"Berlin, Du Bist So Wunderbar"

This blog post is a true diary entry!

I’ve been back in Berlin for about 6 weeks. Most days I work in the morning and have the afternoon and evenings free to do whatever I feel like. Some small activities are things like eating out, going to comedy shows, visiting bars and cafes and plenty of walking around and taking in the sites but here are the highlights so far...

Lake swimming

It’s summer in Berlin with blue skies and warm weather every day. It makes for perfect conditions to head to the lake for a dip. Some lakes like Schlachtensee are about 1 hour by tram and train and some like Weissensee are about a 1.5-hour walk.

Lake life in Berlin is very relaxed. Clothing is optional, everyone goes there and a spot on the grass is highly desired and space is limited. The water is refreshingly cold but I’ve swam in colder.

Local Showdown

Berlin SC and BFC Dynamo are old time rivals. Dynamo are the dominators from the former east and Berlin are the quiet achiever from the former west. This year they competed in the amateur grand final not far from home so of course I was going to go along to check it out.

The game was dominated by Dynamo until the last 5 minutes when Berlin nearly pulled off a miraculous draw. The score in the end was 2-1 to Dynamo. I was surprised by the size of the crowd, around 6,000 and as expected they were a loud and raucous lot. The quality of the match was also impressive. Worth the $20 ticket price.

Working on site

A friend recently purchased an old site van that she plans to fix up and move to a block of land in Brandenburg. She asked if I could give her a hand with a few things which I was happy to do. Some grinding, drilling, installing roof braces and flashing installation was most of the work. It’s going to be very cool and comfortable when its finished I’m sure. The highlight of the two days was being able to take the ‘Trabbi’ for a spin. It’s an old car from the GDR when everything had to be simple, the same and not fancy. It remined me of driving my old Datsun 1600 for the first time. Rattles, smells, no power steering and heaps of fun.

Junk yard fair

On another weekend when a friend was in town we headed to Teufelsberg ‘Devil’s Hill’. It’s an old US espionage radio station used in the cold war and now used as an artist’s /creation space of sorts. A gentle stroll around the area presents cool graffiti, abandoned buildings and equipment, sculptures made from recycled material and home to a few interesting characters.

Later in the day we visited a local weekend food fair. It was full of home cooks preparing and selling typical Asian dishes, park style cocktails and other alcoholic drinks. Every umbrella had something different to offer. Another fun day in the sun.

Potsdam

Potsdam is a beautiful city in outer Brandenburg and it takes a bit over an hour by train from Berlin.

It’s the home town of the former and final German King Friedrich so there are some wonderful castles, buildings and parks in the area. It’s a popular destination for tourists but still peaceful enough to enjoy a wonderful walk taking in great architecture and landscape.

This is a shot of the summer house…

This is the new castle…

And this is the servant’s residence…

There are also some excellent walking tracks that run along the river which we will check out on the next planned visit.

A night with Bill Murray

On a thunder stormy night with torrential rain, we scooted along to the Berlin Philharmonie to see Bill Murray and friends in concert.

Bill on the microphone was accompanied by a piano, cello and violin. It was a show of classical music, poetry, literature, a little theatre and some light comedy. Very cool and unique.

3,2,1 Action

It appears that with my new-found fame as a move star (as reported in recent posts) the cameras are following me everywhere.

The apartment building I live in is very old and un-furbished. It still holds onto the classic GDR look from the days of a divided Berlin. Because of the this the owners often rent out spaces and rooms to movie crews who wish to film scenes with the old GDR appearance and ambience.

One crew spent a day here shooting and opening rooms previously inaccessible so I watched and investigated and entered some of these rooms to have a look while I could. I didn’t get a part in the movie. Not even as an extra.