Berlin Reified

Some variations on autumn light in Berlin

The pancakes were at Nalu Diner in Prenzlauer Berg. The rest is self-explanatory.

 

Books on Berlin: Readux Books

The first quartet of Readux books have proven delightful companions since Amanda sent them over: on trains, at dinner parties, in the park.

Tiny volumes—simply designed, with stitched bindings—are a charming way to read. 

Help Readux celebrate their series launch at Jones Foodstore tonight, with Saskia Vogel, Malte Persson, Katy Derbyshire and the wonderful Alistair Noon. 

 

Three stops along Potsdamer Strasse

I was seeking tea to refresh me when P103 Mischkonzern caught my eye. The interior is cavernous, very restful in its incompleteness, still sparsely decorated, and for the first twenty minutes, I was alone. The proprietor explained they were Quereinsteiger who used to run a taxi operation near Bülowstraße before opening this place a fortnight or so ago. The elaborate plasterwork had been concealed beneath drywall. The cafe menu is still brief.

 

Only yesterday we had watched the birches whipping in the wind. I told S about the kite-flying festival on the rooftops of Ahmedabad. How pleasing, then, to enter Helga Maria Klosterfelde Edition and admire Rirkrit Tiravanija's delicately ornamented traditional Thai kites. 

When I stepped into Andreas Murkudis, a woman offered me a glass of sparkling wine. I felt like the hero in a very good novel. (It turned out it was a presentation of the Pringle/Central Saint Martins Princess Grace collection.) I thought again, browsing the white space, how much I admire Ina Seifart's bead keyholders. 'This is the best event we ever produced!', one man exclaimed to another as I left.

P103 Mischkonzern, Potsdamer Str. 103, Berlin-Tiergarten (map), cafe & art space
Helga Maria Klosterfelde, Potsdamer Str. 97, Berlin-Tiergarten (map), art gallery
Andreas Murkurdis, Potsdamer Str. 81e, Berlin-Tiergarten (map), concept shop

Each Thursday, the older children in S’s kindergarten spend the day in the forest. This week, I joined them.  We took the train to Grunewald station, then walked to the sand dunes.

I wish I could share photographs of the gang of seven children roaming between the forest huts built from fallen trunks or hurtling down the dunes, but I would have to get permission, so instead, this absurdly pretty expanse of trees, and my injunction to make the trip more or less now, if you can.

 

Oh autumn, here you are.

Breakfast at Café am Neuen See, last visited on a snowy day, then we wove through the tangle of paths in the northern part of the Tiergarten.

 

When we looked up on our way to the Tiergarten, there was a perfect series of bubbles floating past (the blurry outtake below might actually be my favorite.)

 

Many know there's an island full of peacocks in southwest Berlin. Only when I was amidst them did the peacocks surprise me. I found them nestled in patches of dried grass and ducking their beaks into a rejected smear of mustard on a plate.

We walked across vast lawns dotted with fairytale castles and visited the beautiful dairy (built so the nobles could play at being milkmaids). We sat in the sun on the Liegewiese eating sausages. Children chased after the peacocks' heavy plummage. We came home with pockets full of chestnuts and one tiny electric blue feather.

Peacock Island, Berlin-Wannsee (map)
Catch the 218 bus from S-Bahnhof Wannsee; Pfaueninsel is the final stop. Continue down the slope to the water and wait for the ferry (€3). 

In the Grunewald

Each Thursday, the older children in S’s kindergarten spend the day in the forest. This week, I joined them.  We took the train to Grunewald station, then walked to the sand dunes.

I wish I could share photographs of the gang of seven children roaming between the forest huts built from fallen trunks or hurtling down the dunes, but I would have to get permission, so instead, this absurdly pretty expanse of trees, and my injunction to make the trip more or less now, if you can.

 

A golden city (Sunday in the Tiergarten)

Oh autumn, here you are.

Breakfast at Café am Neuen See, last visited on a snowy day, then we wove through the tangle of paths in the northern part of the Tiergarten.

 

A bubble for a Sunday (Autumn leaves)

When we looked up on our way to the Tiergarten, there was a perfect series of bubbles floating past (the blurry outtake below might actually be my favorite.)

On Peacock Island

 

Many know there's an island full of peacocks in southwest Berlin. Only when I was amidst them did the peacocks surprise me. I found them nestled in patches of dried grass and ducking their beaks into a rejected smear of mustard on a plate.

We walked across vast lawns dotted with fairytale castles and visited the beautiful dairy (built so the nobles could play at being milkmaids). We sat in the sun on the Liegewiese eating sausages. Children chased after the peacocks' heavy plummage. We came home with pockets full of chestnuts and one tiny electric blue feather.

Peacock Island, Berlin-Wannsee (map)
Catch the 218 bus from S-Bahnhof Wannsee; Pfaueninsel is the final stop. Continue down the slope to the water and wait for the ferry (€3).