Berlin Reified | Food, design and life in Berlin

Elsewhere: The Deeside Line

We went for a walk along the disused railway line behind David's parents' house. I loved the shadows of the tiny summer flowers on the rail.

Elsewhere: Gala Week, Burghead

It's Gala Week in Burghead.

In a blur

I took this unfocused shot out the ICE window heading home from Innsbruck. It doesn't capture my days in Austria at all (they were full of sharp detail) but it does summarize life at the moment: blurred, bright. More soon.

What I'm missing/Off

Of course it's thrilling to know I'll step on a train in a few hours and step off in the Alps. I grow a little jaded, sure, but travel does still put the pink in my cheeks.

Still, why do so many exciting things have to happen while I'm gone? I'd love to visit a few farms during the Brandenburger Landpartie on June 12-13, perhaps swinging by Brodowin on the 12th to investigate their Hoffest. And I don't even know what to pick as a highlight of the Long Day of Urban Nature (the Langer Tag der Stadtnatur) on June 19-20. 500 events in 150 places! So will you go and tell me all about it?

Watch for news from Austria in a fortnight's time.

The first day of summer

The sun overwhelmed my simple camera but I couldn't resist pointing the lens directly into the light. Could you believe today? I was saturated with happiness as I turned home from the market, and what bliss to discover Stefanie sitting outside her shop with a fresh pot of green tea, ready to pour me a cup.

On Oderberger Straße

I loved the intricate pattern of shadows over the cobblestones.

We had lunch at Schädel & Sattler. The soup was rather expensive (six euros!) but the proprietors are so welcoming and the scaramozza dumplings were very good. If you're a Tim Dinter groupie like me you'll be pleased to see he illustrated their cards.

Schädel & Sattler (no website yet, how refreshing!), Oderberger Straße 56, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg (map)
Open M-F 8am-4pm
Tel. (030) 40 30 13 28

A quiet meal

After the weekend's excess, baked potatoes seemed just right for dinner. The new crop of petite gold-fleshed tubers are best briskly scrubbed then rubbed with oil and salt before being baked for an hour or so. We cut crosses to let the heat penetrate. To serve, I never tire of Uwe Leue's fresh-pressed linseed oil and Siebengiebelhof's extraordinary Quark.

Uwe Leue sells his oils at the Kollwitzplatz market on Saturdays from 9am to 4pm.
Siebengiebelhof's products are available at Kiepert & Kutzner and other organic shops in Berlin. Find a list here.

Chestnut leaves and that gray facade

A burst of sun from a few days ago to help you limp through the gray and wet.

Chestnut blossoms

The scent of chestnut flowers is intoxicating.

Such moments of ugly beauty are dwindling

 
I've been looking for this shade of metallic lilac in linen so I could have a summer dress made. No luck yet.