovely! And a parcel from Thailand, with a glossy magazine inside, featuring an article on me and my travelling. Pity I can't read Thai. ;)

What a way to spend a birthday!

No need to buy champagne and cake: Alex and Anna had sent a huge parcel with everything you need for a delicious, extraordinary breakfast! Including caviar, and of course cake and champagne. Even a beautiful bunch of tulips! What a surprise!
Elsis and I enjoyed it a lot, and then started a day of running around, shopping for shoes, socks, curtains, books, cds, more champagne, and doing some sightseeing in between.
We were quite exhausted when getting back home at around 10 pm, but still found the energy to have some more of the tasty dishes. :)

The party started

Elsis arrived from Helsinki yesterday. She's my first guest for the big party, friends coming from all over Europe, celebrating my birthday and the end of my sabbatical with me.
The day was lovely, almost like summer, we enjoyed walking around Schöneberg and Kreuzberg, even having a first beer at "Golgatha" in the sunset. In the evening she went to see (and hear) the Deftones at Columbiahall, and I went back home to read some more in the book Cathy had told me to buy for the flight. "Fieses Foul", a mysterystory in Düsseldorf. Nicely done and fun to read.
Today it's my birthday according to the calendar. Lots of greetings already, and some presents. Which I will open right now.

Happy astrological birthday to me!

I learned today that the sun returns to exactly the same position as when I was born - today. On the 27th, not 28th! Now I have even more reasons to celebrate for many days on end! :)
Here's what the stars say about me and this very important time of solar return:
"You are open to new ideas which may take the form of new information you are learning or new concepts you are developing yourself. These aspects can show great creativity since they imply that the individual is able to approach problems from many different angles and is not locked into one structured way of thinking. Use this time to be innovative and original. Brainstorm with others. But, because your mind is somewhat unstructured, your ability to think clearly may be interrupted by erratic impulses and an inability to concentrate over any length of time. New information may be more exciting than reorganizing what you already know. If you must work on a major project that requires sustained mental energy, take frequent breaks."
Guess I'll start with the breaks... ;)

Don't sell the railway!

Ok, I took the plane back to Berlin today, because it's so much cheaper than going by train. But it will be even more expensive, when the german railway will be sold. That'ts what the german parliament is planning to do. Damn! We should stop them! Join here!

Birthday celebrations

After a five hour ride through snow, rain and bright sunshine from south to north, we arrived in Düsseldorf on saturday just in time to help a bit with the family meeting. Helen's birthday was celebrated all through the weekend, starting with a huge party for all her friends on friday evening, fireworks at midnight included, continueing on saturday with a family and family friends meeting which started at 3 p m and went until late at night (lots of homemade cakes, and later the best oven baked soup you can imagine, delicious!), and sunday with just the sisters and their children, a relaxed brakfast and lunch, and finally a dinner in an italian restaurant.
Everybody was happy and loved the celebration, especially Helen, of course, who got lots of presents and flowers. Her big sister Cathy had written a small book "Cathy, tell me...". What a great idea, and done beautifully.
Even my father was smiling at everybody and wasn't willing to leave before late at night. He seemed to be really happy, especially when Alex took him for a walk in his wheelchair.
On sunday, Anna and Alex left after lunch and were back home in Stuttgart in the evening, just in time to let the cats enjoy some of the spring sun in the garden. They had to start studying again the same evening, having missed out on it during this week.
We took the time before they left to visit my mother's grave in the churchyard close by, and Thommy took us for a ride in his oldtimer, along the river Rhine, to Urdenbach, across by ferry to Zons, and back to Eller.
I'm leaving soon as well, flying back to Berlin this afternoon. My first guest will come tomorrow morning, Elsis from Helsinki, and then for two weeks lots of friends from all over Europe to celebrate my birthday with me. Cathy can't come, though. :(

Taking a cat nap

Whilst I was busy downtown getting paper work done and buying some gifts for Helen's birthday - she will be 18 today -, and the kids studying at university (Alex) or at home (Anna), the cats Felix and Emily prefered taking a nap. And another one. And after a verrry short stroll through the snowcovered garden and some catbiscuits, yet another one. Lucky them!
They'll have lots of time to sleep some more this weekend, when we'll be away in Düsseldorf. Not much chance to play with us then.
No more blog from me by the way today - it's "Shutdown Day".
Shut down your computer on March 24th, and find out if you can survive not using it for one whole day. Can you do that? Try and be a "part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet".
Piece of cake for me: My laptop is shut down safely in Berlin, and I won't have neither chance nor time to use any computer anyway in Düsseldorf with the birthday party and family meeting!
Oh, smart you noticed the date of this posting is March 24th? Well, you can change post options to your every whim, and all this was written on March 23rd! Of course! :)

Winter is back

Just in time for spring, winter is back with lots of snow. All the spring flowers that had come early this year because of the warm sunshine are covered deeply in the softly falling snow.
This morning Stuttgart suffered from an unexpected winter chaos: no trains running, and busses were late. Instead of by s-train I went downtown by bus and trams, crossing Elsental on my way, where kids enjoyed sledging.
Hopefully the streets to Bodnegg will be safe this afternoon

Buried close to the old home

Maria Moosbrugger, my dear mother-in-law and my children's granny, was buried yesterday. The churchyard is in the most beautiful place of all Allgäu, on a hill close to the famous village church of Bodnegg, just above the old house of the Moosbrugger family, with a splendid view all over the countryside, far away to Switzerland and Austria.
Maria had been born and raised with eleven brothers and sisters in the Schlotter family in Waldburg, her father a farmer and mayor of the village. Never rich, but always friendly to everybody, the huge family took care of little Klara, an orphan, accepting her as if she was a real sister. Maria and Klara had always been very close. Of all the brothers and sisters, four are living still, but from all of them at least a daughter or son came to the funeral.
The burial was done according to the traditions of the place and the catholic faith, with the village people, family and friends climbing up to the church for rosary on tuesday evening, and the burial on wednesday afternoon. The small church was filled with songs and prayers of the many friends and neighbours coming to say goodbye.
They were all invited to a traditional lunch of Gschlagene and potatoe salad in the local restaurant "Nussbaumer", opening up especially for the funeral lunch on this day.
When the family had a last look onto the grave in the evening, the coffin was already covered by earth, our wreaths and flowers decorating it. A wooden cross was set up with her name and the dates of her birth and death. It will be standing until the tomb-stone is set up. Not done by a Moosbrugger, like so many others in the churchyard. The father Otto who died ten years ago was the last of the Moosbrugger stonemasons, having come from Vorarlberg in Austria to this corner of Germany more than a hundred years ago.
My kids and I left the brothers Ulrich and Roland with his wife Sabine late in the evening to go to daily routine and work in Stuttgart, but will be back for the mass on Friday. The neighbours will be there, too, as well as to the three or four more memorial services that will be done during the next year until the important anniversary of her death when we will all meet again.
Life in these south german villages is still structured by old traditions, giving comfort and help in times of need.

Sudden death

My children called very early in the morning. Their grandmother, my dear mother-in-law, died from a heart attack. She was 87 this January.
I packed in a hurry and took the train to Stuttgart, through rain and snow. This evening we will go together by car to Bodnegg. The house will be empty without her.

Dancing the irish jig

I couldn't but visit the irish pub "The Shannon" close to my place for the first time ever on this St Patrick's day. It was crowded at 7 pm already, people wearing funny Guinness hats and most everything else in green. I was lucky I had my green scarf on.
After a nice but very expensive Kilkenny (why can't they sell the original and much smoother Smithwick's in Germany?), I left without waiting for the band to start playing. But will be back for sure either on a Thursday, when the pub quiz is on, or Friday, when there's always live irish folk music.
The reason why I couldn't wait to get home was that I had been to Hugendubel and bought the new Kathy Reichs, "Break no bones", so was looking forward to snuggling up on my couch reading it.
When checking mails, and surfing the web a bit first, I found this irish dance. Enjoy!

Goodbye, Berlin!

Sad news: My friend Peter is leaving Berlin!
Yesterday evening I went to his goodbye-party, meeting lots of old friends from all over Germany, some of them I knew since more than 25 years, in IG Druck und Papier, IG Medien and ver.di. Quite some trade union history we're part of, and proud of it. We're all getting older, at least look it, but we're all young at heart, as ever.
It was a nice celebration at "Terzo Mondo", the greek restaurant owned by Kostas, an actor and very good friend of Peter's since many years (remember him from "Lindenstraße" on tv?), with Einhart the former clown (and later trade union official) doing some of his program, a poet and friend of Peter's having come all the way from Sarajewo, and others doing great music. We all loved the Kreuzberg Gang rock songs best.
There were so many of us, everybody loves Peter, the collegue and artist, and those who couldn't come had sent greetings. We exchanged quite some stories and news. It made me look forward to working with them again. Not with Peter, he's in Gelnhausen now, enjoying the life of an artist after his other jobs for more than 40 years. We'll miss him.

Attracted by Zäckericker Loose

My days in Berlin (instead of Spain and France) are filling with new plans:
My collegue Peter will celebrate the end of his working with ver.di today at his favourite greek place outside Greece "Terzo Mondo", there will be a vernissage, too,
Bert from the Stach family (remember him from last year's Kieler Woche?) wants to meet up with me next wednesday in a beergarden (har-har! no chance! winter's coming back to Berlin),
Rachel the operasinger I had met at the Kaffeeklatsch in January will sing in "Don Giovanni" next Thursday with the Berlin International Opera,
Berliner Festspiele present an art performance that reminds us of the hatred of borders in a disturbing way,
and then there's this (always meant to go there but never quite brought myself to it) Oderbruch close to the polish border, and the home of the "Kinder von Golzow", a famous long time documentary the first parts of which done by DEFA in GDR I saw on tv in western Germany, and the last part at Berlinale last year.
Now I found it's only 1 hour by train from Berlin. Time to go there, it seems to be lovely in spring, the nature wakening up, and lots of artists living and working in the Oderbruch and Lebuser Land.
They got the easternmost theater in Germany there, accordingly its name is "Theater am Rand", in a place called Zollbrücke, part of the town Zäckericker Loose. (!)
Duh, who misses Spain when there's so much beauty and friends around? ;)

There 's an island in the middle of the Spree

Not only one, in fact. And the one I went to yesterday only felt like an island, but is a peninsula; Stralau.
To get there from my place is easy: jump on board the next "104" bus stopping at the corner, cross Kreuzberg and Neukölln (we did that last week), Treptow as well, then cross the river Spree (with beautiful views up north to Oberbaumbrücke, the Treptowers and the swimming sauna), over to Friedrichshain, and climb off at the very last station "Tunnelstraße". There you are in the middle of old Stralau, with one of the oldest churches in Berlin, surrounded by the river, connected to the other side with a tunnel once (hence the name).
It was a beautiful spring trip and a beautiful spring walk along the riverside, exploring the old and new neighbourhood - mostly new.
Stralau changed through the times, from an old fisher village of the Sorbes, to a recreational area in the 18th century, to a fast growing industrial suburb with a huge harbour (still cherishing the old and wild costums of "Stralauer Fischzug" since 1574), and finally the recline of all industry after the end of GDR, and the bulding of new homes for young families and taking over of the old factories by new companies, like MTV, only recently.
Flats are still affordable in Stralau, and it's part of the fashionable Friedrichshain, so lots of students, artists, and young families bring the much wanted fresh life.
To connect all those people with Berlin center is not much of a problem as such, there are still lots of stations since the time workers went to the factories last century. They look it, too, old and dusty and ugly, lacking some rebuilding as well. Station Warschauer Straße has been finished some time ago, but Ostkreuz still is an awful place to get on and off or change connections. It's all on the plan. Let's hope Stralau will blossom in newly found beauty, and not become a place only for rich people with their own cars and boats and even swimming homes.
Talking of rich people: Karl Marx spent some great time in Stralau when he was young, just relaxing and enjoying the nature and the views instead of studying all the time, as he wrote in this letter to his father. There's a memorial in Stralau. Who would have known about that? Not me. Did you?
Now find out more if you feel like it with these two guys, walking around Berlin as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Pity I missed the fun in 2002!

What a difference a day makes!

Instead of going to Spain and meeting all those wonderful friends of mine, it'll be Berlin for the next weeks. With a short break in Düsseldorf, to meet family.
How comes? Well, March just doesn't seem to be my time for going to Spain. It happened last year, when I had to cancel a flight to Madrid, planning to go to the sierras, and same now. Sigh.
And the reason? My stupid sinusitis!
I had been to the doctors yesterday afternoon, and was told to have second thoughts on going anywhere by plane with a sinusitis like mine right now. I got some pills, and they'll make me even more sleepy. Not the best time to go partying in Las Fallas, sleeping in a sports' hall with more than 200 others, if sleeping at all, that is.
So I was very sad, but had to write to all the people who had offered a place in their flat and their car to take me around and welcome me in their homes, and cancel our plans. Hopefully they're postponed only, and I can make it later this year, or rather next year for the Fallas. Cross your fingers!
Other than that I was lucky to go to Tegel for the first time ever (not counting the airport, that is), and enjoyed a beautiful sunset at the lake, discovered some great woods and the oldest tree in Berlin (dating from 1192 and called "Dicke Marie"), the oldest pub ("Alter Fritz", formerly known as "Neuer Krug", dating from 1410), spooky as well, mentioned in Goethe's "Faust", and even saw that there's Greenwich in Berlin (a promenade along the lake where you climb the boats for a cruise, with a typical british square, even a red phone booth - working). Imagine! Life's full of surprises! :)

Living close to the railway

Crellestraße - the beautiful street where I live - was called Bahnstraße before the war. It's just besides the railway, eisenbahn in german. There was a station right behind my house once, as you can see on maps from the 30s.
It was opened in 1881 as Bahnhof Schöneberg, the first one in this part of Berlin, and destroyed during the war, but the platforms.
There were plans to rebuild it since more than 60 years now. Finally it will come true: They started this winter! This will bring noise and dirt for a while, I'm afraid, but then I'll be connected to the world i. e. the main Berlin stations ever better. :)

Let the sun shine in!

Another day of sunshine, windows open wide, birds chirping, flowers popping up in the garden, fresh air filling the flat, blowing away the winter blues!
Even though I was not outside in the Berlin parks nor the woods along the lakes, I enjoyed this spring day. My rooms are clean and fresh, it's a pleasure looking out of the sparkling windows, even the carpets aren't dusty any more. Yeah, right - be happy, clean your flat!
Today some last checking of old stuff, giving away to "Humana" or throwing away what I don't need any more, and then it's time to get ready for my next trip. Off to Spain again by plane on wednesday. First Madrid, then Valencia and the famous Fallas, next week on to Cannes and Acidrongeur aka Franck (remember him from Berlinale?), and finally to Düsseldorf once more, Helen will be 18 on 24th. Family meeting, Anna and Alex will come from Stuttgart. Lovely times to be looking forward to!

Be happy! Clean your flat!

The sun was shining brightly through my windows, so a perfect day to do some spring cleaning and wash all the dust off that had been collecting whilst I was travelling. My arm is a bit stronger, so it works fine.
I had quite some fun (!) cleaning, starting with the windows. They are huge, and were covered by ivy that I had to cut first. I killed a few spiders as well that had been hibernating between the leaves and felt like exploring the world aka my flat now.
People say spring cleaning increases your happiness (see for yourself here), and admiring my sparkling windows indeed makes me smile a lot. So it's another day of cleaning with the windows opened wide to let the sunshine in, cd-player turned on loud to have some inspiring background music, and in the evening as a special treat some videos. Brokeback Mountain yesterday by Ang Lee was the first of a few awardwinning movies I had got for the weekend. I loved it!

Wien. Rennweg. Balkan

Not my new address, but a cd I bought yesterday at "Büchergilde". It's by "Wiener Tschuschenkapelle", musicians I missed to see at their concert in Berlin last month. Great Balkan music, I liked it when listening to the songs published on the web.
Since I had to buy my quarterly book/cd/picture at Büchergilde (a traditional workers' book club, my grandfather was a member more than 50 years ago), I went for it. And the Sevdah-lovesongs they had done on "Bosanske Sevdalinke".
It was just the right music to enjoy after I had been to the opera "Aleko", by Rachmaninow, very romantic, very lively, on gipsies and love and jealousy and murder. Not his best work, but done wonderfully at "Neuköllner Oper". It was the last performance of the founder and musical director Winfried Radeke, after more than 30 years. Standing ovations!
The music made my day!

Springtime!

Yesterday was bright and sunny, actually springtime's back to Berlin, with people sitting outside the cafes and everybody eating icecream, wide smiles on their faces.
My women's day was a nice mixture of things that had to be done and special treats.
Seeing the dentist and the physiotherapist were of the first kind. My dentist advised me to go and see her nonmedical practitioner to heal my chronic sinusitis. It had worked with her sinusitis wonderfully. That would allow me to have some new teeth implanted. Until then I would have to do with other dentures, no crown though. Hey, to get rid of my sinusits would be lovely, period!
I enjoyed strolling around outside in the sun, but did some redecorating in my flat first, hanging up posters and rearranging pictures. And some first springtime cleaning as well.
In the evening I went to see (and hear) the "Damenorchester Salome" in Neukölln at the "Frauenball". They had a charity lottery, so I spent five Euro and won a lemen squeezer, and two sweet little woollen bags, brightly coloured orange and red.
After a few hours I left to the english poetry readings at "Dussmann", and enjoyed the art sales "Kunstsupermarkt" they have now. And to top it all, before going back home I did some late-night-shopping at the new "Hertie" at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz, with special offers and 10 % reductions on just everything. And more authors reading, this time about Potsdamer Straße.
Quite a lovely day! And today more springtime cleaning with the sun shining outside, and in the evening: "Aleko" in the opera Neukölln! :)

Have a flower to celebrate International Women's Day with me!

It's almost 100 years that International Women's Day is celebrated to fight for women's rights. Clara Zetkin and the socialdemocrat women's meeting in 1910 had decided on one day all over the world. It soon became March 8th, a day women in USA and Russia had gone on strike for equal pay. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. Not in Germany, yet.
For many years I had been standing in front of offices and factories early in the morning to give a red carnation to the women coming to work. (Some believe the flower of the day is a red rose, but I'm a sticking to the workers' movements traditions.)
Then my children took over and gave me a flower and a small bottle of champagne for breakfast on March 8th to make it a special day for me.
Now I'm here in Berlin, having breakfast on my own without a carnation and without champagne, but will have some special treats later. There's a huge program in Berlin to choose from. And so much done by trade unions world wide, see for yourself at labourstart.
There's this great show in Saalbau Neukölln tonight, with "Damenorchester Salome", a terrific women's orchestra, with a special program for women's day. So tonight will be a girls' night out.
Since about twenty years, women's rights and special laws and politics are considered important enough in the german government to have their own ministry. They celebrate with discussions in the parliament today. But just decided that the proposed kindergarden places for all german kids will have to be postponed. They want to check first whether we need them! Har-har!
News make it a special day now as well, with programs on tv, and articles in the papers. I remember well when it had been a no-no in western Germany, and was considered leftwing or - worse - communist.
This year even shops join the celebrating crowd and offer special treats for women on March 8th. IKEA will give a free dinner to all women family card members. That doesn't solve our problems with equal pay and rights and enough kindergarden places for children to allow the mothers (and fathers) to work, but it's nice.
So happy International Women's Day to all of you! Fight for all women's rights to equality, jobs, peace and health. And don't forget to party as well!

Reasons to go to Neukölln

At a first glance you think: Wow, this is Germany, not Turkey? Going to Neukölln is almost like a visit to Istanbul, with all those turkish bakeries and shops and diners, and the famous turkish market on tuesdays and fridays afternoon at Maybachufer. They have mosques, too, the most beautiful is the Sehitlik mosque with a minaret at the turkish cemetery close to Hasenheide.
Hasenheide is a vast plain and hill, a park now, that has been a recreational area for hundreds of years. Old "turnvater" Jahn was here with his fitness lovers 200 years ago in the 19th century, and people still come here to have a wonderful time, either jogging, mountainbiking, or just strolling around. Hasenheide is famous for its fairs, and events all year round, too. It used to be the in-spot to go dancing. A place to go especially in summer, having a picknick on the meadow, looking down onto the crowded city. Or take the family to the huge swimming pool area at Sommerbad.
Neukölln has the most beautiful indoor swimming pool of Berlin, as well (see pic). There's more beauty and culture: cinemas showing the latest movies, art galeries, museums, theaters, an opera house even. And a castle with a lovely park surrounding it at Britz. Now who would have thought that!
Everybody knows about Neukölln as the part of Berlin with the most foreign inhabitants, coming from all over the world. It is multikulti at its best, but with the problems that come with it, too. The big parade of the carneval of the cultures starts at Hermannplatz in Neukölln every year at whitsuntide. It's an event not to be missed!
Find out more on the hidden beauties and places to go here.
Back to the center and everyday life: There's the mall with the best offers and soldes ever, all through the year they sell all the goodies leftovers from other Berlin Karstadt houses in this huge shop close to the town hall. Busy Karl-Marx-Straße has got all the stores you might look for in a german city center: H&M, C&A, great shoe shops, the lot.
Neukölln has been quite a place to live and shop in the 20th century. At Hermannplatz there was the most modern shopping mall of Berlin, famous like KaDeWe now.
In Rixdorf old center, not far from the hustle and bustle of Karl-Marx-Straße, you find an old bohemian village square, with small houses and even a smith's! At Richardplatz it's like being in the good old times again, with cobbled streets and life a bit easier and calmer then around.
Rixdorf used to be one of Berlin's pleasure places to go the weekends: "In Rixdorf is musike..." The Rixdorfers didn't like this image of their town, so they changed its name 1912 into Neukölln. What a pity!
Anyway, they got the best butchery in Berlin: "Blutwurstmanufaktur" at Karl-Marx-Platz. Try their blood pudding! It won prizes all over Europe, and the butcher is a chevalier du boudin noir. I got some sausages yesterday, they are delicious!
Last but not least in Neukölln you'll find the dentist I was sent to. Taking an x-ray and telling me my teeth are just great, though a bit long maybe from paradontitis, and will stay with me for another ten to fifteen years if I take good care of them. Doesn't seem much to me, third teeth are nothing to look forward to. But no chance to have an implantat, as suggested before. Sigh.
Hey, but due to the dentist I went to Neukölln. It's only 15 minutes by bus passing Kreuzberg. Should do it more often, without this reason - there's so many more plesant ones!

Berlin rich and Berlin poor

After some drizzle in the morning, the sun invited for a walk outside. I took the bus 204 to Ku'damm, changed into bus N19 and drove up the famous street to Adenauerplatz. It's fun to stroll around here, all those lovely streets and small shops, including a few very good 2nd hand at Droysenstraße.
No need to buy anything, my newly sifted through wardrobes are full to the brim, but it was nice to have a look all the same.
Then along Ku'damm from Lehniner Platz and the famous theater Schaubühne eastwards along the posh and very expensive flagstores of Gucci, Maxmara, you name it, they got it. New clubs are opening up galore, so night life comes back to this western magistrale as well.
At Gedächtniskirche around 7 p.m., the soup kitchen was surrounded by hundreds of poor, homeless people, mostly men. Only a few meters away from the rich at the Ku'damm shopping center.
There's more than 20 per cent of unemployment in Berlin, tenthousands of homeless in the streets, you find beggars everywhere, in the s-trains, in front of the shopping malls. Children are suffering the most. It's a shame. Some organisations and churches try to help, but society doesn't seem to care.
Tauentzien and KaDeWe were attracting me, to have a look at the special decorations and offers for the birthday, but my feet were killing me by then, walking around for three hours. So I called it a day and went home to salmon and pumpernickel. Quite different from the soup out of plastic bowls at Gedächtniskirche...

A day to be happy!

Sunday, bright sunshine, almost spring even in Berlin, children playing in the parks, people browsing the Schöneberg fleamarket (notice the berlinale bag - it was 20 euro instead of 50 three weeks ago), motorbikers riding along Kudamm - everybody's enjoying the day!
Now did you know this day will probably help them live longer, and healthier as well? British government only recently found the secret to a long life: sheer happiness!
So here's a few hints how to be happy in yesterday's Observer and in one of my favourite blogs.
The best way is to be loved and love yourself. Go figure! :)

No copper moon on Berlin

I was up until late, even out in the streets to have a better look. There was no beautiful copper moon to be seen over Berlin. Too many clouds because of the rain. :(
Maybe I should have gone to the planetarium? And enjoyed the full moon even bigger and with music to go with the spectacular event? I wonder if the rain would have spoilt that as well.
It had been drizzling all day, when I strolled around my favourite shops and markets in Schöneberg. Fresh fruits and vegetables at Winterfeldt market made my mouth water, and back home I did some tasty rosmarin potatoes and fried peppers, similiar to pimientos de padron. Mango-banana-salad for afters. Lecker!

The night of the full moon

Tonight the full moon will be very special!
Not only wonderfully big and shining all night through my bedroom window, making sleeping almost impossible except for when I cover my head with a pillow, like last night (see pic).
There will be a total lunar eclipse tonight around midnight. Don't miss out on it!

Happy birthday, KaDeWe! And Adlon! And Edeka!

100 years and still going strong!
KaDeWe is the biggest shopping center in all of continental Europe. Its birthday celebration was in the news all over Germany yesterday.
The "Adlon", famous hotel at Brandenburg Gate, is 100 this year as well.
And "Edeka", a food shop chain, was founded in 1907, too. It's my favourite place to buy everyday food in the mall at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz.
The mall houses a new "Hertie" since yesterday. It used to be a "Hertie" when I moved here six years ago, was taken over by Karstadt and renamed "Karstadt", and now it's a new concept, but the old name. The reopening was celebrated with lots of clowns, cookies and champagne. And special offers.
Hertie was founded more than 100 years ago by Oskar Tietz, one of the first in Germany to open up shopping malls. He bought KaDeWe in 1927. Since he was a jew, he was forced by the nazi government to give up all these malls. Read more about the history of KaDeWe on RBB website.
I did't have any of the huge cake in KaDeWe served by Berlin lord mayor Klaus Wowereit, nor champagne in Hertie, just healthy fruit and veggies and lots of hot tea. I hate these spring colds!

Welcome Knut

During Berlinale I had seen this message everywhere around the Berlinale Palace, and found only now it was a greeting to the cute little teddybear at Berlin Zoo.
Everybody likes him, the icebear baby, rejected by his mother, raised by man. Elsis and me will go and meet him when she's coming to visit end of the month.
For now, he's regularly on the news and will get his own tv series every saturday morning on RBB, and you can read about him on his fanpage. Such a sweet little thingy! Cheered me up between hot baths, hot tea, hot lemon, and cold rain outside.