Two gallery walks with InterNations: Friday 26 April, and Sunday 28 April.

On 26 April, we ended up visiting about 14 galleries on the route.

On 28 April we probably reached the same number of galleries. The route was shorter, but there were several new gallereries there that I had not been aware of.

An early Sunday morning walk at Landwehrkanal and and photos from Monday morning when I was early for a breakfast appointment near the central station.

There is an amazing wildlife in and around Berlin, from inner city to outskirts, and I have always thought it was a source of pride and joy to Berlin and berliners.

But perhaps that is just hypocrisy.

About a month ago, I discovered an injured female tufted duck on Landwehrkanal. There is a small mound of earth by the bank just across from Vivantes and the van Loon restaurant ship where a couple of swans, and now also this injured duck, congregate.

As can be seen in the photo, the duck has a badly broken wing.

Because of a concrete wall, the location is not immediately accessible, at least not to me, and I am quite sure that even if someone did manage to climb down, the duck would flee into the water. A net and perhaps a small boat would be needed.

As can be seen in the photo, the duck has a badly broken wing. She normally sits very still but sometimes goes to the edge of the water to drink, and when she is startled, she also goes in and manages to swim for a short while before coming back on dry land.

The first time I saw her, there were people there who said it had been reported to the relevant authorities. I have since been back about once a week, including yesterday morning, and she is still there, getting smaller and smaller and sitting more and more still. Dying a slow and, I imagine, agonising death.

On several occasions, I have reported it to two organisations pretending to concern themselves with wildlife rescue, and their standard reply is – we know – many people are reporting on this – we have been there several times and could not find the duck. We will try again tomorrow. And then nothing happens.

So much for Berlin’s love of its wildlife.

(and perhaps also to the visitor, and to others looking for things to do in Berlin)

One of my two favourite teenagers came to stay for a weekend. (They are now 30 and 31 respectively, but I will always think of them as my favourite teenagers).

Anyway, on Friday evening, C caught an RB train from the airport (“Richtung Charlottenburg”) and arrived at Alexanderplatz station less than an hour after landing. Literally. A record, so some things are improving.

Catching up, planning the stay, sushi, cheese and an excellent orange wine from Georgia, which I had picked up at a recent wine fair out of curiosity after hearing how it is produced.

Saturday, breakfast in Beumer & Lutum across from the Jewish Museum.

Despite a relatively rainy and windy day, we did everything on foot, ended up walking more than 20.000 steps and nearly wrecked two umbrellas.

First to the German Spy Museum, followed by a pitstop in Café Maxim on Potsdamer Platz, before circling Neue Nationalgalerie (Mies van der Rohe) just to see it from the outside and peek into the giant ground floor space.

Briefly saw the Euthanasia Memorial next to the Philharmonic, but it was raining quite heavily just then. Onwards through part of Tiergarten and past Reichstag and Kanzleramt, crossing the river to Futurium. An impressive building but a bit of a disappointment inside. Clearly geared more towards school children. The Skywalk was closed “until spring” and we did decide that it might be worth going back to for that reason, not least since the entrance is free.

Lunch in The Cube Berlin, my favourite building in Berlin, before proceeding to the third and last museum of the day – The Cold War Museum which we both found very interesting.

Somewhere along the way I had decided that we would end up deserving the treat that (I think) dinner at NaNum is, and since it was still possible to book a table there, that was a no-brainer. Luckily, my visitor always was and still is curious and interested in almost everything, and this goes for food too, so she was game and really enjoyed it. Unless she was just really good at being polite, which is entirely possible :-).

Since NaNum is so close to where I live, we managed to get home and put our feet up before indulging in their seven or whatever courses and the excellent wine pairing menu.

The next morning, this was balanced off by a quick Sunday breakfast at home of just bread and cheese before setting off for Hansaviertel (C had expressed an interest in the Bauhaus/Interbau architecture) (walking along the Spree from Hauptbahnhof – no more rain, sunny but uncharaccteristically cold), and then a pitstop at the teahouse in the English garden, which is a shadow of its former glory but still a nice place to sit and people watch for a bit.

By the way, also in Hansaviertel, we discovered a church where an American gospel-type worship service was in full swing. This was the church, but I have been unable to find more about that specific event.

Then S-train from S Bellevue to Alexanderplatz and a walk along Karl-Marx-Allee to Frankfurter Tor with this conveniently placed Vietnamese Restaurant for a light lunch. U-Bahn back to Alexanderplatz and a quick look around the ground floor of Humboldtforum and a tour of their basement archaeological exhibit.

Then on to Kraftwerk to watch “Vektor” – a light and sound show by Christopher Bauder. Underwhelming, if you ask me, but moderately impressive and a convenient rest. And we were not many minutes walk away from the next convenient rest and a drink at Café am Engelbecken. Then the home stretch to my local Indian restaurant, Delhi6 in the southern end of Friedrichstraße. They seem to change owners quite often, and the food is sometimes very good and sometimes not so good. This time, I was not impressed. Still, it was nice, after more than 30.000 steps, to be quite close to home and a relatively early night for both of us.

Sunday morning another nice treat – breakfast in Frühstück3000, also very close by, on the square across from the Jewish Museum, and then a visit to Berlinische Galerie, virtually in my backyard (although unfortunately, there is no direct back-door passage :-)). Then a walk towards Tempelhof, across my local cemetery(ies), with a nod to the graves of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, his sister Fanny, and three (four?) other familiy members. Coffee in Café Blinis Espresso Lounge before reaching “the largest architectural monument in Europe” – Tempelhof Airport and a very interesting two-hour guided tour. Which, by the way, I had done once before (in a slightly modified version) – photos here.

Bus 248 via Bergmannkiez past Marheineke Markthalle with just enough time for a spicy chai in the ground-floor café of the building I live in, where Melek treated us to a taste of her date-banana-tahin loaf, on the house, before picking up C’s luggage and heading off to Alexanderplatz and an RB train back to the airport.

Quite a whirlwind visit with a lot of walking, seeing, eating, reminiscing and some good laughs, which I had been looking forward to and hugely enjoyed.

Final edit 27 February: “Happy ending” 🙂 – I found an HNO doctor who unlike the first one I went to is competent and friendly, and unlike the second one I went to has friendly receptionists who do not lie about what my insurance company wants and does not want. Ear infection, or whatever it was, is now gone. Dr. S. Schölzel, Bergmannstraße 5. Highly recommended.

We now have to bring our “Anmeldebestätigung” along when seeing a new doctor for the first time. Despite having lived here eight years and seen many doctors and one hospital, I have never been asked for that one before.

After having been treated for an ear infection unsuccessfully by one ear doctor and three different kinds of eardrops for a couple of months, I wanted to get a second opinion from another ear doctor and made an appointment with Herr Dr. med. Christian Scheiber in Leipziger Straße.

Having arrived there and filled in the usual two-three pages of blabla (that German IT angst again) and presented my passport and insurance card, I was asked to produce my “Anmeldebestätigung” and if I did not have it with me – go back home to fetch it. At some point, they even claimed that my insurance company demands it. (?????). That is a blatant lie. I am privately insured with JSIS – the sickness insurance for current and former European Union employees and have been since 1976. I think I would have known by now if that were the case. I even offered to pay the bill in cash then and there if necessary – but no, not good enough.

Due to gail-force wind gusts (accompanied by rain), I had already been almost blown off the pavement three times on the way there, so I was not about to make an extra return walk under those conditions. And – in a country whose motto seems to be “why make things easy if you can make them complicated?” – how could I be certain that when I got back there they would not lie about something else. Once a liar, alway a liar. I therefore left, telling them I would not be back and that they should just send me the invoice.

I am sure my “alleged” address is good enough for billing me, even if not good enough for treating my ear infection.

I actually prefer Asian food, but once in a blue moon (and when I am feeling rich) I find it interesting to try a “higher end” restaurant, perhaps with one or more Michelin stars or ambitions in that direction, and luckily, I know two others here in Berlin with the same interests.

We often talk about restaurants and decide to “add them to our list”, but up to now, this list has only existed in our heads.

This the start of a more constructive approach:

(I will add links soonest)

Bob & Thoms

Bonvivant, vegetarian – visited! A Berliner Morgenpost Monatsmenu arrangement. Great experience – the food, the wine, the service – everything perfect.

Bostich

Bricole

Chiaro – visited! Very good. Especially their strawberry tiramisu was to die for.

Ernst – for years trying to make up their minds whether to close or not?

Facil

Faelt

Freundschaft

Glaserei, Mehringdamm 49

Heritage, Charlottenstraße

Il Calice

Kink

Lagalante Ristorante

Le Faubourg

Lode & Stijn

Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer (Interior apparently a bit too classic, but the chef should be really good)

Loumi, Ritterstraße 2, seems to be doing well on an address where many others have tried and given up. Would really like to try this one. EDIT: We did try this one, and found the food and wine excellent, novel, and the service personal and friendly, BUT it took far too long, especially in the beginning we waited much too long between courses, which meant that towards the end of the meal we were annoyed and just wanted to get out of there and did not really enjoy the last two courses the way we should have done.

Macionga

Mored, Münstersche Straße 11, Wilmersdorf, opened December 2023, would very much like to try this one.

Nobelhart & Schmutzig (a vegetarian, Michelin-starred restaurant in the southern end of Friedrichstraße which only Helle would like to visit – the others not so much :-)). EDIT 6 December 2024: All three of us did visit this one, finally. It was interesting to watch the “choreography” and the wines were OK. As was the food except all courses except the desserts were accompanied by a beige sauce – perhaps slightly different flavours but always the same texture – which started to really get on my nerves.

Osteria Ribaltone

Pars

Pink Room (?Added by Helle, See more under Random notes)

POTS

Prism – 6 December 2024 have again read good things about this one.

The NoName

Tulus Lotrek

UUU

Volt

RANDOM NOTES:

Mark your calendars! On September 21st (2023) a new fine dining restaurant, Pink Room, will open inside the Bellboy Bar in Mitte. The concept promises to be unique – a Levantine-Japanese 9 course omakase menu, curated by Michelin-starred chef Gal Moshe and Bellboy’s head chef Paris Katsampis (formerly of Nobu). The drink pairing is also distinctive, combining cocktails, wine and sake. Japanese egg custard with Chilean Sea Bass and Arak Beurre Blanc, anyone? 
Mohrenstraße 30, Thu-Sat From 18h