Frohe Weihnachten--Berlin Licht

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody. Here are a few pictures from Berlin. Emilia and I spent five days relaxing and exploring the German capitol. It was the first time I'd left Spain in a year, which was a welcome change. During the holiday, the city was so very quiet and calm. The locals were super-friendly and full of Christmas spirit and kept talking to me. I don't speak German, so this was a little awkward. I would freeze up and start talking in Spanish and then after they left (with confused looks on their faces) I'd realize that I could have just tried English. Whoops.

The pictures are in chronological order, more or less. The pictures that Emilia took are marked with an "E" after the caption. In addition to being an easy and fun person to travel with, Emilia also took a lot of pictures of me. Something a little different from most of my trips.

Potzdammerplatz

Berlin is famous for its Christmas Markets. We tried to fit in more of them, but with the holiday at home in our rented apartment and our lazy mornings, we really only explored two of them. But rumor has it, one of them had a petting zoo.

Yay! See the sign for Glüwein? It's mulled wine and so yummy with the twinkling lights all around and the smell of chestnuts and sausage in the air. E.

E.

Me and my 'wurst. E.

Sony Center--Potzdammerplatz

E.

Brandenburg Gate

Christmas tree, Gate, and menorah. On the other side of the gate would have been the Berlin Wall, were it still standing.

Brandenburg Gate and the official Menorah.

Emilia and I spent some time at little bars, chatting and drinking wine. I'm getting back into my sketchbook. E.

Our Christmas Eve breakfast. I went to the store to pick up a few things that we'd missed the day before while Emilia prepared coffee, hard boiled egg (yummy!), oatmeal, apples and cheese, and sandwich stuff. As I arrived home to the smell of fresh coffee, wet from the rain and heavy bags in hand, it became clear to me that being married could have some advantages....

This Christmas market had live music. This guy was quite good. His last two songs were Jeff Buckley's "Alleluia" and Tom Waits' "Time, Time, Time" covers. Which was appropriate: one of Emilia's favorite songs is Alleluia and Tom Waits is one of my favorite musicians.

Our one German dining experience. I had a radish salad with a soft cheese and rye bread. It was light and good, if a little boring. Emilia had a heavier meal and after that we decided to stick to our own cooking and ethnic food. I had two bratwurst and we went to dim sum and vietnamese. The vietnamese food made me so stinking happy--it had been over a year since I'd had any.

Emilia taught me how to make some of the traditional dishes for Christmas dinner in Finland. We made a carrot cassarole and rosselli salad (pickles, pickled beets, onion, and a dressing--this will soon be Forslund tradition!) with smoked salmon, curry mustard, and rye bread. It was a delicous meal.

Yummy almost-gingerbread dough!

Ameoba cardamom cookies! Okay, so they weren't exactly gingerbread... but they tasted fabulous. E.

Two glasses of strong eggnog, two glasses of wine, and a coffee. Need I say more? E.

Ever wondered how Santa accomplished everything in one night? Well, factor in the time zones and the fact that some countries have Santa come Christmas Eve and some have him come in the very early morning Christmas Day. Finnish Santa came Christmas Eve and insisted I sing a song before I collect my gifts. E.

The best sofa in the world. I was so tired our first few days that I found myself sleeping away on the sofa and either right before bed or just after waking up. E.

Good morning Berlin! I woke up early and prepared fruit soup, oatmeal, and eggnog for breakfast. :)

Santa came! He brought a tree, chocolate, and some presents.

On Christmas Day, Emilia and I visited the Holocaust Monument. The monument was designed to create a feeling of desolation and isolation. The designer claims to have been inspired by one of the older cemeteries in Prague. The sun was setting as we arrived and everything was grey and damp. The walls close in on you as you walk through and each sound you hear seems far away and odd against the silence of the tall stones.

E.

E.

American girl in the coolest hotel bar ever. The theme was books and the partitions were all made from steel rod bookshelves and the lamp shades were made from big picture books. E.

Boyz Noize. We went to a club Christmas night. The Boyz Noize DJs were fantastic. German electronica with our new friends: Serge (Ukrainian but living in London), Baltazar and Marcos (Argentina). We met them at the Hotel Michelburger bar and I was reminded of something one of my brothers once said to me, " Jamie you're a cute girl. If you play it right, you'll never have to buy your own drinks." Some guys ask permission to pay, Serge just quietly snuck off and paid the bill without any ceremony or posturing. What a guy! It was nice to hang out with some really down to earth guys who just wanted good company. E.

City building. I don't remember where.

It's been a while since we've had a ridiculously handsome president. Maybe that's our problem?

Berlin's metro system took some getting used to, but it covers a lot of ground. E.

Uhhh... Alexanderplatz.

Classic Emilia. :)

Classic Jamie. Sum sum Dim Sum! E.

Wittenburgplatz station.

More coffee shop conversation and sketching. E.

On the last day, exhausted from yet another night out, I took a peaceful stroll along the East Gallery. The Gallery was constructed from the barrier similar to the Wall--but as the actual boundary at this point was supposed to be the river, this was just added protection. When the Wall came down, artists were hired to decorate this portion. Each portion is a different artist from a different country. It's quite long and very emotive. I took pictures of my favorite pieces.

Mom, Dad, Eric, and Shelley (and Molly and Emily) should recognize the inspiration for this piece.

Barak Obama, Santa Claus, Antique wooden boat models... and this was a window display for a bar. Odd.

I was walking from the East Side Gallery to Alexanderplatz when I came across this ferris wheel being dismantled.

Here you can see the coaches below.

I'm not sure if this skeleton of a church was bombed out or the victim of a fire. There didn't seem to be any rubble.

When I met up with Emilia and explained my walk I didn't pronounce Rathaus properly. "The Rat House?" "Yeah, you know, the Rat Haus! It's where the politicians work." I have a feeling that Emilia is still laughing at my poor pronunciation.

One last coffee at the Sony Center (after Glüwein and a crepe).

My favorite wall art in Berlin. "Wir sin ein Volk" means "We are one people." On one of the legs is tattooed, "Berlin is poor, but sexy." The two bodies embracing seem to be East and West Berlin coming together at last.

East Side Gallery behind me. E.

Our last night we went out for a few drinks and talked cameras. I was inspired to play with mine a bit.

One last wine... And then to bed so that we can make the plane in the morning. Schuss, Berlin.