StewBlog

On a jaunt a few days ago I discovered an Irish bar literally seconds from the apartment advertising Champions League football. So I paid a visit last night expecting to find the place packed with the usual English footie crowd and was pleasantly surprised to find that almost everyone appeared to be German and watching Bayern Munich Vs Lyon. In another part of the pub they were showing Manchester United Vs Aab Alborg in front of an appreciative audience of 30+ thoroughly sozzled Danish exchange students, led by what appeared to be their teacher in numerous choruses of ´Skol, Skol, Skol´. Why weren´t my teachers like that, huh?

All beginning with a visit to the Bang Bang Club in Hackesher Markt for their weekly Death By Pop evening on Fridays. It only cost 3 euros to get in and that included ein wodka at the bar! The music was indie/rock/pop/alternative (Libertines, Strokes, Killers, Kings of Leon etc) and there was a good crowd in there so I´ll definitely be visiting again. There is a large Turkish community in Berlin which means there are fast-food outlets abound. I found out on my way home on Friday night/Saturday morning that the food outlet beneath my local U-Bahn station never actually closes - It´s open 24-7 which I´m sure will be bad for my health!

Didn´t get up too early on Saturday, but when I did finally rise it was nice to see a bit more of the area around my apartment on foot and in the sun. There is a vast organic supermarket at the end of Kollwitzstrasse called the LPG BioMarkt so that could be my new local now although it´s a bit further than the Rewe...

On Sunday morning I was up bright and early and went down to check out the Jewish Memorial just at the edge of Tiergarten (Great big park in the middle of the city). I took some photos but they´ll all have to be added when I get back to my Mac in the UK on Friday.

I also stumbled across the Berlin Marathon when I walked round to see the Brandenberg Gate. Of course, this was the finish line so I couldn´t see it all that well and will return at a later date. I´ve never been to a marathon before but it was actually rather enjoyable watching all of the runners stream home whilst clutching a pilsner and a cheesy bread thing... Some poor chap had to be carried over the line, but he was still smiling - does that count?

I took the train over to Berlin´s new train hub, Hauptbahnhof - Okay, so I sound like a train geek here but it is a magnificent steel and glass structure arranged over 5 or more levels. You can get a direct there to Moscow and literally hundreds of other destinations in continental Europe. Anyway, the reason for me being here was to walk along the route of the old Berlin Wall which passed right by the site of the new station. As I followed the signs around I noticed that there are still odd bits of the wall remaining. It´s also quite obvious when you see long thin strips of wasteland at the sides of the road that this was once no-mans-land between the walls separating East and West.

So, photos to follow at the weekend.

Thought I´d better do something at least a little cultured and I am quite interested in all this pre-unification stuff so I went down to the DDR (GDR) museum opposite the Berliner Dom. They go right through the history of the DDR from the early sixties to the collapse of the wall at the end of the eighties. There is a diverse collection of items collected from the era, but rather than being locked up in glass cabinets you can pick everything up and look through it, not that it was much use to me. I didn´t realise quite how controlling the state was over people and right up until the late eighties! A bit spooky if you ask me...

Well, the sun is shining today and it´s pretty warm out there! I can feel the heat on my back as the sun is shining through these almost floor to ceiling windows behind me - in this unfeasibly large office considering it´s jut Hans and I in here. I managed to get up early today so I´ll be able to get out of the office at a reasonable time... and so my first weekend in Berlin will be upon me! I´m thinking about going on the bicycle tour of Berlin on Sunday to get my bearings a bit and take in a few of the sights. I´ll take my camera and stick some photos up here when I get back home next weekend.

I found out this morning that it´s a national holiday next Friday in honour of the unification of the East and West back in 1989(?) so I´ve booked a flight back to the UK next Thursday night. I need to pick up my Mac Mini and a load of other things to bring back here and help get the roof on the extension which will set off a whole other chain of activities. The council are currently deliberating over the vaulted roof design, so we´ll see what they have to say about all that, but I´m expecting to have to change the design a little.

Well, the Sausage 11th generation with creamed sauerkraut was gut! especially with a spot of chilli sauce and a great big dollop of creamy mashed potato with chives... yum

PS. Promise, no more wurst jokes...

Well, I had already visited for a stag weekend before and really liked the city so I kinda knew what to expect out here. I like the area that I´m staying in at the moment so if/when I move I´m gonna try and get somewhere else around there. I´m living on Sredzkistraße, which is just around the corner from Kollowitz Platz in the old East Berlin. Found my local supermarket last night, Reme. They have an excellent selection of cold meats (yum!) and also some rather odd things in the alcohol section - A 2.5% beverage known as Cab (Cola and Beer)!

Well, I started work in Berlin here on Monday after flying out early on Sunday morning to Tegel airport. Picked up the keys for the apartment that I´m renting which is much bigger than I expected and probably a little bit too much just for me so I´ll have a look around and see if I can find something else nearby to move into third week of October.

The first main course on the restaurant menu today is Sausage 11th generation with creamed sauerkraut Interesting...

This place appears to be available so I'm going to get it for a month until I suss out the scene and then find something more permanent.

It's three stops on the S-Bahn to where I'm going to working in Wedding and right in the middle of Prenzlauer Berg which is meant to be a fun area...

Need to fit the lintel for the patio door and the new back door tomorrow and then it should be just about ready for the roof...

Nearly up to the level of the top of the little window now. Lintels have been ordered and will be delivered next week, so once the inner wall is built the roof can go on!

Finally booked my flight out to Berlin on the morning on Sunday 21st September in order to start work on the following day. Whilst I am looking forward to getting into a new job I'll not be too chuffed about being chained to a desk all day again. I have rather enjoyed my summer out of office work, maybe a little too much...

Is it just me that finds this a bit weird?

http://www.pickleodeon.co.uk/

A few months ago now a new deli opened in Canterbury by the name of Karl's. I finally got round to popping in a few weeks ago and I think it's great! The have a nice range of cheeses, cold meats, bread and they serve fabulous fresh coffee! I visit on an almost daily basis now to pick up breakfast on the way to my parent's house to work on the extension.

Given that monsoon season appeared to have arrived in Canterbury for most of today, I confined myself to the house with freshly brewed espressos and buttered toast this morning and most of the afternoon before taking a stroll into town at half three, on the off chance that somebody might be able to trim my hair. I managed to get a slot at Stone at 5pm so I spent a pleasant hour shopping for toiletries, food and DVDs so I am now the proud of owner of the following - plus a new barnet.

Cronos - Seen once before on a VHS recording from the TV but deserves better
The Counterfeiters - MJ liked it and I've heard good things from others too
Election (Volume One) - Obligatory Asian off-the-cuff movie purchase
Hellboy - Because is it directed by Guillermo Del Toro