Schönes Wochenende

Lovely weekend! Though I learned that the "thermometer" I'd been looking at was actually measuring the indoor humidity. So... it seems I've been misrepresenting the weather. It's been in the mid 40s, not the low 50s. In my defense, after the polar vortex, it feels like Miami. And the warm-ish trend continued all weekend with some sunshine.

On Friday I was still on my own, as P was at work. A young sewing blogger from Berlin had posted on occasion about her fabric purchases at the Türkisher Market on Maybachufer in the "new Cologne" neighborhood. As the market is held only on Tuesday and Friday, I decided to make it my objective for the day.

I found the general location, including Maybachufer, with no problem, but finding the market was a little trickier. Had I walked a different route, I might have found it right away, but I had a bit of a sightseeing walk with not so interesting sights before I found the right place.

The market was unmistakable once I spotted it. But unfortunately,  I couldn't see the tents from where I first found the street.

The market is very pragmatic. There were lots of food vendors with produce, bread, meats and fish, condiments, etc. There were also some vendors with clothing, including hats, scarves, purses, etc. There were lots of fabric vendors, as well, with very low prices. But "Canal Days" it was not.

There was nothing in the fabric offerings that particularly interested me, so I left empty handed. By the time I had walked past all the stalls, I just wanted to get out of the crowd, and especially away from the mothers with prams and the old women pulling shopping carts, none of whom cared in the least whether other people could move past them.

From there I returned to the apartment, picking up a pastry for Kaffeetrinken, and chilled for the rest of the afternoon.

Saturday morning, P and I set off for a little stroll through the neighborhood where she previously worked. We had a specific shopping destination in mind. I'll just say "mission accomplished".

For lunch, we headed to Alexanderplatz, where we visited the Brauhaus Mitte. The fare is traditional German. The place is huge, but still manages to feel "homey". P and I traded some meats from our plates, and everything was very good.

After lunch we did a little shopping at the Alexa Mall on Alexanderplatz. After a few small purchases, we were ready to get away from the crowds and noise, so we left and headed for home, stopping for Kaffeetrinken at her favorite cafe. The tables were all full, so we brought our cakes home.

Sunday we decided to take a Berlin Underworld tour. We got the last ticket for our tour, but they kindly sold one more so we could both go. The tour we took dealt with the underground shelters (not bunkers... They weren't reinforced) during WW2. There were quite a few stairs, so it was moderately challenging. It was also a lot more interesting than I anticipated, though maybe a wee bit too long. They also shouldn't have made such a big deal about the potential for claustrophobia. The power of suggestion had both P and me second-guessing our states of mind during the whole tour (Am I just getting hungry, or am I about to pass out?).

We had lunch nearly next door at Bella Italia, a restaurant P remembered having previously been to with friends. We had a lovely sunny table in a quiet room, so we lingered over multiple beverages after a delicious meal. Several tables around us were reserved, but there were few patrons at that hour, so they didn't try to rush us out.

From there we went to the flea market at Mauer Park. That was far more claustrophobic than the underground. We saw most of the stalls, buying nothing, but ultimately felt the need to escape. I guess the subtext for the weekend should be "crowds and noise".

While sitting in Mauer Park afterwards, I noticed pussy willow in bloom. It was growing in a tree form, rather than the shrub form we usually see. It also wasn't growing in a neat row along the twig the way we see it. So I'm guessing that it's another variety of willow that has similar catkins, but I haven't been able to positively identify it.

Even trying to hold the twig still, there was too much breeze for a close-up.

When the chill became too much for P, who is far less well-insulated than I am, we headed for home. Naturally we stopped for pastries en route. This time at a new cafe in her neighborhood.

Golly, weekends go fast.

Monday I spent lounging around the apartment, resting my legs, for most of the day. Late afternoon I traveled by Strassenbahn (street train) to Karlshorst on the far side of town to meet P for her riding lesson. The sun was setting as I rode, and the landmarks I knew looked beautiful against the setting sun, but impossible to photograph as they flashed by. 

It was too dark for successful photos during the riding lesson. And although it was a legitimate 53 degrees when I left the apartment, the temperatures dropped precipitously once the sun was fully set. Even huddled in blankets, I was freezing watching her lesson. But I got to pet horses. That makes any day a good day.