Strike a pose. Vogue-ing in Erfurt & Leipzig

Since we've been struck down by some kind of family viral lurgy, it's been difficult to blog. Not so much because I have lacked the energy or the mood (though I have in a way), but because with Stevie off work, he's been rather annoying every time I even look at the laptop, in a "Is that you on the internet again?", and I swear, I have barely even logged on. A glance is all it takes to set him off.

The issue has been sparked by Hamish who in earshot of his father clocked me huddled furtively in the corner, and asked innocently enough what I was buying off the internet, and could I get him something. This is the kind of thing that Stevie hates. His feeling is that if a 3 year old (nearly 4 year old actually) knows what you are doing on the internet then it's indicative of oft-seen behaviour by dear old me.

Curse those pesky kids! I'm having to become increasingly careful about all my regular little habits. The ones which seem to drive Stevie nuts in particular relate to (a) the internet CRIME: using from dawn till dusk (supposedly) and (b) photography CRIME: documenting every second of every day. One thing he can't complain about is that he buys me new lenses and then I don't use them; I'm pretty sure that would annoy him too. But while we were away on out regular little Legoland/Playmobil Funpark jaunt he became utterly riled by things like this:

I hear you. "What?" you're saying. The thing that he finds so awful is that the kids when they see things like Der Maus and Bernd Brot in the street they automatically run up and start posing in front of them, which in my mind only looks really embarrassing (for me) when I don't have my camera with me, and they still do it. It happens whenever they see anything which they consider a 'photo opportunity'. Giant strawberries, 4 foot high polar bears holding ice creams, bronze hippos, Berlin Buddy Bears, barely known German tv characters...they spot them, run forward and start blathering on about cheese.

This crime is compounded by things like Stevie saying "Come on Hamish, what's taking you so long?", and him responding "Oh well, you know, Mummy likes to take a few photos". It's like a red rag to a bull. In my defence I have also trained the two of them to stay absolutely stock still by my side when I am taking photos of buildings and things. That way I don't lose them and they don't risk getting run over, so that's something, right?

Anyway, I won't bore you to death with yet another bunch of Legoland/Playmobil photos, we had a great time at both places though I was coming down with the lurgy at the Playmobil Funpark, and felt like I was getting the flu because everything ached. Apart from the obvious highlights (no wasps, no queues, kids having a fabulous time) we also visited a couple of places we hadn't previously been to. Leipzig was the first. I don't know why, but we both had had a much different picture in our minds of Leipzig. Stevie was somewhat disappointed that it wasn't desperately communist and eastern looking (I know, prettiness is so old hat), and I'm not sure what I thought. I knew about it's role in the fall of the GDR, where the first important demonstrations took place, but not much else.

Leipzig

What I didn't know was that it was the hometown of Bach, or that it would be so pretty, with a different style of architecture to other German cities we've visited. It has previously been on the New York Times list of top ten cities to visit.

Erfurt

The other place we stopped off for a break was Erfurt, which had been recommended to Stevie by his work colleagues, and it was lovely. I would highly recommend a visit to Erfurt. Our prior knowledge of Erfurt was phenomenal: basically we both know it as the place in our very first German book where people like to hitchhike and strangers chat about getting a light for their cigarettes. And certainly there were a lot of people there, and quite a lot of them were smoking. But what we liked about it best were the little narrow streets with utterly gorgeous fachwerk buildings. Not that I got to take photos of them all, because what I realised on this trip was that it's not the kids who inhibit my enjoyment of visiting new places, but my beloved Stevie, who practically races through them, no lingering and lazy wandering allowed. Now what he really needs is a camera in order to slow down and really enjoy the sights...

Crackpots & cracking times

I should have said my name was 'Finja'. P.S Not only are our real names plastered all over the internet, you'll also find them on the wall at the Legoland Discovery Centre, Berlin.

Ah, the things I could tell you if only I had never set up this blog using my real name, and had never used photos of my family. Sometimes it's a curse! For example I would have been able to tell you an awesomely funny story of a truly horrific playdate I went on with the kids this week. You know it's not going well when you get asked round for coffee and you're the one who has to go for the milk, and you have to run faster than Paula Radcliffe there and back because Orla's parting words are "They're trying to take Hamish's trousers off!", and there's just something about the family that makes you just a little uncomfortable with that.

Alas, we're going to have to wait until either we've left Berlin, or they've left Berlin (and let's hope it's them, and soon) before I can tell you about it. Unless you email me, and I'll spill the beans ;)

As you may have noticed from the plethora of bunny-related blog posts, it's Easter. Orla has been on holiday now for a week and without even trying we've managed to pack each day with events that have cost either very little or nothing. We had a day of playing on 'one' day as Orla wanted to stay home and get stuck into all her new toys. Then on 'another' day we had a lovely day at Berlin Zoo with some good friends and spent a lot of time not looking so much at animals, but talking endlessly, avoiding fast-moving zoo traffic, and playing in the quite brilliant park.

Now this was a nice playdate. Fun is a shared love of railings.

On 'another one of the' days we spent a couple of hours in the depths of hell, as mentioned at the beginning of this post, and then went on a fake appointment on the other side of the city so we didn't have to spend any longer with them. And we also went to Legoland 'another' day because the kids have been dying to make more use of our year passes and I HATE that place on the weekends. For some reason I had convinced myself that the Germans would take their Easter holidays on a different week, perhaps that was the only way my brain would allow me to actually make the suggestion of Legoland to the kids. It's not that it's not good: in fact I'd say that the Legoland Discovery Centre at Potsdamer Platz is one of the best places to take kids in Berlin. As long as you like being underground and packed in like a sardine and enjoy noise levels from squealing kids that could drown out a pneumatic drill.

Don't get excited Orla, this poster is the best bit.

We also went along to the 'Helden' (Superheroes) exhibition at the Film & TV Museum in the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz. I had seen the poster in one of the U-Bahn stations and Hamish had been very keen to see Spiderman. It was reasonable enough to get in to: Euro 4 for me and the kids were free, but it was a bit of a disappointment. The 3 Spidermen they had on display looked remarkably similar to the very small ones Hamish plays with, and well... the Star Wars display was just the Lego figures of the characters. If anyone wants to see a Disney Winnie the Pooh, Toy Story, & Cars exhibition, I will be showing one made out Duplo for the next 6 months in Hamish's bedroom.

The Sony Center roof viewed from the -2 floor. It's a geometric dream.

I will say however, that I am glad we went into it. I haven't bothered visiting the Film & TV museum because I kind of assumed that it would primarily focus on German films and tv that I wouldn't be familiar with. But it's worth going in even to the foyer and using the glass lifts to get a different view of the Sony Center roof. And you know how I like to take a photo or 80!

Moments when social media freaks you out.

Sometimes I really freak out about social media. This morning was one of those moments. I went on to my Flickr account and in my 'recent activity' notifications I saw that some guy, a complete stranger, had marked one of my photos as a 'favourite'. Now that's not exactly odd, but I decided that I would click on this stranger's name and have a wee look at his photos.

My photo, that the strange guy liked.

So, that's what I did. I landed on his photostream and scrolled down a bit and that's when I freaked out. Because he has this photo:



Yes, there's a particularly large and happy leprechaun in this photo, but what freaked me out was that not only do I know this green giant, but he is standing next to Stevie! Not that odd perhaps that someone else in Berlin 'favourited' my photo also of Berlin, but how weird is it that they should have taken a photo of my boyfriend and his friends out of nearly 3.5 million?

I sent this photo to Stevie at work, and he sent a text saying, "That's a nice photo you took of ----', and I said, "You think? Who was looking after the kids??". Freaky! Freaky!

Choo, choo, choo, there's even a tiny little conga at Loxx Miniatur Railway

All trains powered underneath by hamsters with magnets on their backs, or similar magic.

I like to think that when you lie in your bed at night and think of me, 'train-spotter' is not the first label that comes to mind. 'Google-stalker', yes, 'bad-person-with-a-compulsive-habit-for-flushing-uneaten-breakfast-cereals-down-the-toilet', absolutely, but 'trainspotter/model train admirer', nah, no thanks.

Beach Volleyball. If you peer really closely you'll see Stevie in his bikini at Beach 61 

Seriously! Stop putting spin on that ball! If I have to go into those bushes to get it one more time, I will Dr Pong you into next week!! 

So even I was surprised to find myself at Loxx Miniature Railway yesterday morning. Well not surprised to be there, me and my pal at Workingberlinmum got the tickets half price on Groupon and saw it as a perfect little outing. "Oh, your kids will love it!" our mutual friends said. "The trains! The boys will think it's amazing!", "Honestly, it's fantastic: a great place to take kids!". Yeah, yeah, as if we're taking the kids. That would spoil our fun! We were taking our cameras on a little outing; cameras that don't moan after 5 minutes that they're bored and want a snack. Two glorious hours we had! And we snapped away like mad, stuffing images onto our memory cards like we'd never have the opportunity again. It's nice doing these things with someone just like yourself. S starts to complain after a while that I can't seem to enjoy experiences unless I am viewing them with one eye closed, a camera stuck to my face, and a constant 'snap, snap, snap' soundtrack.

Sandstation (beside the O2) I've seen this! I've seen this! Well, that's me peering through gaps in the fence cause S wouldn't pay the entrance fee and said we'd go 'another time'....grrr...honestly it's amazing!

I can't tell what the joke is here, unless the guy who built this section thought everybody had an extra toe on each foot...."and this little piggy was a special little extra piggy and cried 'weee, weee, weee, weeee', all the way to the Kinderarzt"

Anyway, it was great fun. I am surprised that I haven't heard of it before and now that I have I seem to be coming across more and more blog posts about it (all with better photos than mine). It's right at the top of the Alexa shopping centre in Mitte on the third floor. You can find it by following your nose. We were the only people there on Thursday morning, well just us and the smell of chip fat that followed us around and was seeping out of the exhibition and there to take your tickets at the front desk.

No, this can't be Berlin: why if it was there would be at least 3 Berliner Kindl beer stands in this photo.

Night time in Berlin. I may have been criticising the rather tragic clouds they had fashioned for the sky, but I was hugely impressed by the brilliance of the thunderstorm. 

They have managed to construct a mini Berlin with lots of humour in a huge room with dreadful lighting. It was really hard to keep the lights from appearing in the background of all the photos and it seems like an impossibility to take a photo of the Fernsehturm without strip lighting kind of spoiling it. But aside from that, it's great. There are trains galore, and the airport section is excellent. You can see planes taking off and 'flying' into giant cubic clouds, and see President Obama getting greeted off his plane on the runway. There is even a row of airplane seats for you to sit and watch all the action.

Good evening President Obama. We've booked the Bier-bike for you & the secret service men for 10am tomorrow. At 12pm you'll be met at the viewing platform of the Park Inn for your abseil, then your driver will collect you and take you to Tropical Islands for the G8 summit ice-breaking session.

Meanwhile in the main display area you can admire all the standard Berlin sites and enjoy some of the ones you might not have seen. I really, really want to visit Spreepark in Treptower Park where there was a funfair and some fairy tale houses and so on. It looks amazing except the real thing closed down years ago. You can see parts of it in the film Hanna - which is a really good film if you haven't seen it.

President Reagan: "Folks, it's time to draw back your iron curtains and let some capitalist sunshine in"... or words to that effect. Man, I missed my calling as a speech writer...

Other highlights were listening/watching JFK and Reagan give speeches in front of the Reichstag, hunting for nudists in the Tiergarten, and the kite flying on the hill. It would be a great day trip for kids it has to be said but at a normal price of 12 euros for adults and I think 6 euros per child (above 100cm tall) it might be better waiting for another Groupon deal.

Links:
Loxx Miniature Railway, Berlin
andBerlin post
Uberlin post
Workingberlinmum post


My other Groupon adventures:
Unsicht-bar - eating in the dark restaurant
Panoramapunkt - sightseeing from the top of Kollhof Tower.
Die Welt hot air balloon - sightseeing from Berlin's famous hot air balloon
Like I just stepped out of a salon - getting a Groupon haircut - eek

somewhere in amongst 2011

When exactly does life change from a year taking an interminably long time to pass, to each year zipping by to the point where you are in December saying to yourself "But January was only a little while ago and I haven't even done anything yet!!"? I can't remember when this might have occurred. It seems to be somewhere between my teenage years where I simply couldn't wait to be 14, 15, 16, 17 all the way up to 22, and now. Was it having kids? Do they do this to you? Probably. I am pretty sure they are to blame for the wrinkles under my eyes too.

And so, here I am at nearly the end of 2011 and I'm not sure that I have actually managed to get much done. Why, I haven't even finished tidying up yet! I'm pretty sure there is ironing still to be done from 2010. (Actually, I have barely ironed since 2007, but I like to keep up a pretence of domesticity, so stick with me on 2010 at least).

I went and had a peek at my 'somewhere...somehow...' list of things I wanted to get done in 2011 to see how many/few* (*delete as appropriate, or maybe not as I don't want to be seen as a complete procrastinator - and that's putting it nicely). So what exactly have I done? Not much it would seem at first glance from the list. Things will definitely be sliding on to my 2012 list. Here's a quick recap:

1. improve my cooking skills
   Well, I tried. Honest I did. And I think I have gotten marginally better. At the very least I would say we are eating FAR less pork than we started out on when we moved here. And that is something we are all VERY grateful for.
2. learn to properly use my camera
   Alarmingly, I have only got very slightly better with my camera. I was so very chuffed with my attempts at tilt-shift effects (not even done on the camera but in Photoshop!), that I got a bit lazy. I have started using different settings on it though and I adjust my exposure more, but still... oh, and I don't think that I really have improved over the course of my 365/Photo-a-day project which is what I heard would happen. Bah humbug.
3. enrol on an evening course for something creative (in German)
   Well, not an evening course, but I did go on a sewing course - I still want to go to pottery classes. 
4. take my sewing machine OUT OF THE BOX and learn to use it
   Yes! I did! See above. At the lovely sewing cafe Kinkibox in Friedrichshain and while my skills are limited, I did still make a dress for Orla.
5. make cushions for the living room
   No. I haven't even got the fabric. Maybe next year....sigh.
6. sort out my horrible hair
   Well, I have certainly had some hair cuts and highlights this year with varying degrees of success. I *thought* I had it sussed by finding an English hairdresser at Toni & Guy in Berlin. At the moment my hair is brown...but it seems to have been done poorly and already is fading out a bit and showing where my old highlights were. Will I never be hair-happy here???

   

   No.6 I haven't many photos of the brown hair with fringe. 

   
   
7. read more books
   Oh yes! I really have! And I am so pleased with that. I still go to bookgroup as well. I didn't bother with the BBC's Big Read list as I knew I wouldn't either be able to complete it, or give up on it - do I really want to read a stack of Jacqueline Wilson books?? Not overly. But I have managed 35 so far! 
8. get to at least B2 level in German
   Alas no. I stopped for a ahem...short break at the beginning of B1 and haven't returned. I may go back if we get an extension.
9. set up an etsy shop
   The shop is set up, there's just nothing in it yet. Total laziness on my part. No excuses. 
10. travel round Germany - Regensburg, Bamburg, Augsburg
    We saw a good bit more of Germany this year. Our summer break took us right down to the south and we worked our way back via Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, Stuttgart on the way home. 
11. see at least 4 other German cities - Hamburg, Munich,
    Yup. Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and I can't even think where else. But I know I did.
12. earn some money from illustration - take part in Kunst Supermarkt 2011
    Well, I have sold some prints this year, just not through my etsy shop or through Kunst Supermarkt. So a partial success I think.
13. start a 365 photo/sketch blog
    Tickety tick! Not only did I start and pretty much complete (I have no idea how I am missing 20+ photos) my Flickr 365, but I have also maintained my fiona gray . paints blog and FB page. 
14. do something different - The Night of the Jumps - The Harlem Globetrotters
    Yes. And I have to say it's been lovely having the opportunities on our doorstep to do this. We plan on trying more things next year too. Starting with 'going to a show' - I have been to theatres and things but variety and these sort of Blue Man Group shows, never. It's time to try it, I think.
15. make a concerted effort to do more artwork
    As no.13 says - yes. It's all here.
16. paint Orla's dolls house in pretty colours
    Yes. I think I got that done quite early in the year. Best to start with an easily achieveable one, eh?
17. hang pictures on the living room walls
    Hmm... I have hung a couple, but the reality is that our walls are huge and our pictures look silly and far too small. But I have hung my Tiel Sievl-Keevers 'Patch Apple' and some artwork by Orla that I framed.
18. get a lovely photo taken of the kids
    I kept meaning to get my friend Sarah to do this for me, but I kept forgetting. But I did like my photos of the two of them jumping on the bed rather a lot.
19. make that Cath Kidston handbag!
    Not done. I keep looking at it and I immediately think: "I will rush this and make a complete mess of it. " And so it slips into 2012. Maybe I'll start with that.
20. get round the Berlin museums and galleries - the Kennedy Museum, the Bauhaus Archiv, the Jewish Museum,
    Yes! Since my holiday from German classes I have managed to see an awful lot more than I ever could do with the kids in tow. So nice! I have a list of places to visit in 2012 already. Can't wait.
21. make some kids duvet covers and pillowcases
    No. Of course not. I blog. How would I have time for that????
22. get more organised - cupboards, toys, clothes, etc
    Marginally. I have given stuff (clothes) away to friends, books to the school, cleared out a few cupboards, but *still* haven't done the toys because the kids keep playing with the things I think they are finished with. Orla has just re-adopted the Fisher Price house for Polly Pocket and her friends who will be joining her at Christmas. I must be stricter about doing this (preferably before Christmas, but who am I kidding??)
23. sell things on German eBay, starting with the highchair!
    No, but I have nearly bought stuff on german eBay. I have at least changed my account settings. I am getting rid of that highchair in 2012 FOR SURE!!!!! It is currently being used to hold coats in Hamish's little bedroom. 
24. have just a little bit of a nice bright colour in my hair
    No. And I am kind of going off this idea. Probably won't happen. I can imagine getting fed up of it fading and having to re-do it.
25. find a good babysitter & have a night out with JUST Stevie
    YES! YES! and thrice YES! In fact we have had 3 different babysitters. Our first and male babysitter is moving to Ireland in january, so we have started using the girl of Hamish's dreams before she goes to Uni next September, and then last week we used our neighbours daughter after speaking to her mother who said she was looking for babysitting work. It wasn't until she arrived to do it that we found out she was 13!!!! Luckily, they live literally across the hall, so her mum was on hand, and I guess she probably had most of the same toys as the kids..... :-S
26. do more creative things with the kids
    Oh, yes. And it's so traumatic to me as they rip and manically glue and glitter that I can't even bring myself to talk about it.
27. have my nails done
    Alas, no. A definite for 2012 I think.
28. do more cooking/baking with the kids
    Yes. With really quite ugly, unappetising results most of the time. But we've done lots and they really enjoy it, and Orla eats more dinner if she's involved in the making of it and gets to taste along the way.
29. look after a plant & not kill it
    Still not my forte. I've tried. But I am sticking with cut flowers. My fake orchid is still doing well though...
30. to read the rest some (I've read 38 so far) of the '100 book challenge' listed on Facebook. I can't read 62 (when it includes War & Peace) in a year.
    Not a one. But I have read lots of books. See no. 7 for details.
31. cycle more after winter, to the point I consider 1 of those trailers for the kids
    Oh yes, I cycled. And every time I had one of the kids on the back moaning about it, I hated it. The sooner they can both cycle unaided the better. And I didn't get a trailer. Couldn't bear the thought of them both moaning away behind me.
32. read a novel in German
    Ha! You're kidding right? I still have half of my book of German fairy tales to read. I have barely read a German newspaper - though to give me some credit (well very little really) I do occasionally buy German Elle Deco. But I'm much more of a fan of looking at the pictures unless something catches my eye.
33. ...to be continued....
    Yes, I think we can say it will have to be continued. Roll on 2012...I hope it brings less procrastination, more magic telly, speedier blogging (I spend far too much time on the internet), and good health and happiness to us all - you too fellow reader. Hope you had a lovely 2011.

Like son, like mother

Copyright: Orla

Orla has decided that she really, really needs a camera. I am always harping on about how much better it is here in Germany because the children play with traditional toys, yadda, yadda, and aren't asking for Nintendo DS's as soon as they pop out of the womb. I do believe I can be heard to complain quite often about parents who give their children digital cameras when they turn 2.

Copyright: Orla

But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since both of mine see me with a camera hanging round my neck on a near daily basis, and have to put up with the mamarazzi documenting their every move for posterity. We went out yesterday to see my friend Beth running in the Asics 10K run round the west of the city. And she did really well and we shook our non-Pot Noodle-brand pot noodles at her and her friend as they ran past us breezily (Beth is from the town in Wales where they 'mine' Pot Noodles), and afterwards we went to the Zoo, which is where Orla decided she really had to take a photo of me and Stevie. I've only ever let her use my little Canon before that is on it's last legs, so no great loss if anything happens to it, so this was her first try with my DSLR. I think she did well, don't you? And of course, then Hamish wanted a shot........

'The Secret Vice' by Hamish

Talk about nervous? As I put the strap over his head I was bracing myself for the noise of it clattering off the stone steps at the mountain goats as he got himself into position. Hamish's style is less traditional portraiture and more 'covert operation' style. As you can see, he's not the only one with the secret pink dummy problem.

Is that a Snickers zipping past? No, it's a Marathon.

Berlin Marathon 2011 - Paula Radcliffe. Seriously, how cool is that?

Berlin Rollerblading Marathon 2011

This weekend was Marathon weekend in Berlin. I never knew I liked marathons so much until I came here. No, scratch that, I never knew I liked spectating so much. Stevie asked whether I thought I could do a half marathon, to which I replied that I had my doubts as to whether I could run or rollerblade my way through a 1/26th marathon.

Anyway, having things like this going on in Berlin of a weekend make me glad to live here. I get that excited feeling of being in a place where there's just oodles of interesting things just around the corner. And in fact that's pretty much where they were. Last year I only discovered the rollerblading marathon because I needed to go to the supermarket and I couldn't get across the road. As it was pouring with rain, I gave up and just went home. But this year we've had fantastic weather for yesterdays' rollerblading and todays' 'proper' marathon.

I took my camera and walked a little bit along the rollerblading route and tried to capture the competitors against a bit of a Berlin backdrop. Unlike the east side of Berlin, it's a lot harder to find graffiti in the west. It also took me a while to jiggle about with my camera to get it to catch the competitors without them fuzzing into a speedy blur. But then later I realised I preferred them that way.

And then today we all went down the road to where the Ku'Damm meets Tauentzienstrasse at the Gedachtniskirche to watch the runners at the 35km mark. Last year we missed the lead runners, but holy smoke, we got to see them this time, and they are just SO fast! Unbelievably so. It's so impressive and certainly I never realised just how impressive they were whenever I had seen bits of the London Marathon on tv in years previous.

So it was great, there was a fantastic atmosphere and there were bands dotted all along the route. Where we were there was an excellent steel drum band, and just a little further down near Nike World there was a brass band squished in on the centre of the road crossing, playing contemporary music in between the pedestrian lights.

So I thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. My love for Berlin has gone up a notch, and look, LOOK! I even got a photo of Paula Radcliffe! Woo hoo!!! I'm dead chuffed.

I know you've seen them before, but...

I don't think you've seen them on a billboard!

As sad as it may seem I think seeing Orla and Hamish not only (a) on a giant billboard, but (b) not arguing, pushing, or crying and (c) without a dummy in either mouth, is one of the happiest moments of my whole May!



We knew some of the events for the 125th Anniversary of the Ku'Damm had already started and we'd missed them, but we decided to make our way down there yesterday afternoon and see if anything was happening. So we went to a vintage car display - is that what you'd call it? All the cars were parked at jaunty angles on the road, interspersed with Berliner Kindl stands and food stalls. It seems to really amuse Stevie that as soon as a bit of road or whatever is closed off for some reason, within 10 minutes there'll be a beer stand with 8 tables and 16 benches there ready for business.





The kids really enjoyed it. Hamish was in his element as there were lots of things with trailers, including a bus with a trailing bus behind it, and a fire engine with a big trailing fire engine thing. If I didn't have kids I would have had the time to patiently read the little German signs in the windscreens and tell you what these things were, but instead I drank the expensive beer all the time hoping it would help me drown out the incessant calls for ice cream, pretzels, sausages, sweeties, etc, etc. We even saw Herbie from the films. Hamish even climbed the front grill before I realised and plucked him off.

We had quite a nice afternoon just wandering around with me clicking away like a paparazzi as usual mumbling (to myself probably, cause Stevie wouldn't be interested) 'what a lovely curve that has', and 'ooh I love that font', and 'isn't that the most gorgeous grey you've seen (apart from me and my sister)?' I think it's a bit of a shame that the anniversary of the Ku'Damm isn't getting such a great write up. It seems to be that the English language news here think that it's desperately uncool and well the attitude is that the Ku'Damm may as well just be forgotten for what was once the Champs Elysees of Berlin is now just a sad, jaded run of the mill street with a plethora of international chain stores and a bunch of high-end designer boutiques.

I tend to think these things are written by people living in the east. Young, hip people who think the city barely functions beyond the east where life is cool, grafitti-covered, trendy, cutting edge, blah, blah, blah. And it is great on the east, but the west also has it's charms. Or maybe I just feel a lot of affection for the place now. But there always seems to be something happening here and I like that.

>

I spoke to my friend Claire who moved back to Derby at Christmas last night. They're glad to be back, but they do miss Berlin and the amount going on. She said that their friends are amazed by how much they did and saw while they were here, and that's the thing, it's not hard. I guess it's like this in most capital cities, and I do wonder if we as a family are even becoming complacent about it. The kids are now so used to seeing wild animals in the zoo I think it would be a shock if we didn't have lions and giraffes at the end of our road in Derby.

So anyway, yesterday we also went into the Mini photo booth and got the kids photo taken for the competition to win a Mini. There photo also appeared on the giant electronic billboard above C&A, and luckily I had enough time to get over there and take photos of it. Now I just need to win the off-road Clubman to expand my German adventures with the kids (and copious amounts of luggage).

Falling in [camera] love all over again

Just look at that zoom! I'm in love! I've been after a zoom lens for my camera for about a year now, and at last Stevie has got bored of me going on about it and finally surrendered the cash. Happy Birthday indeed to me! I am over the moon.

When I got home with it last night, I couldn't wait to try it out. I thought about going out a little walk and seeing what it could do, but what does it say that I stayed in and tried to photograph in the neighbours windows in the furthest away apartments across the courtyard? Perhaps I should just bite the bullet and tell Stevie what I really want for Christmas are some night vision binoculars.

I remember reading 'In Your Own Words' a few years ago, which are short tales of no more than 600 words by readers of the Telegraph. One of my favourites was of a couple who lived near a bridge over a huge drop favoured by people committing suicide. After getting over the initial horror of what was occurring in the vicinity of their home they ended up with a pair of binoculars each. Sounds a bit gruesome, but I can remember thinking I would probably do exactly the same.

Anyway, digression aside, I went off to Mitte today to do a little belated birthday shopping for my neice, Lola. Of course I took my camera and lovely new lens and took lots of photos of the Fernsehturm (which I love) and the Brandenburg Gate, and various beautiful buildings along Unter den Linden. They look almost black & white, but this morning the weather was just utterly grim and grey. Anyway, I was thoroughly excited by my new lens and just how 'zoomy' it is! I really must try harder though to learn how to use my camera properly, and why is it, now I have the lens I've been after for a whole year, that I now find myself suddenly having fresh desires for a lovely little macro lens?

(P.S. Please don't use my photos without asking)

Having fun while the kids are ill

Before: Yeah, yeah, just another protest shot taken in Mitte in the summer.

After: Wow! It's teeny-tiny people protesting in Mitte in the summer!

What a relaxing morning I've had. I felt pretty rough when I got up but perked up a lot once I'd had breakfast (I don't know if it's just me, but as a diabetic I've always had to eat even when I'm ill and it's the last thing I want to really do. Probably with newer insulins on the market you no longer need to do this, you can just adjust your amount, but certainly in the old days when I was 11 or 12 you just had to get on with it and eat. Now I have this weird thing whereby when I feel sick I associate it with eating and simultaneously feel both a little sick and a little hungry. I know, I know, you had no idea I was such a complex person. Anyway, as I was saying...).

Hamish declared that he was too sick to go to Kita, but Orla decided she was well enough to go. So we dropped Orla off and then had a lovely morning watching tv, playing with Orla's Christmas presents (is there any better way to cheer up a poorly younger brother?) and I played around with Photoshop. One of the things I'd like to do this year is learn how to use my camera properly so I can get the most out of it, and well to be honest, learning how to recreate tilt-shift photographic effects isn't actually doing that, but it is something I've liked the look of and fancied trying out for myself for a while.

And now I'm wondering what it would look like if I tried out this minaturisation effect on something that was already minature? Like the Playmobil Zoo for instance. Hmm...time to drug up the kids on Calpol & Nurofen I think and give it a go.