I have figured out the division of costs between flat owners and “Hausverwaltung”. In most countries, all outside maintenance and repairs are paid for by “the community” and all inside costs covered by the flat owner.
Not so here. Here, all costs, external and internal, are covered for you if you are ethnic German. If not, you have to pay for everything yourself.
Sorry, I got carried away by the beautiful colour of this turban, and since I am a coward and did not like to ask him for photos of the real thing, I snuck some of the reflections, and reflections of the reflections. I do think he spotted me doing it. It is a good thing I never had to make a living as a spy.
Most photography teachers will encourage you to take yourself out of your comfort zone now and then and photograph things you don’t particularly like, or find particularly difficult to photograph, so I figured the International Air Show would be a good opportunity.
Not only would there be lots of people, but the theme does not interest me one bit, and on top of everything else, as it would turn out – the sunshine was blinding, and I have always found it difficult to take pictures under those conditions, not just battling the contrasts, but also because in many cases, I can’t see what I am doing while taking the photos.
I have to admit that much to my own surprise, I actually enjoyed myself there, for a couple of hours, and then no longer. I got there quite early, thankfully, because shortly after mid-day, it got really busy, and in combination with the strong sunlight, that was the time for me to leave.
There was a nice atmosphere, and a good variety of street food trucks. Very few places to sit down and enjoy a drink and a snack, and no shade at all, though – that would be my only complaint.
A tip if it comes back to Berlin next year and you want to go: Check their website for how to get there – do NOT trust neither BVG nor google maps.
Here are some impressions – the best I could do under the circumstances (and yes, some of them are repetitive – as usual, I am experimenting, and there is no need to tell me that some of them are duplicates or almost):
To all the morons and retards who have been keeping many of us awake most of the night by yacking and laughing incessantly and loudly on their balconies, thinking the whole world ought to hear their words of wisdom and that they are wildly interesting and funny to listen to: I have news for you: very few people are, and nothing is that funny, and most people should do the world a favour and keep their mouths shut more often instead of talking such a load of shite most of the time. I wish I had a way to keep you awake all day, now that you have finally gone to bed. #ihatepeople
By the way, on yesterday’s boat tour (Langer Tag der Stadtnatur) with Derk Ehlert, a.k.a. “Berlins Wildtier Gott”, about a third of the passengers blithered their stupid platter loudly and unashamedly THE WHOLE TIME. Wastes of space humans are.
To see the exhibition “Zeit – Grenzland Fotografen” in a repurposed granary.
Interesting exhibition in an equally interesting venue. Slightly tricky to get to – and return from – since buses are few and far between, so schedules need to be checked. This also meant I had a little less than an hour on site.
I took the RE3 to Angermünde and bus 450 to Gramzow (about 40 minutes of very scenic busride) and then about a 1 km walk.
Incidentally, the granary is right next to a small railroad museum.
Before leaving home, I snuck a photo from my balcony, and on the walk from the bus stop in Gramzow I took some photos too.
From inside the granary:
On the way back to Gramzow:
From the bus from Gramzow to Angermünde:
A very enjoyable day extremely well organised by Margot Dietzsch, Thomas Lenk, and Joachim Wenzel. Joachim led a longer walk, and Margot led and narrated an interesting walk around Tegeler Schloß, themed around the brothers Humboldt.
Everybody then boarded the Moby Dick at Greenwich Promenade for a lovely two-hour boat tour, and we finished off the day with a meal at Tegeler Seeterrassen where they coped smoothly with an onslaught of 38 people who all ordered different courses.
Photos to come
Very nice and enjoyable afternoon as usual efficiently organised by Renata Fackler.
I got there early so played with ICM on some rocks, and photographed some birds before we boarded.
OK, after this post, not another word about “the world’s biggest fake lawn”. Promise.
Such an ugly abomination, but no surprise there, I guess – esthetics and football-fandom have never formed an obvious combo.
And I also won’t tell anybody what I secretly hope will happen, because Schadenfreude is such a pathetic and ugly sentiment. And of course nothing will happen. Even if in case of heavy rain (which of course never happens in Berlin in June/July), of course the relevant Berlin authorities will have learnt from others with experience with plastic lawns of that size – which is …. erm … many …., and will have made sure there is proper drainage.
And if on the other hand it gets very warm, which of course also never happens in Berlin that time of year, so that the material becomes too hot for dogs and children, not to mention starts to emit toxic gases which will also mainly target dogs and children, there will be proper warnings of that fact.
Because experts will have been consulted. Because it is Berlin. (Where is the sinking heart emoji when we need it).