I frequently hear people complain that it is difficult to find a good dermatologist in Berlin. I found one before Corona and made a mental note for future reference: Dr Martina Ulrich @Dermatologie am Regierungsviertel. Unfortunately, they only take private patients. This is a reference to the – to me reprehensible – German “caste system” within health care, which I will get back to at the end of this post.

As a teenager and young person, I did stupid things in terms of sunbathing when we were not so aware of the dangers, and in any case, I have such fair skin that I should never have spent much time in the sun. But I did, and the result is more and more small moles and other signs of sun damage which I am no longer able to keep a proper eye on. Given that a full-body skin cancer screening is part of what my sickness insurance offers every two years, I decided it was time and made an appointment with Dr. Claas Ulrich in the same clinic.

I had been dreading it slightly, partly because I had heard that these screenings take forever, and also because the shock and panic from my breast cancer diagnosis in summer 2022 is still lurking right beneath the surface and whenever I think of screenings, although happy that I live in a part of the world where they are easily available, I fear the worst.

Dr Ulrich very happily and enthusiastically operates a brand-new scanner which he introduced to me as if it were his favourite child. The room it was in was not even completely set up for that kind of consultation yet, for which he profusely apologised.

The scanner sees EVERYTHING, and points out what merits a closer look by the dermatologist and a hand scanner. The whole thing took less than 45 minutes – and nothing even remotely suspicious was found.

If this is something you keep telling yourself to have done – do not hesitate. Better safe than sorry.

(and perhaps also to the visitor, and to others looking for things to do in Berlin)

One of my two favourite teenagers came to stay for a weekend. (They are now 30 and 31 respectively, but I will always think of them as my favourite teenagers).

Anyway, on Friday evening, C caught an RB train from the airport (“Richtung Charlottenburg”) and arrived at Alexanderplatz station less than an hour after landing. Literally. A record, so some things are improving.

Catching up, planning the stay, sushi, cheese and an excellent orange wine from Georgia, which I had picked up at a recent wine fair out of curiosity after hearing how it is produced.

Saturday, breakfast in Beumer & Lutum across from the Jewish Museum.

Despite a relatively rainy and windy day, we did everything on foot, ended up walking more than 20.000 steps and nearly wrecked two umbrellas.

First to the German Spy Museum, followed by a pitstop in Café Maxim on Potsdamer Platz, before circling Neue Nationalgalerie (Mies van der Rohe) just to see it from the outside and peek into the giant ground floor space.

Briefly saw the Euthanasia Memorial next to the Philharmonic, but it was raining quite heavily just then. Onwards through part of Tiergarten and past Reichstag and Kanzleramt, crossing the river to Futurium. An impressive building but a bit of a disappointment inside. Clearly geared more towards school children. The Skywalk was closed “until spring” and we did decide that it might be worth going back to for that reason, not least since the entrance is free.

Lunch in The Cube Berlin, my favourite building in Berlin, before proceeding to the third and last museum of the day – The Cold War Museum which we both found very interesting.

Somewhere along the way I had decided that we would end up deserving the treat that (I think) dinner at NaNum is, and since it was still possible to book a table there, that was a no-brainer. Luckily, my visitor always was and still is curious and interested in almost everything, and this goes for food too, so she was game and really enjoyed it. Unless she was just really good at being polite, which is entirely possible :-).

Since NaNum is so close to where I live, we managed to get home and put our feet up before indulging in their seven or whatever courses and the excellent wine pairing menu.

The next morning, this was balanced off by a quick Sunday breakfast at home of just bread and cheese before setting off for Hansaviertel (C had expressed an interest in the Bauhaus/Interbau architecture) (walking along the Spree from Hauptbahnhof – no more rain, sunny but uncharaccteristically cold), and then a pitstop at the teahouse in the English garden, which is a shadow of its former glory but still a nice place to sit and people watch for a bit.

By the way, also in Hansaviertel, we discovered a church where an American gospel-type worship service was in full swing. This was the church, but I have been unable to find more about that specific event.

Then S-train from S Bellevue to Alexanderplatz and a walk along Karl-Marx-Allee to Frankfurter Tor with this conveniently placed Vietnamese Restaurant for a light lunch. U-Bahn back to Alexanderplatz and a quick look around the ground floor of Humboldtforum and a tour of their basement archaeological exhibit.

Then on to Kraftwerk to watch “Vektor” – a light and sound show by Christopher Bauder. Underwhelming, if you ask me, but moderately impressive and a convenient rest. And we were not many minutes walk away from the next convenient rest and a drink at Café am Engelbecken. Then the home stretch to my local Indian restaurant, Delhi6 in the southern end of Friedrichstraße. They seem to change owners quite often, and the food is sometimes very good and sometimes not so good. This time, I was not impressed. Still, it was nice, after more than 30.000 steps, to be quite close to home and a relatively early night for both of us.

Sunday morning another nice treat – breakfast in Frühstück3000, also very close by, on the square across from the Jewish Museum, and then a visit to Berlinische Galerie, virtually in my backyard (although unfortunately, there is no direct back-door passage :-)). Then a walk towards Tempelhof, across my local cemetery(ies), with a nod to the graves of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, his sister Fanny, and three (four?) other familiy members. Coffee in Café Blinis Espresso Lounge before reaching “the largest architectural monument in Europe” – Tempelhof Airport and a very interesting two-hour guided tour. Which, by the way, I had done once before (in a slightly modified version) – photos here.

Bus 248 via Bergmannkiez past Marheineke Markthalle with just enough time for a spicy chai in the ground-floor café of the building I live in, where Melek treated us to a taste of her date-banana-tahin loaf, on the house, before picking up C’s luggage and heading off to Alexanderplatz and an RB train back to the airport.

Quite a whirlwind visit with a lot of walking, seeing, eating, reminiscing and some good laughs, which I had been looking forward to and hugely enjoyed.