My local cemeteries just a short walk away.
WordPress seems to be striking at the moment ….
When WordPress stops misbehaving, the color photos will follow.
A stroll around the cemeteries at Hallesches Tor 25 December 2024
All posts by Helle Møller
Chickpea flour pancakes
These are easy and quick to make, and also a healthy grab-and-go lunch if you are going to be out and about and with no even remotely healthy food within reach but only those train-station-sandwiches made with refined wheat and filled with highly processed meat/cheese/whatever, not to mention E-numbers, that are being peddled wherever you look when on the move in and around Berlin.
The quantities below can of course be doubled or trippled and the pancakes then frozen.
Mix 150 g chickpea flour with approx. 4 dl oat milk (or any other plant milk or animal milk, or even water). Start with less and add until you have the desired texture which depends how thin or thick you want your pancakes. Let rest while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Then add 1 tblsp baking soda (natron), 2 tblsp psyllium husk, and 1 tsp salt, and mix well.
Then add whatever you want as a filling. If you want sweet pancakes, add for example any kind of berry, and some maple syrup.
In this case, I added half a pack of broccoli, from the freezer, chopped; a red onion, finely chopped; two garlic cloves, finely chopped; half a tsp turmeric; a tsp moringa powder; a tsp dried methi leaves; a tsp ajwain seeds, a healthy dose of black pepper, and a pinch of chili flakes, and a tblsp nutritional yeast.
Other ingredients can be chopped red bell pepper, aged black garlic, curry leaves, nori strips, fresh herbs, shredded beetroot, chopped olives, crumpled feta cheese, a tsp amla powder, ……
Then bake as you would any other pancake.
If you do not need to eat them right away or within a day or two, freeze them in order to be able to grab them and put them in your rucksack for a lunchbreak when out walking.
New Year’s Eve 2024
LAST UPDATED 23 December AM
If you are in Berlin, and we know each other one way or another, and interested in a relatively quiet but informal private celebration, and especially, but not necessarily, if you are a hobby photographer (see here some photos I took last year: https://www.hellemoller.eu/2024/01/03/some-whacky-photos-from-new-years-eve-31-january-2023/), perhaps you would like to come to my place in Lindenstraße near the Jewish Museum (good public transport) on 31 December between 21.00 and 01.00.
I have a relatively good view of the fireworks from my sixth floor perch towards Kreuzberg in one direction and Potsdamer Platz in the other.
You are welcome to bring frinds, and also to bring food if there is a special regional or national dish you would normally prepare and want to eat for this occasion. I will provide bits to eat – cheese, cold cuts etc. (- no cooking on this occasion :-)), wine, and of course something bubbly for midnight.
NOTE: If you drink anything other than redwine and the midnight bubblies, please let me know in time for me to make sure I have it available. Alternatively, bring some yourself :-).
Please let me know not much later than 25 December if you are interested, and how many you will be.
PS Just because I am too lazy to translate this into German, this is a multi-lingual event – English, German, Arabic, ….. and even Danish if need be :-).
Greifswald 10 to 12 January
Main purpose walk on 11 January with Eckehard Heiber, Empor Berlin.
Christmas Markets in Berlin and beyond 2024
LAST UPDATED 16 December PM
This is a continuation of the post about Christmas markets in 2023, which is when I started the quest of taking myself out of my comfort zone and visit and photograph as many of them as possible.
The ones I did not manage to visit are listed here.
NOTE: If you are looking for inspiration, you should primarily use the post from 2023, since this list only comprises those I did not manage to visit last year. Please also double-check dates and times in the links given.
ONLY ON 24 November
Natural and unprocessed at Ökowerk.
ONLY ON 30 November
ONLY ON 29 November-1 December
VISITED 30 November: “Small but fine” in the medieval village of Alt-Marzahn. Fr 14-22, Sa 12-22, So 12-22. Underwhelmed. Only redeeming feature: One stand with West-African streetfood. I had expected a bit more in Marzahn. Just a couple of photos, starting with a typical Berlin sight as seen from my home that morning: Garbage in trees. Very popular, in fact too popular to everbe removed. The trash on the photo came from the infinity building site next door during a storm years ago, and although Cresco Capital has the equipment to remove it, they would not dream of it.
ONLY ON 30 November-1 December
A piece of Danish Christmas culture. 12.00-18.00, Admission free.
Holy Shit Shopping (that IS what it is called): Admission 8 euro. From 12.00 to 19.00.
ONLY ON 1 December
Church choir and handmade gifts in Lübars. This ought to be idyllic, and can be combined with a highly recommended walk up to Köppschensee. Unfortunately, again this year, I will not be able to make it.
Long-standing tradition on the outskirts of Berlin. Lichtenrade.
Evang. Johannesstift, Zehlendorf
VISITED on 1 December: Along the Landwehrkanal*). Nowkoelln X-mas flow. 10-16.30. The Nowkoelln Xmas Flow takes place at the Maybachufer in Neukölln, directly at the Landwehrkanal between Volkspark Hasenheide and Görlitzerpark.
Why on earth this is called a Christmas market is beyond me. Nothing christmassy about it. Just piles of second (at least) hand junk. One stand with Japanese street food as the redeeming feature. Still, the weather was nice and the walk there along Landwehrkanal pleasant:
ONLY ON 1 AND 8 December:
“Potters, painters, arts and crafts, fashion and jewellery designers”. Artisan advent in Charlottenburg.
Evang. Johannesstift, Zehlendorf
ONLY ON 6 December:
Strausberg. Not in Berlin, but I will attempt to visit this one
ONLY ON 6-8 December:
Rixdorf – a lot of home-made stuff: “Berlin’s most romantic Christmas market.”
ONLY ON 7 December
“A very British Christmas” at St. George’s Church
Schiffshebewerk Finow on my wishlist every year but so far, I have not managed to fit it in.
ONLY ON 7-8 December:
Christmas market for dogs and their humans. (Why am I not surprised?)
Italian Christmas market. Street-food etc.
Arts and crafts, sausages and mulled wine, in Frohnau.
On the banks of the Havel River: Christkindlmarkt Kladow
Fairytale Christmas market at the oldest surviving castle in Berlin.
Kunstadvent in Berlin-Friedrichshagen.
“Typically Berlin Atmosphere at Bröhan”.
ONLY ON 8 December:
ONLY ON 8, 15, AND 22 December:
Weddingmarkt Christmas edition
FIRST THREE ADVENT WEEKENDS
VISITED 1 December: By many called the prettiest Christmas market in Berlin – Späth’sche Baumschule
Very cosy with a stage, and a big fire, and good quality things to buy if that is what you are looking for. Also the nice “Hofladen” was open. Relatively crowded. Did not take any photos (too cold :-)).
ON ALL WEEKENDS IN ADVENT
Nordic/Medieval at Schloss Britz
ON EVERY ADVENT SUNDAY
Sustainable consumption at Kollwitzplatz eco market.
ONLY ON 13 to 15 December:
VISITED 14 DECEMBER: Alt-Stadt Strausberg
Of course not in Berlin, but I wanted to take a closer look at Strausberg wich is only about an hour away on the S5. I gave up the original plan to walk around the lake first – too cold, dark and drizzly – but the Christmas market was cozy. However, not cozy enough to actually take my camera out of the rucksack, so just took a few smartphone snaps (The first two on the way from the station:
Not in Berlin but would like to visit: Königs Wusterhausen
ONLY ON 14 December:
Dicke Linda Christmas Market at Kranoldplatz. NOTE: In Neukölln
Covered Christmas stroll on Kranoldplatz. NOTE: In Steglitz
ONLY ON 14 to 15 December:
Unconventional in a cool location in Prenzlauerberg
ONLY ON 15 DECEMBER:
ONLY ON 21 and 22 December:
VISITED 21 DECEMBER: A falconry show and Jochen the talking elephant in Westend. I went mostly for the – alledged – falconry show but saw no signs of that being true at all. There were some stands with good quality things – for example had I been looking for things like gloves, hats, scarves …. I could easily have found something I liked. Relatively well visited though the atmosphere a bit subdued, or maybe that was just my imagination, after the Magdeburg tragedy the day before.
VISITED 22 DECEMBER: Arts, crafts and delicacies in the very south of Berlin. (Rudower Weihnachtsmeile). Quite nice, some interesting streetfood, including Chinese. As in Westend yesterday, the atmosphere seemed a bit quiet.
NEW THIS YEAR: FROM 8 NOVEMBER TO 29 DECEMBER: Wintertraum in Niederschöneweide
Monday to Thursday 14.00-22.00; Friday and Saturday 14.00-23.00; Sunday and holidays 12.00-21.00. Closed 24 December. Entrance free.
From 15 November to 16 Februar:
From 18 November to 30 December:
All-inclusive next to an iconic bridge over the River Spree*). Note high admission fee and online tickets with much included in the way of drinks and food. At the Spreespeicher at Oberbaumbrücke
From 25 November to 22 December:
VISITED 28 November: A piece of Scandinavia in Berlin
Moose sausages and other game products. And if you want – alledgedly – real glögg, and not the wishy-washy Glühwein, this market claims to have the real deal. I saw Danish, Finnish, Icelandic and Swedish glögg on offer. (Or you can make your own).
From 25 November to 30 December:
VISITED ON 12 DECEMBER: Tempelhofer Hafen. Very small, traditional, with “the usual suspects” plus one stand with Tibetan street food. For some strange reason does not make the best of the location right next to the harbour. Did not take any photos.
From 28 November to 1 January:
VISITED 13 DECEMBER: NEW THIS YEAR: Teuffelsberg
“Berlin’s highest Christmas market”. Highest is undoubtedly true, but calling it a market is a bit of a stretch. Too boring – and cold – to even take my camera out of the rucksack, so just took a few smartphone snaps, except one photo I took on the way back to S Grunewald:
Also: (Not in Berlin but would like to try to squeeze them in
25.11.-22.12.: Rostock (combined with a walk on the beach in Warnemünde)
25.11.-22.12: Frankfurt (Oder) (also one 7.-15. December)
Opportunities to play bridge in English in Berlin in the second half of 2024 and first half of 2025
Last updated: 22 December PM. Will be changed and updated regularly.
BREAKING: I SEE THAT THERE ARE NEW MEMBERS IN BOTH THE GROUP ON NEBENAN AND IN THE FACEBOOK GROUP. PLEASE DO GET IN TOUCH IN CASE YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PLAYING BRIDGE OVER THE HOLIDAYS WHEN WE ARE ALL BETWEEN VHS COURSES. ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE UNDECIDED WHETHER TO COMMIT TO ONE OF THE VHS COURSES, THIS WOULD BE A GREAT INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSES, TO THE TEACHER, AND TO THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
This autumn’s VHS courses are running and coming to an end soon. Below is information on the opportunities to play privately during the holidays, as well as information on the VHS courses due to start in the middle of January:
WHEN VHS IS CLOSED, THERE IS STILL THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY AT MY PLACE, AND THE EARLIER I KNOW IF THERE IS INTEREST, THE BETTER:
Below is a week-by-week overview, including the weeks where for one reason or the other there is no bridge course at VHS. Where nothing else is stated, we aim at arrivals from 18.15, ready to start playing at 18.30, but for those who can only come later, that is also OK. We’ll start playing as soon as enough people have arrived.
The occasional opportunities to play bridge privately during autumn, in the weeks where VHS is closed, are marked with *** below.
***Week 52: Those of us who played last night agreed to meet again on Sunday, 29 December 18.15-ish, so so far we have Agata, Quincy, Rob, Teresa and myself. Two, ideally three, more would be great.
2025 courses now online for registration:
Course starting Wednesday 15 January: https://www.vhsit.berlin.de/VHSKURSE/BusinessPages/CourseDetail.aspx?id=743390
Course starting Friday 17 January: https://www.vhsit.berlin.de/VHSKURSE/BusinessPages/CourseDetail.aspx?id=725702
***Week 1: 30 December to 5 January: For now, any time day or evening, as far as I’m concerned, (but 4 and 5 January only from late afternoon).
***Week 2: 6 to 12 January: Since interest in playing the first two weeks of this year has been underwhelming up to now, the only possibility to play this week is now Thursday 9 January. NOTE that I have a zoom course from 18.45-20.00. Everybody is still welcome to come and play, but we would need at least four people in addition to myself.
Week 3: Wednesday 15 January VHS 1/10, and Friday 17 January VHS 1/10
Week 4: Wednesday 22 January VHS 2/10, and Friday 24 January VHS 2/10
Week 5: Wednesday 29 January VHS 3/10, and Friday 31 January VHS 3/10
***Week 6: The option to play at my place on either Wednesday 5 or Friday 7 February
Week 7: Wednesday 12 February VHS 4/10, and Friday 14 February 4/10
Week 8: Wednesday 19 February VHS 5/10, and Friday 21 February 5/10
Week 9: Wednesday 26 February VHS 6/10, and Friday 28 February 6/10
Week 10: Wednesday 5 March VHS 7/10, and Friday 7 March 7/10
Week 11: Wednesday 12 March VHS 8/10, and Friday 14 March VHS 8/10
Week 12: Wednesday 19 March VHS 9/10, and Friday 21 March VHS 9/10
Week 13: Wednesday 26 March VHS 10/10, and Friday 28 March VHS 10/10
Week 14:
Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 17:
Week 18:
Week 19: New courses now available for registration: Course starting Wednesday 7 May here, and course starting Friday 9 May here.
The best ways to keep informed are
- ask to be placed on the teacher, Rob Crouch’s, mailing list if you are not already on it;
- keep an eye on this website post;
- check out the group on Facebook here; on nebenan here; and in the games group on InterNations here.
Comments? Questions? Attending but don’t know my address yet? E-mail me here.
An almost-healthy, almost-candy, cake
First published 9 December 2012
Contains a minimum of white flour and no refined white sugar (except the icing sugar which is optional).
Here is my customised take on panforte (which is usually based on dried figs and too much flour):
Mix
400 g mixed nuts, can be hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pistacios, and even some pumpkin and/or sunflower seeds, lightly dry-roasted (optional) and coarsely chopped
with
400 g mixed dried fruit, can be dates, apricots – figs if you insist but I prefer dates and dried apricots with a little bit of candied orange peel and some ginger in some form or other (stem ginger in a syrup, or candied, optional but to me, ginger in this recipe is essential). I would imagine dried cherries would also work
and
3 tblsp cocoa powder
1,5 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp roasted, ground cloves
1 tsp roasted ground coriander seeds
Ground seeds from ten cardamom pods
1 tsp ground black pepper
Heat 400 g of a mixture of honey, brown sugar and syrup – maple, or ginger syrup – must not boil – and add 150 g dark chocolate and two tblsp butter or oil (I am an olive oil freak so that is what I always use).
Pour over the fruit/nuts/spice mixture, mix well (most easily done with your hands but be aware of the heat). Press the mixture into a well-greased oven-proof plate or a round baking tin with baking paper covering the bottom. You may have to use a bit of brute force as the mixture settles. Make sure there are no air pockets at the bottom, sides or corners. Make the surface as smooth as possible.
This portion fits into a baking plate measuring 25×25 cm and will then be a couple of cm tall.
Bake at 150 degrees C in 35-50 minutes depending on the thickness of the layer. The cake should still feel slightly soft and wobbly in the middle, since it does not set completely until it cools off.
Dust with icing sugar. Keep well wrapped in clling-film in the fridge and it will keep for weeks.
Glögg
First published here 1 December 2012.
For 8-10 persons:
- 2 bottles of redwine
- 1 bottle of port
- ¼ bottle brandy or rum
- 250 g dried currants (normally raisins but I prefer (Danish): korender, (German): Korinthen (MUST be organic, otherwise they are waxed and the wax melts when heated and it is disgusting)
- 1 vanilla pod
- 2 cinnamon sticks (Sri Lanka or Ceylon – NOT Kassia)
- 10 cloves
- 8 cardamom pods, slightly crushed
- If you like your glögg extra spicy, add 10 black peppercorns
- If you like a slight licorice note, add 4 star anise as well
- 1 knob of fresh ginger, sliced
- The peel of 1 lemon
- The peel of two oranges
- 150 g chopped almonds
- Sugar to taste, but remember that the port and the raisins/currants are sweet
Please note that at least all fruit must be organic. Otherwise it is treated with some kind of wax (among many other toxins) which really does not work when heated, or at all.
Mix the brandy/rum with the raisins/currants and leave for at least 24 hours.
Mix some of the port with vanilla, peels and spices, bring to just under boiling point, remove from heat and leave to infuse for at least 24 hours. Will keep longer in a well-sealed container in the fridge. For convenience, place the peels and spices (which need to be discarded before serving) in a gauze bag or a tea filter bag, or just pour it through a fine-meshed sieve before heating and serving.
To serve:
Heat all ingredients gently in a heavy-bottomed pot, making sure it does not boil. Serve piping hot in mugs or glasses, with a spoon for the raisins and almonds.
Pub quizzes and quiznights
Last updated 16.12. AM
UNDER DEVELOPMENT, IN PROGRESS, AND WILL BE UPDATED AS NEEDED AND RELEVANT
LATEST NEWS: Agata, Joseph and I teamed up with three people found on the Meetup post, and came in fourth last of between 20 and 30 teams.
Next Sunday quiz in Alte Turnhalle is on 19 January, and currently, we have a full team: AD, CE, GE, JC, PS, and me, and when reservations open, I will book a table for our usual team name – “The Village Idiots”.
In case of cancellations, I will mention it here and in the whatsapp group, but for others who want to join, there is always the option to sign up individually in the below mentioned meetup group and to go to one of the mix tables where it is easy to find others to team up with.
Quiznight: Let’s get Quizical, advertised on Meetup here, on instagram here, and on Facebook here. I have a whatsapp group which everyone can use to communicate about this and getting teams together. Takes place mid-week at 19.30 in alternate weeks in James June, Karl-Marx Allee 93, and Sundays at 18.30 in alternate weeks in Alte Turnhalle, Holteistraße 6-9 (important to arrive well in time to be seated and ready to start at 18.30).
I have never, and probably never will, attend the mid-week quiznights in James June, but am trying to attend all the ones in Alte Turnhalle, and I assume the system is the same: reservations are done either individually or in groups, and up to now, walk-ins have been possible, but the quiz is getting popular and the hall fuller and fuller each time. The majority of tables are reserved for teams who register on meetup, and the rest are “mix-tables” where individuals can get together with walk-ins to form a team. A team is maximum six people.
In both cases, questions are asked in both English and German, the cost of attending is 3 euro per person, and in every other way it follows a classic pub quiz pattern.
Photowalk with VHS “Praktische Tour zur Fotografie: Stadt” 7 December
The teacher is Johannes Rigal, whose courses I always enjoy.
We were in the area of Hardenbergstraße, Ernst-Reuter Platz, Fasanenstraße, Kurfürstendamm ….. and the first assignment was to do with “describe ‘city’ to someone who has never seen one’. There were about six other assignments later on, but I got kind of stuck on the first one.
Will need to pick 10-15 photos from the following:
