The best Sunday brunch I’ve had in a long time was at the Markthallen am Gleisdreieck. The combination of market stalls, international foods, and live swing music just made me happy.
Read moreSunday brunch in Berlin: Markthallen am Gleisdreieck
Berlin
Berlin: big city Christmas lights
This year we kicked of the Christmas market season in Berlin, where I fell in love with the market in front of the Rotes Rathaus.
A long night of Berlin’s museums
Our recent trip to Berlin included the Lange Nacht der Museen. Long museum nights are popular in many cities around Europe (we’ve also been to them in Zurich and Munich). Berlin has two a year, with 100 museums around the city opening their doors from 6pm to 2am. Special events for the evening include concerts, demonstrations, and things like the opportunity to destroy your evil things with a special machine (after first attending the Dinge-Sprechstunde, during which an expert will evaluate your thing for evilness).*
Berlin: as enchanting as ever
After almost three whole months (oh, the horror) of sleeping in my own bed, I finally got out of Munich for a few days in Berlin. Berlin is one of the few places I go back to over and over and over again, because I will never get enough of it. It’s so big and … Read more
Obamania sweeps through Germany
Germany is all abuzz today as Obama prepares to speak in Berlin. He is on the cover of magazines such as Der Spiegel and Stern. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung is chronicling his every move throughout the day. The televised pre-game show began hours ago.
He will be speaking in front of the Siegessäule, a good 2 km away from the Brandenburger Gate, his first choice of venue. This move was supposedly to appease Merkel, who was not happy with Obama’s first location choice. As much as I love Obama, I too found myself questioning the idea of this speech. Presidential performances in Berlin are the stuff of legends, but Obama isn’t exactly president yet. Why is he trying to trick me into believing he is?
Regardless of my initial skepticism, today I find myself eagerly anticipating this evening’s speech.
Finally, a stock market that can hold my interest
Home again after a lovely Easter weekend in Berlin. One of our stops this trip was the Brokers Bierbörse, a relatively normal bar with a small twist – beer prices vary over the course of the evening based on demand. Prices are displayed on flatscreen TVs around the bar, and you pay the price listed … Read more
On Ampelmänner
I meant to write about this in connection with our trip to Germany in December, but I guess it got lost in the holiday shuffle. At any rate, Ampelmänner are back on my mind, so today you’re going to learn about them (or stop reading this post – unfortunately I haven’t found a way to force you to pay attention to me yet).
The Ampelmann, simply put, was the man on the pedestrian traffic lights in East Germany. He came into existence in the 1960s in East Berlin, and lights with his likeness were soon installed all over the country. He stands out amongst other pedestrian crossing signs because of his big hat, dramatic gesturings, and all-around adorableness. The Ampelmann was so popular that he made the jump from traffic symbol to film star in the 80s, coming to animated life in road safety movies that were compulsory viewing for school children. Thus the Ampelmann became even more loved by the East German people.
A few more things about Berlin
Of course we did more than visit Christmas markets in Berlin in our four days there. Not that we can remember much after all that Glühwein… kidding, kidding. I remember a lot of stuff. Well, some. To start off our second Berlin trip of the year, we first went to the ever-fascinating Checkpoint Charlie museum. … Read more
International Glühwein Tour 2006 (part 2: Berlin)
The last couple days of Glühwein tourism brought us back to Germany – specifically, Berlin and Dresden. I’m pleased to report we had great success in both cities, which offered up a variety of hot, seasonal beverages in a variety of Christmas markets. First we headed to the ‘nostalgia market’ at Gendarmenmarkt, a relatively new … Read more
Zurich raves, part one
The first time I heard about Street Parade (Striitpareid in Swiss German) was in my Swiss German class. It was listed in the ‘Holidays in Zurich’ section of our textbook, right next to Christmas, Sechseläuten, and Easter. That seemed wacky given that it is, at the end of the day, a giant outdoor rave. But … Read more