Visits - No 2: Betty

Lari was gone since five hours only, when I took the bus to Berlin Central Busstation to meet my friend Betty from Copenhagen. She had hosted me in 2006, and now finally she is my visitor for a few days.
It was cold and windy all day, lots of rain, and the weather forecast says it will stay that way all the time she's here. We'll enjoy our time together all the same, and find lots of great things to do together. Museums for one are always great when it's raining outside, and Betty wants to see many of them.
The bus was one hour late, and I was freezing in the cold, but when she finally arrived, all that was forgotten. At home, she took lots of small parcels out of her pocket, most of them for me, and one for Emil. Isn't that ever so nice!
In the evening, we went to Museumsinsel to meet some Couchsurfers from Berlin Beach Camp and show them around the museums. In the end, we all decided they can manage on their own, and Betty and I chose to go to Gemäldegalerie. We chose only a few paintings to admire, and then went back home to sleep.
Today, I'll have to work, and Betty will go and have a look around more museums. And in the afternoon, I'll join her for a tour around Berlin.

Visits - No1: Lari

Even though you might not guess so from the picture: Lari and I had a great time when he came for a short visit! He's looking a bit puzzled, but that's only because of the huge choice of fruit in the turkish shop. He had to buy some food to take to Berlin Beach Camp - the main reason why he came all the way from Helsinki to Berlin.
Since we had become good friends when travelling together around the Baltics in summer 2006, we had to meet and chat a lot to catch up on each other, before he moves on around Europe. The small backpack, tent and sleeping bag are all he needs right now. His beautiful flat where I had stayed for so long is sold, and his belongings parked in a small room of 3 m2.
One day, when he knows where he will study and move to, he'll take them back again. For now, he lives on the money the selling gave him, and enjoys life whilst visiting friends. Not the worst way of spending your time!
Hopefully, we'll meet again some day. Whereever, whenever...

Celebrating at Brandenburger Tor

Our republic is celebrating its birthday today. On May 23rd, 1949, the constitution was ratified. One more reason for Berliners to have fun at Brandenburger Tor. 250 000 will be there, and I'm going to be one of them. In the evening, Daniel Barenboim and the Berliner Staatskapelle will play Ludwig van Beethoven's 9. Symphonie. Something not to be missed. Read more here.
I will leave Thomas Gottschalk, Pur and more to others, though. And meet Seàn and his mom at Winterfeldtplatz market instead. More plans to furnish the flat he bought.
P.S. In the end, we all went to the celebrations. I stayed longer to listen to Beethoven's 9th, Ode to Joy. 200 000 did, and no chance to get close to the stage. So I stayed in front of one of the many screens, besides a booth selling "Uerige" my favourite beer from Düsseldorf. (More joy!) The crowd loved the rehearsal, and the artists had standing ovations.
The new (and old) president was there, too, sitting in the VIP area between Angela Merkel and Guido Westerwelle, his promoters. Such a pity, Gesine Schwan didn't make it today.

Viruses and remedies

I caught another virus first, then it hit my laptop. Alex helped by advising me to get the debian live cd published by PC Welt. Now at least I can meet friends again virtually.
But for the stupid flu that is buggering me, there's no such remedy. Just be patient, drink lots of hot tea, and sleep a lot. Duh! And it's summer outside....

A flower to Mother's Day ;)

Not really. I'm not into Mother's Day at all. But here's a flower that you don't see blossoming often, the biggest you can find. But, of course, last week in Berlin.
And even though I'm only a few km away, I only saw it online. Luckily, since it may look beautiful, but the smell is - yuk! More here.

Sing along Crellestraße

Today was one of those days in my street: celebrating our neighbourhood. All the shops and cafes, the sidewalks and the small square were packed with musicians and singers, and we were all invited to listen, dance, and sing along. Maike and Dagmar came to join me, and we had a great afternoon, like everybody else. Read the program here.
What a lovely idea, to fill a street with music, voices, laughter, applause! More of that, please!

Opening our exhibition

Hartmut and I had had a hard week, but all the effort we put into our work was spent rightly: The opening of our exhibition on Siegfried Aufhäuser, one of the most important trade unionists and politicians of the 20th century, was a huge success. Read more about him on our website.
After the speeches and discussions, people delighted in small talk, food and wine. I was home at 11 pm. Tired, but happy!

Seàn buys a flat and goes shopping

And I helped him doing it. :)
First we had a huge brunch at Cafe Mirell, talking about how to furnish the flat Seàn will buy soon in Geßlerstraße, not even ten minutes from my place. I helped writing the letter to get the flat, and as far as I know, it worked. The date with the notary will be next week.
Then I can start playing with colours and designs to make this flat a real home for Seàn. I am looking forward to it.
This hard work done, we went shopping at "Galeries Lafayette". They were open this Sunday, no idea why. Berliners always find some weird reason to do shopping on Sundays. Maybe it was the installation of this green wall above the doors. Then again, maybe not.
We enjoyed inspecting all the latest fashion on the upper floors and the delicacies in the basement. We bought cheese and tartes d'abricots (two for the prize of one, we couldn't resist, even after all the brunch we had had.) Hmmmmm, de-li-ci-ous!
And today, surprize-surprize, some collegues came to my office, bringing two bottles of ver.di wine, a cute bunch of flowers, and a letter from my big boss Frank Bsirske: Congratulations for working with the union for 25 years now. Hurrray!
And I will get a bonus of 750 Euro plus an extra day off. Hurrray!

Sweeten up your day

Saturday morning was lovely and sunny, it reminded me of the new sunglasses I need. "Eyes and more" offer great designs for reasonable prizes, and a special reduction in the new branch at Wilmersdorfer Straße. I went there, had a close look, and decided to skip it. Why is it that hard to find good protection against the sun when you're older and your eyesight is not what it was in your thirties?
To heighten my mood, I went to the spanish shop at Kantstraße just round the corner, and had this lovely breakfast, lots of sugar and milk included. Not what my doctor would advise me to have, but well - once in a while won't hurt.
From then on, the day ran smoothly and nice, albeit not much spring cleaning done. I managed to watch "Last chance Harvey" at Odeon, and liked it. A sweet little piece, with two actors just matching perfectly. And next week: "Pranzo di Ferragosto". At Odeon, as well - of course.

Mayday in Berlin

A normal 1st of May in the german capital: lots of demonstrations, marches, riots, but thousands of Berliners having fun at the wonderful events to celebrate the workers' day today. More than 10 000 joined the trade unions at Brandenburger Tor, more than 20 000 the Kreuzberg Myfest - with "Ton, Steine, Scherben" from the good old days, and I didn't know :(
I met lots of friends and collegues, my kids called to wish me a wonderful day (how sweet!), and I enjoyed myself a lot, walking around in the bright sunshine for more than six hours. No sunburn, but a browner shade of pale.
I was impressed seeing the singing busdrivers on stage who fight for better rights for busdrivers. They are attacked quite often lately, since bad social chances led to more violence. The way they fight is quite new, and quite successful. Read more here!