2023: Bring it on

Easter 2023 walks

05/04/2023 Helle Møller

Friday 7 April

Start from Bhf Dallgow-Döberitz to Falkesee, originally planned to total about 13 km. Organised by a member of the Facebook group Wandern in Berlin und Umgebung.

My route on MapMyWalk here. (When it started to drizzle and I was feeling really cold, I left the group when an opportunity arose).

It was a pleasant walk, although too much incessant schnickschnack – as in NON-STOP yacking – for my taste. Why ruin a walk in nature when you can cater to those needs anywhere else – a café, for example?

Saturday 8 April

My route on MapMyWalk here.

With Berliner Wanderclub, a guided tour of Wasserturm Finow and Messingwerksgelände. Later, walk along Finowkanal back to Eberswalde. Just one comment: given the (what I perceived as) freezing cold, the guided tour was much too long (nearly 2,5 hours). Without all the stopping for no apparent reason, and a lot of schnickschnack, it could have been done in one hour). But that is just me.

Sunday

“Die Krumme Lanke in Rangsdorf”, with Wandersportverein Rotation Berlin from Bhf Rangsdorf via Krumme Lanke and Jühnsdorfer Heide to S Blankenfelde – found in the Berlin-Brandenburg Wanderplan.

The route on MapMyWalk here.

A large group – I counted between 25 and 30, so at times, the speed-talking, which can be bad enough in groups of five to ten people, was infernal. What is it about nature that is like pushing a button, whereby most people start spouting words-words-words as if there is no tomorrow? And in many cases so loudly that the rest of us can’t hear the birds?

However, it was a lovely part of the world, the weather was finally great, and whenever I distanced myself from the noise machines, or people exceptionally kept their mouths shut, it was truly blissful, although not as long as we had been “promised”. All in all, I shall have to somehow make up for three relatively short walks in the last few days :-).

2023: Bring it on

Photography: Personal favourites 2023 March

04/04/2023 Helle Møller

Favourite recipes, Uncategorized

Sichuan soy and chilli roasted aubergines

04/04/2023 Helle Møller

2 aubergines
½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns
4 cloves garlic
15g fresh ginger, roughly chopped
2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped, alternatively chili powder or flakes or whatever you have available
2 tblsp tomato purée (I use the one that comes in a tube)
2 tblsp clear honey
1 tblsp avocado oil
2 tblsp light soy sauce
½ tsp salt
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds, shredded lemon peel, chopped coriander (all optional) for garnish

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Whizz the peppercorns, garlic, ginger and chilli in a small food processor until finely chopped.

Add the tomato purée, honey, soy sauce, avocado oil, salt and 2 tblsp cold water and whizz to a loose paste.

Halve the aubergines lengthways, then deeply score in a criss-cross pattern, taking care not to cut through the skin.

Spread the paste on them, making sure it gets into the crevices. I used a baking brush for this. I did not manage to get all the paste in/onto the aubergines the first time around, so I added the rest after removing the foil and baking the second time around.

Place in an oven-proof dish, cover with foil and roast for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the aubergines.

Remove the foil, spoon over any leftover paste, and roast uncovered for a further 20 to 30 minutes, until very tender and browned.

Drizzle with the sesame oil, let rest for 5 minutes, then garnish.

PS, on this occasion, dessert was blueberries in home-made cashew-nut yoghurt, drizzled with a bit of honey :-).

2023: Bring it on

Düsseldorf March 2023

28/03/2023 Helle Møller

Day 1

– a day earlier than originally planned (due to the “mega-strike” on 27 March), an extremely early train ride in utterly miserable weather, a visit to the excellent K20, and then to the fitness room and pool in the hotel (trying to keep up some kind of daily exercise routine in addition to walking), and finally a really good lamb curry in nearby “eatdoori”.

Day two

– walkabout in ever-changing weather to Rheinufer (briefly, due to a strong, icy wind), then Hofgarten, and on to Ackerstraße (not as interesting as it is hyped up to be, but seems to be under development and has potential). I did find one nice café: Oma Erika.

Day three

– in beautiful sunshine, but very cold, K21, Lorettostraße (another up-and-coming street much less hyped but in my opinion more interesting than Ackerstraße), Rheinufer, Medienhafen, Kunst im Tunnel, and some more parks. Dinner in a very good, and clearly very popular, vegan Vietnamese restaurant – “To1980“.

Day four

Overcast and slightly misty but dry and warmer than in previous days. Daniel Libeskind’s Kö-Bogen (an upmarket shopping mall), I like most of his buildings but am not so sure of this one although I took and am posting too many photos of it :-); more parks, an aborted visit to NRW Forum (several school classes queueing to get tickets), Nordfriedhof (in the hope of some bird photography despite less than ideal light conditions – I did see some chaffinks and some treecreepers). On the way back, discovered Golzheimer Friedhof, now a park full of ancient gravestones and other cemetery ornaments.

Day five

– the main purpose of the trip: Art Düsseldorf, an annual art fair which has long been on my wish list. It takes place in another repurposed industrial area.

But first: the Schauspielhaus, by Bernhard Pfau (b. 1902), opened 1970:

Day 6

– Altstadt, NRW Forum (renewed attempt). Also took a quick look at a new oasis in Düsseldorf – the central library with an art forum and a good café. Return to Berlin.

2023: Bring it on

“Bird-watching in English”, 2 – Volkspark Wilmersdorf

25/03/2023 Helle Møller

The second excursion by NABU/VHS led by Robert Crouch. Not the best place for birds-watching, especially on a weekend – too many people and too noisy. But the weather was OK and it was a nice walk.

On the way back, I walked through Wilmersdorf cemetery (much quieter :-)) and saw the elusive green woodpecker, but unfortunately did not get any photos worth showing.

Favourite recipes

Bengali aubergine in a yoghurt sauce

24/03/2023 Helle Møller

(Can be vegan with vegan yoghurt)

I am happy to report that this tastes a lot better than it looks. I think the optics depend a bit on the type of yoghurt used (I used home-made cashew nut yoghurt), but of course also on the the cook’s food presentation skills, of which I have none.

2 medium aubergine (begun) around 500g
1 half tsp salt
1 half tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
oil
1 tblsp mustard oil
1 tsp kalonji
1 bay leaf
1 half tsp chili powder
1 tblsp freshly grated ginger
2,50 dl yoghurt (I used my own homemade cashew nut yoghurt)
1 half tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 half tsp red chili powder
salt to taste
Optional: garnish with chopped coriander leaves
½ tsp garam masala

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C
Cut the aubergines lengthwise, in quarters
Mix the oil, salt, chili powder and turmeric together
Place the aubergines in a parchment lined baking tray and spread the oil/spice mixture on the cut surfaces
Bake in the oven for 15-17 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven
Meanwhile, in a pan, heat the mustard oil to smoking point. Reduce the flame and add the kalonji, bay leaf, chili powder, and ginger, and roast, stirring.
Lower the flame, add the yoghurt, turmeric, coriander powder, and salt. Stir through immediately and continuously
When the oil separates, add 1 dl hot water and the roasted aubergines, making sure that the yoghurt/spice mixture is distributed on the cut surfaces of the aubergines. Cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes to let the aubergines start to absorb some of the flavours from the sauce
Turn off the heat and spinkle the garam masala and, if using, the chopped coriander over the dish before serving.

2023: Bring it on

Short visit to Tierpark

22/03/2023 Helle Møller

Main purpose: to see the four newborn Takins (three Sichuan, one Gold-), and to try to take some better photos of the gnus than last time when they had recently arrived.

Mission almost accomplished, except for the gnu part. They were no longer cowering in the furthest corner, but were still not in photo-op mode and I was unable to focus past the trees.

2023: Bring it on

Series: Berlin’s Subway (U-Bahn) Stations

21/03/2023 Helle Møller

At the time of writing (March 2923), there are 175 subway stations in Berlin, and they are all very different.

1906

1913

1980

2020

2021

2023: Bring it on

“Bird-watching in English” – Naturpark Südgelände

19/03/2023 Helle Møller

Very nice walk, led by Robert Crouch, in true spring-like weather, in Naturpark Südgelände, organised by Volkshochschule and NABU. We did not see as many birds as expected, and I did not take any bird photos at all, probably because of too many people in the park that day. But still very enjoyable, and there is always something to see and photograph there.

The route on MapMyWalk.

I also realised that Robert leads a bridge course for VHS – something I have been wanting to take up again for a long time, so I have now signed on for it as a kind of refresher course, and hope to be playing regularly after that.

2023: Bring it on

Walkabout to scout for photos for the next class

16/03/2023 Helle Møller

Last week, in the Strudelmedia course I am attending, James advised us to start as many projects as possible, because then we will always stumble upon things to photograph when we are out and about. I am trying to heed this advice.

The first part of my route here. I then took a coffee break and forgot to start recording again. The last part was approximately this.