Retired from a long working life as secretary/assistant in UN and EU institutions. Freelance stress counsellor and proofreader/copyeditor. Now living in Berlin.
Først og fremmest selvfedmen og fremmedfjendskheden, som bl.a. kommer til udtryk i den subtile form for ’etnisk udrensning’, der udøves koldt og kynisk.
Måden hvorpå den danske stat af samme grund i tyve år har saboteret Det Europæiske Miljøagenturs tilstedeværelse i Danmark, og gjort det klart for mine ikke-danske kolleger (og dermed også mig), at vi ikke var velkomne, for eksempel ved at nægte at udstede CPR-numre eller tilsvarende til mine kolleger, så de dårligt har kunnet slå en prut her, og alt (bank, telefon, bibliotek, kursustilmeldinger, osv. osv. osv.) derfor har været ti gange mere besværligt for dem, og der har sågar været mange eksempler på læger, der har nægtet at tilse folk, inklusive syge børn, p.g.a. det manglende personnummer. På trods af, at EU ansatte jo har egen syge- og arbejdsløshedsforsikring og derfor ikke ville benytte sig af den slags rettigheder.
Den fjendtlige holdning til alle der ser ’udanske’ ud, ikke taler perfekt og accentfrit dansk, og ikke lige spiser stegt flæsk med persillesovs hver dag kl. 18.00, og at vi danskere mener at vi ikke alene er de bedste i verden – til ALT – vi er de eneste der sådan rigtig tæller og dur.
Ubegribeligt støjende overboer, der tilsyneladende lærer børnene i familien, at det er i orden at spille fodbold indendørs og at det gælder om at trampe så hårdt som muligt i gulvet.
At bo i landet der opfandt begrebet asylnasser, og som tilsyneladende er stolt af det.
De u-landsagtige forhold man bydes når man benytter busserne i København i myldretiden, hvor man bliver proppet ind i alt for få busser og står som sild i en tønde, og halvdelen af tjek-ud standerne ikke virker (sjovt nok virker tjek-ind standerne altid). I hvilket andet land ser man den ene bus efter den anden drøne forbi et af de mest centralt beliggende stoppesteder, enten fordi de er propfulde allerede eller fordi de ikke er i rute.
Den evindelige blæst.
Den elendige betjening de fleste steder og især i forretninger med hårde hvidevarer, som f.eks. Punkt 1.
Den danske holdning om, at alt hvad der står fremme tilhører alle. Danske over- og underboer, der derfor stjæler med arme og ben, så man ikke kan få nogetsomhelst leveret udenfor sin dør på etagen uden at det omgående forsvinder, og derfor heller ikke kan abonnere på f.eks. Årstiderne, Skagenfood, og VinoVenue, hvilket ellers er noget, der letter dagligdagen gevaldigt, når man har fuldtidsjob. Og danske kolleger, der konstant “låner” kaffe, mælk osv. uden nogensinde at erstatte det, de har taget.
Nyhedsoplæsere, især på TV2 News, der taler elendigt dansk og tilsyneladende er fløjtende ligeglade.
Og nu vi er ved fjernsynet: YouSee, der har til formål at gøre det så besværligt og kompliceret som muligt for deres kunder at se fjernsyn, og at de slipper godt fra det. For eksempel at påtvinge os at skulle anskaffe endnu et grimt monstrum i form af ”boxen” for at kunne se de – for mig – mest ”gængse” kanaler.
Danske håndværkere (fra Svanekøkkenet), der dukker op flere dage senere end aftalt for at lave nyt badeværelse, afmonterer toilettet og smider det ud, og derefter ikke viser sig igen i 14 dage. Og lader som om de aldrig før har hørt nogen sige, at det faktisk ikke har været specielt sjovt at leve uden et toilet i to uger. Og sådan kunne man blive ved, indtil de måneder senere langt om længe også gør køkkenet ”færdigt” ved at sætte listen i vinklen mellem bordplade og væg op FØR de sætter tapetet op. For de ved jo godt, at de i den mellemliggende tid har opført sig så elendigt, at man ikke orker at klage over nogen af fejlene og manglerne, fordi man bare aldrig mere skal have hverken dem eller andre danske håndværkere inden for sit hjems fire vægge.
Den ynkelige frugt- og grøntkvalitet i forretningerne.
De så højt besungne danske værdier som mest går ud på retten til at såre minoriteter og håne dem, der mener, at der er noget, det er værd at dø for, bare fordi vi ikke selv synes det.
At bo i en hovedstad der tillader turistbusser at holde i store stimer med motoren kørende i både halve og hele timer – endda lige uden for restauranter med fortovsservering og kontorer hvor folk forsøger at arbejde. Det er hændervridende irriterede at høre på.
At bo i et land hvor statsoverhovedet er født til at være det og af og til udtaler sig på Danmarks vegne selvom vi ikke har haft mulighed for at stemme på hende og hun intet ved om det virkelige liv. Faktisk gør det mig rasende.
At bo i en hovedstad der ikke har nævneværdige regler for gademusikanter, og de få regler der er, bliver ikke håndhævet.
600 g pumpkin, deseeded (but the peel can be left on), and cut into 2 cm wedges
Olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 whole garlic, chopped
500 ml chicken stock
250 ml full-bodied redwine
400 g peeled tomatoes, crushed
150 g dates, pitted and halved
3 cinnamon sticks
6 star anise
Chili to taste (chipotle works well here)
Salt and pepper
Fry the onions and garlic in olive oil in a large pot till soft and add all the other ingredients except the pumpkin and the lamb shanks. Bring to a simmer.
Brown the coated lamb shanks well and add them to the pot. Simmer for 1,5 hours. Shanks should be almost covered. Add more stock or wine if needed.
Add the pumpkin and simmer for another hour or till the pumpkin is tender and the meat even more so.
Check for salt and serve with bulgur, rice or your favourite mash.
Meeting place: Nordische Botschaften/Nordic Embassies: Among other factors, the wish to utilise the prime location on the south side of Tiergarten efficiently, led to the building of the five Nordic Embassies (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) within one space enveloped by a copper wall. Completed in 1999, the complex comprises six individual buildings arranged geographically, all unmistakenly “Nordic” but each with national distinctive features in terms of architecture and materials used. enveloped by a green, copper clad, snaking wall. We will only be able to peek through the fence to see a little bit of the embassies, but the communal building, housing among other functions an auditorium, a canteen and all five consular sections, is open to the public. Read more here: www.arcspace.com/features/berger…/nordic-embassy-complex/.
Across the street from the Mexican Embassy …… and not far from the Siegessäule ….
On our way to Wittenbergplatz, we cross the Landwehrkanal via Corneliusbrücke, originally built in the late 19th century, destroyed during the Second World War, and rebuilt in 1954/55. Stolpersteine: (http://www.stolpersteine-berlin.de/en/stolpersteine). Passing along Bayreutherstrasse where at No 41 a Stolperstein commemorates Alexander Westermayer who lived there from 1939 (the original house was totally destroyed towards the end of WW2). Having been one of the founders of “Bund Deutscher Sozialisten”, he joined a resistance group called “Europäische Union”, in 1943, which advocated the restoration of democratic rights and freedoms and a united, free and socialist Europe. The group strengthened intra-German resistance, while sheltering and feeding people, including Jews, persecuted by the Nazi regime and procured them ID cards. On September 9, 1943 Westermayer was arrested, found guilty of high treason and membership of a “subversive organisation” and sentenced to death by guillotine. The sentence was carried out on 19 June 1944 at 15.12 o’clock.
Also in Bayreutherstrasse, at No 38, a Stolperstein commemorates one Edith Bodek, about whose life nothing is known except she was deported to Auschwitz on 29 November 1942 on the “23rd Berliner Osttransport” together with another 997 people. The date of her death in Auschwitz is unknown.
Wittenbergplatz was laid out between 1889 and 1892. Wittenbergplatz U-Bahn station is one of the oldest U-Bahn stations in Berlin, opened on 11 March 1902, and has a remarkable Art Nouveau entrance hall from 1913, designed by Alfred Grenander (Slow Travel Berlin has more about him here: http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/alfred-grenander-architect-of-the-underground/). Outside the western entrance is a monument erected by League for Human Rights 1967 entitled “Places of Terror We Must Never Forget”.
Wittenbergplatz
KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens) probably needs no introduction (but if it does, at least go and visit the delicatessen floor – a sight in itself). Brief history: Built by the then famous architect Emil Schaudt, it opened in 1907 with an area of 24,000 sq-m, and is today the largest department store in Continental Europe with 60.000 sq-m. During WW2, allied bombing ruined it, with one American bomber actually shot down and crashing into it in 1943. First two floors re-opening in 1950, full reconstruction finished in 1956. Between 1976 and 1978, the store’s floor space was expanded from 24,000 sq-m to 44,000 sq-m. Just after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, KaDeWe recorded a record-breaking number of people going through the store. Berlin – the “broken-chain sculpture”: From here, looking up Tauentzinstrasse, we also get a glimpse of this familiar sculpture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_(sculpture),
and the Europa-Center, which was built in 1965 as the first modern shopping centre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa-Center. Olof-Palme-Platz, since 1991 named after the Swedish social-democratic Prime Minister who was assassinated in 1986 – a crime that has never really been solved. Elefantentor: Passing the main entrance to Berlin Zoo with the elephant gate, originally from 1899, destroyed during WW2, and rebuilt true to the original, in 1984. Elephants in sandstone, red wooden pagoda.
Bikini: In contrast to KaDeWe, the latest shopping centre, or rather “concept mall” – “Bikini” – was opened in late 2013. It is a reconstruction of an existing building from the 1950s, and the original architecture, visible on the façade, is combined with modern utilisation and energy concepts. There is a freely accessible 7000 m² green rooftop terrace on top with a view over the monkey enclosure in the Zoo.
Passing Kaiser Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, www.gedaechtniskirche-berlin.de, (after the TV tower probably the most famous of Berlin’s sights, known to the berliners as the lipstick & powder puff, the original church on the site was built in the 1890s. It was badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943. The present building, which consists of a church with an attached foyer and a separate belfry with an attached chapel, was built between 1959 and 1963. The damaged spire of the old church has been retained and its ground floor has been made into a memorial hall.
Moving on into Kantstrasse, we pass Theater des Westens built in 1896 in a mixture of Jugenstil and Neobaroque, affectionately called the sugarbowl, the Delphi Filmpalast, and the “Kant-Dreieck” with one of the first “skyscrapers” in Berlin, built by Josef Paul Kleihues, it is 56 m tall and has a huge shark-fin shaped aluminium weather vane on top, turning in the wind like a giant sail. http://openbuildings.com/buildings/the-kant-dreieck-profile-2028.
Bonus info from one of the participants in the walk: The building was built 1992-95 as one of the first new office buildings in the west of the city, designed by Josef Paul Kleihues whose trademark it is to always incorporate steel nails in each tile on the façade. To the right on Fasanenstrasse, another architecturally interesting building is multi-purpose communication centre, The Ludwig-Erhard-Haushttp://www.willebrand.com/project450.html can be seen (but we are not going past it).
Paris Bar, Kantstrasse 152, used to be THE insider place for artists, actors and media people and boasts visitors from Gorbatjov to Madonna. It is often very busy but it is worth taking a look inside.
Savignyplatz: The allegedly originaly completely symmetrical Savignyplatz was laid out in 1861, and the S-Bahnhof opened in 1896. The bronze sculptures from 1921 on the north side are by August Kraus.
On the south side a kiosk designed by Alfred Grenander – remember – he of the entrance hall of the Wittenbergplatz U-Bahn station?
On the platform of the S-Bahn station there is a recent mural by Ben Wagin – “Weltbaum II” with environmental messages.
We are on the edge of what is known as Berlin’s Chinatown, with a higher concentration of Chinese and Asian restaurants, shops and supermarkets than anywhere else in Berlin, on and around Kantstrasse between Savignyplatz and Wilmersdorfer Strasse (this part of Kantstrasse is therefore also affectionately called Kantonstrasse). The first Chinese immigrants came to Berlin in the beginning of the 20th century to study at Technischen Hochschule Charlottenburg or Hochschule für Politik. The first Chinese restaurant opened in 1923 in Kantstrasse 130b. In this area, we would also find the former Charlottenburg prison for women, which is now rented out to various art projects.
Pestalozzistrasse Synagogue: But we are going up Grolmanstrasse and left on Pestalozzistrasse to No 14/15 and the synagogue, recently re-inaugurated after a major renovation. Outside the building, two clusters of no less than 19 and 21 Stolpersteine respectively, have been laid down. More information can be found here: http://www.stolpersteine-berlin.de/en/stolpersteine. It turned out that only a sign on the wall revealed that it is a synagogue.
Stolpersteine Outside the synagogue on Pestalozzistrasse 14/15
Next time, I’ll polish them myself
The first we (from the InterNations.org Berlin’s Landmarks group) did this walk, we stopped for coffee and cakes in Café Hardenberg – for me a very nice discovery.
Coming into the home stretch, we go past Steinplatz from 1885, with memorials for the victims of the Nationalsozialismus and Stalinism, and Hotel am Steinplatz, built in Jugendstil by August Endell.
The walk was scheduled to finish at Berlin Zoologischer Garten Station, aka Bahnhof Zoo. The station building overlooks the Hardenbergplatz square, named after Prussian prime minister Karl August von Hardenberg (1750–1822), Berlin’s largest city bus terminal and night bus service centre, and also used by long-distance buses/coaches. The original station opened on 7 February 1882. On 11 March 1902 the first Berlin U-Bahn line, today the U2, was opened under ground. During the cold war, Bahnhof Zoo remained the only long-distance train station within West Berlin. On 28 August 1961, two weeks after the erection of the Berlin Wall, the new U-Bahn Line 9 was opened below the U2, connecting the station with the transportation network in the north-south direction. The fact that with only two platforms and four tracks for long-distance trains the station was still the most important in West Berlin was another unnatural phenomenon of the divided city. After reunification, despite the outcry from nearby Kurfürstendamm retailers and local politicians, the station dramatically lost its importance following the launch of the new Berlin Hauptbahnhof on 28 May 2006, with long-distance services now passing through the station without stopping. Until 2013 the exception was the famous Sibirjak departing from Bahnhof Zoo for the Novosibirsk Trans-Siberian railway station. But a few stalwarts went back to the Bikini mall to see the roof terrace overlooking the monkey enclosures in the Berlin Zoo. Then on to Monkey Bar on top of the adjacent hotel.
And right now a skating rink on part of the roof terrace.
Had the walk taken place during any other season than mid-winter, another good place to finish off would have been the nearby Schleusenkrug Biergarten www.schleusenkrug.de.
Most fabric softeners contain toxic chemicals and are bad for you and for the environment. For example, phthalates are added with the only purpose of providing scent.
Furthermore, they clog up your washing machine and render for example towels and tea towels ineffective. In short, they are bad for you, for your washing machine and for the environment.
Instead, fill up the container with white vinegar. It will soften your laundry and help keeping your washing machine clean inside.
It will not make your laundry smell of vinegar, but if you want to add a scent, add up to five drops of essential oil to the vinegar. If you are not (yet) into essential oils, lavender is a good one to start with, but it could also be bergamot, patchouli, geranium or whichever oil you like.
Here is a slightly more ‘cumbersome’ recipe for home-made fabric
Ingredients:
10g baking soda
150-200 ml hot water
800 ml apple cider vinegar
20 drops essential oil
Preparation:
In a large bowl, combine water, baking soda and apple cider vinegar. It will bubble up quite spectacularly. When it settles, pour into a bottle and add essential oil of your choice. Close and shake well before each use. Four tablespoons is enough per wash.
I will be organising walks to Berlin’s landmarks such as bridges, towers, parks, remnants of The Wall, stations, notable buildings old and new, Stolpersteine and other memorials, street art, and anything else that might be of interest, things that we have perhaps rushed by without really noticing, within one walkable area at a time, area by area. My sources will be the series in Tagesspiegel on Berlin’s towers, bridges and parks; the books: Ein Jahrhundert Berliner U-Bahn; Berlins Bahnhöfe gestern, heute, morgen; Geisterbahnhöfe, by Heinz Knobloch, Michael Richter and Götz Thomas Wenzel; Berlin.dk (in Danish), by Ole Blegvad og Rasmus Funder; Die schönsten Berliner Stadtspaziergänge, 101 Berlin – Geheimtipps und Top-Ziele für Entdecker; Mauerweg – Stories from the Berlin Wall Trail, by Paul Scraton and Paul Sullivan; 100 favourite places: http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/100-favourite-places/; Stolpersteine in Berlin – 12 Kietzspaziergänge; and websites such as www.abandoned-berlin.de; www.stolpersteine-berlin.de… this list is by no means exhaustive, and I am sure I will be adding to it from time to time and will also be very grateful for any tips anyone might have.
The walks will be posted as activities in this group on InterNations, and details will be posted here. As I am neither a historian, an architect, nor a tour guide, I will not be holding lectures along the way, so it may be a good idea to read the description of the walk beforehand.
We will of course make pitstops during and after the walks as needed and as opportunity arises.
Language: These are InterNations.org events, so the language is English.
Walk number 3 – memorials and architecture on the edges of Tiergarten
And please handle these recipes with extreme care. You do not have to watch the boiling syrup constantly, but don’t leave the kitchen, and don’t let children do this by themselves.
Also be careful when whipping the syrup after boiling and beware of splattering that might still be very hot.
The marshmallows can be decorated any which way you like, or each person can dip theirs in melted chocolate, or drop them in their coffee or hot chocolate ……
The first ones – plain vanilla – work well in hot chocolate, and the ones with dark chocolate and cinnamon meld nicely on top of a cup of coffee.
Vanilla marshmallows
20 gelatine leaves
2 dl water
400 g sugar
1 vanilla pod
200 g icing sugar
Spread half the icing sugar over the bottom of a shallow dish. This recipe will fill a dish measuring approx. 17 x 29 x 4,5 cm. A surplus is fine as it will coat the sides when you start to cut the marshmallows.
Soak the gelatine leaves in plenty of water
Bring water, sugar and content of the vanilla pod to the boil and let boil gently for at least 20 minutes till it reaches a temperature of 120 C.
Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and add the gelatine to the syrup. Stir till the gelatine has completely dissolved.
Transfer to a deep bowl and whip till the mixture becomes extremely thick and you can almost hear the mixer start to groan.
Pour into the dish – work quickly before it becomes too springy and unmanageable.
Spread the other 100 g icing sugar on top and let cool completely for an hour or two at room temperature. When ready to serve, cut with a knife or scissors.
Next time I’ll add some chili one way or another – how could I forget?
Marshmallows with chocolate and cinnamon
8 gelatine leaves
1 dl water
200 g sugar
50 g icing sugar
50 g cocoa powder
50 g dark chocolate
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Soak the gelatine leaves in plenty of water.
Mix icing sugar and cocoa together and spread half of it over the bottom of a shallow dish. This recipe will fill a dish measuring approx. 14 x 293 x 4 cm. A surplus is fine as it will coat the sides when you start to cut the marshmallows.
Finely chop the chocolate.
Boil the water and sugar gently till it reaches a temperature of 120 C.
Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and add the gelatine to the syrup. Stir till the gelatine has completely dissolved.
Transfer to a deep bowl and start whipping. When it starts to thicken, but while the substance is still warm enough, add chocolate and cinnamon and continue whipping till the mixture becomes extremely thick and you can almost hear the mixer start to groan.
Pour into the dish – work quickly before it becomes too springy and unmanageable.
Spread the rest of the icing sugar/cocoa powder mixture on top (a surplus is fine as it will coat the sides when you start to cut the marshmallows) and let cool completely for an hour or two at room temperature.
Marshmallows with white chocolate and dried blueberry powder (or any other kind of dried fruit or berry powder)
Follow the recipe above but use white chocolate instead of dark chocolate, and dried blueberry powder instead of cocola powder, and also add 2 tsp blueberry powder to the mixture instead of the cinnamon.
Marshmallows with licorice, turmeric and chili
As above, but add a fresh red chili, halved lengthwise and deseeded, to the syrup while boiling. Remove the chili before whipping and adding licorice powder and turmeric.
Meeting up with my niece, who is currently a zookeeper apprentice at Banham Zoo near Norwich.
(Click on photos to enlarge)
Thursday 16 October: arrivals, some walking, coffee and cakes in Shaftesbury Avenue, and the musical Billy Elliot (a real tearjerker but with some incredible talent, especially the boy who played Billy Elliot, and catchy music by Elton John).
Friday 17 October:London Zoo, Frieze Art Fair (or that was the plan, but the queue was a mile long, so for another time, bring a fast-track ticket), a hands-on cooking lesson in Vietnamese Street Food, at Recipease, and the musical Urinetown – a musical with a social and environmental message. Strongly recommended.
Saturday 18 October: Walkabout, past Tower of London, this time with ceramic poppies, Borough Market, past The Shard by Renzo Piano, an unsuccessful visit to Nike Town (Christine), The Lion King (Christine), Fair for Contemporary African Art (Helle), Indian restaurant (Masala) in Brick Lane.
A recommendation: If you are in the West End, the Strand area, looking for lunch, Tom’s Deli in the courtyard of Somerset House provides delicious, natural and seasonal food and a nice break from the crowds and the fraffic.
Sunday 19 October: Natural History Museum (with the building by Danish Architects C.F. Møller Architects opened in 2009, in the shape of en eight-story cocoon), and the Tsunami Memorial .
ENDELIG er et medie begyndt at beskrive mad, der er fuldt af smag, som smagsfuldt, i stedet for smagfuldt, som jo betyder noget helt andet. På samme måde som mad, der ikke smager af noget, selvfølgelig er smagsløst, og ikke (nødvendigvis) smagløst. Og det er selvfølgelig Politiken, der går forrest.
