Me, myself, and my sister

It's been nearly 2 weeks since my sister visited so I reckon I should probably pull my finger out and write a blog post about it! I left work early to fetch her from the airport and found out her flight was delayed which was a fabulous start, but we were soon reunited with a bear hug and headed straight to my place for a cuppa. I gave her the tour of my flat and then we headed off to our hotel-weirdly opposite the place I was taking my language classes. Weirder still was that our room directly faced it!

The room was gorgeous and although we were both tired, we headed to Kotti for a burger. It was really strange sitting opposite my sister at the same table I'd sat with Sophie a few weeks ago. We decided we'd get some sweets at the supermarket and chill back at the hotel and talk into the small hours, which we did, and it was so lovely to have some sister time again.


The next day was sightseeing, but a lot less strenuous than mum's visit. We walked to the Brandenburg Gate, saw the Reichstag and couldn't really see the Tiergarten properly because of the Fanmeile.

Then the walk to Potsdamer Platz and the Jewish and Homosexual memorials on the way. We stopped for some baked goods, before setting off again and saw the remains of the wall at Topography of Terror. Joy was horrified by it all and couldn't believe that she was 8 when the wall fell. She just couldn't get her head around it! Then we walked on towards Checkpoint Charlie and stopped at the old-fashioned photo booth to get our photos done. I did this with mum and it is adorable! It costs 2 euros for 4 photos, they're black and white and like the old photo booths where you could change your pose every picture. We did it twice so we could each have a strip, then realised a queue was forming and the photos took like 10 minutes to develop. Ooops.

The paps caught me

After Checkpoint Charlie, I showed Joy the currywurst museum where we got samples to try, then declared it was time for coffee so we sat outside Coffeefellows for like 2 hours, putting the world to rights and nattering away. Then we took a walk down Unter den Linden, seeing the Berliner Dom, before going to the Nikolai Quarter. We wandered around for a bit, and I acquired a new friend! Thank you Joy!

Meet Müller (after the footballer, NOT the yoghurt. Joy, I am looking at you!)

We sat and had a beer, then we had dinner at a nice little restaurant, and thought the food was nice, but the guy on the table next to us was, quite frankly, a complete tit and shouted the place down about how awfuk his schnitzel was. He even called the waiter a 'fucking idiot'. What confused me though was that when he was ordering he asked what 'Kalb' was (it's veal) and then after the whole incident we heard him say to his friend that he'd been coming to Germany since he was 3 and that was the worst schnitzel he'd ever had... well, how did he not know what Kalbschnitzel was then?! In the succint words of Rik Mayall, he was an "utter, utter bastard".







After that, we headed to Alexander Platz (by the end of her visit, Joy was also calling it 'Alex' and I am very proud). We were up there a couple of hours, enjoying the views as the sun went down. I tried my best to look for where I live, but just couldn't spot it, even with the binocular things. It was a bit cloudy on the horizon so we'll blame that. We took a stroll home, going past several prositutes very suddenly, and finished off our sweets in the hotel.

Elephant selfie!

We allowed ourselves a bit of a lie in on Saturday and we toddled off to the zoo at about 11. The Zoologischer Garten is home to the most exotic species in the world, and, because there is more than one zoo in the city, Berlin has the most zoo animals in the world. I know right? It was pretty awesome. We saw an Asian elephant rub her eye with her trunk, a baby elephant, POLAR BEARS, grizzly bears, hippos, Melmans (giraffes), lots and lots of monkeys, wolves... I could go on and on. We went into the lion house and were horrified though. One lioness was outside and the other lioness and lion were inside. They were boiling hot- the lion was pacing and panting, and the lioness was sitting on her haunches scratching the hell out of the door. It was horrible. Then all of a sudden, they began to growl and whine. I have never heard a lion make a noise before, and it was pretty insane. The whole building was just echoing with these poor lions. I probably would have wet myself if they had actually roared... We tried to put it behind us, but it definitely made us uncomfortable. We sat for a bit at the restaurant and then went to the aquarium which was fun-I've never seen so many jellyfish!

Sorry but I love this

This was just too adorable not to post.

I tried to grow up once. It failed.

That night I took Joysie to the Oberbaumbrücke and East Side Gallery briefly, before we headed to the Mexican that Joe and I had been too before. It was better than I remembered. Mainly because we were watching the Brazil-Chile game, we had cocktails, and then a strange ruccus happened outside with a man and his bike. He was shouting all up the street and at one point threw his bike in the middle of the road. a lady got out of her car to move it, it was in her way, and the man shouted 'no you leave my fucking bike there'.  Sorry, what?  The police turned up and he eventually sidled away, with his bike in tow. Odd.

Next day was our last day sadly. We checked out of the hotel and headed to mine, where we had lots of baked goods and tea for breakfast. We spent the day looking at my photos and watching YouTube videos. It was good to just hang out! Time went too fast as usual, and suddenly we were back at the airport. We had a coffee together and then about 30 million hugs. There was a girl saying goodbye to her mum there, and we figured she might be a Year Abroader as well, which was making me well up!

This is me and the Bear outside Rathaus Neukölln

And my favourite selfie 

All in all, it was so lovely having Joy here, and I'm glad I got her the chance to show her this brilliant city. Everyone that has visited has said I am less stressed and more comfortable which is great to hear, since I've informed them all that I will be returning at some point!

Tschau xx

On being a tourist (guide)

Hi! It feels like ages since I last properly blogged. Since then, I've spent hours in muesums, given up on Jean, signed up for German evening classes, danced all night to Madonna, toured my mum and her partner around most things of historical relevance, had an accident and have pretty much finished planning my August adventure. 

So a couple of weekends ago, it was der Lange Nacht der Museen, where museums are open until the early hours. My mum's initial reaction when I told her about it was "What's so special about that?" Oh mother! You are right about 99% of things, but not this. What could be better than sitting on the steps of a museum filled with ancient Greek treasures, cup of tea in hand, at 12.45 am? Who needs alcohol when you've got a two day museum pass? Not me mate.

'Telephos goes to Argos' This amused me greatly.





the stuff of nightmares

who put the glad in gladiator? HERC-U-LEEES

Biggest dinosaur skeleton in the world, or sumfink

There was a room filled with sealife in jars.

Dunno what my legs are doing, but CURRYWURST

There was even an interactive takeaway van thing. This is Sophie serving you chips.

It was genuinely great, and Sophie and I clocked up 7 museums in what, 12 hours? The Pergamon (architecture), Neues (where Nefertiti's famous bust is), Altes (Ancient Greeks), Bodes (not entirely sure of the central theme, but a fair amount of Jesus), Naturkunde (nature, and the obligatory dinosaur skeletons), the Currywurst Museum (!!!!) and the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie, which was really moving. We got quite into it, and each bought a postcard of our favourite exhibit from each one.

Next item on the list - the German Tandem Partner Situation. I genuinely do not understand what happened there. I am not gonna make you read reems of my hypotheses. Lionel is still around though, and to combat the lack of Jean, I signed up for an 4 week evening class course. I just figured I needed something. It was also born out of a moment of mild panic when I realised that I have 2 months left and my German is not as good as I want it to be! Yesterday I tried out a class, and I loved it. Due to time issues, I can't go to B2 classes because of work, so have to make do with B1-B2. It's fine so far and is quite nice to feel like a freaking boss but I might go to a C1 class just to see if that is challenging enough not to be painful, if not, I don't mind too much staying in this class I'm just worried I will get too comfortable and complacent ...



Saturday  before last was Madonna night. Hilary, Guy, Hilary's flatmate Daniel and I headed out to a Club in Neukölln (yes!) at like 1am and sweatily danced the night away to Madonna, Kylie, Britney ,etc. It was awesome. Mainly because of the fact there was music with lyrics, shock horror. And a lot of oiled, but sadly homosexual, torsos jumping around.


The next day my mother arrived! I was so excited to see her, and it was so cute to see her little face bobbing in the crowd. We went out for dinner that night at Italo, which was lovely because my mum loves Italian food and was in her element. The following day, my historical tour began. Starting with *deep breath* Potsdamer Platz, Brandenburger Tor, tour of the Reichstag, Soviet War Memorial in the Tiergarten, the memorial for the 1953 uprising at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Topography of Terror and a brief glance at the former Gestapo HQ, Checkpoint Charlie, Bebelsplatz (where the Nazis famously burnt the books), St. Hedwig's Cathedral, Berliner Cathedral, coffee in the Nikolai quarter, East Side Gallery and the Oberbaumbrücke and then finally DINNER.

Gross of me, but mum looks cute

It was just a prelude, because when you burn books, in the end you burn people too.

The Nikolai Quarter is so pretty

Mum bought me a new friend. Meet Sigmund.

'I remember'

East Side Gallery

Bit minging, but one of my favourite places in Berlin

Tuesday started off badly, that's for sure, as I somehow managed to slip and get my left leg stuck in the gap between the train and the platform. It felt like I was there forever but Mum has since assured me it was not even a minute before she pulled me up. After crying hysterically from the shock of it, we located a pharmacy and I patched up before I gallantly hobbled onwards to continue their tour. The leg is still bruised and still hurts. Sigh.


First off, I took them to J.F Kennedy Platz, then onto Ku'damm and the church, followed by the Siegesäule. We all paid to go in and the information was interesting but there was no way I could climb 285 spiral steps with my poor limb, so Mum and I didn't climb it in the end. Next stop was Bernauerstraße and the Wall Memorial. I visited this with Lewis in 2012, but I had no idea just how extensive the memorial was; the whole street was demolished to make way for the wall and so has been preserved almost in it's entirety. You can see the foundations of a church that once stood in between. You can see foundations of houses that were ripped down because people were using the windows that looked out onto the west side to escape. There was even video footage of a man shimmying down a sheet rope from a window. Lastly, they preserved part of the Death Strip. You climb a big viewing platform to see it properly and it's just, awful. Awful to think that it was only 24 years ago that it came down. The East Side Gallery is interesting, but I think Bernauerstraße really makes you realise just what this wall was, even though I will never get my head around it. It's a really tasteful memorial too, and I was pleased to see people were being respectful.

Do I really need to caption this?

After that, we rushed over to the Stasi Museum. By now it was absolutely chucking it down, so the weather was quite conducive to the tone of the day! We only had an hour there, so I showed them the most important bits. My mum has always been interested in spy stuff, so she was simultaneously fascinated and horrified.


We then went for dinner, opting for a place at Alexanderplatz. It was initially really good, until after we had eaten no one asked us if we wanted more drinks and we waited half an hour for the bill ...
After we all had a bit of a strop, we bought some biscuits and wine and hung out at their hotel until gone midnight.

hab' dich Lieb, mama

After dropping their stuff off at mine the next morning, I gave mum her birthday card and little present and there were some little tears too. Then, as an extra special birthday present, we went to see the site of Hitler's Bunker. It was chilling, and not just because it was pissing down. Saying goodbye at the Airport was not too bad, as Spencer drove me home so I had to dump them and run really. It was lovely seeing mum, and I think I can make the next couple of months now!

I spent the holiday weekend in Vienna visiting Sia, so there'll be a post soon about that! And last night, I went for drinks with Joe and the gang, as Joe will be knocking around el Berlino for a couple of weeks. Yay!


Bis bald
xxx

Berlining (verb)- a type of chilling specific to Berlin

I feel like it's coming together here. Even Lewis said I looked happy and settled, and I reckon that is pretty true. Work has been going well- a copyediting job I worked on was approved by a new client, I've learnt about SEO marketing (I know, what the hell) and I'm writing emails that make sense. As for a social life, Jean and I went to a bar called Das Gift (The Poison) down the road from me for a few drinks last week, which was fun. Jean and I have decided that we will go to a different bar every wednesday night, which will be so good- not just for language, but for my knowledge of Berlin. I also discovered they do a beef and ale pie- it's owned by Scottish people- which nearly brought tears to my eyes. Sadly, I'd already had my tea, but I believe I will be stuffing my face there this Sunday.


On the subject of food, I also found a ridiculously good falafel place near where I work. The peppermint tea was also insanely tasty.

It's been going well with Lionel as well- Thursday evening, he took me on a night tour of Kreuzberg. We trekked to the peak of Viktoriapark and had a gorgeous starry view of the city, before going for a coffee.

boulder painted like an eyeball?

Lewis arrived Friday night and it was a very cute reunion, where we actually ran towards each other. Soppy bastards. Saturday, we headed to Charlottenburg, where I hadn't been yet, and had a butchers at the palace there. It was a gorgeous day and so sunny and warm so we walked through the Tiergarten onto Unter den Linden. We turned off down one of the side streets and had a wander around Mitte, before taking a seat in a deckchair on a lawn facing the Berliner Dom. There we listened to some buskers, drinking Berliner Pilsner (which Lewis has decided he adores), soaking up the afternoon sunshine and honestly just loving our lives.

Street market currywurst with onions and so much mayo. Lecker!

Charlottenburg Palace- look how blue the sky is!

a fascinating concept

I love this

 We stumbled into a bar near Görly with pink furry walls but it was so small and crowded so we decided to move on. We found a place called the Havana Bar, which was quite quiet but cheap, you could smoke there and like, most places, gave you prezel sticks with every drink.  It was no really crazy place but it was perfect for me and Lewis to natter like old biddies, and we've decided it's our Berlin eqivalent to a bar we've frequented for a few years in Covent Garden. We stayed until 2am, U-Bahned it home where we continued to drink, watching King Kong and eating half raw pizza. Needless to say, Sunday started off slowly but we fully exhausted the coffee machine before heading out to Potsdamer Platz. I took Lewis to the Holocaust Memorial and the Gay Memorial, before we sought out a MacDonalds and headed to Ostkreuz for no apparent reason. We had a coffee in a little cafe before going to Warschauer Strasse and the East Side Gallery, and sat outside an off-license where the tables were graffitied and the ashtrays were sweetcorn tins. Oh Berlin. 

View from Ostkreuz Station...

Today was just a walk into Kreuzberg, just off Admiralsbrücke, where we sat outside a cafe and chilled in the sun. It was an enjoyable walk and if this weather keeps up, I won't be taking the U-Bahn very often, as it was only a 25 minute walk.

Cuties

It was so good to have Lewis here and I miss him already, but hopefully he'll be back, and if not, I'll go and harass him in London in August. 

Now, soup, tv and an early night.

Tschau! xx

p.s Lewis coined the term 'Berlining', credit where credit is due

Can we go to Kreuzberg now?

Hallo!

The last couple of weeks have been pretty good, despite a horrible cold/chest infection rearing it's ugly phlegmy head on Saturday night. Work has been varied, they said my changes to a translation really improved it (woop) and I can feel my German improving slightly. I write emails in German and ask Marit to check them and twice now she's said all my endings were correct. IS THIS REAL LIFE?

I also finally posted my letters/cards today, my sincere apologies to those of you who have now had your birthdays and babies.

So the weekend before last, Joe came up for the weekend and we started out in a strange bar down my street. It was all very odd (but mainly just boiling) so we jacked it in and had a Burger King.

Joe was raring to go to Kreuzberg so that was, obviously, the first thing we did on Saturday, followed by what was possibly the most incredible Currywurst I have ever had the pleasure of digesting just off Ku'damm.

oh ja

We did get to see a Berlinale film- it was called Macondo and was about Chechynan refugees living in Austria. It was really good...until I fell asleep and missed the last 15 minutes. Are you surprised though? Saturday night consisted of bar hopping in Kreuzberg (you literally can't tear the boy away), starting at Madame Claude's where nearly everything was upside down and glued to the ceiling. That was followed by a slightly more normal cocktail bar, where I happily discovered Wassermelon Man. You can't taste the alcohol-it just tastes like Haribo. The third and final bar (too much rum had been consumed) was a bar called Misfits, which suited me down to the ground, but soon after that we headed back and all I remember is stubbing my cigarette out on my thumb so we could get in the taxi.

Sunday morning was me whinging for quite a while, before we went to the East Side Gallery and I properly tried falafel for the first time. Sweet Lord, it was delightful. 

You've learnt what freedom means, never forget it

I particularly enjoy Joe's foreboding shadow in this

Most of the day was wandering around really, though we did experience Europe's fastest lift. It was like 20 seconds to get to the 24th floor or something - mental, and my ears killed. The view was worth it though!

Chirpy

That weekend was pretty good when it comes to new foods and new bars. On Sunday night, we went for Vietnamese with one of Joe's friends who is also in Berlin and it was insanely good! We went to a lesbian bar on Weserstrasse, which was very strangely decorated - think Grandma's house crossed with a huge picture of a woman with too much pubic hair and a sign that said 'I love my vagina'. That was followed by another bar, where everyone was gathered around the the tv watching Tatort (a popular crime show here). There, Chelsea got us to try the house shot and I swear I thought my chest was going to burst into flames and Saint George would smite me down with his sword as I exhaled gusts of fire through my flaring nostrils. All exaggerations aside, it was bloody rank. An experience, but rank. So then it was bye bye Joe and back to work on Monday.

Last weekend, I met up with my French tandem partner, a nice fellow called Lionel. We had a crepe in Kreuzberg (well, Kotti, for those of you who understand the hip Berlin lingo) and a little walking tour of the canal. It was really nice to meet someone so random and I found it very enjoyable to listen to him struggling to say 'clothes' and 'studying', which was more like 'stood-ay-ing'. To be fair, I embarrassed everyone with my shitty French so I gotta give him credit.

After that, I went to find the Rollberg Kino in Neukoelln. I wasn't entirely sure and it was a bit dark, so I popped into a Lotto and asked the way. Was great, until I said 'oh right, so next left' while madly gesturing to the right.... Got there eventually though, got my ticket to The Wolf of Wall Street, salty popcorn and a beer. The film began with slaves standing in a sugar cane field. I then recognised Chiwetel Ejifor and realised I was in the wrong film. And so I accidentally saw 12 years a slave, and it was actually amazing.

I've got tomorrow and Friday off, which is going to be very nice indeed. I plan on sleeping a fair bit tomorrow to try and fend off the rest of my illness and then hopefully meet a German tandem partner in the evening. Then, Friday, I'm off to Poland for the day. As ya do.

Bis bald xx