ROA in Berlin

Last week I was in a lot of pain and I went to the doctor again on Friday. I got prescribed more ibuprofen for what apparently was inflamed muscles over my ribs – from all the coughing. As a result I didn't use my free tickets to the annual Preview Berlin and I declined the opportunity to be sneaked in to Berlin Festival, but tried to take it easy and rest a bit. A decision I slightly regret.

On Sunday I, none the less, went to the finissage of the small Skalitzers Contemporary Art gallery in Kreuzberg who were showing an insanely cool collection of art from their 2011 artists. I wanted to see the incredible work by ROA, Belgian street artist extraordinaire. After the gallery visit we decided to go across the street to view some more of ROA's work: at the bottom of a sand pit, the very Pippi Longstocking-esque biergarten called Kjosk (at the corner of Oranienstraße and Skalitzer Straße), is defined by a white brick wall covered in large, black, hand-painted, dead animals. They're very impressive and make this makeshift biergarten worth a visit; we enjoyed a good chat and a cold OBC – Original Berlin Cidre.

Later I also ate at Yellow Sunshine on Wiener Straße for the first time, and in my slightly hung over state their Lappland Cheese Burger was just the best fake-meat burger I've ever had... Mmmm...

Sweet was yesterday, sweet is the weekend

On Tuesday we made beetroot soup and apple pie for E, who's still waiting for her Prince A to arrive in Berlin (tomorrow!). Yesterday I shared a cheese platter and later a glass of red wine at Süß war Gestern (photo) with AK, a Polish girl I've been introduced to by a mutual friend in Dublin. Today, I'm staying at home, wearing woollen socks and drinking tea. I need to rest up for a busy weekend: on Friday a new club, Der Geheime Garten, is opening in Friedrichshain, on Saturday it's Torstrassenfestival (I'm very excited to see Hush Hush perform in KaffeeBurger at 15.30) on Sunday it's an open doors day at the Nordische Botschaften, the Nordic Embassies (I interpret that as an opportunity to buy Finnish bread and cinnamon rolls). No rest then!

Suppe & Mucke 2011

It's Suppe & Mucke today – soup stands and live music on five different stages around Sonntagstrasse, Holteistrasse and Gryphiusstrasse. Last years event was in our Kiez and we sampled a lot of free soup, but the weather was rainy so we heard less music. Let's see how it works out today, we're off to pick up E in an hour or so!

Sunday stroll

Last night A convinced me that even if I wasn't feeling my best, to leave the house would make me feel a little bit better. He was right, because as we strolled along the Open Air Gallery lane on Oberbaumbrücke, we happened to catch another event happening in Berlin; Aquarella Berlin, floating on the Spree.

 

The Blossom Festival revisited

The Baumblütenfest in Werder, Brandenburg, is one of my favourite annual festivities around Berlin. Werder is a little town about 40 minutes south of Berlin, known for it's orchards and it's fruit wine. Last year our friend S, who's from close by, was our travel guide and made sure we got the optimal experience. I was so impressed and had such a good time that and told everyone that they HAVE to go there next year. As a result, this year friends, and friends of friends, wanted to come along and in the end a group of 15 boarded the train at Alexanderplatz.

The fruit wine from Werder is reputed to be particularly strong – and is probably the reason this Volksfest is so popular. Avoid the crowded main festival area and schlager fever on the island, and take the Panoramaweg to the top of the hill. Along a stretch of village road there are endless rows of food and home made fruit wine stalls. Private residents set up beer gardens in their yards and the atmosphere is great. To make the most of it you should buy a bottle of local rhubarb wine (about €6), get plastic cups, find a seat with a view over the river Havel and get tipsy!

A glimpse of the Berlinale

FriedrichstadtPalast, Mitte

 
Next week will be a hard working one, again. I'm still hoping to make it to a few more Berlinale things, like a Berlinale Shorts screening (I'm super eager to see Swedish zombie film "Återfödelsen" ("The Unliving") and later I want to take advantage of the Berlinale Kinotag on Sunday the 20th when all films are only €6.

On Friday we saw the Cohen brothers' True Grit at the FriedrichstadPalast. It was a pretty cool venue since it gets converted to a cinema only once a year, for the Berlinale. It seats almost 2000 people so festival atmosphere and buzz are a guarantee. True Grit itself was nothing special: a very true-to-its-genre western with good actors. No Country for Old Men was far better.

After the film we had tapas at the Spanish Barcelona restaurant in Mitte – we bought a voucher for a €14 tapas plate for €7,25 on Blitzdeals.de and were eager to use it. The tapas were really good, but the plate wasn't really enough of a dinner for two... And the atmosphere was slightly lacking, but that might have been because we got there at 6pm, which is pretty early.

Kiezfest / Suppe & Mucke

We had fun at the Suppe&Mucke street festival yesterday. The concept was simple: soup and music (=mucke in Berlinish). We bought a bowl and a spoon for €1,50 and then got to eat free soup from any of the different stands. I had three different soups and my favourite was a Thai coconut soup – I don't even know who was serving it and to promote what cause. The music was ok, my favourites were the folk/ska bands like Berlinska Dróha and Walakatah. The first band we saw was Fire Flowers, a pop/punk band of 12-year-old girls :)

Baumblütenfest, Werder

We were lucky enough to be invited to tag along to the Baumblütenfest Volksfest in Werder with S and R yesterday. Werder is about 40 minutes south of Berlin on train, just past Potsdam. The festival is the second biggest Volksfest in Germany, after Octoberfest, and the Baumblütenfest is celebrating it's 131st year – pretty impressive. We went, because S told us that the rhubarb wine is really good :) The festival is on for a week and ends today. With the guidance of an experienced Baumblütenfest-goer, we avoided the crowded main festival area on the island, and headed straight on top of the hill, where along a looooong little road people sell food and home made fruit wines. Some have even set up beer gardens in their private yards! For us it felt pretty unique, and we were completely in love with the wine and the atmosphere. Baumblütenfest means "a celebration of the trees blooming", and we were literally surrounded by blossoming trees – we even had our folienkartoffeln sitting in a cherry orchard...

We had to endure some schlager-music, but it made us feel pretty German.

We were there for the wine!

The residents turn their yards into beer-gardens and restaurants.

We had our lunch in a cherry orchard.

Our favourite wine: strawberry-rhubarb!

A bad aftertaste

I got invited to go along to the Taste of Dublin event in the Iveagh Gardens at lunch today. I've wanted to go before, too, but I've suspected it's not worth my money. I was right. The cheapest ticket is 25€, then you exchange your euros to festival currency, florins; you can only purchase food and products using florins. A handful of stalls were offering samples, everything else costs you florins. I can't believe rip-off-Ireland is still alive and so well! The only highlights for me were Glenilen Farm dairy products: gorgeous yoghurts, cheesecakes and butter - yum! I'm also going for the 'girlfriend of the week' -award and bought my other half a bottle of Cave Creek Chili Beer. A small jalapeno floats in the bottle and the beer tasted like Corona and tacos – I figured it would be a hit at home.
My suggestion: avoid the Taste festival and go eat a fancy meal somewhere instead!