We saw Potiché, a french film starring Gerard Depardieu.
I have made it my mission not to eat in the same restaurant twice while I'm here. There are so many restaurants in this city, that you would probably have to live here for years and years to try them all. Wouldn't that be amazing?! But that would require having a lot of money. I have tried some good restaurants so far, but nothing really breathtakingly amazing. I guess I have relatively high standards after working so many years in gastronomy myself.
Having breakfast with Kristina at a cafe in Charlottenburg.
Talking about food, there are some things I've noticed about eating habits among my co-workers. I guess there are about two of us who actually go to the break room to have their lunches. Most of the people eat by their computers, they have their own food or they order in. Or the third option is to buy a "Brötchen", a filled bun, from the Brötchenjunge (the bunboy). The point is that they feel they don't have the time to take a break to have their lunch in peace. I find this quite disturbing, I mean it's not like there's an atmosphere there that doesn't allow you taking a lunch break. The spaniards do it right though, but after all, they grow up with their siestas. We have maybe three or four spaniards at the office, and they go out for lunch every day. Sometimes I join them, but mostly I bring my own food, because even though eating out is quite cheap here, it's still quite the amount of money to spend every day. And when I cook myself, I at least know what's in the food...
Last week was a short working week, because of the christian holiday ascension day. I had visitors from Finland most of the week. My choir friends Anna and Raigo had a stop on their inter rail trip here in Berlin, and just as any proper tourists, we took a free walking tour on ascension day. It was a really hot day, the sun was burning and the sky was blue. Our tour started at the Brandenburg Gate and the next almost five hours our guide walked us through most important sights in Mitte (centre of Berlin). The guide was from London, but had lived in Berlin for many years now, and he was very well informed. He shared with us all kinds of interesting details about the history of Germany. The tour was completely amazing and all free! I don't thing a tour that you have to pay for would be any better. And the most interesting part of it is, that the tour guides live on their tips; they don't get paid in any other way. The core idea of it all is, that everyone is entitled to a tour, whether they have money or not. So in the end of the tour you pay whatever amount the tour was worth to you. I think it's a great idea! Here's the website if you want to have a look. http://www.newberlintours.com/daily-tours/new-berlin-free-tour.html
Anna and Raigo enjoying the shade.
After having a shopping filled day on Friday with my friend Kristina who arrived on Thursday evening, we decided to take it easier on Saturday. We took the train (and the bike) and went to Britzer Garten, which is a huge park south of the city in Alt-Mariendorf. The park was just amazing, there was a lot to see and you could just stroll around there for hours. There was a part of the park where there was an amazing playground for kids, and there were a lot of families there. What we were more interested in was the part where the gardens were, luckily for us it wasn't as crowded there. We tried to stay in the shade as much as possible, because it was really hot! All the flowers were really beautiful and there was even a small train that you could take if you didn't want to walk through the park. I really was a place where you could've spent the whole day, along with a blanket and a picnic basket. There were a lot of people who had realized that because closer to the restaurants and the cafes, the lawns were packed with people. A little too crowded for my taste. Luckily there were parts where it wasn't so crowded. And the park was really worth the 3 euros (discounted price) we paid to get in!
The most beautiful path under the apple trees.
My dancing friends Thomas and Katrin had told me about the possibility to sing karaoke in the Mauerpark (the wall park). So that's where I headed on Sunday. I decided to bike the whole way, which was an amazing decition. The weather was yet again very hot and the trains would have been even hotter. At least I got a bit of wind while biking and the view was great - I tried to stay close by the river Spree. On the way to the park I stumbled upon a café which had a name that forced me to pop in and have a cold drink: Raja Jooseppi. Now, if you're not a finn, you won't understand the funny thing about it. Raja-Jooseppi (how it is originally spelled) is a crossing point and border station up in Lapland by the russian border. The place got its name by a man who lived as a hermit and reindeer farmer by the border to Russia in the beginning of the 20th century. I asked the bartender how the place got it's name, but he didn't know the story behind it - too bad.
It wasn't just a café but a hostel as well.
I didn't really know anything else about Mauerpark than that they had karaoke there on Sundays, so when I came there I was quite surprised. There was a flea market (Trödelmarkt), which isn't really a traditional flee market, but like a mix of old and new, almost like a bazaar. There were tables with peoples own old stuff and also people who were selling their hand made things. In the middle of the bazaar there was a bar/café area with food, drinks and music. It was amazing! On one side of the park there was an Amphitheatre where the karaoke was supposed to take place. Thomas and Katrin joined me and we sat down in the second row. At first there was an australian band called Set Sail playing some music (https://www.facebook.com/setsailmusic), after which a theatre performance took over the stage.
The karaoke has a crowd of about 1500-2000 people every Sunday.
When Joe Hatchiban stepped onto the stage with his two huge music boxes the crowd (and there really was one!) went wild! Joe is the founder of Bearpit Karaoke, which takes place around 3pm every Sunday in Mauerpark. It all started in 2009 and has gotten bigger and bigger ever since. As they were building up the sound system, people already queuing to get a singing turn. Thomas told me to go and sign up, or else I wouldn't get a turn at all, so I did. I was going to be number 8 on the stage. My hands were shaking by the third song... But it was amazing! I've never sung in front of such a huge crowd before and the atmosphere was very warm (not because of the sun) and cheering. The crowd went wild during every song, just because it was so amazingly brave to go up there in front of all those people. I was quite proud of myself! After my song a girl came up to me and handed me a flyer and telling me about live-karaoke. She said that I have to come, and I do intend to! There's nothing better than singing! Here's the http://www.bearpitkaraoke.com/index.htm
There are two thing I figured I'd miss about the finnish summer. The lakes and the light nights. The light nights I do miss, it's kind of strange that it's dark AND warm at the same time. I miss the lakes too, but mostly because of the short distance to get to them (especially from my appartment in Finland). I have found that there are a few lakes, where it's okay to swim here too. On Monday I went to Flughafensee, which is close to the Tegel Airport. The water is quite clear and the beaches are nice. Although we managed to come to a FKK beach, which means that the people there are more or less naked. FKK means freikörperkultur, which translates more or less into Free Body Culture, and it is a german movement. It was very big in former East Germany, but since the 1980's it has been quite restricted. FKK endorses a naturistic approach to sports and community living. Behind that is the joy of the experience of nature or also on being nude itself, without direct relationship to sexuality. I rather find it strange that people have a need to be naked in public. I mean the sauna is something else, but on a public beach? Maybe it's strange for me, because it's not really allowed to be naked on public beaches in Finland. I mean you can enjoy your nakedness in the privacy of your own cottage, but on public beaches you put some clothes on. I guess it is a cultural thing though...
This coming weekend I'm flying to Freiburg with Matt. One of my ex-collagues from my time in Hannover is going to Australia for a year, and she's having a farewell party. I figured since I've never been to Freiburg, and it supposed to be a beautiful city, I might as well go. Since it's a long weekend (pentecost) we have three days to check out the area. Matt has planned everything, and all I know is that well be driving around in France, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Germany and Austria, and that were visiting the castle of Neuschwanstein. I don't know how were supposed to have time for all that, but I'm excited!
