Weekly Photo Challenge: Chaos

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Berlin, bikes, chaos, cycling, photography, photos, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge, Weekly Photo Challenge: Chaos

At the moment Dublin city center is filled with the chaos of Luas construction work. And as most chaos does this has created circle upon circle of chaos in Dublin’s daily life. Cars are rerouted, streets narrowed down creating tricky traffic situations all over town. As a cyclist I often feel more than a little risk as cars come to close and double-Decker buses even closer.

So when I read the title of this weeks photo challenge I was reminded of a sculpture I saw in Berlin a few years ago. It was at the center of a community garden near Kreuzberg, colourful bikes were wrapped around an old tree in a somewhat haphazard fashion creating a vibrant bit of chaos at the center of the clam of nature.

bike sculpture – beautiful chaos

 

 

new year beginnings with family and friends

Tags

2016, Berlin, Germany, Hamburg, New Year, photography, photos, snow, travel, writing

The new year started with a bang for me – actually several and very loud ones at that. My friends took me to the Grosser Bunkerberg (Large Air Raid Shelter Hill), one of the highest points in Berlin, to look at the fireworks. Sadly it was too foggy to see much but the sound was incredible, loud banging and explosions going off for a good hour or so, the occasional rocket that made it high enough to break through the fog and smoke to illuminate the sky in an array of colours. We stood and listened and sipped bubbly. As the cold crept up our legs we decided it was time to make our way home and clambered down the hill in the fog to be welcomed to the streets of Berlin with loud bangs all around us.

Now, after a few wonderful days in Berlin filled with flea markets, a fantastic play in the Deutsches Theater and lots of time spent with good friends over cups of tea and glasses of wine, I am in Hamburg. I am watching the snow fall outside and enjoying a few hours of quite before my cute niece and nephew demand playtime again. And while I watch the snow paint the world white I think I may indulge in a hot bath, the perfect contrast to the cold day outdoors.

However first I will finish my cup of tea and write  a few lines – after all this lovely break away from normality will be over soon and I need to get quite a lot done before my course starts up again. But for now I am truly enjoying my start into 2016 and only hope that the year will keep all that it seems to be promising.

 

taking down Christmas

Tags

2016, Berlin, christmas, christmas tree, New Year, travel

Today I spent some time taking down Christmas. It all started with the tree that  I needed to un-decorate, as it was losing all its needles. And since I am leaving for Germany first thing tomorrow morning, there was no other time than today.

However, It did take longer than I thought, those branches were putting up a good fight, but I won in the end and I even disposed of the sorry looking heap. As I then began putting away all of my shoe Christmas tree decorations I decided to put away most of the other decorations as well … now all that is left to greet me when I return are my stars in the window. But since stars are not just for Christmas I thought I could give them some more time to shine.

So, between running all of those last minute messages (for all you Americans out there that is what the Irish call errands) and frantically packing I am still up and won’t be in bed for another while – even though I do have to get up at 4am to catch my flight.

And while taking down Christmas is always a little bit sad getting ready for a New Year’s adventure is the best reason to do it for! I just hope I get a chance to nap because I don’t want to greet 2016 with rings under my eyes.

weekly photo challenge – from lines to patterns

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Berlin, photography, photos, travel, Weekly Photo Challenge, weekly photo challenge – from lines to patterns

What a wonderful theme, here are a few photos I took in Berlin this summer. As you can see I do love lines!

inside the lobby of the Frenseh Turm in Berlin

at the foot of the Fernsehturm

shadow -play

some detail on the old part of the Reichstag

the roof into the Friedenskirche (Peace Church) in Potsdam Sanssouci

the old university in Potsdam

going upstairs in Schloss Charlottenburg

someone drew a rainbow right around the Neptune fountain Alexanderplatz

on Unter den Linden

under a bridge

inside the Hamburger Bahnhof, now a museum for modern art

metal reminders of where the Wall stood

a stripy welcome when you cross the Oberbaum bridge, Kreuzberg

under the Ostbahnhof

stairs

summing up the summer

Tags

42, bank balance, Berlin, daily chores, distant memory, divided by four, Douglas Adams, german capital, humdrum life, summer, summing up, time

With three weeks left until the new term begins summer is really coming to an end. The days are getting shorter and even though the weather is still warm and pleasant autumn is just around the corner.

When I look back over the past months I can’t believe how fast the summer has past by. I had so many plans and ideas about what I wanted to do, but somehow my clock and that of the season ticked at different speeds.

Berlin feels like a distant memory: meandering around the German capital snapping photos, sizzling in the heat and enjoying the thrill of the new all so long ago. But the five weeks of stepping away from normality helped me clear my head if not my schedule and even if I didn’t do all I had intended at the very least I had a chance to air out the attic of my mind.

But on my return my calendar was quickly filled with visitors and visits, catch-ups and chatter, parties and premiers but now I have to slow down, breath deep and try and get my routine back on track. And I need to not forget to carve out time to create beside all those daily chores.

I have to remember lessons I have learned,  the experiences I have gained and make sure I don’t lose them amongst the boxes and to-do-lists of my humdrum life. Maybe bring a little bit of Berlin to Dublin, mix up the capitals and create a cocktail to fit my heritage.

If I sum up my summer I think it was a success, more pros than cons and the have column is defiantly in the black. But with my bank balance tipping dangerously close towards the red I have to say the return of autumn also thankfully means the return of a regular income.

So if 60 seconds are in a minute, and the same amount of minutes to the hour adds up to 24 hours in a day, of which there are seven in a week, times four to create a month times twelve to get a year, divided by four to create a season can only mean that time is moving on and maybe Douglas Adams was right and the answer is 42.

getting ready to go

Tags

Berlin, Germany, luggage, photography, travel

In a few hours I’ll be pulling the door into it’s lock, ending my time here in Berlin. I’ve enjoyed my stay in Germany’s capital, I have loved wandering the streets and trying to find the unusual. But I have to say that even after four weeks I still haven’t been able to see it all, which means I will need to come back, maybe when it’s a little cooler.

But for now my head is bustling with memories, my bags bursting with keepsakes and my camera full of photos. And  can’t wait to catch up with friends back in Dublin and share my adventure, show off my finds and force them to look at all my pictures.

However I still have six days of family fun ahead of me. I’ll have to entertain and cuddle my two year old nephew, play with my teen-age niece and nephew, chat with my siblings and in-laws and spend some time with my mother and god-mother. So if you don’t hear from me in the next few days it will be due to a combination of no time and no internet connection.

Before I can leave I still need to pack a few bits and pieces into my already bulging bags and try and carry them all to the train station a feat I am not sure how quite to master but i am sure I wlll somehow survive. So I bid you all a farewell for now and wave Berlin goodbye, a happy sigh on my lips as I pull the heavy blue shut for one last time.

behind this door lies my Berliner home

last trip: Museumsinsel

Tags

Berlin, museumsinsel, photography, photos, tourists attractions, travel, world heritage site

Today is my last full day of Berlin and I am taking it slow, trying to get organised for my train-trip to Hamburg tomorrow. I am packing my bags, repacking them and then packing them all over again, somehow I will have to find room to bring everything back to Dublin with me. I have had to buy an extra bag as hand-luggage to be able to transport all my breakables, yet ,somehow even so my luggage has gone super nova.

Thankfully the weather is cloudy and wet, a little like yesterday, so I don’t mind staying in and relaxing, mentally preparing myself for a week of family fun near Hamburg.

But while I busy myself with the mundane and rummage around with my stuff I can leave you with some images from my last trip in Berlin, my day on the Museumsinsel in the middle of Berlin. this tiny island holds Berlin’s most important treasures. In six museums you can find art work from ancient Egypt, the Babylonian era all the way up to famous paintings of the last century.

In 1999 the Museumsinsel was declare a World Heritage Site and although there is still lots of digging and restoring going on it is one of the main tourists attractions Berlin has to offer.

outside the Bode Museum, which is filled with sculptures

the large dome

wall stucco

a bronze bird

I think he looks like a pirat

stunning colour

looking up at the small dome

doors and doors

a marble Bacchus

a skeptical boy, sculpted from clay

I fell in love with this beautifully sculptured woman, burnt clay

walking towards the Neues Museum where the Bust of Nefertiti is … and yes she is stunning but no photos allowed

the roofed passageway

you could have met me here

a rider in the sky

inside the Pergamonmuseum, the home of some spectacular architecture ans the famous Pergamon Altar

walking through a Roman Gateway

even then graffiti was around … Latin anyone?

a Babylonian wall, no idea what kind of animal this is meant to be

walking back towards the Alexanderplatz I passed by the Dom

bright green angels watching over the door

a special exhibition is lining the streets of Berlin reminding everyone of the Nazis rise to power 80 years ago. These Pillars show the faces and tell the stories of those people who dared to disagree. many where artists, actors, journalist, but some where just brave citizens of Berlin

some bucket lights

Berlin lacht (Berlin is laughing)

pretty, posh Prenzlauer Berg

Tags

alois senefelder, Berlin, frog prince, Germany, Kathe Kollwitz, Lithography, Märchenbrunnen, parks and playgrounds, photography, photos, travel, yummy mummies

Late Post due to internet issues!

If Kreuzberg (my post on Kreuzberg is here) is Berlins angry, alternative little brother then the Prenzlauer Berg is the prettier and posher big sister, and I paid her a visit yesterday afternoon.

Everywhere you look you’ll see hipsters, yummy mummies, pretty kids and men in expensive suits. They sit and chat in the vast array of coffee shops, restaurants and ice-cream parlours that line the streets of Prenzlauer Berg. Most of the old houses have been restored, renovated to modern standards and are sold as homes to the young and upcoming yuppies of Berlin.

Admittedly it doesn’t have the same kind of edge that Kreuzberg does but the atmosphere is lovely and the paths are lined with trees, flowers and beautiful stucco facades.  And due to the young growing families there are lots of kids on bikes, in parks and playgrounds, providing for a giggling, laughing, chatting and squealing sound-collage.

There aren’t any “big” sights to see in Prenzlauer Berg but as you stroll around you’ll find lots of little interesting sights to spot. One of the bigger ones is possibly the Käthe Kollwitz Park, the artist lived on the square and provided Germany with some stunning art work but also helped the destitute, providing shelter, food and clothes.

Another interesting person from the neighbourhood is the German actor Alois Seefelder who invented Lithography in 1796, which then of course led to the possibility of mass printing. Come to think of it, I probably should thank him for my job!

After wandering up and down streets in Prezlauer Berg I took a walk over to Friedrichshain (my post with photos from Friedrichshain) to see the Märchenbrunnen (Fairy-Tale fountain) in the peoples park. I had missed it on my earlier visit and wanted to see it before I left.  And it didn’t disappoint. A little tacky for my taste maybe but my favourites where all waiting for me: Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and of course the frog prince. So, just like I did as a little curly haired girl, I finished the day with a happy end, prince and all!

flowers outside a shop

waiting for a guest

at the Kulturbrauerei (Culture Brewery), an old brewery turned into a cultural center

Liebe =Love in big letters

stepped on this

old street sign

Bücher Tauschbaum, a free book exchange inside some tree trunks

stepped around this

wouldn’t fit into my bag

renovated in multi-colour

good to know but you need good walking boots

a fruit and veg shop display

at the Rykestrasse Synagogue

keeping the signs warm and colourful

at the old Wasserturm (water tower) … during WWII the Nazis used it as a prison now filled with pie shaped flats

keep your shoes clean

urban gardening at it’s best

pretty in pink

a squirrel at the Käthe Kollwitz Platz

and a snail at the playground on the Käthe Kollwitz square

no water anywhere near on this hill, but you should always be prepared

ice-cream parlor

I found this wonderfully exciting children’s playground with a fire pit, a wreaked car and lots of things to walk on, climb up, crawl through and even a place where you could create … I really was wishing I was ten again

hand-made flags

a plant-pot

a cool seat

even some low hanging fruit, not quite ripe

at Alois Senefelder statue … his name is mirrored as it would be using his printing technique

up high .. wonder if this means the same thing as it does in Dublin

another playground

balancing act … on my way to Friedrichshain

at the Märchenbrunnen … can you name them all?

final countdown

Tags

Berlin, berliner Luft, friends, music, travel

Had issues with my internet connection hence the late post this was from Monday

I only have three days and one morning left to take in as much of the Berliner Luft (Berlin air literally translated) as possible. The song “Berliner Luft” was written by the famous composer Paul Linke 1904 and has become the synonym to describe the atmosphere and free-spirit of Berlin and it’s people.

For Berlin is more the way the German Jazz musician Roger Cicero describes it in his song “So Geil Berlin”. He talks about how Berlin is unconventional, very direct, a little dirty and with it’s very unique odour… exactly the way I have experienced it.

For me Berlin is loud, colourful, filled with the usual and unusual sitting happily side by side. People are friendly but a little rough around the edges, culture, both traditional and alternative, is everywhere.

Food is cheap, if you want it to be, but you can find really expensive places too. But no matter what size your purse you are sure to find what ever you hearts desires and taste-buds demand … every country, flavour, spice and combination you can’t even dream of is just a s-bahn trip away.

No matter what time-period or era you are looking for Berlin has something to offer but somehow Berlin is timeless, shops open both early and late, a day becomes a week and before you know it the month has passed.

Since I only have a few final days left to fill my lungs, heart and head with the unique flavour this wonderful European Capital has to over I think I’ll put on my shoes and take a walk in the rain and enjoy a bit of bustling Berlin from underneath an umbrella, something i haven’t been able to experience yet during this hot summer.

 

 

more aunty stuff

Tags

Alexanderplatz, aunt, Berlin, family, fernsehturm, neptune fountain, photography, photos, rotes rathaus, travel, worldclock

Berlin decided to turn up the heat this weekend and has become a boiling oven. Not the perfect time to be wandering the streets with two teenagers but I did what I could, sweating like a dripping tap and trying to imagine the north-pole, ice-cream and snowman-hugs.

Alexanderplatz right in the middle of Berlin

The 1970s Eastern German Fountain of International Friendship

the worldclock

even superheros hang out here

Our first stop of the day was the Alexanderplatz, I wanted to show them all the sights around the former Eastern German hub. Unplanned, as it was still meant to be closed for cleaning, we stood in line for tickets to go up to the visitors platform in the Fernsehturm. But since there was a long waiting-list for the lift we walked around the Alexanderplatz, went down to the Neptune Fountain, walked over to the Nikolaiviertel and passed by the Rotes Rathaus to while away the time.

70s flair outside the Fernsehturm

yes we want to go up there … 203.78m above the ground

built in 1891 the Neptune Fountain

someone scattered “lucky” butterflies around the fountain

the door to the Rotes Rathaus were locked, after all it was a Saturday

After some cool drinks and ice-cream it was finally time to view Berlin from the top, after all the Fernsehturm is the highest building in Germany and the fourth highest in Europe. We really did get quiet  a spectacular view even if it was an expensive treat.

inside the lobby

the lift … the little red light tells you where it is

somewhere way over there is Friedrichshagen

that’s where we went yesterday … how tiny the Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstagskuppel look

After that we took the S-bahn to the Ostbahnhof and took a walk along the East Side Gallery for two reasons: 1) to show my niece and nephew some part of their countries past 2) but more importantly because me niece wanted to take a photo in the exact same spot where Harry Styles from the boy-band One Direction had his photo taken while touring Germany … GIRLS!

as the good aunt that I am I even had a pen so Sarah-Ann could sign her name … *sigh*

After that I took them to Friedrichshain where we had food opposite the RAW Temple,once the Reichsbahn-Ausbesserungs-Werk = RAW, now a cultural workspace and quite alternative. My niece and nephew sadly weren’t that impressed with the area, I think they don’t have my liking for the wacky, weird and unconventional. nevertheless they enjoyed their food and by the time we got home all the wanted to do was play a few rounds of memory and go to bed.

some quirky graffiti on the RAW temple

even in the roughest place a rose can bloom

a uninvited feathered guest

even the lighting is a little “dirty”

some table decoration

Luckily for me they told me they enjoyed their stay in Berlin when I dropped them off at the Train Station, two tired, hot teenagers who got a small taste  of a big city. And as I waved them good-bye I have to say I felt more than a little relieved that my aunt duties were done  and was delighted that I hadn’t broken, burnt or lost either of them.

back in Freidrichshagen on my own … enjoying a little bit of peace after three days of aunty duty