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.

Two spontaneous walks 3 and 4 March

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On Wilmersdorf Cemetery and along Fennsee

    I can highly recommend taking up photography as a hobby. I find that especially nature photography, and more speifically bird photography – or attempts thereat, can help forget.

    If you do not have much time to get out into “real” nature, check out your local parks and cemeteries, and you’ll be surprised what you can find, once you start looking. And March is a great month for it – the birds are very active, and there are no leaves on the trees yet.

    So, in gorgeous weather, I decided to set out early on my way to VHS in Prinzregentenstraße.

    And early the next morning, I swung by my local cemetery on my way to my local LPG supermarket.

    By the way, much as I hate pigeons, I have to admit, they can be quite photogenic.

    And I was happy to see a treecreeper there for the first time. Tiny, always on the move, in camouflage colours it is difficult to spot, let along photograph.

    Birdwatching in Britzer Garten on 2 March – despite …..

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    The day started misty and cold, but since I have never been so angry in my life, I decided to stick to my original plan of attending the bi-weekly walk with Bernd Steinbrecher of Freilandlabor Britz. Those walks are always enjoyable so it would in any case be healthier to go out and focus on something else – like staying warm, for example – than to follow my gut instinct and stay at home and continue building up to a stroke or a heart attack :-).

    A good photo of a green woodpecker – finally – might have saved the day but though I saw several, I STILL did not get a decent photo.

    Pub quizzes and quiznights

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    Last updated 04 March PM.

    UNDER DEVELOPMENT, IN PROGRESS, AND WILL BE UPDATED AS NEEDED AND RELEVANT

    “Let’s get quizzical” in Alte Turnhalle on alternate Sundays: The next one is 16 March (sign up here), with Team The Village Idiots NOT attending. The next one I am organising is on 30 March, and on that evening, I already have a full team.

    For others who want to attend in future, I strongly recommend trying to start a team of their own, signing up in meetup to secure a place since the quiz is getting more and more popular and as mentioned above, there were 33 teams last time. Even if people do not have a full team, it is easy to find others to complete a team on the night – just arrive early enough, and tell Steve the quizmaster.

    Steve usually announces dates a month ahead on instagram here.

    —————————–

    Here is how it goes: 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 putting teams together. It takes place mid-week at 19.30 in alternate weeks in Bergendorf 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 on alternate Sundays 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.

    The weekly rant I

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    I see more and more adults – especially men (??????) – with lollipops sticking out of their mouths. Apparently, it is a “coping mechanism”. I am wondering, again, whether Stephen Fry knew how prophetic he would turn out to be when he coined the phrase “the age of infantilism” about eight years ago. Back then, I think he was referring to silly socks and wearing baseball caps, most often back to front and indoors, incessantly. He probably did not in his wildest imagination foresee grown men with lollipops. But that seems to be a sight we now have to live with. (Our coping mechamism: Impulse control).

    Nature protection area Fauler See, and a bit of Obersee

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    This “Naturschutzgebiet” was a great discovery which I definitely want to return to.

    I left home around sunrise, and after spending several hours, which went by in a flash, I returned to Café Strudel for brunch.

    In addition to the birds on the photos, and the usual suspets, I saw kleibers, treecreapers and longtailed tits.

    Below is a very bad photo of some ducks I do not recall seeing in Berlin before, so perhaps they are just passing through. I am told they are Eurasian Wigeons:

    More about central heating, Berlin style

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    A continuation of this post.

    Sunday. Feeling fluey with a slight temperature. Would really like to stay at home all day, just for once, but with 16.4 C that would mean staying in bed under at least one duve all the time.

    But all my bones are aching, as are head and throat, so I really do not feel like spending the day in cafes and libraries.

    Still no word from plumber Detlef Spinka after my whatsapp to him – which he read and ignored on 17 December 2024, and I still have not managed to find out whom to turn to as flat owner (renters have their association, but as owner you do not seem to have any rights).

    Perhaps I should contact Hausverwaltung (Schön & Sever) after all. I had decided not to this winter, since the other winters I have received useless replies, and another one would just annoy me, and the problem is still there.

    Munich and Karlsruhe February

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    Day 1 train Berlin-Munich not without its glitches: Heating problems and – what else is new on DB – no coffee.

    In the afternoon the exhibition on surrealism and antifascism, in Lenbachhaus. Surrealism is in my opinion by far the most interesting of all the -isms, most of which range from insipid and spineless to decorative and pretty and in many cases dull as ditchwater.

    Also visiting Dachau on the same occasion.

    Day 2 Dachau

    Easily reached from the centre of Munich by public transport.

    Before you ask, please see this post (scroll down a little).

    Like an idiot, I left the camera card in my hotel room, so I only took some snapshots with my phone:

    And some in idyllic Dachau centre, in stark contrast to what I am sure everybody knew about what was going on a mere three km away:

    Day three train Munich-Karlsruhe and Art Karlsruhe.

    I do love a big fat art fair, and this one never disappoints. I had forgotten how big it is, and that it actually merits a tro-day ticket. Perhaps next year ……

    Added bonus: to spend a few nights in hotels with functioning heating systems, unlike the one in my own home.

    Day four: Before returning to Berlin, I had planned on spending the last morning in Städtische Galerie, but the weather was suddenly spring-like, so I went to the zoo instead. (I had already had a view from my hotel room directly onto the Red Panda enclosure).

    Apologies in advance for the overload of images (some of them abstracts) of the great white egret:

    I love Berlin but it does have its less attractive quirks

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    For example (in addition to the many lies being told seemingly totally accceptably and described in a previous post) when outdoor temperatures drop to zero and below, I can often only manage about 17 C inside my flat.

    I know from previous years that reporting that to Hausverwaltung (Schön & Sever) is a waste of time. They don’t care, and at best refer to the plumber who knows the house (Detlef Spinka) who ignores my messages.

    That is also Berlin.

    Normally, it is not a big problem for me – I don’t like having more than 19 C indoors anyway, and can manage with socks and blankets when I am at home, but having people around can be a problem, for example for the bridge evenings.

    I am currently considering cancelling tomorrow’s film evening, alternatively have loads of candles to light in the hope that they will raise the temperature a degree or two, and provide the aforementioned socks and blankets. But candles are also a health hazard.

    During some of the past much colder winters, I have shut off the bedrooms and only used the living room (where I have also slept) and the kitchen.

    The colder is it outside, the colder the radiators. That is Berlin logic. Or Schön & Sever logic, or whatever.

    And before anybody says “Mieterverein” for the thousands time I am not the “Mieter” and therefore have no rights ;-).

    And of course I have the additional handicap of not being German, so those of us who are not ethnic Germans are shut down immediately whenever we try to say a pip-squeak in the annual owners’ meetings, which I have therefore stopped attending. It feels like being in a meeting of a local AfD section.

    For now, I shall just enjoy the views in the knowledge that it is only a matter of weeks till it becomes warmer outside and no longer a problem.

    In the meantime, here are some photos from last night’s snowfall:

    Thai salmon curry

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    For the film evening with the Luisenstadt ladies

    By the way, we had agreed to watch Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women”. What a crashing bore. We lasted about fiften minutes before deciding that it was too silly for words and was about everything there is to dislike about chirpy women, and pretty puke-worthy. The title should have been “Silly Women”, and I am definitely not going to bother with any of Greta Gerwig’s other films.

    But we did not let that ruin our afternoon/evening.

    Coconut Thai Curry Sauce:

    For one kilo of salmon:

    • 2–3 tablespoons coconut or olive oil
    • 2 large shallots or 1 small onion- finely slced
    • 4–6 garlic cloves, finely sliced
    • 1– 2 fresh hot chilies- finely chopped
    • 3 tablespoons lemongrass, very finely chopped
    • 2 teaspoons turmeric root, grated (or sub 1 teaspoon ground)
    • 1 teaspoon galangal (or substitute fresh ginger), grated
    • 1–3 tablespoons Thai Curry Paste (optional) red, green, or yellow (I will probably cheat and buy a red curry paste ready-made
    • 1/2 l chicken, fish or vegetable stock
    • 8 lime leaves
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 kilo mixed vegetables – I might use kale and snap peas, green beans, green asparagus, carrot, and/or perhaps mini aubergines if I can find them
    • 1 red bell pepper, diced
    • 2 cans coconut milk
    • 2 tablespoon fish sauce
    • 2 lime
    • to garnish for example chopped (preferable Thai) basil, cilantro (perhaps served separately), spring onions

    1. Cut the fish into large, approx. 5×5 cm chunks, pat dry and place in a bowl. Season with salt, lime zest from one lime and 1 tablespoon lime juice, and massage lightly to coat. Set aside.
    2. In an extra-large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the shallots and saute until golden, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, lemongrass and fresh chilies. Saute 3-4 more minutes, until fragrant. Turn heat to low. Add the grated ginger and turmeric, stir and then add the curry paste, and sauté one minute.
    3. Add the stock, lime leaves, and salt and bring to a simmer. Then add the vegetables with the ones that take longer to cook first and simmer gently, covered, till they are tender.  If you are using very fast-cooking vegetables, save them and add them along with the fish later.
    4. Stir in the coconut milk and fish sauce, and a generous squeeze of lime juice- start with half a lime, add more to taste. The broth should be a little salty, “limey” and a little spicy. Adjust with fish sauce, curry paste, garlic/chili paste, keeping in mind that the flavours will mellow when the fish is added and it is all served over rice. This broth can be prepared in advance.
    5. When ready to serve, add the fish and most quickly-cooking vegetables.Nestle in the fish, and quick cooking veggies. Simmer gently, occasionalle stirring very carefully over medium low heat, for about five minutes.
    6. Garnish, and serve over rice.

    Thai Quinoa Lentil Salad

    Asian Cucumber Salad

    Asian Cucumber Salad

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    • 2 salad cucumbers, about 300 g, scored lengthwise with a fork and finely sliced
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 red onion, finely sliced
    • 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
    • 1 clove garlic, finely minced
    • 1 tblsp rice vinegar
    • 1 tsp soy sauce
    • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
    • 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (sambal olek)

    Place the cucumber slices in a bowl and toss with the salt, let stand to release water while preparing the remaining ingredients.

    Mix the other ingredients and add the drained cucumber slices before serving.

    Optional additions: Fish sauce, lime juice, roated sesame seeds, roasted ccrushed peanuts, cilantro, Thai basil, fiinely chopped red onion, finely chopped red chili.