Have a very happy, peaceful and prosperous new year, y'all!

"Dinner for one" on tv - a mustsee on new years' eve in Germany!
Another traditon is a song that will be sung all over the world tonight by millions of people: "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns. My favourite version is the one sung by Dougie MacLean. I love it.

Xmas in Finland

Elsis from Finland (now in Riga) sent me this music video.
Have a wonderful time with family and friends, as I do in Stuttgart!

Merry Xmas from Simon's cat

And a very merry Xmas from me, too!
Enjoy more from Simon's cat (and all the videos) here.

Friends and collegues from Stuttgart

What a surprise! There was a meeting of ver.di FB 8 in Berlin today, and Manfred called me this morning to tell me. He asked me to show him around ver,di head quarters afterwards. Of course I agreed to meet my friend since 25 years! We had met in 1985 when I went to my first trade union lectures in Springen, and he was one of our teachers then.
We spent all afternoon talking and exchanging ideas on new projects (f.e. on Fritz Lamm's 99th birthday celebrations next year). At the station, we met some more collegues from old times. More joy and laughter. I waved them good bye and went on to some Xmas shopping.
Sunday, I'll be going to Stuttgart, myself. Home for Xmas...

Xmas market at Domäne Dahlem

My collegue Ariane invited Doris and me to the Xmas market at Domäne Dahlem where she had a booth this weekend. When not working at ver.di's, she's doing beautiful ceramics. (I wonder how she finds time and energy to do so!)
Domäne Dahlem is a special place, an organic farm and museum with lots of events that attract Berliners old and young alike. And even though it was freezing cold, we came to support Ariane, by buying some of her ceramics, and Doris by selling some, too.
I liked the market today, but I'm happy to be back home with Emil purring besides me. It's so cold outside! Poor Ariane and Paul, still selling ceramics at their booth...

Xmas party @ House of Life

Since a few weeks, I felt I needed to do something in Berlin - besides work and meeting friends and walking around the capital and looking after Emil. Surfing through the internet helped: I found the "House of Life", a home for disabled people between 20 and 60 who need special care. They are always in want of help, even if it's only giving out coffee and cake on Saturday and Sunday afternoon in "Café Bohne".
I called them, had an appointment today in the cafe, and arrived just in time for the big Xmas party. What a surprise! It was the perfect Xmas party, with a Xmas tree, presents, snow outside, and Father Xmas, too. Several of them, actually, on motorbikes and a truck, bringing more presents and music. We all loved it!
Instead of spending half an hour at the café, checking whether I might like to work there sometimes (for free, of course), I was one of many helpers giving out dishes, presents and smiles all afternoon at this wonderful Xmas party. What a nice welcome!
Curious about Father Xmas on a motorbike? Read more here.

Xmas gifts

I bought an apron covered with snowmen in red, black and beige at the Swedish Xmas market as a Xmas present (there will be somebody who'd like it, I was sure about that). But when at home, I decided it was just right for myself, since I had taken up cooking again when at home all these days, needing healthy food to become healthy again. And it looks nice in my kitchen, too!

German Court against Sunday shopping in Berlin

Salespeople, trade unions and churches are happy: Starting next year, shops in Berlin will not be allowed any more to open up every Sunday in December. The Bundesverfassungsgericht, highest court in Germany, put a stop to this.
I'm quite happy with the workers. We can do our shopping during the week, can't we?
Here's more news on the decision, including a video. And here's what ver.di said.

It's Xmas time...

Xmas is coming closer, with only 26 days to go. Today,the traditional norwegian Xmas tree was set up at Brandenburger Tor.
Shops were open in Berlin this afternoon, and most of the 60 (!) Xmas markets are waiting, so I took the chance to do some Xmas shopping after almost two weeks of staying at home with a cold and a sick cat.
I enjoyed walking around, admiring the beautiful booths, and even had some mulled wine - well, not actually wine: aronia and elderberry juice. Nice and hot, just right with the weather outside. Winter pleasures.

Swedish Xmas market

It's a tradition with me in Berlin: When the swedish community are holding their Xmas bazaar, I'm there to have a look around, buy some small Xmas gifts, and enjoy swedish food.
Today, Doris and Seàn joined me. We all needed cheering up: Doris because she had to give away one of her two cute tomcats (they didn't get on well together since months, what a pity), and Seàn and me because of our colds that seem to stay forever.
We only made it for just over an hour, but savoured every minute of it. And the pittypanna and pepperkakor we had.

At the vet's

We had an appointment at the vet's again today, Emil and I. My sweet tomcat seemed a lot better lately, eating and drinking more, and the daily infusions helped as well.
I was right, the vet told me: Emil had put on weight, and his kidneys are doing the best they can. Hopefully, with the treatment I will have to go on giving him, we can help his body. He might make it some more months, or even years. Let's hope for the best!

Finnish Xmas

My friend and collegue Doris and I met in front of this small house close to Marheinekeplatz in Kreuzberg for our first Xmas market this year. The finnish community had invited us to their traditional Xmas bazaar. Since I had loved to walk around their nicely decorated rooms all these last years, having some finnish Xmas delicacies and glöggi (mulled wine), and buying one of the nicely done Xmas presents and wreaths, we had to go again this Saturday.
They offered no Xmas dinner like before, alas, but delicious peasoup and flame salmon. And of course I had to buy sinappi, Fazer Mariannen chocolate, Fazer rye whole grain bread rolls, like every year, and - how lucky I was! - the Fazer karelian pies they had for the first time. Ah, those memories of Finland the food and drinks brought back to me!
Doris liked it that much, she went back again on Sunday with a friend of hers, whilst I was staying at home trying to get rid of my cold. Didn't work. Sigh.

November pleasures

November is supposed to be a month of moarning, sorrows, rain and grey sky. Instead, except for a few showers now and then, sun is shining, and last week at work was great. Lots of hours spent on new websites, and successfully so.
Otherwise, I spent most of my time at home, reading and taking care of Emil who still needs infusions every evening because of his bad kidneys. But he seems a lot better.
This afternoon I walked around Berlin center, passing the chestnut guy at Berlin main station close to the river. His roasted chestnuts smelled so good, I had to take some. Hmmm, delicious! Autumm treats...

Snow!

It's hardly November, and only a few days since sunny warm autumn days seemed to go on for ever. But look at this: Snow in front of my window at work! Nice!
Even though now we know for sure it will be winter soon.

And the winner is...

Herta Müller, the german author from Romania. She won the nobel prize for literature this year.
I never heard of her before (oh-oh!), let alone read any of her books. Oh dear! So I guess I'll have to go to my local bookshop and buy her new masterpiece "Atemschaukel".
How can I love literature and books and not have heard or read about her or any of her books, yet? Well, it's not too late...

Home is where my heart is...

True for you as well? I find myself telling people who ask me "Where are you from?" that I live and work in Berlin, my family home is in Stuttgart, and I grew up in Düsseldorf. But my home language is my grandparents' who raised me, and they were from the Ruhr valley. I feel relaxed and at ease in southern Spain. Now where's my home?
And where's yours? Find about more about this question worth pondering about here.

50+ travellers' meeting in Stuttgart

Last weekend, we had a lovely meeting of CS-members from all over the world, all 50 or more, in Stuttgart. I had to work on Saturday, so I missed quite some hours with the others. But I had a great time all the same. And - can you imagine - I even met a guy I hadn't seen for 12 years. Alexander and I had worked on a show together then. It's a small world!
Back to the meeting: Maya from Switzerland did a wonderful picture show you can see here. Enjoy!

Autumn vacation!

First day of my vacation, and soon Emil and I will be on the train to Stutgart. Seàn will help us make it to Berlin main station. A new book to read on the way is already packed (the new Kommissar Kluftinger), now I have to decide on what clothes to take. Since the weather is really autumn like now, and since I will not be going to Greece (sigh), that should be an easy task: warm socks, boots, trousers, and sweaters. Not to forget my winter jacket and umbrella!
Two weeks of wellness, reading, good food, and family ahead - here I come!

Spain on my mind

Yesterday evening, Seàn and I went to the concert of two young and gifted spanish musicians at Mendelssohn Remise close to Gendarmenmarkt. It was done in honor of Isaac Albéniz, a spanish pianist and composer, one of the best, who died 100 years ago.
What a shame I had never heard of him before: His works on Spain are just adorable! I'll have to go and buy "Iberia" soon - most probably the version by Alicia de Larrocha.
And the concert was lovely! I miss Spain...

Sweeter dreams

Age and old bones - tell me about it!
Since a few months, my back aches every morning after a few hours of tossing and turning. And my old mattress only makes it worse.
So a new mattress it has to be, and most probably a new bed as well, I made up my mind.
Anna and Volker are looking for a new mattress as well, so we exchanged ideas and knowledge. The choice wasn't easy, but in the end we found professional help at some shops in Berlin (Betten Anthon) resp Stuttgart (Mannsdörfer).
Thanks to Seàn who helped me chose the right bed, I found this one. It comes with a better mattress than the one shown here and will be delivered soon. I hope. I'm craving for sweet dreams and no more pains!
P.S. This post was corrected after Anna and Volker had found their perfect bed at Mannsdörfer's on Sept. 19th.

Saturday pleasures No 3: Fruits at the appleshop

What a lovely week and even better weekend we had. Summer seems to be back, it's so warm and sunny. But the mornings are as cold as autumn already.
It's the season of pears, plums, grapes, and the first walnuts, too. I bought all of this today, at Winterfeldtmarket and at my favourite apple shop, where they had arranged the fruitbasket you can see in the picture.

My new supertight tights

Monday, I had been to the doctors to check my skin. Everything fine here, but she was shocked at my venes and advised me to wear compression stockings. Every day. :(
I got these in black today. The spiderman stockings I had to wear only once to have my measures taken. According to this image 3d, my legs are medium size and short. Even worse...
But: I had to buy new shoes, no high heels any more. And who could resist buying new shoes? Some nice Arche, black, to match the stockings. :)

Wasn't me!

First day at work, and I got mail from my friend Heike. Guido Westerwelle became chancellor, and they blame me for not voting.
Well, I already did, by mail. I only hope they haven't lost my letter!

Last night of the proms

And I was there! Not in London, alas, but I watched it on tv, sang with the merry crowd, and in lack of flags Emil waved his tail.
My stupid virus kept me from celebrating with Daphne and her friends, I really missed the party. And it kept me from joining the flash mob and protests at Potsdamer Platz in the afternoon. Ah well.
Hopefully I can make it to work tomorrow. Today I'll take it easy and stay inside. Autumn is coming fast, rain outside, grey sky, and dropping temperatures. Just right to cuddle up on my couch with a book and hot ginger tea.
If you missed the last night of the proms yesterday, don't worry: The original BBC version will be shown tonight at 1:05 h on NDR. If you can't wait or will be sleeping then, watch and listen here now.

Dresses from long ago

Some years ago at Stuttgart Bohnenviertel, I had found this great dress from the 40s, black, with black,red and white embroidery around the neck. I had loved wearing it, it was so special and just perfect on me when working. But since I had lost 14 kilos, it just wasn't great any more. At least not on me.
Then, in Schöneberg, I found this lovely shop, "Mimi", selling clothes from 1850 to 1950 to people who enjoy wearing these old made-to-measure dresses.
Anna brought the dress last week from Stuttgart, and today I sold it at "Mimi". I was happy some other woman might find it here and enjoy wearing it. It's so special and different from the every day fashion we have nowadays.
If you have a close look onto the pic, you will see the couple dressed according to the 30s fashion in the original outfit from these times. So weird, but nobody wonders, not in Berlin...

The chinese way

Recovering from health problems can be helped by doctors and treatments - but all over the world you will find different ways of doing so. In Berlin, we have the center of traditional chinese medicine at Charité, in old St. Hedwig Hospital in formally jewish Spandauer Vorstadt.
My collegue Doris had told me a lot about it since months, they had helped her fight her allergies. So when I was told I was suffering from allergies myself, I called them and asked for an appointnment.
I was lucky, they asked me to come the very same day, and since then I'm being treated with acupuncture and eating according to their advices. I'm supposed to strengthen my middle by eaten hot or warm food, spiced up with lots of ginger, millet and oats for breakfast, chicken broth ever so often.
My sinusitis is better already, and some head aches vanished the very hour I was lying in one of their rooms with needles in my arms, legs and ears. Quite relaxing, really.
A few more appointments, and my body should be strengthened enough to go on without the weekly treatment. :)

Lunch at Akazienstraße

I am on sick leave these days to recover from my virus infection. Since it's a pity to stay inside all the time, I asked Sean to join me for some lunch today - somewhere close by, sitting outside to enjoy the autumn sun.
We met at our favourite tree at Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz, and strolled down Akazienstraße to get some ideas. How lucky we were that "Albrecht" deli had set up their grill and offered food you would hardly find anywhere else: organic salads with freshly grilled organic sausages, either chicken merguez, wild boar, or lamb.
We chose wild boar and lentil salad, and shared some organic austrian beer to go with it. So delicious!
And afterwards we went straigh home where I took an afternoon nap. Yeah well, sick leave...

090909 - 09:09:09

Great date and time!
Not to me: I was on my way to the doctor then.
The virus is still going strong, despite the needles we had tried to kill it with. Well, everybody had told me to take a day or two off work and stay in bed, and so did my doctor today, too.
Now it's chicken broth and ginger tea, and the same procedure as every year. Sigh.
And it's nice and warm and the last days of summer outside now. I should relax on a meadow underneath a tree looking up into the blue sky! Sigh...

20 years ago - the women's view

All over Germany and especially Berlin there are meetings, discussions and exhibitions on the fall of the wall and what happened then.
I was invited to join the one at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung this afternoon, and was happy to go and listen to the women. They remembered how happy they had been in November and December 1989, and how fast they had to learn that being taken over by the west means less rights and chances for women. Even though not everything had been perfect in GDR, they had to fight to keep a few rights they had had then.
It was a pity I wasn't feeling too well, I had caught a small cold this weekend (hot during the day, cold in the mornings and evenings). So I left early to go to the center of Traditional Chinese Medicine close to Hackescher Markt. A short trip of 30 minutes normally, but it took me thrice as long: S-trains are reduced again, they run less and are shorter, and those you're lucky to get are packed with travellers.
I got my acupuncture with some special needles to fight the virus, and left by tram and bus. That way I made it to Gabi's and Tanya's dinner in time. They took special care of me, nice women. But I left early, and will go to bed now. Hopefully my cold will be gone by tomorrow morning. Good night!

Visits No 5: Salvu

A nice old friend from Hospitalityclub chat biking through Europe since weeks stopped for some days in Berlin: Salvu, a 23 year old student from Malta.
We arranged a meeting through facebook, and spent all weekend together with Gabi, a teacher from Berlin, and Tanya, an art history student from Russia, more friends from HC and Couchserving, both living close to Crellestraße.
Saturday we enjoyed Crellestraßenfest until late at night, when we had a last drink with live music at "Leuchtturm", and on Sunday we had brunch at Cafe Mirell (with more CS friends) and home made dinner at my place. It was great to spend all these hours together.
I should visit Salvu in Malta some day. And will definitely see Gabi and Tanya more often.

Like the old days - fighting against nuclear power

50 000 came to Berlin yesterday to protest against nuclear power. More than ever before since the 70s and 80s, when Tschernobyl crash woke up many that had been considering nuclear power safe until then.
It's many years since I last left home by bus to take part in one of the biggest protests in Brokdorf in northern Germany, walking with 70 000 through the deserted village, shops closed, doors and windows shut and protected by wooden bars. It took me two days (and nights) to get there from Düsseldorf and back, and now it was only a short right by public transport. The old friends were there, and lots of young people, too.
Farmers had come on their tractors all the way from Wendland, where nuclear power threatens their farms and homes. They keep protesting since many, many years.
The actions in Berlin were colourful and creative. We will be going strong until politicians realize nuclear power is a danger to us and many generations to come. Change to sun, wind and water!
Remember: We only have this one world, and we have to give it on to our children and grandchildren!

Party at work

Yesterday, the ver.di yard hosted the traditional "Spreeportfest", and Hartmut and I joined it after work. ver.di members and officials were buzzing around, meeting friends and collegues, feasting on wine, beer, and savorous food, some even danced to the music.
I chatted for hours, and left late for a last drink (water!) with some guests of the "Linke" at Engelbecken. Home by 22:00 h, not too late then. And today: going to the "Linke" party close by, and listen to Inken and more friends in the choir "IG Peng". I might join them soon - singing is such a great way of spending your time with likeminded people, not reading or surfing the web on your own all the time. :)

Mother and daughter

Anna left again today. We went downtown together this morning, and then she walked on to her meeting and I took the bus to work.
We had spent not even two days together, and hardly had had any time to talk. What a pity!
But we still enjoyed every second, and even managed to buy twin cashhmere cardigans at Galeries Lafayette and to go swimming last evening. Now we're pondering on spending a weekend together at the wellness hotel Anna and Volker discovered last year. I hope we'll make it in October!
By the way: Her plane that was due to take off at 18:00 h didn't - Anna made it home about two hours later than scheduled. Dah!

Family life at airports

Yesterday evening I went to Tegel airport to meet Anna. She's coming to Berlin to join a meeting on demographic change in Germany (she's leading a project on that in Böblingen), so of course she stayed with me. The plane was scheduled at 21:10 h, but when I arrived shortly before 21:00 h, the announcement sayed the flight was due at 00:05. I thought there was a problem with the announcement, but no - Air Berlin pilots had been on strike, and all planes were five to six hours late. :(
I called Anna to ask her about the delay, and - can you imagine - nobody had told them in Stuttgart! She was sitting without food nor drinks and waiting for somebody to tell them when the plane would leave. And now these very bad news from me!
No chance to buy any food, no chance for her friend Volker to bring her any, so I browsed Tegel airport to get her some vegetarian dish for her to eat when arrived. The only one that was for sale then was - a bretzel! (Quite suebian, really.)
Whilst Tegel airport was slowly closing down, sarcastic people telling me there was no planes allowed to land after 23:00 h, and Air Berlin workers calming me down by promising me there would be a flight from Stuttgart to Berlin aorund midnight, I received a sms from Alex.
My son had been on the plane from Stuttgart to the States, and was now waiting in Atlanta for the flight to New York. So all three of us were sitting at airports, waiting for flights. What kind of family life is that?!
Well, as you can see on the pic, Anna made it to Berlin before midnight, and we took a taxi to my place. We went to sleep at once, and when I woke up in the morning, Alex had sent a message saying he was in New York and ready to leave for Times Square. He sure has some stamina, to stay up that late after almost 20 hours of travelling!

The cat is back!

Simon's cat is back, with a new movie, a book, and a website! Check here and enjoy!
P. S. And hopefully soon I'll find the time to tell you about all those days that passed since my last blogging...

Saturday pleasures No 2: eating out at the greek

When at Winterfeldtmarket, I often choose some greek snack for lunch. Yesterday, it was for dinner, and very delicious. Some red wine to go with it, since my wine merchant had told me red wine would actually be very healthy for my stomach. Good to know - and it was!

Saturday night in Schöneberg

Everybody is outside, in one of the many cafès, for some dinner or a drink to cool down from the heat of the day. It's still warm outside, great to walk around leisurely, with a break every now and then for a snack.
So when leaving Saturday jazz at Tiergarten, I decided to walk home, and enjoyed the evening turning into night. You can tell the long days are over, the sun sets a lot earlier now than it did in June. But still it's lovely and cosy, and the lights of "La Cocotte" shine with a warm glow onto guests and passers-by.
I woud have loved to stay a bit, to read and to have a glass of pineau de Charentes. But no empty table, so I'll have to postpone this pleasure until tonight.
And now off to a wonderful Sunday in Berlin! :)

Running people and more sports

12th IAAF world championships in athletics started yesterday, and today there's friendly people from all over the world running around Berlin center. Not to win a medal, but to do some sight-seeing.
Like these two from Zimbabwe. They were the first I met when strolling along Tauentzien, but for sure not the last. Nice bunch. Pity I'm so not into sports at all. ;)

20 years ago

1989 - a very important year in the history of Germany when the wall fell and the old GDR as well shortly afterwards.
Berlin is filled with memorials, exhibitions, events to commemorate the so called silent and peaceful revolution of 1989 and 1990 when the German Democratic Republic was transformed and then taken over by the west.
I'm working on a website about these exciting months, and today saw the exhibition at Alexanderplatz. Very nicely done, with the sounds, flyers and feelings of those days.
On Sunday, I'll take a trip by boat to learn some more. So much has changed since then, and sadly not all to the better.

Getting ready for the elections

Berlin streets are plastered with messages and posters whom to elect and why. So is Steglitz where I found this advert for the left wing party "Die Linke".
But oh dear! What a huge mistake they made!
Have a close look on where they put it.

Heavy cycling at the doc's

Heatwave over Berlin, and I'm due to see my doctor for another check-up. They want to make sure my heart is fine, so I had to go and do some heavy stationary cycling to proove my heart is beating steadily all the time.
Which of course it did.
But before being told the nice news that my health is just perfect (at least my heart is), I was sweating and swearing (only silently), giving my best to make it through all the stages of the test. With the most beautiful, sunny, hot, somewhat damp weather outside.
Oh, how I wished I could have swapped with these guys at the fountain!

Sunny weekend with Micha

Lots of sun! Too much to stay downtown, so we chose to go to the lakes, for a boattrip on Wannsee, some walking around Schlachtensee, with a stop or two at one of the famous beergardens. We did all of that, and had some nce breaks underneath the shady trees at Loretta am Wannsee (which will be closed down soon, since the owners of the area want to make more money, so they have to leave after more than 30 years) and Fischerhütte.
The beer is some refreshing weizen without alcohol - way too hot to have alcohol before the evening cool down.
In the evenng, Micha left to Stuttgart. But before, he filled up my fridge and deep freeze with lots of meals to last me a week. Nice guy!

Greetings from Stuttgart

This morning, the bell rang - the postman. He rang twice. ;)
He even came upstairs to bring the mail. What a surprise: Volker had sent me greetings, a beautiful bunch of flowers.
Thank you for helping me with proofreading my thesis, he said. How sweet!
Don't they look ever so lovely!

A man in the house

There's a man in my house, and the bath is fixed, I have home cooked dinner each and every evening - Micha is just great! He's a friend and collegue from my early years in Stuttgart, when we both worked on the small magazine our union IG Druck und Papier published for the Stuttgart members almost 25 years ago.
He came for a week, to have a close look on Berlin after the wall fell (ok, right, that's twenty years ago, but he hasn't been here since), and decided he'd fix my flat and my food. Our evening meals are italian dishes washed down with lots of rosato. Hmmmmmm, delicious!
Pity Micha is only staying until Sunday!

The BUS

When buying special and very expensive food for my dear tomcat Emil today, I saw this bus parked opposite the vet's. So like the bus I used to travel with around Europe in the 70s and 80s!
How I miss those adventures, going where my bus would take me, exploring places I had never even heard of, making friends with people living there, enjoying new ways of life. Sigh.
Will there ever be a time like that again? I truely hope so. There's another bus waiting to take me around. Somewhere. Sometime.

Heat over Berlin

What to do on a hot summer weekend in Berlin? Go to Schlachtensee for a swim. Great idea!
So Seàn and I did this Sunday, took the S 1, walked around the lake surrounded by trees, had some beer at "Fischerhütte" (no hut any more, but a huge beergarden) to cool down, and then plunged into the water to cool down some more. It worked.
But as soon as we stepped into the s-train to get back to Schöneberg, the heat was back. Duh!

Last week in Stuttgart

My niece Cathy and her son Marius came to Baden-Württemberg to spend a week with friends, party at CSD in Stuttgart, and of course visit Anna and Alex in Vaihingen. Looks like they had lots of fun in the city. :)

Saturday pleasures No 1: churros

There's so much I love doing on a Saturday in Berlin. One of them is strolling along Akazien- and Goltzstraße to Winterfeldtmarket, browsing the shops, having a bite at some of the foods, and buying some of those I like best.
Which today was - among lots of other delicacies - churros, shared with Seàn. So nice, and so much like Spain, even though this smiling man was from Peru. Looks like I will have to go again next week to try some more.

Ta-daaaah! Health restored!

Well, almost.
I went to my doctor's yesterday, and got the results of my check-up. Looks like my stomach tends to be a bit upset, but otherwise and in general my health is just perfect. Even my cholesterol is a lot better than a few months ago!
Hah! No more pills! Where's my coffee? Or even better: Where's my rosato?
P.S. The nice guy in the pic is part of a fountain I pass when on my way to/from my doctors at Wittenbergplatz, close to KaDeWe. I'm jealous: he seems so much cooler than me in this weird Berlin heat we enjoy (or suffer from) lately.

30 years ago

What happened on the 28th of July 1979? No idea? You might google the date and find out!;)
30 years ago today, a very nice dutch guy was born: Friso, Daphne's boyfriend - on and off since two years, but luckily mostly on.
He celebrated his birthday at "Nah-Bar" in Schöneberg last night, I was invited, and we all had a very good time sitting outside the pub, enjoying the summer evening. Only problem was that I was not allowed any drinks stronger than camomile tea. But still:
Happy birthday, Friso! And many happy returns!

Tiergarten pleasures

Weekend in Berlin in summer means jazz and world music in Tiergarten to me. And lots of others. Some of them like to stay a bit off the main area at Englisches Teehaus, to have a picknick or a game of - kricket! Dressed in white! Unbelievable!
Is there anything at all that you will not find in Berlin?

Baber the barber

This shop looks so nice and inviting, doesn't it. It's a hairdresser, just round the corner from Crellestraße. I always peeped inside when I passed by, and loved the atmosphere of beauty the rooms and furniture would radiate. But I never went there to have my hair styled.
That changed when Michele told me where she had had her hair done just before flying back to the States: at "Maik Baber".
So I gave it a try on Saturday, and was lucky. Of course. It's more expensive than my last hairdressers "Haarwerkstatt", but more relaxed, and the hairstyles are better. I went for natural hairdye, as they are specialists for this, and my hair turned out a darker brownish red than usual. It will change with time and sun, my hairstylist Marina told me. We'll see.
But the curls are still going strong.

40 years ago

July 20th in 1969 was a very special day. Not only did the first man walk on the moon: In Germany Bert Stach was born.
40 years later he invited his friends to come to Berlin and celebrate with him. And many came, from all over the country. I only had to take the tram from Schöneberg to Kreuzberg, where cafe, bar and lounge "Johann Rose" was ours for the day.
The party started at 18:00 h, and I was there in time. I preferred to be early and leave early, since my bad hearing would not allow me to stay for too long at parties where music and talks to me are a cacophnony of sounds I have problems to distinguish.
So I sat down outside with my ginger tea (no champagne for me) amongst all those nice guests, and enjoyed my time as long as my ears would last. Which was longer than I would have thought. :)

French Dinner

To give Michele a special treat on her last evening in Berlin, we chose the french restaurant "La Cocotte". A good choice, indeed. I had had some great dinners with Anna and others there, and always loved it. Their season menues are just lovely, very special and delicious. Whilst waiting for Seàn and his mother, I started with a Noilly Prat and some grignotons.
We had probems choosing from the wonderful dishes, and decided on bouillabaise, couscous imperiale, and champignons farcies. We even had tarte citron and moelleu chocolat!
Oh dear! Doesn't sound like a diet, does it? Today my doctor told me to be very careful with my reflux. No alcohol, no coffee, to start with. Well, sigh. Hopefully only for a month or two.

An afternoon with Michele

Michele will be leaving tomorrow, and fly back home to Rome. (No, not Italy - Georgia.) Yesterday was our last chance to spend the afternoon together, strolling around Berlin, enjoying the sunny day.
We started off with a late breakfast of tea and sesame bagel at the turkish bakery, and from there moved on. First a tour of "Art Vitalis" fitness center. I'm pondering on joining them, they offer not only the machines, but lots of gym groups (even latin-dance-alike Zoomba, the latest hit), a huge wellness area with sauna, tepidarium, and hamam, a swimming pool, and - what I really loved - have a great outdoor area, too. So you can do some biking or build up muscles in the sun. How lovely! They're quite expensive, but seem worth every cent. And my doctor told me they're good. He should know.
Then off to Pergamon Museum, where Michele sat down a bit musing, soaking in the beauty. (As you all know by now, I love the Ishtar gate best.) And last but not least Englischer Garten and some great jazz. And lots of sun. Finally!

Anna und Volker at the beach

Can't find them? Well, it looks rather grey, cloudy and cold, doesn't it? Who would spend their day at the beach with a weather like that?
Poor Anna and Volker! They went to France for their holidays, to Maubuisson close to Bordeaux. A beautiful camping site at a lake and not far at all from the atlantic beaches with huge waves to surf on and swim in (Volker) or just relax on the beach in the sun and watch the surfers or read a book (Anna).
But alas! This summer is a rather rainy one, and not only all over Germany. I hope they're not too wet, and enjoy their vacation all the same. Well, there are some sunny spells, at least.
Not last Friday, as you can see on the pic I took from the webcam. Have a peep whether it's any better now here!