Nature protection area Fauler See, and a bit of Obersee

Share Button

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

Share Button

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

Share Button

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

Share Button

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

Share Button

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

Share Button
  • 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.

Three bird-watching walks 7, 8 and 9 February

Share Button

IN PROGRESS

Both found in Umweltkalender Berlin (with a private walk in-between)

With VHS in Lichtenberg 7 February

Obersee and Orankesee, very cold but warmed right back up with a couple of friends in nearby Café Strudel after the walk.

Spontaneous walk to Landwehrkanal and Urbanhafen in a loop via Admiralbrücke on 8 February

I had planned to visit a couple of exhibitions but the weather turned out to be too good for public transport and indoor activities, so I went on a leisurely walk to nearby Landwehrkanal:

After a recent cleanup, Landwehrkanal went from almost pristine to the usual, unbelievable, disgusting garbage dump in no time.

With Freilandlabor Britz e.V. in Britzer Garten 9 February

Great weather, but freezing cold at 9 in the morning, more spring-like towards the end of the walk. I definitely want to go back to Britzer Garten, possibly for this event on 2 March, and at the very latest for this event with Freilandlabor on 16 March (as you will see on the last photo, the green woodpecker is still my achilles’ heel – I have by now seen many but never managed a decent photo of one).

First some general photos from the park, then some birds, and finally some frosty leaves on the ground.

Interior Architecture Photography with Lette Akademie 3 to 5 February

Share Button

Although I have always been interested in modern architecture, the particular skill that is architecture photography had gone under my radar till now when someone I had “met” once or twice in zoom courses wrote and said she was coming to Berlin to attend this course – a good opportunity to meet up in person.

Consequently, I signed up at just a few days’ notice, and we met for breakfast each day before the course.

Day one interesting presentations with lots of tips and ideas. Was not in photography mode, did not like the venue, and having to use a tripod ruins my day, if not week or even month or actually makes me lose the will to live, so did not take any photos to fit the brief but only the below:

Day two we went to Technical University, and a strange thing happened: I deliberately photographed human beings, not just one but a whole series. I hope that is not a trend:

Other photos from day two:

Day three a presentation on how to draw up a contract. Not really relevant for me, but interesting and so much information (in German of course) that my head was spinning and I only took the below, totally uninspired photos.

But good course, great teacher, and I learned a lot.

Some random birds in Urbanhafen

Share Button

IN PROGRESS

But first, proof that the sun does exist, and still rises every morning.

Webinar Fotoaufgabe with Blende2, Hamburg

Share Button

IN PROGRESS

The life of a Danish pensioner in Berlin