Kreuzberg

Yesterday we were meeting our Finnish friend on the stairs of the Viktoriapark monument to watch the sun set. We ended up making a whole day of it, while the poor girl was at work. My favourite thing of the day was to cycle along the Kreuzberg canal, it's so green and leafy and the cars and the noise are far, far away. We followed the canal to reach the Türkenmarkt. I wish we could have done a big food shop there! The tomatoes were plump and red, the fruit so cheap... We did get olives and dolmados' that fit into my over-the-shoulder bag. I wanted to see the Berlin airlift, which turned out to be just a monument in a park. At least I now know who the "Rosinenbombers" were. We also found the veggie restaurant I had checked out in our Lonely Planet guide beforehand; Seerose on Mehringdamm. Why are there so few á la carte vegetarian restaurants?! This one was one of those buffet style places, where the otherwise good food got nuked in the microwave oven and was not as nice after that... But cheap and cheerful.

Today we spent leisurely reading and playing Yatzy in the park. Oh, and we found a new nice park in Wedding, called Humboldthain park. There is a big swimming pool and apparently a nice jogging trail, too. Something for Saturday, perhaps?

Perfect cover, but with controversial means

A few months back I blogged about awesome free samples on the Everyday Minerals website. I have been using the samples since, and they will last me at least a few more months. I have to say, they are brilliant. The concealer is amazing under the eye, it covers well and doesn't leave a thick surface, even if I add more layers. The powders are based on titanium dioxide, which works as sunblock, too. Titanium dioxide is a controversial chemical, so I will have to do some more research before I make up my mind about the products for good. I am trying to cut back on chemicals like parabens that are used in almost everything. You can read up on titanium dioxide here.

Picture from the Everyday Minerals website

Food saves the day

I woke up late again, but with a head ache and feeling of unease. I had replied to an advert looking for a graphic designer and got a reply yesterday. The project would be a 144 page magazine, a complete re-design. I also had to think about how much I would charge and how long a job like that would take me. So I was stressed. It's actually a bit too much, but I feel like I can't turn down opportunities, so I replied. I think the fact that the work is in Ireland and I am in Berlin will be a problem, even if they are looking for someone to work freelance. I sent them work samples, a CV and answers to their questionnaire today, so we'll see what they say next week. If I completely over or under priced myself. I said it would take up to six weeks, which might be too much, too. We'll see...

My dear A made me pancakes with strawberry jam for breakfast, which was so thoughtful and yummy it made me feel better. Then we hopped on our bikes and rolled down to Alexanderplatz for a coffee and to see if we would find a shop that sells FCUK deodorant for him. We didn't, but got some fresh air and a lot of excercise instead. Now we are re-heating the last of the organic beetroot and goat's cheese soup we made yesterday, and I am hungry and super excited – it is delicious! It has the most beautiful, crazy pink colour, and is easy to make, too. Here's how:



Beetroot and goat's cheese soup
A big onion
3 garlic cloves
500g beetroots (one big one)
Equal amount of potato
400ml soaked and boiled soy beans
About 125 g soft goat's cheese (blue cheese works really well too!)
Pepper
Salt (if your cheese isn't salty enough)

Fry onion and garlic until soft, add 1 litre of water (stock cube or salt optional), bring to the boil and add you chopped beetroot. Boil for about 25 minutes. Peel and chop your potatoes while waiting. Add them and boil for another 15-20 minutes, until both are soft. Add beans, spices and the cheese, let it boil and the flavours settle. Serve hot – YUM!

From the Finnish blog Vegemisiä

Best day ever?

Yesterday we had the best day ever (again). A has fixed our bicycles so the gears and brakes work and we cycled to Badeschiff in Kreuzberg. It should have been no surprise that it was packed with people, but even if swimming was more difficult in the crowded pool, we had fun people watching. People really have crazy tattoos! We cooled off at Freischwimmer, a riverside restaurant and "wasserlounge" next to Badeschiff. You can also rent kayaks and canoes there, which we want to do sometime. Cycling home we stopped in Freidrichshain and I gave A the tour of what he missed when my friend E was visiting. We also found a funny organic/vegetarian/vegan fast-food restaurant called Yoyo and I had my first "currywurst" with fries and A had a Holzfäller Teller, a "pork chop" with fries. It was quite yummy and it was nice to be able to order off the whole menu for a change! We also had a smoothie and a beer, and it all only came to €14. Talk about being a cheap date... When we finally got home we were very dehydrated, happy and had cycled for about 16 kilometres. Well done us!

Picture from Yoyo Foods website

Me ♥ Summer

We slept in – again. Then we packed a stack of magazines and cycled to our neighbouring park and have spent the whole day reading and playing Yatzy. (We bought a deck of cards and a travel edition of Yatzy in Oxfam, happy days!) On Wednesday we plan on going swimming, maybe to the beach at Wannsee, depending on our friends M and D, who will join us. Oh, summer. ♥

German for 3-year-olds

My reading material is more juvenile than usual. I admit I have read all the Harry Potter books, but that's not juvenile. Currently I am reading a book called "Der Wald" – a book about the forest, for 3-year-olds. But it's excellent material for studying German. My more ambitious project is a Walt Disney "Lustiges Taschenbuch" with Donald Duck's spoof on Gone With the Wind (bought in Mauerpark). 'Die Ducks' have accompanied me to the park, but Der Wald stays in the privacy of my home. But I can recommend these simple books as learning material, it really works! (I suppose I know slightly less German than a native 3 year old...) Check out bulk bookstore Wohlthat, they have several locations throughout Berlin.

Picture from www.lustiges-taschenbuch.de

Sleeping beauties

I could sleep all day. Every day. And stay up all night, the whole night. Paradox. I assume my sleep won't be so sweet if I do nothing all day, so yesterday we did an over 10 kilometer bike ride to Friedrichstrasse (to buy shampoo in Lush) and to go to Lidl to get our favourite toothpaste. We also bought a watermelon and some feta cheese, so I got to fulfill my obsession and make a salad of the two. YUM! Guess what's for dinner again tonight? :) It's easy as pie: chop the watermelon to chunky pieces and slice the feta cheese thinly on the side and HOOVER it up!

I still need to come up with a good plan on how to use up some of my energy today, it's a rainy, sunny, unstable day, so I don't know what to plan. Maybe just watch girly-tv and clean the apartment a bit?