Main purpose bird watching. Heard a lot, saw some, did not get many photos, except of the usual swans (of which there are many at Urbanhafen). I actually find them quite boring, yet not as easy to photograph as one would think.
Nearly back home, I was treated to a lengthy concert by a robin.
On the outskirts of Tiergarten, philosophising over the trees which are large but were only planted after the war, with a backdrop of a building complete with bullet or more likely shrapnel damage. And bullet/shrapnet damage on my local cemetery (Hallesches Tor). And my hideous neighbour, Victoriahöfe, or Victoria zu Berlin which some call it, which has been under renovation for about six years now, and whose facade is finally being brought back to former ugliness. Also see here how that renovation basically rendered my balcony unusable for most of the pandemic (!) right when it would have been nice to have that Corona-free space to step out onto and sit in.
I try to eat spinach one way or another at least twice a week, and since apparently, raw spinach is not than healthy, I am always looking for variety in ways to cook it.
Here is one way:
One bag of spinach (for example 100 g baby spinach, in this case from Rewe) (of course always bio), rinsed and dried in the salad spinner
1 tsp sesame oil, toasted or regular
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp miso paste
2 garlic cloves, minced or very finely chopped
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Mix the miso paste, the soy sauce, and the garlic together.
Gently heat the oil and stir in the spinach. Add the miso paste mix and stir gently till the spinach starts to wilt.
Sprinkle with toasted, black sesame seeds before serving.
IN PROGRESS
24 April:
25 April:
The event on InterNations here (please sign up if you want to attend).
Tentative list of galleries to visit (clustered if they are on the same address:
1. Galerie Konrad Fischer; 2. Galleries Shahin Zarinbal, Sweetwater, and Klemm’s; 5. Buchmann; 6. Max Goelitz; 7. Galeries Barbara Thumm and Carlier Gebauer; 8. Galeries Nordenhake, Soy Capitán, KOW, and Persons Projects; 9. Galerie König; and 10. Berlinische Galerie.
Main purpose: this photo tour with Go2Know.
After checking in to Park Hotel Fasanerie (in idyllic surroundings), walkabout in Neustrelitz, incuding the Tiergarten. The hotel is situated adjacent to a lake, or what looks like some kind of swampland, with lots of birds – long-tailed tits, cranes, woodpeckers and much more. Also, reportedly, lots of frogs and deer, but no beavers.
And while I am describing the hotel – a couple of my pet peeves when it comes to hotels in Germany: The internet is excruciatingly slow, or weak, or whatever the term is. And the restaurant emphasizes on imported rather than German wine.
Also, there were some very annoying, and quite loud, noises coming from what seemed like upstairs from my room, probably to do with the running of the hotel, sounding like furniture was being rearranged, as well as some protracted knocking, as with hammer and nails, even on Sunday evening, lasting from 6.00 each morning (including the weekend), so no alarm clock needed, till about 22.00 in the evening, which competely ruined my early-morning coffee and my evenings and the sense of peace and quiet you would normally expect in this kind of place.
Spotted pre-breakfast on 23 March:
Phototour 23 March with go2know to Domjüch:
Walking back to the hotel:
Day three – Sunday – the day after the photo tour with go2know: In the morning, with heavy rain forecast most of the day, I started to seriously reconsider my decision to stay an extra day. With plenty of opportunity to return to Berlin by train, and the extra hotel night non-refundable, I ventured out on the originally planned walkabout in Neustrelitz. Among other places, I went to the nearest lake to beat the slight boredom with some ICM photography, awaiting the “heavy rain”.
As it turned out, I was rewarded with only a little bit of rain, and a display of extreme sexual tension by a local greve couple in a rush to finish the renovation of their one-bedroom condo.
Pleased by a “Merit” from an expert in an ongoing online photo competition with the following comment:
“The precision of the image really sets this picture apart. We feel like we are looking through a central window rather than looking up from a courtyard. The technique is superb especially with all the central highlights in the sky. The buildings are beautifully exposed and the details and sharpness from the bottom to the top of the buildings work well as it gives the illusion that it is on a single flat surface. The use of black and white adds that graphic design feel which again adds to the reading of the photograph without distraction and allows us the viewer to move around the frame. A great capture. Well done.”
Wasabi adds a nice kick to this Thai soba noodle curry
4 scallions, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon pickled ginger (or 2-inch piece fresh ginger)
3 teaspoons wasabi paste
1 Serrano chili, sliced and seeds removed
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 bunch cilantro, both leaves and stems
¼ cup Thai basil leaves
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
1, 13.5-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
2 bunches coarsely chopped baby Swiss chard
1 lime, juiced
Kosher salt
1 package soba noodles
INSTRUCTIONS
With a hobby bird photographer pal. The area is recommended as a good bird watching area.
We took RE4 to Dallgow-Döberitz and entered from the northern side. It is a huge area of which we only saw a fraction. We did not see that many birds (and only got a couple of not very good photos), but I loved the area and the walk and will definitely go back.
I frequently hear people complain that it is difficult to find a good dermatologist in Berlin. I found one before Corona and made a mental note for future reference: Dr Martina Ulrich @Dermatologie am Regierungsviertel. Unfortunately, they only take private patients. This is a reference to the – to me reprehensible – German “caste system” within health care, which I will get back to at the end of this post.
As a teenager and young person, I did stupid things in terms of sunbathing when we were not so aware of the dangers, and in any case, I have such fair skin that I should never have spent much time in the sun. But I did, and the result is more and more small moles and other signs of sun damage which I am no longer able to keep a proper eye on. Given that a full-body skin cancer screening is part of what my sickness insurance offers every two years, I decided it was time and made an appointment with Dr. Claas Ulrich in the same clinic.
I had been dreading it slightly, partly because I had heard that these screenings take forever, and also because the shock and panic from my breast cancer diagnosis in summer 2022 is still lurking right beneath the surface and whenever I think of screenings, although happy that I live in a part of the world where they are easily available, I fear the worst.
Dr Ulrich very happily and enthusiastically operates a brand-new scanner which he introduced to me as if it were his favourite child. The room it was in was not even completely set up for that kind of consultation yet, for which he profusely apologised.
The scanner sees EVERYTHING, and points out what merits a closer look by the dermatologist and a hand scanner. The whole thing took less than 45 minutes – and nothing even remotely suspicious was found.
If this is something you keep telling yourself to have done – do not hesitate. Better safe than sorry.