A cold and two cats

I caught one of those summer colds, and two cats: Gustav and Emil (Garribald renamed). After a night of tossing and turning, shivering and sweating alternately, I was lucky I felt a bit better around noon, and since Christel helped me, managed to go to the animal farm and get my black tomcats. They're old and a bit sick already, but it's nice to have them around. They're fast asleep now, both of them, and so will I soon, to get better. It's a shame: the sun is shining outside and it's a perfect day!

A long weekend started

What a lovely sunny week, topped with a long lazy weekend! I took a day off on monday (like everybody else) and will be back at work next wednesday.
Pity the temperature dropped last night! Now it's back to normal April in Berlin, around 16 degrees, but still sunny. Perfect to go to Werder to enjoy the fruit blossom festival. Or take a walk around one of the many lakes, Wannsee or Müggelsee. Maybe a trip by boat to Little Venice?
No chance to go swimming: the open air pools opened up yesterday, just in time for the last hot day. I would freeze in the water and at the beach now. And no bikini either, since I had done some proper spring cleaning and throwing away in March.
Yesterday I did my favourite saturday walks around town, everybody was outside on the sidewalks sitting in front of the cafes and restaurants. Musicians were playing everywhere, almost like on June 21st, people listening and swinging to the rhythm, smiling to each other.
Winterfeldt market sold summer flowers (!), strawberries and the delicious asparagus from Beelitz. The harvest began three weeks early, with the warm winter and spring we had this year. The official first day of harvesting this lovely vegetable is April 19th.
No vegetables for me this time, I had falafel at Habibi, but I bought a bunch of flowers that are filling the air of my flat with their beautiful scent.
Time to get ready and going now, to make the most of this long sunny day! :)

Evenings at ver.di

They can be rather long and fun! On thursday, an exhibition was opened up, with free jazz and free drinks. The artist Ulla Walter was there as well, so we had lots of chances to talk about her pictures and life as an artist in the GDR and later. Bärbel Mann did the speech - I had worked with her in the late 90s when I was the trade union official for artists in IG Medien.
With her the series of meeting old friends and collegues this evening started. Whom did I see in the ver.di entrance hall but my dear old favourite head of a ver.di region, Holger Malterer! We know each other since more than twenty years now, it's great to work with him, he almost managed to talk me into joining his team in Kiel, but I refused. Sigh! Now we still meet at least twice or three times a year in Berlin or Kiel for a drink and a talk. Whenever I need the advice of a true friend in matters when a man and a collegue is asked for, he's my choice.
When I left the company of my collegues, and walked through the warm summer evening (in April!), another one of my old friends called. I hadn't heard of him since ages. Nice to chat again on the phone after such a long time.
Yesterday the second long evening at ver.di started at 4 pm with celebrations: Marina Ries leaves ver.di in Berlin and goes to Munich. We will all miss her. The party on the terrace was still on when I left at around midnight. The good mood and atmosphere allowed lots of talks and new ideas on work. Hartmut, my new boss, and Bernd, my dear collegue from Internet editorial staff, were joining my brainstorming. That's the way of working I like best! :)
I took a taxi back home, and was lucky to meet a friendly driver who offered spicy tea and good chat. He told me he had been drawn towards me in the street because of my positive and strong vibes. Will I believe that? Yeah, why not! It's always great to hear you are as well. :)

Welcome to the world, Mika Karl!

The third Stach child is born! Mika Karl, a pretty boy (again).
Congratulations, Bert and Jana! And Eric and Lars!

Great idea!

"Jump out of your career! Money or life" (sign on a Berlin bench)
Oh, and marvel on these predictions for 2000 made as early as 1900! This man knew what he was talking about...

I missed...

... Tanja from Lahti, who was in Frankfurt last weekend. :(
I would have loved to see her again, even if our tight schedules might have kept us from spending a long time together. Check her blog to read what she had been doing in the german capital of fairs and money.
... World Book Day on April 23rd. I didn't even read, let alone buy any books or go to any lectures. Unbelievable! :(
... going to the choir today. I was too tired. Arrrrgh! :(
... taking my reading glasses to the doctors at work this morning. My eyesight got worse since the last check-up three years ago, and I need new glasses to look better. And above all to see better. :(
... having my hair died a new bright red this evening. I was too tired. Arrrrgh again! :(
... getting tickets for the fabulous opera event this weekend. And the famous theatre event this weekend (not as spectacular as the other one, but still). Sigh! :(
... booking in time to have a cheap short weekend off, either from April 27th to May 1st, or May 16th to May 20th. Or both. :(
I took two holidays though, so might do some biking around Berlin instead.
The weather will be great, anyway. Maybe even go for a swim in the celebrated, 100 years old, first and biggest european beach not-by-the-sea, Wannsee? To make up and forget about all those things I missed?
Happy birthday to you, dear Wannsee beach, by the way!

A walk in the park

With a sunshine like this, we had to spend most of the day outside, enjoying the view from Reichstag (my guests), walking around the Schloss Charlottenburg park (all of us), it's world heritage, by the way, and having a beer at "Toronto", Crellestraße, (Duckstein for all but Antra who had a Berliner Weisse).
They liked Berlin and staying at my place a lot. In the evening we had latvian noodles and chicken for dinner and some beer tasting with leftovers from the party end of last month, and then some singing lessons in latvian folk songs. It's a pity I couldn't remember any german songs to sing with them. I will have to work on that, it's so nice to teach each other typical songs and sing together.
This morning they left early to go to IKEA for breakfast and some heavy shopping (no IKEA in the baltic countries, incredible), and then have a last walk around Berlin center. They should be back in Riga now. When hugging me goodbye this morning, they asked when I'll come and visit them this summer. Sigh, I wished I knew.

Back home with new guests

After a long day of discussions on digital preservation in Frankfurt, the ICE train took me back to Berlin in four hours. Back home Antra, her parents and her aunt were already awaiting me, having brought some delicious latvian food for dinner, and bought some wine to go with it in Berlin.
Even though we were all rather tired (they had had to get up at 4 am to catch the plane), we spent some time talking and feasting on the delicacies until almost midnight. Their day had been lovely, walking around and taking the busses 100 and 200 in between when their feet had got tired. Those busses are just perfect for some lazy sightseeing, especially when you are lucky to sit upstairs right in front, going past all the famous places in Berlin center. Lots of sunshine as well, though it was only 12 degrees and the wind had been blowing hard, as almost always in Berlin.
This morning we had brunch, and my guests left rather early to browse Berlin some more. I will join them around noon. Looks like it's getting warmer, as well. :)

International conference in Frankfurt

From Berlin to Frankfurt by train I went yesterday, to spend an afternoon browsing the famous old city center and to attend the international conference on longtime preservation. It started with a meeting at the Kaisersaal, a historically important room in the town hall, continued by an invitation to a typical Hesse dinner. The first collegues I met and spoke with were from the german archaeological institute in Berlin (!).
Today the working part of the conference started in the "Deutsche Nationalbibliothek". What a surprise to see my dear old friend Bernd Füllner from the Heinrich-Heine-Institut on the participants list! A few minutes later I had found him in the crowd, we were both happy to see each other again after more than twenty years, and both working on similiar projects! So it looks like I'll be visiting him and his wife Karin in Düsseldorf soon.
The conference is a great start into my new job, it will continue in a few minutes: I'm writing from an internetcafe in the German National Library.

Finding beauty at work

This afternoon, my collegues and I went to work in our archive at "Behala" in the Berlin west harbour area (it's beautiful and a historical monument). All afternoon we spent sorting, checking, chucking files and literature. It was great to be outside in the fresh air again in the evening.
The small church for sailors round the corner was a surprise to me, and the U 9 station as well: all the walls are decorated with poems, some of Heinrich Heine! I wonder who thought of this astonishing piece of art in the middle of the harbour and working area...
Back home, I started getting ready for my trip to the EU meeting tomorrow and arranging the flat for my next guests. Antra and her parents and aunt from Riga will come on Saturday to stay the weekend. She hosted me for three weeks last summer.
Pity I'll be back from Frankfurt in the evening only. But Karen will welcome them in Crellestraße. :)

Working all day long

My new boss and old friend and collegue, Hartmut, was back to work today after his Easter vacation. We spent almost all day talking, arguing, working on the new structure for the ver.di history website. Now it's done, I can start all my new projects tomorrow - one after the other, but sometimes a bit of everything per day.
Time went fast, and after ten hours we admired the red sky and the sun setting behind the tv-tower, and noticed it was time to leave the office and go home.
Too late to buy any food for dinner - not at my place! The turkish shop around the corner was still selling fruits and vegetables and even fish, I got some nice pide, and went home through the empty streets, wet from the evening rain. It's getting colder now rather fast - april's back after a short summer interlude!

A place to feel at home?

Crossing Berlin from southwest to northeast, just to visit some cute cats in the animal home in Falkenberg. It took me two hours to get there, and two hours back, by bus from Schöneberg across the center to Hackesche Höfe in Mitte, then on by tram crossing Prenzlauer Berg, the Thälmann park with the huge monument for the workers' leader, and Weissensee with a lake busy with people grilling, rowing, not swimming yet, finally by bus to the small village of Falkenberg, with the only clay building in all of Berlin.
Across the fields and blossoming fruit trees (it's the time of the tree blossom festivals in the villages and towns in Berlin outskirts) to the animal "home", a huge building with broad streets and water ways, even fountains, for the visitors, and not so much space for the animals. The cats in this house were living in glass container lookalike places, on their own, if lucky with one other cat. It didn't feel right.
Gustav and Garribald were nice cats indeed, but one seemed to suffer a lot from staying there, he kept hidden inside a basket all the time. The other one was just happy to have me close by, playing and purring and licking my hands. Pity I couldn't take them with me at once, but I have to find somebody to look after them when I'm away for a few days.
Today at work everything went as great as ever. Heinrich was back, my collegue since 1984, the days of IG Druck and Papier. He sent me a mail with a day to remember. Well, I certainly did: we two were working a lot on this union together - then...

Shopping in the sun

I enjoyed browsing Berlin in the sun yesterday, first doing some shopping around Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz (lots of tulips to decorate the flat, among others) and browsing the fleamarkets and second hand shops in Schöneberg, then on with Hanne to Winterfeldtmarket and further to the "Castle" (Schloss), a mall in Steglitz. She took one of my many spring jackets, we both got great t-shirts at Goltzstraße (Nicowa, 7 Euro - dead cheap), and finally I never found a bikini, but she bought four pairs of shoes. (!)
Quite a few shops are closing down around my kiez (check here what it was like this January), like my favourite newspaper and cd place and the new flower shop (lasted only six months, the bookstore that had been there before only 12, some places are doomed), and some new ones open up. "Starbucks" will be here at the busstop on the sunny side of Hauptstraße/Akazienstraße, soon I will be able to sit in the sun and enjoy a starbucks coffee (yuk).
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz will be looking lovely again after renovating for more than a year. It will even have a fountain! Hopefully it will all be ready by July (read more here).
Hertie has changed a lot: Debenham's took over, and now it's totally into british lifestyle and women's fashion, designed by John Rocha, f.e. Schöneberg is one of three places in Germany where this new concept is starting. Lovely! I don't have to go to London now to buy London fashion!
Today it's off to the fleamarket in Berlin Tiergarten, and then looking for cats at the local animal home. It used to be in Lankwitz, just a short busride away, but they grew and moved, and now it takes me two hours to get there by bus and tram and train. It's faster to get to the animal farm in Stuttgart, by plane and car!
But still: It would be nice to have two cats meeowing at me when I come home, purring to get some food and hugs. Anna chose two brothers on their website, Gustav and Garribald. If they're nice, and I find neighbours to take over when I'm travelling, I'll get them. :)

Summer feeling

Isn't it great to wake up early in the morning, sun shining brightly through the windows, blue sky, warm already, and getting even better whilst you're sipping your coffee, reading the local newspaper and/or mails to find out what to do this lovely day!
Time for bathing season to start, like on the swimming pool at Spree close to my office (click pic to see better). It's the red brick building to the right of the second bridge.
Work is going smoothly. I applied to an international meeting on longtime archives in Frankfurt, was invited and booked a room in a colourful hotel near the main station. I had been there quite often in the late 90s when working with the trade union artists, it seems to have changed and improved a lot since then.
First calls with longtime collegues outside ver.di yesterday to tell them I'm back and ready for some new projects we'll do or at least start this year, and first meetings with more friends to start my Berlin evening program: besdies swimming and hopefully hiking and biking soon, it's choir singing, to name just one that will start next tuesday (Chor Märkisches Ufer) and thursday ("IG Peng", a trade union choir in Friedenau). Rehearsals are planned as well already, one in St Hedwig's cathedral on June 21st, the day of the "Fete de la musique".
No meeting any HC-members last week, neither Mika from Helsinki and the German-finnish-society, nor Gabi and her guests at "Union Jack", the "Gilmartin Potter Band" with new songs of their cd they had done in Cologne recently. I was too tired in the evenings to see anybody - couchpotatoe for a change to regain some energy -, but Hanne will come this morning for a look through my wardrobe (hopefully taking away a few of my jackets I don't wear anymore for reasons I have no clue about), and a walk to Winterfeldt market.
Oh, by the way: I got a great jacket at "Humana" yesterday, even bargained and paid less. It's by Blacky Dress, a shining black, with a huge pleated collar, and just perfect for international meetings! :)

Life at work

Working in my old office with new collegues and new tasks is quite nice! Lots of researching on the web today on archival systems and trade union history websites, giving over the documents of my former job "Projekt Senatorin" (internet for senior members) to the archive, and sorting everything in general.
Daily routine is taking over fast: Getting to the ver.di building at the river Spree by bus at 9 am, tomatoe sandwich for breakfast, coffee and talks on the job of the day with Kurt in the archives' office on 6th floor with beautiful views over the river and Berlin center (tv-tower and even Reichstag included), working in my old office on 2nd floor (beautiful view onto the ver.di yard with coffee tables and relaxing collegues) until lunch at 12:30, with some friends: always Hanne and Kurt, often Bert. The third young Stach is due any day now, a boy again (!).
Work is done (and me as well) at 4:30 am. Hopefully I'll get used to working longer or won't be as tired as I am now, so I'll enjoy the summer evenings outside.
Summer is back in town! 22 degrees and more to come this weekend! :)

A delightful end to a delightful day

Ohhhh, I'm sooooooo tired! My second day at work, and I'm not used to it any more. ;)
Lots of nice friends welcoming me. And I'm in the middle of the new job already, finding coworkers to set up the new website on ver.di history and starting the digital archive. It's great to be back!
My two finnish guests left today, and yesterday evening we had this great dinner in this cozy french restaurant "La Cocotte". With life music to listen to while enjoying each mouthful of delicacies and each drop of wine and calvados. :)
More tomorrow - I'm done...

Cold, but happy Easter sunday!

Enjoy this long Easter weekend, even if the weather won't allow Easter walks. After a delicious brunch (over here loads of different dishes, from finnish kalakukko to suebian Maultaschen and italian spaghetti arrabiata, followed by bienenstich cake) be a couch potatoe for a change with all those movies they are showing on tv, and for some extra special fun learn a lot about german Easter holidays and traditions and listen to the sounds of the chicken orchestra here.

Browsing Berlin - same sights, different guests :)

It felt a bit like groundhog day - going to the same places, showing the same sites, telling the same stories. Luckily the friends were different ones. ;)
It was a lovely sunshiny day with Keijo and Virve all around Berlin center, including Schöneberg fleamarket, where we found some smashing hat and jacket and a shisha for them. Bargaining was fun and worked: 10 euro for the lot! They seem to have enjoyed the day: read for yourself in his blog.
At midnight we celebrated Keijo's birthday with cake and champagne and easter bunnies. Happy birthday, dear Resfeber! Have a great day today!

The changing of the guests

Yesterday Randy and I went to Tegel airport to meet my new guests, our friends from chat and from my Finland trip last summer. The plane was 30 minutes early, again. Weird.
When standing in the queue to buy some tickets for the public transport, a woman offered me a weekly ticket for free, which Viivi and Resfeber can use until Sunday. What a nice welcome!
At home we had a late breakfast, to which Johannes and Gothic Girl aka Aiste joined us. We all went to the central station together to wave Randy goodbye. He's off back home with the special prize ticket (only 29 Euro), will visit Aiste in Derby, UK, soon, and we'll meet again in Milano in May. Maikel had invited to a picknick in the park there. So of course we couldn't resist booking a cheap flight for the weekend (60 Euro from Berlin, not bad at all).
Now Viivi aka Virve and her friend since last summer Resfeber aka Keijo are here for the Easter holidays. It's his birthday on Sunday. So more party, this time on leftovers from last weekend.
It was a lazy evening since they were really tired, having left Joensuu by 5 am to catch the flight in Helsinki. Now they feel full of energy again, Viivi is to the hairdressers', and as soon as she's back looking more beautiful than ever (worked with Elsis as well), we're off to some heavy sightseeing around Berlin. :)

Then there was only one

It's like this song, when you start with ten and loose one after the other. Now it's only Randy and I touring Berlin, not by boat (weather is too bad, hardly any sun), but by bus and walking a lot, and in the evening Hackesche Höfe (Ampelmann-shop was a favourite for souvenirs, as always), Scheunenviertel and Museumsinsel and the Pergamon Museum. I always admire the Ishtar-Gate most. There's a poster of one of the lions' in my bathroom even.
Some more HC-members had meant to meet us, but they were all too lazy to do so. Well, it was one of those days where you feel like staying at home and watching tv.
Today Randy will leave, but first go with me to Tegel airport to meet Viivi and Resfeber from Joensuu. They will stay with me for the Easter holidays. I wonder whether we will find the time to do everything they are up to. :)

Surprise, surprise!

What a day full of astonishing turns and events! First of all I got this birthday parcel from my sister's family, it was a cute little black leather bad/purse filled with great goodies. :)
Then I went to the doctor's to learn more about my shoulder. A muscle might be torn, so I might have to be operated. To find out more, I'll have to go to see a specialist. Next available date: end of June. There goes my trip to lapland for midsummer. :(
The good thing about it: I had an injection which reduced my pains, and was set on sick leave for this week. :)
Back home, Randy aka Nagynl and GG aka Aiste were already waiting for me to take this trip by boat we had planned to do. It was later then we had expected, so we changed our minds and did not choose the four hour trip around Berlin center, but went to Wannsee instead to take the 30 minutes bvg-ferry across the lake.
We arrived and found the ferry had left a few minutes ago, the next one was due an hour later, so we changed our minds again and hopped on a boat for a cruise around Potsdam and Pfaueninsel. It was just lovely to be on the seven lakes in the bright sunshine, admiring the historical sites of the Potsdam conference (and much more).
Just when I was enjoying life and smiling at the sun and the woods and the lakes, I got a phonecall. My dear old friend and collegue Hartmut, head of the ver.di archive, called to tell me the good news: I will be working with him again starting this month! :)
I am sooooooooo lucky! :)

Cold and sunny spring

Temperature dropped to about 10 degrees, we were lucky to have had such a nice sunny and warm spring weekend. Yesterday Randy and GG went around Berlin, whilst I went to the physiotherapist. :(
Shoulder and arm are still lousy (after almost five months!), so today it's another day at the doctor's to find out more.
Hopefully we'll do this trip by boat we were talking about in the afternoon. Berlin is so great seen from the lakes and rivers on a sunny day. :)

Almost alone again

Only two guests staying here now. Everybody else left. We had some great time though. Will tell you later. ;)
First of all: I got a parcel on Tuesday morning! With lots of nice finnish thingies. From my dear friend Tanja in Lahti, Finland. It's a prize I won because I was the 10000 guest on her knitting blog! Isn't that ever so sweet? She even remembered I love the moomins! :)

Partyyyyyyyyyy! :)

Just a short note before breakfast to tell the party weekend is just lovely! Friends came from all over Europe, and HC-chat is quite deserted, cos everybody is here! :)
More when I have more time - maybe tomorrow?
By the way: Yesterday was the last day of my sabbatical. Five more years of working now. Starting with a sunday, followed by a vacation until after Easter. :)