Nice Days in Berlin

Tuesdaz, Sept. 4, 2007--Berlin

Berlin seems so clean and quiet, especially after being in India for a month. And the cars and their drivers are so curtious and considerate of pedestrians! It is such a change from where I have been lately.

It is cool here, and there have been showers during part of the day. But Dieter and I still went out and explored the city. We started with breakfast with other friends and friends of theirs. Detlef, whom I have known as long as I have known Dieter, was there. So were three others. They are all pensionists who meet for breakfast about twice a week. We had the small breakfast plate which wasn´t so small. It had several slices of cheese, several slices of meat, two big multi-grain rolls, a soft-boiled egg, butter, and jam. I had a cup of coffee with it. It was a morning of good food and good conversation.

Dieter and I walked through two neighborhoods during the afternoon. We went first to Kreuzberg which is predominantly a Turkish neighborhood. There was a street market there which they have two times a week. It had many stalls selling food, clothing, toys, etc. When it started to rain, we stopped into a Turkish restaurant and had a drink along with a mezza plate (variety of small snacks served with a basket of bread).

From there, we went to a neighborhood around Rosenberg Platz in the former East Berlin to see how it has been changing as the buildings have been restored, new small shops have moved onto the streets, etc. It was a pleasant area that is populated by many young people. Such improvements have made Berlin a much nicer city than it used to be.

We stayed inside in the evening and had cold cuts and brown bread for dinner. Dieter showed me the photos from his visit to Brazil last winter. We also did some planning for an around-the-world trip he may take in two years.

Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007--Berlin

We ate breakfast here at the apartment this morning. Dieter boiled some eggs for us and put out cold cuts. I went across the street to get some fresh multi-grain breads for us to eat and a sweet pastry for afterwards.

We walked through the fancier shopping areas of town and met Detlef outside KaDeWe Department Store. (If you go to the link, be sure to check out the food halls on the 6th floor.) Then the three of us went exploring in nearby neighborhoods. Today was sunny. The air was cool, but it was warm in the sunshine. It was a good day, therefore, to explore the city. We stopped at a nice coffee house and had a drink before Detlef had to leave us to take care of some business.

Dieter and I went to a nice park where we met another friend of his named Horst. The park had a beautiful flower garden. It also had a section that is a wine garden. A hut there is used to sell wine by the glass or the bottle. Each month a different winery sells its products there as a form of advertisement so that people can become familiar with which wines they like. Many people bring picnic meals from home to spread out on the tables (including tablecloths, flowers, etc., along with the food items) and buy wine from the hut to have with their food. It was a very pleasant setting and a nice idea for providing a pleasant atmosphere for people to enjoy themselves at the park. Why do U.S. cities have to outlaw the drinking of wine and other alcoholic beverages in parks? Anyway, Dieter, Horst, and I visited while drinking two glasses of wine each and having some cheese as a snack with the drinks.

Dieter has gone to the Wednesday-night services at his church. When he returns around 20:30, we will go out to dinner. Then it will be time to call it a night. Tomorrow, after we have breakfast, it will be time for me to go to the airport for my flight to Copenhagen.