All posts by Helle Møller

Retired from a long working life as secretary/assistant in UN and EU institutions. Freelance stress counsellor and proofreader/copyeditor. Now living in Berlin.
The Life of a Danish Pensioner in Berlin

Hamburg February 2024

Share Button

Arrived in relatively heavy rain so spent the afternoon in Deichtorhallen. One exhibition of works by Claudia Andujar, and one absolutely magnificent exhibition called Dix and the Present. I was thrilled to see an Anselm Kiefer there. Always awesome.

Cindy Sherman’s Anti-Fashion had also reached Hamburg on what seems to be a European Tour, but I had already seen that in Stuttgart. (Not a fan of Cindy Sherman but I have to admit that she is a great make-up and costume artist).

10 February walkabout in misty weather, starting with a definite maritime flair, and ending in a park with a skating rink.

11 February AM NABU Birdwatching walk: Gefiederte Wintergäste und Durchzügler am Öjendorfer See.

Still misty, and the walk did not really seem to be going anywhere, so I did my own thing for a while before returning. Quite a nice area. Saw many birds but did not really manage any good photos. Just one of Mr Bigfoot here:

11 February PM wine fair “Weinfrühling Hamburg” in Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. Supposedly. But I stayed for less than a minute. They had let in far too many people, and people were still arriving. Impossible to move, impossible to hear anything (I was supposed to meet up with a handful of people from InterNations Hamburg), and impossible to breathe – no air, and a temperature of about 30 C. A complete nightmare.

12 February Hagenbeck Tierpark and that abominable sculpture still outside.

A big zoo with NOTHING to eat or drink, not even a coffee slot machine.

Caspar David Friedrich at Hamburger Kunsthalle, pre-booked ticket for Tuesday, 13 February 10.00-13.00 hrs. Possibly with a small group of people from InterNations Hamburg. It gets good reviews, for example this one.

Unfortunately, here too, ticket sales count more than comfort, and it was much too crowded and the rooms were small. I felt like a sardine in a tin, and almost panicked. Also, a true superspreader of course. I had to elbow my way out and only saw a few paintings in passing, and only because I am taller than a lot of other people. I did wonder whether I was still suffering from post-Corona “stay-away-from-me” syndrome, but I have since read many newspaper articles criticising the Kunsthalle for letting in far too many people at a time, and that many, like me, gave up seeing the exhibition properly.

I hope the organisers of the CDF exhibition in Berlin later this year have learnt from this and do not make the same mistakes.

The day was saved by meeting up for lunch with an ex-colleague from the European Parliament in Luxembourg where we both worked in the late 1970s. Very enjoyable.

After lunch, it was drizzling occasionally but I did go for a quick, last walkabout:

Photography

Photography – series: Smoke

Share Button

Last updated 14 February 2024

Photography

Photography: Personal favourites 2024 January

Share Button
Favourite recipes

Vegan Lentil Sweet Potato Tagine

Share Button

IN PROGRESS

This vegan lentil sweet potato tagine evokes the voluptuous flavors of Morocco, with a tantalizing interplay of sweet, spicy, salty, tangy and savory. Serve it over a bed of couscous or quinoa for a cozy, nutrient-rich meal!

Prep Time15minutes mins

Cook Time25minutes mins

Total Time40minutes mins

Course: Main Course/Stew

Cuisine: African, North African

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 143kcal

Author: Vaishali · Holy Cow Vegan

Equipment

Ingredients

  • ½ cup dried brown lentils (or one 14-oz can of brown lentils)
  • 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 medium red onions (thinly sliced)
  • 6 cloves garlic (minced)
  • Salt to taste
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 medium tomatoes (diced)
  • 1 heaping tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 2 tablespoons parsley (chopped, for garnish)

Instructions

  • If using dried lentils, place lentils in a saucepan, cover with two inches of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and let the lentils cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Strain the lentils before using, but reserve the cooking water.
  • Place the onions and garlic in olive oil in a large saute pan or Dutch oven. Add a pinch of salt and ground black pepper. Saute over medium heat until onions soften, about 3-5 minutes.
  • Add the spices to the pot: ground cumin, turmeric, cayenne, paprika, ground cardamom and ground allspice. Mix and saute for another minute or until the spices are very aromatic.
  • Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste.
  • Add the sweet potatoes and drained, cooked or canned lentils to the pot along with 1 ½ cups of the lentil cooking liquid or vegetable broth or water.
  • Mix and bring the tagine to a boil over medium heat. Cover the pot, turn heat down, and let the tagine simmer until the sweet potatoes are very tender, about 15 minutes.
  • Check for salt and add more if needed. Sprinkle parsley over the tagine. Serve hot or warm.
Berlin

Hibernation, and VHS’s latest insanity

Share Button

One of the advantages of staying indoors for three or four days is that you are spared the stupidity you without fail encounter every time you stick your head out of your own home.

But you are not safe from it. Quite apart from, against your better judgement, watching the news on Danish TV these last few weeks, here is my example from today, of the German IT angst/incompetence/paranoia/resistance:

Volkshochschule Berlin (VHS), which already has the most moronic system for searching, signing up and paying for courses (something they say takes years to change whereas anyone with the right IT knowledge say it would take them less than an hour), for some strange reason insists on calling me Heike although that is, for obvious reasons, not the name I have signed up with, and is, for even more obvious reasons, also not the name on the bank details I had to send them.

Weirdly enough, I only had to send the bank details once, although VHS is very proud of being divided into about twelve offices – one for each of the Berlin districts, and whether they ever speak to each other, or are connected in any way, depends on their mood and how the wind blows.

In addition to crossing out Heike and writing Helle very clearly on the attendance lists which I assume are sooner or later returned to admin, I have also several times e-mailed them and drawn their attention to the fact that they – on their own initiative – invented a new name for me.

I finally received a reply. Guess what: I have to not only send in an application for a name change (can you believe this – I repeat: THEY invented that other name for me – no I?). But wait for it: I have to send an application for a name change to each of the districts in which I am signed up for courses.

I wish I had not e-mailed them. Before, it was not even all that important to me. Now, with that reply, I am really p….. off.

It is not immediately obvious from the above tsunami, but words actually fail me.

Someone ought to introduce IT and computers to them – properly, and real software to replace the kind of Mickey Mouse software they seem to be using currently.

I am more inclined to stop going to any of the courses I am now signed up for, and make sure I never see or hear or read anything about that brain-dead institution, or is it those brain-dead institutions? ever again.

And people wonder why I hate people.

Added 25 January:

A person wearing a Wattenfall coat turned up at our respective doorsteps and rang our doorbells and knocked on our doors insistently. I finally opened thinking it must be an emergency, but he just introduced himself as coming from Vattenfall and only wanted to know who is my electricity supplier. Which is in fact Vattenfall. Which seemed to come as a surprise to him.

??????????????????????????????? Does Vattenfall also not have real computers? And if they do, are they using the same Mickey Mouse software that they seem to use at Volkshochschule?

Uncategorized

Neustrelitz March

Share Button

IN PROGRESS

23 March this photo tour with Go2Know.

2023: Bring it on

There is something I apparently need to keep repeating …

Share Button

I DON’T HUG, EXCEPT FAMILY AND ONE OR TWO OTHER VIPs, AND I DON’T SHAKE HANDS.

I was happy when handshakes, and especially hugging of relative strangers, still seemed to be a thing of the pre-pandemic past, and naïvely believed neither would ever come back, since during the pandemic, we proved that they are, at best, unnecessary and pointless.

And within a week or two, everybody got used to not doing it. So why take it up again? How and why did we even start having to hug everybody?

But now both are back, with a vengeance and in full force (unbelievable, since half the population is sick with the seasonal flu or Covid or some other virus), and people insist on both with even more gusto than before, although I am quite sure my body language is very clear.

Hugs should not be reflexes, like ticks or Tourettes, but be reserved for people whom for whatever reason you really want to hug, and enjoy hugging, and handshakes are just stupid constructs, but these days, where my right had is often bandaged (and extremely sore), people try to shake my left hand instead, which is even stupider. What IS the point?

Nowadays, most people seem to be incapable of handling different social rules for different categories of people (complete strangers, acquaintances, friends) and there is one rule: hug everybody, even the person whom you would normally just nod to when passing them in the street.

However, if there has to be only one rule, as far I am concerned it will have to be – HUG NOBODY (with the special exceptions outlined above).

Uncategorized

“Winterrundgang” in the galleries of Spinnerei Leipzig

Share Button

IN PROGRESS

An InterNations activity.

Uncategorized

Bird-spotting in Berlin’s Tiergarten with Derk Ehlert

Share Button

Der Tagesspiegel calls him “Berlin’s Wildlife God”, and he draws a crowd, even when it is bitterly cold like today, with his boundless knowledge and cheerful enthusiasm. Brimming over with information he wants to convey and always worth listening to.

Only negative: the usual club of moronic, incessant yackers who can’t even keep their mouths shut while the guide speaks. Unfortunately, they are everywhere.

We saw many birds (for this time of year) but due to bad light conditions (and the cold) I did not get any even half-way decent photos. However, I now know where there is a hawk’s nest (we observed a male hawk flying too and fro, renovating it), and will definitely go back when conditions are more favourable.

Uncategorized

With Empor Berlin 6 January

Share Button

S-Bf Grünau – Tuschkastensiedlung – Preußensiedlung – Altglienicke – Trudelturm – Landschaftspark und ehemal. Flugfeld Johannisthal – Fernsehstudios – S-Bf Adlershof

Led by Eckehard Heiber.

Unfortunately, I had to leave the walk early.

For the first time this winter, the problems I had last winter tolerating the cold returned. My face and bones hurt, and I felt like my bone marrow was freezing over and that I was falling asleep every time we stood still.

And it was not even that cold – only around zero C, but Yasmin, who had to leave the walk for the same reason, drew my attention to the weather stats (which I have never particularly noticed before), and they said “RealFeel” -7C and, perhaps more importantly, humidity 97%. According to Yasmin, that is very high and most likely what got the better of us.

You live and learn. I thought I was turning into an obligate hibernator, but back home, at my preferred indoor temperature of around +19C, I have no urge to go to sleep at all. It is all very strange.

I had been looking forward to seeing the former airfield at Johannisthal again, but that will have to wait.

I guess I should check the humidity tomorrow before venturing out on the bird-watching walk with “Berlin’s wildlife god”, Derk Ehlert, pre pandemic an annual event normally not to be missed. How annoying to have to take things like that into consideration.

I have to mention once again the usual club of incessant yackers who can’t even keep their mouths shut while the guide speaks. I find that both rude and annoying and it always reminds me that perhaps I would be better off doing my own research and just walking by myself.

Anyway, since not only standing still, but also taking my gloves off for any purpose or reason seemed counter-intuitive, I did not take many photos.