foot of the mountain

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they were right – berlin’s got mountains – yesterday i climbed the great bunkerberg in friedrichshain and today it was the original kreuzberg – well, more hills than mountains, but who’d have thought? – this truly is summer in the city and all for no money and on a weekday like this even without so many sun-crazy working berliners like it would be on a weekend – really, this city has too many nice places for me, i could chill someplace different every day, but the waterfalls at kreuzberg, alongside the landwehrkanal are my favourites – you can guess why – of course, water and my feet in cool, fresh water – ahhhh, sigh, almost as good as walking barefoot on fresh green gras – almost!

naked truth

first rays of sunshine alight on the city and people forget to put on clothes – they dress to impress with less – and a variety of people show it all – in tiergarten it’s nude party time and no one seems to care – there’s some pretty sights and some not so pretty and all of that right in the middle of the city, with cars going by and tourists from around the world gawking and sometimes even (most oblique of course) even taking photos – c’est la vie en berlin

good morning, berlin

it is a shame to be at the office on such a beautiful friday morning – the sun is shining and the city’s alive – early on my way to work, i feel like singing and dancing and then find a cozy little cafe wich serves a croissant and hot coffee for breakfast – preferably somewhere near the spree and a good book and i’d be as happy as can be – well, there’s always tomorrow and that is WEEKEND – yay!

summer breeze

with príncipe socorrido off sick – assumably with swine flu, i was next in line for a special treat last night – an exclusive dinner with important people from all over the world – i was the least important, only the little intern, but i enjoyed it so much – i met so many interesting people and it felt very nice to be talking in english again for a change

so, we took a bus to the wannsee, south of berlin and then moved on to be shipped across the lake in the “royal louise”, an exact replica of the ship that used to take five generations of royal prussians around the potsdam lake systems – fancy that add champagne and sunshine and you get one happy me

we landed at the villa thiede – right next to villa liebermann (where max liebermann lived and painted, probably my favourite “der papageienmann” as well – link, link, link – there it was dinner music, more champagne, some speeches by people i am still amazed at having now actually met in person and a rather nice dinner with bbq, salad, lemon butter and bread, sweet little nothings for desert and a choice of red and white wines – at ten o’clock the bus took us back to berlin and me, intoxicated with the day’s events into bed, where i slept soundlessly for the first time in days

spotted

gesine schwan, having lunch with her husband at the spree canal on this incredibly hot and humid day in the city

sommer is coming

time for new memories

in love with a dress

ah, if only i were rich and foolish enough to spend so much on clothes – if only – this would be my summer favourite – vivienne westwood anglomania atlantic sunday dress – if only – love, love, love

coffee, kittens and sunshine

what’s a perfect day? – today came pretty close just till now – getting up at 6 am to do my grandma’s move to the retirement home – then a very late breakfast with excellent company, coffee, croissants, kittens and sunshine in the garden – i think i might just be a little bit in love – and now a whole afternoon to spend just as i like (i think a nice long swim in the pool is an excellent idea) – tonight it will be dinner and a movie – ah well, pizza and tons of episodes of berlin, berlin – one of the funniest german shows ever made – and maybe some champagne or cocktails to celebrate my diploma – can’t get enough of that now, can i?

oh yes, i ain’t even bothered by my missing atm card – which i already blocked only to find it again at the post office’s atm machine and couldn’t unblock – and now having to pay 5€ for blocking and 5€ for a new card and remembering a new pin, which would usually suck, but on a day like today, i totally ain’t bothered!

it always rains in göttingen

andy’s comment on my complaint about the ever-lasting rain in göttingen – and i must add, he’s right – the rain is not all bad

When that I was and a little tiny boy
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.

- by will shakespeare, twelfth night-

the city at night

while i was living in california i spent a couple of days with this girl in san jose. i had met her in one of my classes. besides our mutual passion for photography and a weak moment, when i had shared a great secret with her – a crush on a guy, something that seemed ever so important at that time, i did not know her that well at all, but we had a wonderful time, checking out the winchester mystery house, going to the beach in santa cruz, getting cake at the cheesecake factory and driving up to oakland for a newcomer’s concert to see her favourite band: nural.

there were a total of maybe ten people at the concert, so we got to hang out with the bands. we fell in love with the music of this one: the umbrellas – totaly california – mellow, beachy, floating through the days and nights. i brought their debut cd with me to germany and whenever i listen to the melancholic sound of gone by summer days, i just want to get on board a plane and fly away to the beach and the lights of a city by the bay.

…leaving the city behind…

there’s nothing better on a hot summer’s day, then to pack up your things and leave the noisy stinking city behind to have a rockin’ good time out in the country.

add a bottle of champagne, a cool blue greenish lake, a lot of nature and a friend with whom you can talk for hours and hours and hours and still find conversational topics to die for – men, shoes, books, ice cream…

that’s the perfect weekend get-away. and – best of all things – it’s just fifteen minutes from home. sadly enough not every sunday afternoon can be spent in this blissful perfection. this past one has been spent at home, brooding, not being happy with life at all and dreading to climb down four sets of stairs – those always looming ahead when coming home again.

but i decided to do something about it. if repeating last weekends wonderful ways would make me happy and reapeating was out of the question due to the absent friend, the lateness of the afternoon and my own foolish weltschmerz, then i could at least write it all down – get it out of the system and look at fotos of the unsurpassable beauty of the lake.

when i drift into that water, smooth as silk, i forget all my worries. i swim into the sunshine, i lie on my back and watch the clouds sail over the endless blue of the summer sky. then i am happy. only sometimes, in the middle of the lake, there is this feeling of terror. this ever so slight notion of a presence under water, which might come up and drag me down. the fascination with monsters and sea creatures, with sharks and mermaids – not the sea, not even loch ness, but something could be lurking here as well.

i turn and swim back towards the shore. i am not scared. my skin tingles with excitement and pleasure at the same time.

freibad – a place where dreams come true

species to be observed in public outdoor pools:

1. the Brathähnchen – overly tanned people – sometimes men with skin like a crocodile – so not sexy!

2. the Bahnknutscher – cute couple, not able to even swim a whole length without meeting up in the middle for a quick snog – makes me jealous!

3. the Pullerman – a guy, who speaks in a language not even my 2-year-old niece would use to say he needs to take a slash – funny, especially when his skin has the color of freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice!

4. the ugly single guy – has sunblock on his nose and back, advertising his single-ness to the girls – he’s saying “help me, i need you, i want you” – poor thing, but let’s be realistic, ugh no!

5. the war lords – families, that just cannot stop bickering and sometimes end up in outright fights over beachballs, beer-bottles and who has to go get more french fries – i know of no one, who goes on people’s nerves more persistently!

- to be continued -