It is mid November 2016.  Again I am in Berlin, my mother town, just for a few days. I  say hello to some of my favorite places, want to discover some new places and meet friends.

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Berlin is welcoming me

As always I am welcomed by Berlin in the modern Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche called “powder box”. I love the solemn atmosphere produced by the blue stain windows. The floating Christ figure looks to me as if he would bless the church and its visitors.

Next stop is in the traditional shop Kadewe, where I have my Büsümer Krabbensüppchen (shrimps soup from Büsüm on Sylt) – as always delicious.

I move on to Dussmann in Friedrichstrasse and find the book: “Weinland Brandenburg” by Tom Wolf, 2016. “Wine in Brandenburg? Is this not the land where there is nothing but sand?” Tom Wolf asks and then describes 31 wine growers. Perhaps I should plan to go for a bike tour around Berlin? Who would like to join me? This is the map taken from the book.

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Prenzlauerberg – charming mix of small shops, restaurants, markets and culture

I have a dinner appointment in Prenzlauerberg. Metro number 2 takes me there and I dive into the charming mix of small shops, restaurants, markets and culture. The “Kleine Eiszeit” sells ice cream, but is closed during winter. They are looking forward to March 2017, when the “small Ice Age” will start again.

This shop is open – and he announces it in Berlinese – “is uff” or “ist offen” (meaning “is open”).

The shop’s layout shows a good taste for colors.

The shop next door seems to have a more international clientèle.

This restaurant recommends to have a chat with one another.

And not far from here I am tempted to buy loads of children’s books in the small bookshop that attracts clients with this fairy tale quote.

“Who drinks from me, will be a deer. Who drinks from me, will be a deer.” Do you know the fairy tale? – It is “Brüderchen und Schwesterchen” or “Little Brother and Little Sister” by the Brothers Grimm.

The Old Brewery (which is now a cultural center with restaurants) is busy setting up its Christmas market.

At Kollwitz square I find a busy market. First I try Kwas over a chat with Russians. And then I exchange memories with a Mongolian lady and try her milk drink and some Mongolian ravioli – delicious – bairlla or thank you.

With a Vietnamese meal in noisy Umami at Knackstrasse and a quiet apero in the friendly restaurant Breslau at Sredzkistrasse I finish off my day, with a friend of mine from Poland.

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My second day: Pouring rain

In the pouring rain I walk from Potsdamer Platz to the Hacke’scher Markt. The sky IS grey and so is the TV tower on Alexander Platz, seen from the small promenade along the Spree.

The pouring rain makes me buy a warm rain coat lined with fleece. I get it at Freitag’s in the Hacke’sche Höfe – the shopkeeper is exactly my age and we have a long chat, also about a duchess that bought some 25 coats and jackets here, not for herself, but for the model dolls in her villa. She walks around them to enjoy the beauty of what she has acquired. Berlin can be a crazy town.

I close off the day with one of my best friends… in the restaurant Pastis at Rüdesheimerplatz, where the owner and her staff speak French. Our meals are delicious.