Today was the first day of spring. A very chilly day it was. And at 9 when I looked out of the window I could see snowflakes. Many of them. All the cars are white, the streets are pretty white too. I am all excited about it especially as it has also been snowing in Switzerland and David is going to come over soon (easter holidays) and we plan to go skiing, snowboarding for a day or two. Excellent!
I’ve been in Berlin for the last 3 weeks now. I like it here, the guys at work are nice and I’ve been bowling, to an African restaurant, clubbing and to the killer’s gig. There’s another gig I would like to go to. LCD soundsystem are playing next Tuesday in the Ostbahnhof in the Fritzclub.
Tomorrow I will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the Dunmore Cave and next Wednesday I am going to meet a distant relative for dinner and drinks.
Too bad it is going to be so cold over the weekend. They are even talking about snow. Which would probably be quite nice for the polar bears they’ve got in the zoo here. There is a young polar bear baby called Knut which is everybody’s darling at the moment.
I decided to take the train to go to Berlin this time. First of all flying is annoying because of all the added security, and there has never been a lot of leg room in planes. And as I am staying in Berlin for 3 weeks I had more then the amount of luggage I would usually take. City Night Line trains connect some major swiss cities with Germany. Leaving at 8pm it took me about 12 hours to get to Berlin. At first I was alone in the 2 bed compartment, but from Basel to Hannover I had company by a guy working for some kind of light/lamp company.
I had forgotten just how nice it is to leave a city in a train at nighttime. It is dark outside and cozy inside the wagon. The sound of the wheels on the track is a comfortable sound even though a bit loud at times. The train passed through many cities that I’ve never been to yet. Frankfurt, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Hannover, Braunschweig before I had to alight in Berlin.
The day before I had arranged to get a one bedroom studio flat for a month and so had to go to the rental company to sign the lease and pay the rent. It all went smoothly and I could move into my flat at Buelowstr. 45 just after 10am. As you can see on the google map it is very close to the U7 underground station Yorckstrasse. And the U7 takes me to Siemensdamm where I am working in just over 20 minutes without having to change lines. An excellent service. I had decided to get ticket covering public transport in all of Berlin for a month.
I am going to be in Berlin for the next three weeks. Leaving in Zurich, the CityNightLine train will take me straight to Berlin where I will be arriving before 8 on Tuesday morning.
Tonight after work we went to Kreutzberg for food and drinks. Axel, Yann and Laura that is. We had to take Subway no 7 and then change to no ?? to get to Kottbusser Tor. On the way there, there was a minor incident in the waggon with a few people with coloured skin making music in the train and a German guy not liking it and abusing them verbally. Then another guy rose to defend the musicians and they were shouting at each other. Like two cockerels. I’ll have to get used to these kind of scenes in Belrin. They happen and I am not really feeling that comfortable.
Kreuzberg is a borough in Berlin with lots of Turkish shops and cafes. We went to a tapas and cocktail bar called Mas y Mas where we had the most fabulous tapas platters. The service was very good and they even satisfied our wishes for our favorite tapas. After dinner we went to a place called Würgeengel that was very nice as well. I had to try a Pimm’s No.1, made of Pimm’s, Ginger Ale, Cucumber as it had been recommended in the snowboard touring camp. It tastes refreshing and not sweet. Yummy.
I quite liked the whole area, shops, bars, restaurants, houses and would quite like to spend some more time in Berlin. Unfortunately I have to fly back to Zurich tomorrow Friday. But I’ll try to arrange that I can go back next week and hopefully stay two or three more weeks. In that case I would rent a furnished flat for a month as it costs about the same as staying in a hotel for a week.