Farmer's Market Delights

Our apartment is in a great location for shopping, but I was even more delighted to find a farmer's on a big plaza surrounding a church nearby (Wednesday and Saturday morning). Above, a first view - notice the church in the background, the bikes chained to the lamp post, and the woman on her comfort bike further back. As James said already - this is really a great place to bike. Many people take the bike to the farmer's market and there's a decent amount of bike parking.

Maybe 1/3 of the market is fresh fruit and vegetables, as in the stand above. A pretty decent percentage is seasonal and locally grown, but there don't seem to be very strict rules. The fruit is marked by country of origin, so I know that I'm buying grapes from Africa, mango from Thailand, and strawberries and potatoes from Germany.

Speaking of potatoes - you would not believe the variety you can get here! I've always loved potatoes, and here I'm in potato heaven! So many different varieties, each with different characteristics for different purposes. Potato salad, hash browns, boiled, baked, fried, dumplings - each preparation requires a different potato. And then there's the new potatoes! (Not cheap but worth it).

The big deal at the farmer's market this time of year is asparagus, or, to be precise, white asparagus. A whole religion seems to have sprung up around asparagus since I last lived here. Each restaurant has an asparagus menu. And everyone wants to buy some at the farmer's market. Though at $5/pound, more or less, it's not cheap.

But the long lines are not at the asparagus stand, they are for the cut flowers. At least ten people queue up for tulips to bring the first flowers of spring home from the market.

Another large stand has potted plants for the balcony - but more about that in another post.

I like that I can pretty much do all my shopping here if I want. Fresh eggs, several bread stands, Feinkost - which is stuff like pesto, nuts, or dried fruit. Also fish.

And a huge stand with dried herbs. In contrast to Americans, who like their supplements in capsules, Germans seem to prefer herbal teas as natural remedies. And instead of tea bags, they'll go for the real thing. Not all the herbs are medicinal, many are used for flavoring. Or for both.

Should I have any other needs, the farmer's market might also have just the thing. Sprinkled amongst all the edible goodies (yes, there's even chocolate) are stand with scarves, socks, and cleaning supplies.

And the most fun is to watch everyone talk to the vendors, enjoy the bounty, have a glass of fresh juice or maybe a beer, and then go home to cook a meal - and put the flowers in the vase.

May Day

Posted by James

The First of May has been celebrated as a holiday in Germany for thousands of years. In Roman times, April 27 was celebrated in the Roman parts of Germany as Floria, the Festival of Flora the Roman goddess of Flowers. In the Germanic parts, the night from April 30 to May 1 was celebrated with bonfires as Walpurgisnacht, or the Night of the Witches. As with the night of Halloween in Anglo-Saxon lands, witches supposedly gathered on the Brocken, the highest of the peaks in the Harz Mountains in southeastern Germany. This legend may have evolved from a natural phenomenon, the Brocken Spectre, an optical illusion in which the shadow of an observer standing on the peak of the Brocken appears on a low lying cloud bank surrounded by halos of light. When Christianity spread in Europe, the First of May became the Festival of St. Walpurga, an 8th century English missionary who brought Christanity to the Franks and was an abbess. St. Walpurga's Day was celebrated throughout the Middle Ages. Traditional celebrations include erecting a maypole (see the particularly fine example from Munich above above the maypole on the Wilmersdorferstrasse pedestrian mall), dancing, and, in coastal northern Germany just north of Berlin, lighting huge bonfires on the night of April 30. In Berlin, we visited a couple May Day celebrations.

On Thursday evening, a carnival seemed to be assembling on the Wilmersdorferstrasse pedestrian zone, When Renate and I left the apartment on Friday, May 1, the carnival was in full swing:

 One important ingredient for a carnival in Germany at any time of year is a stand selling roasted almonds and gingerbread hearts, which you can see above. The roasted almonds are coated with a mixture of sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. They're sold in paper funnels of various sizes. We bought a 100 gram funnel for 3 euros, and immediately experienced a sugar rush of major proportions.

Another ingredient is rides for the kids:

 Her's a pony ride that's about to begin.

 And here's a carousal already twirling.

And here's the most exciting one of all, bungee jumping for kids! The bungee is fastened onto a tall frame, and underneath is a trampoline. The kid just needs to bounce up and down on the trampoline and the bungee keeps them from bouncing off onto the concrete. So not only is it fun, but its also safe. Wish someone had thought of that when I was a kid.

May Day also has more political overtones in much of the world outside of North America, where it is celebrated as Labor Day. In the US and Canada, Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September, but most of the world including Germany celebrates it on May 1. The Second Socialist International selected May 1 as Labor Day to commemorate the Haymarket labor riots in Chicago, which occurred on May 4th 1886. In Germany, May Day is today a public holiday. In Berlin, May Day is traditionally "celebrated" by riots in Kreuzberg, the part of West Berlin that was the center of the communist, socialist and anarchist scene during the Cold War and for 10 years thereafter. In 2001, a riot in Kreuzberg began with the police trying to shut down a campaign to stop the Berlin census, and ended with the rioters chasing the police out of the neighborhood while residents threw garbage and furniture from the upstairs windows onto their heads. The residents celebrated with an all night party, and the next year, they decided to keep up the tradition with a more sedate festival that would attract families with kids (riots not being known for that), aligning with a general trend toward gentrification in Kreuzberg. Thus began the tradition of the Myfest in Kreuzberg (note: link is in German).

Renate and I took the S5 to the Zoo S Bahn station then the U12 to Kottbusser Tor. The subway car was packed, and when we disembarked, a slow moving crowd flowed up the stairs and out onto the street. We were greeted by an impressive police presence: scowling officers dressed in riot armor lining the street and police cars and ambulances on the street side of the pedestrian barracades. One group were even from Aachen, a small town in the Rhine Valley some distance away from Berlin, according to their shoulder patches. The scene was completely out of tune with the crowd, mostly young people, some families with kids, but all in a party mood with any kind of criminal activity the least thing on their minds. But once we were away from Kottbusser Tor, the scene became more mellow. There, the police roamed around in small groups in simple uniforms:

Above you can see a group wearing black berets with the letters "ZEI" on their backs, for "Polizei" the German word for police, behind the woman in the in the blue jacket. I guess the cops at the entrance were there to remind people about the history of the event.

The place was rockin'. Here you can see the crowd:

There were a grand total of 16 stages, one around every two blocks or so, with mostly unidentifiable but really loud music. When we were on our way out, I did note some Led Zeppelin but that was about it. In some places, people had set out speakers for an unofficial performance. Here's a band with a Texas theme where the performers seem to have painted their faces in orange Day-Glo paint (or is it just the lighting?):

There were lots of food stands:

But, strangely, no stands selling art and crafts, such as belong at a successful California street festival. Maybe the influence of the anti-capitalist philosophy in Kreuzberg keeps them away.

Politics is still a big part of the festival. Right now, refugees from the wars in the Middle East are a hot political topic in Germany:

The German left-wing party Die Linke had a whole row of booths at Marianneplatz and a stand where you could send a message to Chancellor Angelia Merkel:

Some folks also wanted to show their nostalgia for times gone by with a display of flags from former socialist countries:

Above the flags of the former German Democratic Republic (DDR in German) on the left and the former Soviet Union on the right.

Dancing was also popular, a May Day activity more in line with the traditional celebration:

Here you can see a round dance, well, maybe hard to see because of the people in front but the woman in the green jacket is holding hands with her neighbors. A drum and bagpipes accompanied them.

As we headed out toward the Moritzplatz subway station to return home, we spotted this decorated doorway at the corner of Adelbertstrasse and Waldermarstrasse:

The sign over the door says "Gallarie Zeitzone" or Timezone Gallery in English, maybe an art gallery. Despite gentrification Kreuzberg remains a center for the creative arts in Berlin, kind of like Burning Man in the US, and I expect we'll get back there now and then during our stay.

A Look on the Inside

Living room

When we found out that we were to move to Berlin, a nice place to live was high on our list. We considered the options of Craigslist or an Airbnb-like service, but finally settled on a Makler, that is a realtor who finds apartments and takes a monthly cut of the rent. It seemed like a raw deal for the renter, but the safest option. And with James wanting to start work two days after arrival, we did not want any surprises.

Several websites of varying degrees of customizability offered their services - but how close would the photos on the website be to reality?

Living room - dining area

We had a fairly short list of things that were very important or important: Close to the TU, not too small, a desk and Internet, and a bed that was suitable for a 6 months stay (a surprising number of apartments had only one full-size bed, and we needed queen size or better).

Large bedroom

On the nice-to-have list was a second bedroom and a balcony or garden. We were also worried about a hot summer, so top floor or west-facing windows made a place less desirable.

Small bedroom

After looking at different place for literally hours - and after we had missed out on two places - we finally found a promising apartment. By then, time was running out, so I decided to call the owner, who was very nice. I told her our situation and she said she'd be interested in having us as her renter.s We worked with the Makler to get the contract in place, and moved money into the owner's account.

Office

The place looked good - larger than most places than we had looked at, with several desks and two full bedrooms. But what would it be like for real? In early April, I was relieved to hear from James that he was quite pleased with the place. The location was even better than expected, with two natural food stores and a yoga studio just down the street, minutes from public transportation, and a large pedestrian mall not far away. Restaurants, a movie theatre, and, of course, the Kudamm were all close by.

Eating area in kitchen

When I finally arrived last week I was happy to discover that, if anything, the place was even more attractive than the photos. Everything was attractive and uncluttered, with nice-looking furniture and lots of space. The wood floors (Dielen) were old and creaky but just living in a place that old is charming.

Wood floors - note the different patterns

The high ceiling will hopefully help on warmer days - regrettably, the place does have 2 west-facing rooms. Interesting old-fashioned decorations also show the age of the house.

Door and ceiling

The kitchen is small but functional - and besides, there are so many good restaurants, we're not sure yet how often we'll eat in for dinner.

Most charming is the fact that the owner is an artist who makes tiffany lamps and other art with glass, and here pieces are found throughout the apartment.

View toward apartment house across the street, and glass art

I am, quite frankly, amazed that someone would just rent out a beautiful place like this for a whole summer to total strangers. But James and are are thrilled to have the place, and will certainly take care of everything (we even promised to water the plants).

Glass art

Around Brandenburg Gate

Posted by James

Renate finally arrived on Fri. and today we did what we usually do when we take a vacation in a new city - a hop on/hop off city tour on a double deck bus (though of course we really aren't here on vacation). Despite their reputation for being touristy, these city tours are actually good value. You get a feel for the city's geography and learn something about the sights, so you can come back later and see them in detail. We hopped off the bus at Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate.

Because Berlin was about 70% destroyed during WWII and for more than 45 years after that was divided between east and west, many parts of it are new construction. Around Potsdamer Platz, for example, almost everything is new and was built after the wall came down in the 1990's. Walking around, we found the original house where the Brothers Grimm, who collected folk tales in the 19th century and published them, lived from 1840 until their deaths while they taught at the University of Berlin. But it is surrounded on both sides by new glass and steel structures. The effect was somewhat jarring, stone house fronts with intricately sculpted Jungendstil statues tightly packed next to glass and steel storefronts.

In some parts of the city, the urban architecture of Berlin reminds me of a city in Asia, like Tokyo , and less of a European city, like Stockholm, Paris, or London. Large areas of the city around the train station are still undeveloped, and many buildings show the style of urban planning popular in the 60's and 70's especially in the socialist bloc, where buildings even in an urban setting are surrounded by large lawns (see previous post for another example of this style).  The effect is as if large parts of Berlin are still a work in progress. The urban architecture lacks the densely packed 5 and 6 story houses with retail establishments and restaurants on the first floor that most European cities have. Glass and steel skyscrapers with indoor malls hosting small shops seem to be the rule in many places. There are neighborhoods which have a more traditional European city feel to them, for example, the neighborhood where we live in Charlottenburg. A small square near the intersection of Wilmersdorferstrasse and Mommensenstrasse just steps away from our front door beckons for hot summer nights, and it feels a little like a square in Paris.

The other place were we hopped out was at the Brandenburg Gate, which you can see in the picture above. A bit of history. The Brandenburg Gate was commissioned by King Fredrick Willhelm II of Prussia in the late 17th century after his wars against Denmark and France as a sign of peace, but was not completed until after he died. It was build on the site of an old customs gate (Berlin prior to the 1700's charged duties on goods that entered the city) from 1788 to 1791. When Berlin was split between eastern and western halves during the Cold War, the Brandenburg Gate existed in a no-man's land between the two halves and was inaccessable from either side. The gate's design is based on the Polyphoraea, the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens, and reflects the style of neoclassical architecture popular in the 1700's. Many events important in German history took place around the Brandenburg Gate, from Napolean's triumphal march into the city after he defeated Prussia during the Napoleanic Wars to Nazi rallies during the National Socialist period.

Of particular interest is the Quadriga, the sculpture of on the top showing a Roman chariot drawn by four horses and guided by a woman, Victoria the goddess of victory. Here's a closeup:

Since the Quadriga faces east, the details in this picture, which was taken in the afternoon, are a bit difficult to see because it is lit from the back.

The street leading eastward from the Brandenburg Gate is Unter den Linden, "Under the Basswood Trees" in English, named after the trees that lined the street in the 19th century. This street was the most famous street in Berlin in the late 1800s. Now, with the Brandenburg Gate closed to traffic, the part between Friedrichstrasse and the Brandenburg Gate has little traffic and is mostly populated by tourists. The area around the Brandenburg Gate to the east is called Pariser Platz, "Paris Square", and in fact the French Embassy has been traditionally located there and is located there today. You can see it in the background behind the tulips (and my thumb):

On the other side of the street is the back side of the American Embassy:

It's the building in the middle of the photo behind the horse carriages waiting to carry tourists (and my thumb again). Further down the street on the same side as the American embassy is the Russian embassy, and on the other side is a museum about Willy Brandt's life, which we visited. Brandt was the mayor of West Berlin from 1957-1966, and from 1969 was the West German federal Chancellor until he resigned in 1974 due to a spy scandal. Brandt was responsible for introducing many social reforms into West Germany.

On the west side of the Brandenburg Gate (the part that was in West Berlin during the Cold War), the street changes its name to Strasse des 17 Juni ("Street of the 17th of June"), quite a mouthful to say even in German. Before WWII, the street also used to be Unter den Linden, but it was changed during the Cold War to commemorate the uprising against the DDR government on June 17, 1952. To the right looking out from the gate, you can get a glimpse of the Reichstag building with its transparent dome:

The Reichstag building is the seat of the German federal legislature, the Bundestag.

I'm not sure why they didn't change the name of the building when the Bundestag moved in in 1999. "Reichstag" sounds so pre-WWI. And the name certainly doesn't capture the spectacular effect of the transparent dome on the top, which you can see peeking out of the corner in the picture above. The picture below, taken from a street further away, shows the full dome:

The design for the remodeling of the Reichstag building was done by the famous British architect Norman Foster. The original building had a stone dome on the top, like the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. But the dome was heavily damaged during WWII and removed during an abortive remodeling attempt in the 1960's. Foster's original design did not include the transparent dome, but I've heard that it was added as a symbol of the need for transparency in the operations of government.

I'm sure we'll get back to this area again during our time in Berlin, if only to climb up into the dome on the Reichstag building and have a look out over the city. But for now, the afternoon was well spent, and we have a better idea about the layout of Berlin beyond the confines of our immediate neighborhood.

Walking to Work and a Minor Mystery

Posted by James

One of the best things about living in the city is that I can walk to work. Our apartment is about a 30 minute walk from the TU. Today, I took some pictures of interesting sights on the way there, and a couple on the way home, so I thought I would do a short guided tour of my route. In California, I drive 10 minutes on Route 237, a freeway, and the experience of walking could not be more different.

Above you can see one of the lovely ladies that adorn the wall at the base of the staircase leading up to our apartment. She's clearly from the early part of the 20th century, or maybe even from the 19th. Our apartment is in a building that's protected under Berlin's historic preservation ordinance, which is why she's there, since they sure didn't put that kind of sculpture on the entryway of apartments built in the '60's and '70's.

Out the door and onto Mommsenstrasse, I turn left. On the corner of Mommsenstrasse and Wilmersdorferstrasse, we see this purple pipe crossing over the street:

What could it be? Probably a district heating line. Like power, water and gas, Berlin used to have heating lines that were run by a utility and delivered hot water to buildings for heating in winter. That was when a hot water boiler was the size of a room and powered by coal. This one has been painted purple, but it's now not functional, as you can see by walking further up Wilmersdorferstrasse:

It's been disconnected and now serves as a mount for the solar panel (behind the fitting on the end) powering the pay parking ticket dispenser below it (not shown). Perhaps a comment on the changing energy technology between the early part of the 20th century and the early part of the 21st.

Across the street is Bio Company a grocery store like Whole Foods in the US:

They have a great selection of fruits, veggies, cheeses and also various other food products, in addition to cleaning supplies, soap, and cosmetics. Not nearly as big as the Whole Foods selection, but all certified organic according to the EU regulation, and the prices are not much different than at the regular grocery store. I do most of my grocery shopping there.

Ahead of us on Wilmersdorferstrasse, just this side of the beginning of the pedestrian mall, is the S Bahn overpass leading into the Charlottenburg commuter rail station on the left:

The overpass is the night home of a couple homeless guys. Sometimes I pass them on my way to work if they happen to be sleeping on my side of the street, but I never see them when I come home at night.

Continuing on down Wilmersdorferstrasse, I come to the Wilmersdorferstrasse U Bahn (metro) station:

As with all European cities, Berlin has a well-integrated public transit system with metro and commuter rail having stations that are right next to each other.

This time of day (7:30-8:00 in the morning) the Wilmersdorferstrasse pedestrian mall is deserted:

Usually, I end up dodging street cleaning machines and trucks driving on the mall to make deliveries to the stores in preparation for the day. Most stores open at 8 or even later, including Starbucks unfortunately. In the US, they open at 6. So if I want to bag a venti coffee on the way to work, I need to start out my walk at 7:50 at the earliest.

At the corner of Schillerstrasse and Wilmersdorferstrasse, I turn right onto Schillerstrasse:

Many of the streets in this part of Berlin are named after famous German poets (Schiller for example) or philosophers (Kantstrasse) or mathematicians (Leibnizstrasse). Further down Schillerstrasse, you can see the crossing over Leibnizstrasse:

There are no cars here now, but in the afternoon, this intersection is packed with people driving home from work in both directions. It has no pedestrian crossing zebra stripes, so drivers are not obliged to stop for pedestrians or bicyclists, and they don't. If you are on a bicycle, you can zip across just slightly ahead of an oncoming car, but as a pedestrian, you are too slow. Fortunately, there are two lights a couple blocks apart on either side of the crossing, and sometimes the traffic backs up and stops, so you can cross between the cars .

But wait a minute, what's that thing up there on the streetsign for Leibnizstrasse:

It looks like a little man with his arms outstretched. I wonder what that could be? Hmm.

Anyway, looking across the street is a playground:

Walking to work in the morning, I often see moms and dads with kids on bicycles or with a baby in a small trailer on their way to school and work, and coming home, there's often kids playing on the sidewalks along Schillerstrasse.  Today, I meet groups of teenagers coming in the opposite direction carrying books, on the way to school. One building along Schillerstrasse looks like it's a school too, with a playground in front, and at the end of Schillerstrasse is the Schiller Gymnasium (high school).

We continue down Schillerstrasse and pass by the back entrance to the state opera (the state in this case being Berlin, which is a state in its own right, like Hamburg):

The opera is located in the Schiller Theater.

Down a bit further and around the corner, we come to Ernst-Reuter Platz, a huge roundabout with busy roads leading in all directions:

We can see some bicyclists queued up to cross the street as in my previous post on bicycles. The road west out of Ernst Reuter Platz eventually comes to the freeway leading to the airport, the road east goes through the Brandenburg Gate and into the center of the city, a third road, Marchstrasse, leads past the building where I work and to the Landwehr Canal, then there are yet a couple more. I need to cross three busy streets to reach Marchstrasse 23 where my office is located.


On the west side of Ernst-Reuter Platz, we see the TU advertised on the side of a huge building, with the Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile in the US) pink T and dots logo on the top:

This building once housed the Telekom Innovation Lab but now I think most of the people have moved downtown to Winterstrasse.

Crossing Marchstrasse and continuing on, we come to my building. An elevator up to the fourth floor and we are at my office:

The route home is basically the same, except there are more people crossing the streets at Ernst-Reuter Platz because it's around 4:30. Here's the crossing at Hardenbergerstrasse, the last one I cross before Schillerstrasse, and the light is green:

The pedestrian crossing lights in Berlin have very evocative artistic characteristics. Not only is the light for "go" green, but it also has a little man, complete with a fedora, striding confidently across the street, so you know what to do. Not just boring old "Walk" and "Don't Walk" like in the US.

Here's the crossing at Marchstrasse, the first one I cross on my way back home. I'm not so lucky and I have to wait:

The pedestrian light for "don't cross" has a man with arms outstretched...but wait a minute! This guy looks like the little man I saw at Leibnizstrasse this morning! I guess somebody put him up there to remind the kids not to simply run into the intersection but rather to stop and check traffic first. A typical Berlin solution to a problem: creative, a bit whimsical, and fun.
 
Usually, the Wilmersdorferstrasse pedestrian mall is considerably more lively on the way home. The other day, I saw a truck with a gigantic pig on top advocating for a vegan diet. People were giving out leaflets. There's also a Tibetan monk who sits near the Karstadt department store, plays a small drum and sings. Well, at least he's dressed like one and has the gear, who knows if he's really a Tibetan monk? Tonight, on my way home, I saw this guy looking like he was suspended in the air, just holding onto a staff:

He's probably got a platform fastened to the staff that he sits on, but it looks kind of cool anyway.


Something new and interesting always pops up on the walk, it changes every day, and I always look forward to it. Even if I get a bicycle, I think I'll probably still walk, because a walking pace keeps you more in touch with your environment and gives you more time to notice things. Plus you can always stop and check out something interesting, or, on a whim, stop and pick up a coffee without having to lock up your bike or car. It's a more leisurely pace and I come to work refreshed from the exercise.

I'm tempted to say walking is somehow "better" than driving or biking, but in reality, it's just different. I get more exercise walking than driving so I don't feel the need to go to the gym and run on the treadmill for a half hour every night as I do when I drive, but there are equally interesting things to see when driving as the seasons change. Since I have an electric car powered by solar PV, driving isn't much of an environmental burden. I'm sure I'd feel differently about walking in the winter, when the sun doesn't come up until 8:30 and its cold and snowy, and even in the spring, summer, and fall when its pouring rain. Then I'd probably be grumpy by the time I get to work, and wish I had my electric Leaf and a 10 minute commute on the freeway.