Photography

Photography – series: Battle scars and other scars – literal and metaphorical

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ONGOING

Been playing again – and sorry – but some people are curious and don’t like to ask, so now, about 20 months post-op, (and still cancer free), it had to be done :-):

Experimenting February/March 2024 – not sure it is working:

Randomly, from some walks in January/February 2024:

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.

Evening of 31 December 2023, and inspection of the damage morning of 1 January 2024:

Favourite recipes

A quick and tasty spinach snack or side dish

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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.

Uncategorized

Photography: Personal Favourites 2024 March

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The Life of a Danish Pensioner in Berlin

24 to 28 April: Berlin Gallery Weekend with InterNations.org

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IN PROGRESS

24 April:

25 April:

26 April: Leipziger Straße/Lindenstraße area, from Galerie Konrad Fischer to Berlinische Galerie

Map of the route here.

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.

Abandoned, Photography

Neustrelitz 22 to 25 March

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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.

Photography

Bragging rights ;-)

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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.”

Favourite recipes

This will make a nice change from a chili kick

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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

  1. In a food processor, pulse scallions, garlic, ginger, wasabi, chili, turmeric, cilantro, Thai basil, and 2 tablespoons water until coarsely ground. With the motor running, stream in the coconut oil and process until pretty smooth.
  2. In a large pot or saucepan over medium heat, cook the green chili paste, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk, lime juice, and 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until reduced by half, 15 to 20 minutes.
  3. Add the Swiss chard and cook until wilted and tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and season with plenty of salt.
  4. Meanwhile, cook the soba noodles according to the package directions. Drain and divide evenly with the curry. Top with more herbs for garnish.
Photography, The Life of a Danish Pensioner in Berlin

Döberitzer Heide 20 March

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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.

The Life of a Danish Pensioner in Berlin

Relief – and recommending a dermatologist in Berlin

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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.

Berlin

Note to self as a reminder about the recent visit from Denmark

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(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.

The life of a Danish pensioner in Berlin