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

The good times, bad times and the downright ugly times

Hi there, look at me checking in so soon. A fair amount of things have gone on so we'll start from the terribly long day I had on Tuesday, after napping on the bus back from Vienna and arriving in Berlin at 6am. Naturally I had to go to work, then my language class and then to meet up with Joe and the others. It was a good night - we ended up sitting in Görly park with beers and pretzel sticks.

The rest of the week I weaseled out of all plans as I was just unfathomably tired and grumpy (I am still convinced it has a lot to do with the heat), until Saturday night. I'd spent the entire day in bed reading, which was absolutely glorious and very much needed. Sophie, Hilary and I went to the ramen place, Cucolo, that Spencer and Kat took me to in my first week here. It was so good. We decided to have a non-alcoholic evening, opting for coffee in a waffle bar.

On Sunday, we all met up at Görly (I swear, I spend my entire leisure time around this place) for the breakfast market, where I was most delighted to find steak pies. I repeat, I FOUND STEAK PIES. It was New Zealand recipe, but still. Delicious. Then we headed to Mauerpark. Sophie hunted down a bag, I bought another shirt, Hilary bought a few things and then lastly, I paid 17 euros for a ring. It was amazing though, and the woman reassured me it was top-quality brass, it wouldn't tarnish or stain my fingers green. Well.

Happy as larry, we had coffee and cake at Anna Blume, which is a lovely brunch place. Then I noticed my finger had indeed turned green, so the girls agreed I had to go back to the market and tell the woman. Which we did, and I ended up getting my money back but not without being called a 'crazy bitch' for being upset about paying a lot of money just to react to the metal so quickly, and I'm sorry, but don't reassure someone that your overpriced rubbish is nickel-free when it evidently is bloody not. ANYWAY.

On Monday, I met up with Joe, Chelsea and her boyfriend Chris at the Fanmeile, where it seemed the whole of Berlin had turned out to watch the Germany-Portugal game. The atmosphere was insane, and afterwards we found Sophie and Hilary and all went out for Mexican at, yes you guessed it, Görly, before going to Chris' and playing Ring of Fire, which was great fun.

The Fanmeile (the dome on left side is the Reichstag, and the screen was in front of the Brandenburg Gate)

Tuesday was pretty uneventful at work, but Joe made a pizza for us from scratch which was lush, and we just spent the evening at mine watching stupid Youtube videos. Alas, my bridge fell out that evening as well, leaving me with one front tooth less. It was all fine though as I had my emergency denture with me, and I went to the dentist today. I'm getting a new one fitted in the next week or so, so that's perfect!

Sigmund and I sulking after the tooth incident

It seemed the bad luck wasn't going to end there. On Tuesday, I got out of work early so we went and did some shopping and when we got home, my netbook decided it was time for it to say goodbye to this world, which meant that we watched like 4 games of football, and Joe commandeered the internet on my phone. Ah lovely. This problem is also resolved, as I picked it up from the repair shop today and it is working like a dream! On the positive side of both these things, I dealt with all of it in German, and I'm super proud of that!

Friday night was pretty good though. Sophie, Hilary and her two friends from home, Joe and his friend Ciorstaidh and I went to a wine bar, where you pay for a glass and just fill it with whatever wine you want, and at the end you just give a donation. Delightful! Then it was on to a club called Rosis, where we danced the night away to 80's indie music which was also delightful!

On the way back to the U-Bahn at 7am though, it was just me, Sophie and Hilary, and not once, but THREE times, men literally got in our faces, to the point we were all actually a bit scared. One of them tried to kiss Hilary, to which we both lost our shit. We stood up for ourselves, yes, but we should be able to walk along without having to defend ourselves against getting kissed against our will! So freaking gross.

A bit of Ciorstaidh, Hilary and me in a caravan outside Rosis. Sorry Hilary but I think it sums up the night!

Saturday night was a bit quieter, and we went to watch the Germany-Ghana match at Tempelhofer Feld. It was so, so good. The beer was flowing and Germany scored twice. The atmosphere was great and afterwards we headed to Madame Claude's for a couple of beers. Sunday saw me in bed all day reading and napping, until Joe came over and picked up some of his stuff and we said goodbye ... until I see him in Edinburgh. Which is bloody shocking.

This has been a reaaally long post, and not many photos, apologies!

xxx

And suddenly, a social life

Hallo hallo

The last couple of weeks have been very much fun-filled, thanks to being friends with people my age again. I have come to the conclusion that everyone I have met from Edinburgh Uni (read, Joe's mates) are all total babes. Last Wednesday we found ourselves in a fetish club, which was a very eye-opening experience. It was good fun though, and we danced away to techno until the small hours. The following day was the 1st May bank holiday which naturally meant a massive street party in Kreuzberg. The streets were rammed with people, food, alcohol and loud music. We left in the early evening before it descended into madness (we'd already seen about a thousand riot police) and the festival is quite well known for it's rioting and car burning. We went for a nice drink in Neukolln, Hilary, Sophie, Blythe (who was visiting from Austria) and I and had some wonderful tapas. A busker came in and was particularly rude when Blythe gave him some money and said 'Is that all?'. Bloody ingrate.

Goerly Park got a bit packed too 

Oranienstrasse (Sorry to this dude)

I've also recently become obsessed with Game of Thrones (very late on the bandwagon, I know) so Saturday consisted mainly of that before we went for dinner at a little French place in Kreuzberg called Chez Michel. The food was good, but the bloke was as tetchy as anything. I asked him where the bottle opener was and I was half expecting him to hit me with it.

Sunday was my first visit to Mauerpark and, despite the famous Karaoke not being on, it was still pretty good. No pictures from me, because I forgot my camera, but Hilary took a couple. Fairly sure I'll go again at some point!

Choosing a shirt, oh the dilemma

We went for a Vietnamese not far from me and oh my, it was divine. It was then time to say goodbye to Blythe, but hopefully I will see her while I am in Vienna (only a few weeks away!). I'm also still meeting with Lionel every week and I think we've made Italo our spot. It's such good food and it's not too expensive. I'm still frustrated with French though, as there are points where I just cannot remember how to say it in French and accidentally speak German. Lionel is nice about it, but it's just so embarrassing. I'm reading Heidi in French at the moment in a bid to absorb some of it, and I've also been listening to a lot of Zaho. (If you don't know her, you should). I'm trying!

Thursday night was quite exciting, as Sophie and I went to see a 'mystery movie', or as we were firmly corrected by the woman ' a sneakpeek', at Potsdamer Platz. It was an, erm, interesting movie with Jake Gyllenhaal. Just watch the trailer below and you may understand our state of 'okay, that was pretty odd'. (There was a lot of spiders and ALSO, I'm fairly sure it was bodysnatchers kinda thing but yeah)

And last night was, of course, Eurovision. We went to a bar round the corner from me to watch it. Sat in a basement in front of a big projecter screen with people fidgeting, stealing coats (Sophie found hers in the end), treading on beer bottles, not clapping and generally just not understanding was a little frustrating but we still enjoyed it. Although the UK didn't win (obviously), I still think we did fairly well - 40 points! Progress is progress!

the glorious beginning and the heads of the two morons that irritated me all night

When Conchita won!

My prize for betting that Austria would win, righty ho. The others got one too!

Aside from socialising (I know right, look at me go), work has been good too. I feel like my German has improved a lot, and I no longer have to strain to understand. I'm also glad that I chose to do an internship, as it's teaching me so much. Not just the translation industry, and what makes a good/bad translator, but just general things about being a project manager. I'm still enjoying it, even though there are days when I just want to hide under my desk, so that's the main thing!

I'm also proud to announce that I have now had 4 dreams/semi-dreams auf Deutsch. They're all nonsense but, still!

Unfortunately, I haven't heard from Jean in a couple of weeks... so I'm not really sure what that's about. I am disappointed because we were getting on really well! Ah, might have to find another German tandem partner if I don't hear from her this week...

Anyway, that's all for now.

Tschussi

xxx

Some stuff about life, and Amsterdam

The last couple of weeks were a bit of blur, as I spent most of my time counting down the minutes to seeing my family in Amsterdam and seeing Sia and Sarah in Prague (and Munich, as it turned out). There's been some good times though - Jean and I went to an awesome kniepe (pub) in Friedrichshain called The Big Lebowski and, as usual, stayed out longer than we planned because we just couldn't stop chatting. I met Lionel on Tuesday in a new Italian restaurant in Kreuzberg for foccacia which was very tasty, and we talked for ages about politics (well, I tried, at least.) I didn't meet either of them last week, but I did meet up with Sophie and Hilary (who are new in Berlin, and friends with Joe). We went to Kreuzburger, which was actually very decent, attempted to go to a poetry slam with their friends from the uni and ended up in a park admiring a penis drawn in whipped cream.

As for work, it's been fluctuating between not a lot of work and loads of work. When there is nothing for me to do, my boss sends me on little errands, and one of these was a total embarrassment. I went to the Post Office to buy some stamps, but instead of saying 'sechzig' (60), it came out as 'sexy'. The woman behind the desk thought this was highly amusing and laughed herself silly before I could run away with my sexy stamps and a red face.

There's also been some amusing translation errors that I've come across, my favourites being 'visitor centre for victims of euthanasia', the exile of the citizens of Berlin instead of the King and Queen, a man apparently being alive during the French Revolution despite the fact he was, in fact, dead at the time and 'water boiler' instead of 'kettle' - completely logical, but no.

Mueggelsee

My phone does not do this justice. 

Last Friday, I met up with Joe, which wasn't without its drama - miscommunication meant we met almost an hour later than planned, no surprises there really.  We went to Friedrichshagen, where his great uncle lived (cool, right?), for a butchers. It was a lovely town and after a walk around and a look at the Müggelsee, we headed back to Kreuzberg (obviously) for dinner and then stood with a beer (Bavarian Augustiner is nice, but I think I'll stay loyal to the Berliner Pilsner) on the Oberbaumbrücke watching the sunset, me feeling smug and Joe feeling jealous. Then we went to the Comet Club to see Drenge, a brother duo from Sheffield. It was good fun, especially watching the lairy moshers and the drummer in the support band, who looked like he was on something incredible. After Joe had accidentally entered into a lengthy discussion with a beggar, we met up with Sophie (who I went to Kreuzburger with the following Wednesday, so this is all a bit backwards but oh well).  We sat at a Mexican bar for a cocktail and then wandered down Oranienstraße. I remember showing them the pink furry place, before we settled for some shitey disco bar, then I think we sat in the same bar Joe and I went to last time, then another one with shisha and a tequila shot with cinnamon? After that it went a bit downhill and I crawled into bed at like, 4am.


Kat drove me to the airport the next morning, which was lovely of her, and after throwing up outside I got through the airport so easily and quickly before throwing up multiple times on the plane and at Amsterdam airport before my mum, her partner and my sister arrived in the car.  Not really my finest hour(s). The hotel was lovely, but we barely touched down before we went  to meet my brother and his babies for dinner.

Tulips outside the airport

Dinner, yes I had a boring pizza but my stomach was frail, don't judge me

Then it was Easter! My sister and I spent the morning drinking tea, eating our Easter gifts and having a huge catch up before we drove to my brother's. We had lunch in the city and spent the day wandering around. Although we've been to Amsterdam a few times since my brother moved there, it was the first time we'd walked around Rembrandt Square, and it was the first time I'd been to a proper Dutch flower market.

Not sure what those biscuits were, but one wasn't enough

Rembrandt

  

                     


We met up with my brother at Denham, where he works on Prinsengracht, then walked back to his house. My nieces have grown up so much since I last saw them and are now walking and almost talking! What's more amazing is that they understand both English and Dutch, though I've decided I want to pick up Dutch again for their sake. After the girls went to bed, we headed out to see my brother's new place just outside the city. The plan was to go out for dinner, but it ended up being Macdonalds for tea as we were all knackered and time was getting on. Monday was sad, as obviously I had to say goodbye, but we all had lunch at the airport which was cute. It was so lovely to see them, and I think that seeing them at just about the 3 month mark was a good idea.

Siblings- I will never be as cool as my brother.

Squinty Mummy

The flight home was obviously 100 times better than on the way out and I came home to a chocolate bunny on my bed and Osterbrot in the kitchen - thanks Kat! She is away again until Wednesday so I've had the run of the place once more. It was nice her being home because of the company but I certainly got used to being on my own. I think they are here until I leave now, so no more home alone for me!

Post to follow on Prague and Munich!

xxx

Project managing and gravehunting

The last couple of weeks have gone so fast - how is it practically April already? Spring is definitely setting in here as the sun has been shining, the trees in the courtyard are flowering and bees have started to buzz around my head. The shops are filled with Easter related goodies and I have to say, they really go all out here. It's definitely not just about the chocolate eggs with the collectible mug.

Anyway...work has been good, albeit a bit stressful as Marit was ill for a couple of days last week which meant I then had to do quotes for clients and start actually project managing. Obviously great for experience, but my boss left the office for half an hour and so many emails came in that I just wanted to scream. No disasters though and I can safely say that I take back all my vehement 'when the hell am I ever gonna need this' arguments with Maths teachers. My language is also definitely improving. I know this because a) I understand Marit 75% of the time and b) strangers understand me more. Yay! On the translation front, I'm pleased with myself too. I did a translation on Thursday for a client because it wasn't very long, I've proofread a lot of their stuff before and it needed to be done for that evening. I was pooping myself at first, but I was so proud when Marit read it over and said it was good!

Steinmetzstr.- where I work, and it's a pretty sign

I also did a translation for Jean, from English into German...I really really did not want to, but she desperately needed a CV translated over the weekend and because I'm an awesome friend I did it for her, apologising profusely for how hideous it was but she said I'd done a 'decent job'. I'll take that.

On the subject of tandem partners it's been great fun. Last Wednesday Jean and I went to a bar in Friedrichshain called Astro. It was small and smoky but the music was good and we had no idea we'd been there for four hours. Work was a bit difficult the following morning as I had drunk a few too many 'Moscow Mules'. The following evening, Lionel continued my tour of Kreuzberg, which involved walking through a squat. I was a bit dubious, like, why would you do that, but the view from the riverbank of said squat was beautiful. The Oberbaumbrücke is probably one of the nicest bridges ever, but no, I don't have a picture.

Last Saturday, I took myself on a little sightseeing tour, starting with the flea market at John F Kennedy Platz, where he famously said 'Ich bin ein Berliner.'

No idea what this is, but it's not a graveyard

It was rainy and miserable but that didn't stop me sifting through mounds of clothes and junk. It wasn't quite the same without Niamh, my partner in crime, so I took myself off to what I thought was the graveyard where the Brothers Grimm are buried. It turned out not to be, after I asked about 3 people and they confirmed that this church did not have a graveyard...nevertheless, there was a market there where I had some potato pancakes for lunch.

Tasty, but far too much Apfelmuss....

Then I found possibly one of the best bookshops I have ever seen, complete with ceiling-high bookshelves and stepladders. It was so quiet and the woman at the till was just sitting there drinking tea. She is living my retirement dream!

I actually managed to climb this several times with no incidents. Incredible.

I finished up in this huge secondhand and vintage shop near Nollendorfplatz, called Garage, before I went home to eat and get ready to meet Jean and her boyfriend, Marcel. The plan was to meet at Saphir Bar in Prenzlauer Berg but I got totally lost and ended up being an hour late...why am I so incapable? The cocktails in this bar were expensive (but they paid for mine as a thanks for the translation, how sweet!) but insanely tasty. One of them was called 'Dance of the Galactic Aliens' (or something). It was very spicy and tasty until I threw half of it all over my trousers, thus learning the verb 'kleckern'. I don't remember much about the rest of the night, save from the fact that me and Jean (Marcel went home at some point?) ended up in Tresor, a huge abandoned warehouse or something with most of the club underground in basements, in Mitte. Jean used to work there so everything was free, which was great until I consumed a stupid amount of Jägermeister which ended in me throwing up against a lamp-post outside her flat. Good one.

I was quite excited the next morning though when Marcel announced he was making eggs for breakfast, as I felt like a gorilla's armpit. I was sorely disappointed when it turned out to be scrambled eggs/omelette with figs, raisins, pine nuts and other things. Like, it was delicious. But, where is the grease to soak up the evening's sins?

We didn't meet up this week, but I did see Lionel on Thursday and saw the Socialist frieze and the memorial to the East Germany 1953 Uprising at the Federal Ministry of Finance. We also saw the facade of Anhalter Bahnhof, which in it's heyday was known as the 'Gateway to the South', with trains going to Italy and Greece! According to Wikipedia, it was also used to deport 'about a third of the city's Jewish population', which is just harrowing.

We went for dinner somewhere or other and I ordered a Flammekuechen and was very excited, remembering how much I liked the one I had in Strasbourg but this one was more like a pizza and there wasn't enough sour cream.

I was also gutted beyond belief last Monday when I realised I had missed the St.Patricks Day parade. I thought I would just pop along after work, but it was on Sunday! I consoled myself with watching Lord of the Dance, obviously.

On Friday after work, I rushed off to find the actual graveyard of the Brothers Grimm. I'm obsessed, I know. I found it this time and said my thanks for all the fairy tales.

Thank you for Sleepy

Today, I went to Potsdam, but I'll write about that in a separate post.

So yes, it's been a good couple of weeks here in Berlino, and my flatmates are back the week after next. That'll be strange, as they've been gone a month and I've thoroughly enjoyed pretending this flat is mine!

Tschuessi!
xx

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