Week 4: Lunch with a friend, first meeting of new bridge club, homework for the fine-art photography course, walks in what is forecast to be sunshine at least for a couple of days, a visit to Grüne Woche, MAYBE two organ concerts and an exhibition opening, trying out a new wine bar for a friend’s birthday, and an opera premiere in Deutsche Oper.
First thought waking up Monday morning: How Putin and Xi must be laughing – again – seeing the orange idiot bigot work so hard to dismantle NATO for them, making one of their wettest dreams come true, while they themselves not having to lift a finger.
A new experiment for Monday morning: NOT starting the day by listening to either BBC World or CNN. It does not work. It does not make me feel any better – only more ignorant.
Lunch: Anjappar in Zimmerstraße – their dosas are to die for, and the perfect brunch, in my opinion.
On the first bridge evening with a new setup, I played with three to me till then unknown players and it turned out to be a most agreeable evening and a lot of fun. Looking forward to playing again next week.
More about the bridge club here.
Wednesday listened to more than an hour of blither, insults and lies (Trump’s speech at Davos). We all meet our share of toxic people during a lifetime, but that blob of snot really exceeds them all. Pardon my French. The fact that so many Americans are still supporting him, and ICE acting more and more like the Gestapo, with the approval of both The White House and Congress, reminds me of the fact that historically, USA never liked Europe very much, and makes me feel that what we are seeing now is not just a bump in the road, but USA’s true colours. Time to form new alliances and hope that the American empire collapses. Better for the rest of the world than the alternative.
Thursday visited Grüne Woche – one of the biggest annual Berlin events and yet I have only been once before, at least eight years ago, and had forgotten what a nightmare it can be. They let in too many people. It is that favourite national pastime again – standing, crammed in like sardines in a tin, in overheated spaces. Drives me nuts. But some halls were less crowded, and if you want, you can easily spend a whole day, including all meals, there.
Saturday, a friend’s birthday, celebrated by visiting the relatively new wine bar “Glasweise” in Taubenstrasse a few steps from Gendarmenmarkt. Nice and quite substantial snacks, and great wines. I will go back when it becomes warm enough to use their nice outside seating area.
Sunday an opera premiere, Violanta at Deutsche Oper. I thoroughly enjoyed it (unlike “Das Kante Herz” in Staatsoper a couple of weeks ago). Hard to believe that Korngod was only 17 when he composed it.
Week 5 – The weather forecast says grey, sleety, even freezing rain and temperatures mostly in minus
Berlin pavements will be icy again, so I am not making a lot of plans except hunkering down at home. I don’t understand why the sickness insurance companies do not complain about the number of fractures that occur when pavements ice over. Officially, it is apparently the property owners that are responsible for making “their” pavements walkable, but most of them ignore that, with complete impunity. Berlin can be pathetic sometimes. For a couple of days before the recent snowfall, I was unable to even take one step away from the building I live in (so actually our own “Hausmeister” also completely ignored the icy surfaces, and with a couple of days respite from that, and even a couple of lovely, sunny but cold, days, all that is apparently starting over again.
I have therefore cancelled everything I was planning on doing, and look forward to a zoom webinar in the series “Photoaufgabe” with Blende2 Hamburg (from the “safety” of my own home – feeling a bit like in Covid lockdown :-)), and the only plan I have right now of going out is to this concert on 1 February, in the chamber music hall of the Philharmonic, since a couple of my bridge buddies sing in one of the choirs, and the programme sounds really interesting so I am really looking forward to that. On the way, I will take a look at this exhibition.
Berlin had indeed iced over in the morning of 26 January and it was bitterly cold outside, so I was happy to snuggle up and enjoy a new, more self-inflicted lockdown, and revert to “things I can photograph without leaving home”.
Tuesday: The “not-going-out-weather” is a good occasion to do a pantry check. I found some seeds nearing their sell-by date and made this dip/dressing/sauce.
The sun made a brief, token appearance and caught a lot of shimmer with the half-frozen droplets on the trees.
Thursday 29 January discovered that Melek had opened the café in the ground floor, so I nipped down for a cup of her great capuccino. Other than that, the only fresh air I am getting this week is on my balcony from time to time.
Friday 30 January, still no sign of anybody intending to clear the pavements of ice, and now it is snowing again. Nature’s own icy surfaces maintenance. The snow will start to melt, and then freeze towards evening and overnight. Just to make sure the layer of ice does not wear too thin. Great. I think I am looking at at least another week of “lockdown”.
I remember the first Covid19 lockdown, which I quite enjoyed, but that was because we were able to get out and walk. This one, on day five, not so much.
The concert in the “Sonntagskonzertreihe” (link in the text above) was a wonderfully festive event with three excellent choirs and music ranging from Byrd to Quartel, with a predominance of more recent music, so right up my street. If you devote much of your free time to sing in a non-professional choir (though they seem more semi-professional to me) it must have been a great experience and a wondrous event to have been part of. Here is a really bad photo taken with my phone and un-processed, at the end of the concert.
