Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

Max’s exercise routines

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Much as I love walking with a dog, walking is not enough for a dog like Max. He needs to run, off-leash, and also to socialise with other dogs.

In addition to our visits to the dog parks, having seen how much he enjoyed the initial getting-to-know-each-other trip with Frank of Instinkt&Intuition (and how much I enjoyed watching him sprint) I have therefore decided to leave him in the capable and loving hands of Frank twice a week, to be chauffeured (Max loves that – ironically, since I decided a long time ago to never again travel in a private car …..) to a place with no cars, e-rollers, bikes, or children on tricycles, where he can run around for 1,5 to 2 hours and play with a small group of dogs which he already knows (unlike in the dog parks where it is quite rare to meet the same dog more than once). Also, it will be good for both of us that he spends some time with a human other than me (and Alfred of justaskalfred for a couple of hours each week) so that it is not always just Max and me almost 24/7.

So from now on, our weekly daily-main-walk routine will look more or less like this – on some days subject to changes according to weather etc.:

Monday: Five to ten km, shorter walks in the neighbourhood in loops from home.

Tuesday: Max out frolicking with Frank and friends.

Wednesday: Ten to 15 km further afield, with public transport, alternatively visits to either Hasenheide or Gleisdreieck dog park.

Thursday: Max out frolicking with Frank and friends.

Friday: Dog park Tempelhofer Feld, by Herfurthstraße (walking there and back a total of almost ten km, plus the time Max runs around there).

Saturday: Ten to 15 km further afield, with public transport, alternatively visits to either Hasenheide or Gleisdreieck dog park.

Sunday: Dog park Tempelhofer Feld, by Tempelhofer Damm (walking there and back a total of almost ten km, plus the time Max runs around there).

Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

Playing with long exposure

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While I was waiting to meet a friend for a walk and coffee on the Van Loon ship in Urbanhafen.

Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

A couple of cemeteries and an exhibition 16 September 2021

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I wanted to visit the exhibition “Yes to All” in Wilhelm Hallen and took the opportunity to walk through a couple of cemeteries in the area first – Dankes-Kirchhof, and St Hedwigs Kirchhof III.

The route on Komoot (I forgot to stop recording when I got on the S-Bahn at Wilhelmsruh :-)).

Photos from the cemeteries:

On the way to Wilhelm Hallen, I stopped for lunch in Vietnamese restaurant Musuko, a nice surprise, despite the wasps.

And from the exhibition in Wilhelm Hallen:

And some photos from the inside of these “abandoned”/repurposed halls:

S-Bahn Station Wilhelmsruh overlooks a kind of scrap yard:

Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

Teltow 14 September 2021

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A bit of the Teltowkanal, and afterwards a quick visit to the oldest part of Teltow. The route on Komoot: https://www.komoot.com/tour/488208177.

Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

A couple of photos taken from my balcony

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Can’t seem to get to grips with the much-lauded Canon 100-400 mm is II usm.

A sure sign of autumn – when the starlings congregate to bask in the late-afternoon sunlight – here on the crane next door yesterday.

Had they been there this morning, they would have had this view of the sky:

Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

Positions Art Fair 2021

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Sadly, for four or five years Berlin’s only annual art fair. The good news is, it is a great fair, and takes place in one of my favourite venues – two hangars in Tempelhof Airport.

On the way there, stumbled upon a new exercise pad in one of my local parks:

Some impressions from the fair and surroundings:

And finally, while having a drink in the outdoor area with an old friend from Denmark who now also lives in Berlin, we spotted many hawks (I think they are ….) hovering above. Unfortunately, I did not have the right lens with me so I might use my invitation to visit the fair again, if only to bring a more appropriate lens and spend more time in the outdoor area. Meanwhile, this was the best I could do under the circumstances:

Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

A great day out with Berliner Wanderclub

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From Königs Wusterhausen, along Nottekanal, Krummensee and Sutschketal to Bestensee. The route on Komoot: https://www.komoot.com/tour/480361185.

(Some photos at the end of the post).

This was a first for Max, and only a second for me, thanks to Corona. Like the first walk I went on, this was also very well organised by Margot Dietzsch.

Bonus tip: There is what looks like a very nice bakery/café – Café Wahl – right next to the station in Bestensee, with freshly baked bread and homemade ice cream, and everything in between. Unfortunately, it is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, so, determined to find a place to sit down together and have at least a coffee, we took the train back one stop to Königs Wusterhausen and went to the café in the castle there for coffee and cakes or a salad in very pleasant surroundings.

Oh, and just for once I was not going to mention Max :-). But he did really well. Walking with a group of people (I think we were 14 or 15 today) is still stressful for him because he seems to feel he has to be in front, and also occasionally make sure everybody is there. Interestingly, referring to the previous post about eating, he was a bit unruly after we sat down at the café at the end, and after he had had some water and some snacks, the way he can be when he is a bit tired but still agitated by everything that is going on, barking for attention occasionally. But the minute the waiter brought my lunch, Max lay down and quietly watched me eat. Amazing. He became impatient again afterwards. I think he gets to a point when he just wants to go home. He was calm but forced himself to stay awake all the way on the S-Bahn, and pulled madly at the leash the last short walk from the busstop down the road, and seemed overly excited to be back in the flat, almost galloping around in and out of the rooms, and circling around me several times before collapsing on his pillow. I think he spends a lot of mental energy on walks with many new impressions.

And finally, Berliner Wanderclub could do with some more members, so if you like walking in nature, with nice people who are very knowledgeable about Berlin and Brandenburg, and practise your German at the same time (unless you want to walk along thinking your own thoughts, which is also permitted) – then get up off your fat arse and become a member.

Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

It is in his DNA

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It is interesting to see how the new house rules create the kind of world order which suits Max and which he understands.

This is especially obvious with the rule that I eat first, before I feed him (just like in the wild, the alpha male eats first). Before, when it came to feeding time, and I fed him before I started to prepare my own meal, Max used to behave as if it was a matter of life-and-death extreme urgency for him to get fed the minute he heard the sounds of his meal being prepared. Now that I cook and eat first, he either sits or lies, just outside the kitchen, and watches me, completely patiently, or he goes to his bed and goes to sleep. He is still back on his feet the second I then start to get his food ready, but he observes those preparations with much more patience than he used to. This sequence of events is clearly more in his nature and something he can relate to.

This morning, we visited a new (at least for me – I am not sure about Max) dog park – also on Tempelhofer Feld but over on the other side, nearer to Tempelhof S and U station and a little less than 5 km away on foot. I had only recently discovered its existence. It is about the same size as the other one, I think, so not much difference except there is a lot more going on on that side of the airfield. I think we will alternate between those two as long as weather and time permit, and then use the ones at Gleisdreieck and Hasenheide when it becomes colder and windier and on days where for one reason or the other we have a little less time. I love Tempelhofer Feld, but it is a little bit further away than the other parks, and it can get unbelievably cold there. Even if it is not particularly windy in the rest of Berlin, it can get incredibly windy on that airfield.

Favourite recipes, Main courses

Eggplant with garlic, ginger and soy sauce

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For the sauce:

  • 3 tblsp soy sauce
  • 3 tsp brown sugar
  • 3 tblsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tblsp sesame oil

For the eggplant:

  • 2 medium-sized eggplant, trimmed and cut in wedges
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2 tablespoon ginger, peeled and minced
  • chili, in flakes or fresh or whichever way you have available, to taste
  • 4 red onions, finely chopped

Whisk together the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

In some of the oil, sizzle the ginger, garlic and onion till the onion starts to become translucent, and add the chili.

Brown the eggplant wedges on all sides in the rest of the oil.

Add the onion mixture to the eggplant wedges and simmer till the eggplant is done, adding a bit of salt.

Pour over the sauce and heat through, stirring gently.

Life in Berlin while Covid lingers

An afternoon by the Landwehrkanal

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On this week’s me-me-me day, the weather was the best it has been all year, so I skipped the indoor exhibitions and went to the nearest stretch of water to have lunch on the van Loon boat at Carl-Herz-Ufer and spend some quality time with my camera, hoping to get back in photography mode.

The life of a Danish pensioner in Berlin