Helen's last day in Berlin

Tomorrow she will leave for Düsseldorf again. But first she had a great time today at the fan mile close to Brandenburg Gate celebrating the german soccer team. And listening to music, dancing, cheering, the lot. (You might find her in this pic, if you take a very close look.)
Well, being the lucky girl she is, she was smack in front of the stage and saw it all. Lots of celebrities, too, which she kind of got used to this week. Helge Schneider in front of the vietnamese restaurant at Crellestraße last Wednesday, for a start, to name just one.
With a small sunburn and stories about fans fainting by the dozen due to sun, heat and dehydration, she was happily back home and slept whilst I went to my weekly fitness program. Her energy was high enough then to walk with me to Kreuzberg monument and enjoy the view from the top, have some southamerican icecream at "Inka Eis" later, and finish off the day with cocktails and sweet potatoes at my favourite cuban bar and restaurant, Varadero.
She'll be back, she said, next time with her boyfriend Felix. Welcome!

Sunday delights

Helen was curious to know more about Berlin history, and she loves going by boat along the river Spree on a sunny day, so the trip we found today was just perfect!
The "Berliner Geschichtswerkstatt" offers these great trips on Berlin history, with music, literature, and, if possible, people telling about their own life then. We were lucky and had all of this, and spent wonderful three hours.
In the evening, we got the last two seats at Café Mirell to watch Germany loose against Spain. With paella to go with it (and a sign saying "We'll eat the spanish!") Yeah, well. I cheered for the spanish, anyway. But the paella was good!

Tell an American to vote!

I was asked today at Bergmannstraßenfest. Even here, US citzens are promoting the election and giving information on how to vote from uproad.
I'm glad to help. So: If you happen to be from the States, and it's still in time, vote, please! And my very personal addition: Vote for Barack Obama!
No other news today? But of course!
Lots of rain and a few sunny spells, CSD parade, jazz festival, theatre summer festivities, and now Helen's off to some bowling in Spandau with her almost halfbrother Yves. (He's her mother's former husband's son, and her older sister Cathy's halfbrother. Do I have to explain further?)
I'm sitting in my livingroom alone, typing away on my blog, Emil snoaring besides me. I'll better go to sleep now, as well. Tomorrow there's more walks and music and festivals and a boat trip through Berlin's history in the 40s. And hopefully more sun.

Berlin walks

Helen met me at work today, we were ready to start a weekend of festivals and events with a walk around the historic Berlin center. She had loved Hackescher Markt when here two years ago, and wanted to see more of it. Since she's interested in german history of 20th century, especially the Nazi time, she had been to museums and exhibitions on this dark and sad period of our history the last days.
Walking around Spandauer Vorstadt, the same streets where 80 years ago our fellow germans were persecuted and killed, was very special. We visited a small museum at Rosenthaler Straße, in the rooms where during the Nazi time jews had been working and some even hidden. You may wander through the rooms where they were saved for some time, look at their faces in photographs, read their letters, and postcards, know about their lifes. It's very moving.
Afterwards, the hustle and bustle of Hackesche Höfe was nothing we felt like experiencing, we passed through to Sophienstraße and the old quarters.
Our walk was stopped by a downfall of heavy rain forcing us to rush home and get changed. Off with lovely, but soaking wet dresses and sandals, on with sensible shoes and warm comfortable clothes for the rest of the day.
First to Steffen Osvath and his vernissage at Brunnenstraße - great to meet him again, and to see his new works of art. (He obviously enjoyed being in Berlin,too, as you see in the pic.) Crossing this fast changing area north of posh Mitte, we found "Umsonstladen" (everything for free) and "Weinerei" (wine for free).
Then on to Bergmanstraße and its jazz festival, and some more rain. In the end, we gave up and went back home. Tomorrow we'll try again. Street festivals are supposed to not be rained upon! So good luck to CSD parade!
P.S. If you ever come to Berlin, put your best walking shoes on and start experiencing this ever changing capital - f.e. following the streets of the citywalk Berlin!

Turkish pride

You thought putting on your soccer t-shirt and waving your national flag was fine enough when joining your friends at public soccer viewing? No chance in Berlin! Windows, shops, people and last but definitely not least cars are decorated lavishly. And why should anybody go to a boring place with lots of fellow Germans, when Xberg, Neukölln or - yes - Crellestraße are the in-place to be, since the german and the turkish team are fighting tonight.
Watching Turkey vs. Germany in Crellestraße definitely was special. Neighbours were waving at each other with german or turkish flags respectively. Each and every goal was celebrated, either at the turkish places or the german or both. Germany won - with lots of luck. So everybody was celebrating - together!
We sure will have more of fireworks, confetti and car parades on Sunday. Germany will meet Spain for the finals then.
If we're lucky and the weather holds, we might watch at "Golgatha". Otherwise it's Café Mirell again. So much fun to watch and cheer with the neighbours - and rather close to walk home if it starts raining!
Oh yeah, I almost forgot: "Linie 1" at Grips-Theater was wonderful! Helen and I enjoyed three hours of great music and a story that makes it the true Berlin musical of the 80s. See and listen for yourself here!

A Wednesday in Schöneberg

Today my short vacation started, and I woke up with a bad headache - a summer cold! I'm so lucky! ;)
Some paracetamol, lots of coffee, lemonjuice and water later, Helen and I were off to a walk around Schöneberg shops and markets. And a hairdresser, as you can well see and admire in the picture, taken in the evening at Café Mirell where we were watching soccer. Germany won, and now we'll have to watch soccer again on Sunday.

And here's Helen!

My niece Helen is visiting for a week. On her own, since neither her boyfried Felix nor any of her other friends found time and/or money to join her. I took two days off work to show her around a bit.
But first of all, I met her at Berlin Tegel airport and took her by bus to my flat. We sure will have fun, with soccer and theatre and lots of festivities!

Visitors

Oh dear, so many days without any postings! Sorry, no time at all! Working at ver.di all day but the weekend, working out in the evenings to get my shoulder back in shape, and last but not least nice visitors to accompany to the Berlin events.
Anna and Volker were here last weekend, and my niece Helen will come for a whole week tomorrow. 48 Stunden Neukölln art festival, queer festival, Fete de la musique, Christopher Street Day, Bergmannstraßenfest, theatre evenings (Helen got free tickets for "Linie 1"), lots of soccer (Germany against Turkey tomorrow - Berlin will celebrate whoever might win), and a vernissage to enjoy. Steffen Osvath again, in Berlin for a change. :)
We had a great time all these days, and sure will all through next week as well. So don't be angry if you don't find postings this month. There will be again, I promise!
The pic is showing visitors in my garden. Turkish women dressed colourfully, chatting and enjoying dinner in the shadow of the trees, underneath a huge dwarf (politely looking away). It's never boring in Berlin...

Weekend pleasures

After the ver.di walk and cleaning action in the morning (shown on tv in the evening), I spent a rather normal Saturday in Schöneberg: strolling around Winterfeldplatz market, on to some wonderful jazz festival at Savignyplatz in Charlottenburg, and last but not least cleaning my flat. Which I decided to continue doing today. Rain outside, so jazz and other festivities in the Berlin streets might be for free, but rather cold and wet. I hate it!
Now the flat looks fine again, and I even managed to check my shoes and clothes and chuck some. Never stop these rare spurs of energy once you got them!
Emil was happy to have me around until I started hoovering and splashing water all over the place to do some heavy cleaning. Then he hid whereever he could. He was not amused!

Stolpersteine - again

My union had called for some work to commemorate victims of the Nazis. There are many "Stolpersteine" in the Berlin streets, and quite a lot can hardly be noticed because of all the dirt that covers them after some time. The metal plates need to be polished. So we decided to do right that: Take a walk around Hackescher Markt and synagogue in Mitte, through Spandauer Vorstadt known as Scheunenviertel, and clean the memorial obstacles.
Our ver.di-collegue Armin told us about the people those stones were dedicated to, and quite some passers-by stopped and listened. Tomorrow morning there will be more teams in several parts of Berlin. I'll join those at Bayerisches Viertel, an area where many famous and rich jews had lived before the Nazis had killed them. The township does a lot to make us see what life had been like for the victims. I'm glad they are not forgotten.

'68 - still going strong

1968 is still keeping me working. Today I attended a presentation of the new edition of "Ästhetik und Kommunikation", a journal I had read (like everybody I knew) when studying in the 70s. It was THE paper to have lying around in your flat - shared, of course, the flat and the paper.
The authors of this new edition were all in their 60s - of course, 40 years after their exciting years at university. Talking and listening to them was interesting, indeed. I still haven't changed my mind since the 70s, though. I was never one of them. No wonder: I started my studies at Düsseldorf university five years later. There was a gap, indeed, then!
Funny enough, my old schoolmate Silvia send me a mail today, telling me she had written about her '68 experience to a radio program on 1968. She had told them about our exam celebration in 1969 (!), when everybody was told to wear black, and guess who didn't! One single little girl sitting in the middle of the black crowd, with curly red hair, wearing a bright seagreen twopiece. Me, of course!
I had totally forgotten about it. But it must have been the talk of the day then, seeing Silvia still remembered it as an act of protest against old meaningless customs.
Those were the days...

Never watch alone

If you can help it. In my neighbourhood you definitely can. Crellestraße is packed with tv-watching crowds, like here at "Cafe Mirell". Since the weather is still nice, and the evenings are warm, I go outside every night to enjoy the summertime and soccer. Emil would prefer me to stay at home, and he'll have lots of chances to do so end of the week, when cold temperatures and rain will keep me inside. A chance to clean the flat, too. Lots of guests coming soon...

Don't enter Crellestraße!

It took me a while to talk police into letting me pass into my street this evening.It was blocked by at least eight fire engines,and there was still the smell of a big fire in the air. A man had died in the flames, neighbours told me. I had been worried about Emil, my dear cat, and about my flat, but my house wasn't affected at all. I was lucky!
Almost all policemen and firemen have left now. Soccer fans took over again.
And now off to watch Netherlands beat Italy - or the other way round. May the best looking team win! ;)
P.S. 23:46 h: The fire across from "Cafe Toronto" had been huge, I read in online news later. 500 m2 of roofs in flames, the black soothy clouds were seen for miles around, 80 firemen had been working feverishly to extinguish the fire and save the inhabitants. The fire had started before 2 pm and was under control at 6 pm only. People (and their cats) had stayed in the burning house, but everybody was saved, and even though a few had been harmed severely, nobody died. Check "Tagesspiegel", "Welt", , "Bild" and "RBB tv" for more infos and pictures of the huge fire in my street.
I'm so glad everyboy was saved after all, thanks to firebrigade and police, who risked their health and lives.

Soccer rules in Crellestraße!

The small square in front of "Cafe Toronto" was crowded tonight. More than 500 soccer fans had decided to do public viewing here: watch the european championship on the huge screen. Since there were not enough seats, neighbours brought their kitchen chairs to sit on and watch the games. Turkish fans wore german shirts today, and waved german flags instead of the turkish they had had on Saturday. It was a cheerful crowd!
A few hours earlier, Christel and I had a lovely dinner there to celebrate her 70th birthday, after a stroll through Naturpark Südgelände on this first day of parks and gardens in Berlin.
Happy belated birthday, dear Christel, and many happy returns! And thanks again for always being around when I need your help!

Soccer in the streets

Crellestraße has changed tonight. TVs have been set up in front of almost every house, and neighbours meet there to watch soccer together. European soccer championship has started, and we're all cheering - whatever our nationality. :)
P.S. There are those, too, lucky enough to have been invited to watch the match in Geneva. Like Volker and Anna. For free! Working with advocats in sports definitely has its advantages...

Stolpersteine

Walking along german city streets, you might find some obstacles on the pavewalks: Stolpersteine. Glittering stones in front of houses, small, with a name, and two dates. They tell you facts that remained from people who lived here once, and were killed by the german nazis.
Since May 20th, we have seven stolpersteine in Crellestraße, too. Neighbours had collected informations about victims who had lived in the then called Bahnstraße, a small center of workers and communists movement.
Today people from my street commemorated their former neighbours with speeches, readings and flowers. They are not forgotten!

After work pleasures

It took me a few days to feel back home in Berlin after the long weeks in Stuttgart, and get used to those hot summer days and nights we enjoy here, too. Improving my health is No 1 priority now, so exercises, walking, and swimming have become part of my daily routine. I even joined a fitness club at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz (recommended by my doctor), and took up working at a high desk, standing all the time (another recommendation).
Having accomplished all this, I was ready to jump into Berlin cultural life. First event was at the Instituto Cervantes today, the vernissage of an exhibition on photos about Spain "Das Spanienbild im Foto", with a discussion, and - of course - spanish wine and tapas.
Events at Instituto Cervantes are well worth attending, I sure will continue going there. Maybe even for the spanish lessons - I was still able to understand what was said, but no chance to utter an intelligent sentence but in german...

One month later

It's been a month since my last post here. So much happened: heat waves, thunder storms and floods, quiet days in our small garden in this wonderful flower month of May (blossoms everywhere, from lilac and lilies of the valley to clematis, honeysuckle, roses and lavender and some tiny strawberries), meetings with dear old friends, lots of art, pictures, and exhibitions, jazz and literature events, reading and swimming and city walks, shopping for shoes and hiking gear with Alex and Annelie, delicious food in small restaurants and at home (hmmm, the lovely pizza made by Volker in our brandnew stove), a new handy which I can use for almost everything, calls included (but it's also a walkman and a camera), Emil climbing the Vaihingen roofs (he wished), first day at work reached from the new station just across the yard and a street, and last but not least a fast healing shoulder which is almost back to normal now.
Should I post some pics? Yes, I should. Laters...