East Side Gallery

Today I was able to work from home - without my ~3 hour commute, I had time to make myself lunch and go for a nice run. This is of the east gallery, a section of the Berlin wall that was mostly just for show (the river was the real border) so it didn't need to be torn down.

Hats

I took a picture of this very strange ad in Charlottenberg tonight:

So hüte translates to "hats." What struck me first is the giant cookie that the dude is wearing around his neck. They seem to be seasonal, I see them in displays with the traditional Oktoberfest clothing. But he seems to be otherwise fashionably dressed. I didn't even notice the gun until I started this post. 

I am 0% tempted to buy a hat from these people. 

Kabap & baguette

Nearly every metro stop has some sort of food available. This little stand is at the Greibentzsee stop, and I think it's especially cool looking. I haven't tried the food though...

Kitchen details

After three months here in Berlin, today was officially the first day that I didn't leave my house. In addition to resting and cleaning, I also put together two kitchen details. First, the awesome cart:

It's meant to be a baking cart, but we are not fully stocked for baking. 

Next, the LED lights on the spice rack:

They are really just there for show - the package even says "do not use for illumination."

On the corner

I wasn't sure what to take a picture of today, so I snapped this on a nearby corner. I thought the clouds looked neat, and you can see some of the endless road construction.

Rathaus Babelsberg

I believe this impressive building is the Rathaus (city hall) of babelsberg. Babelsberg is currently a sleepy corner of Potsdam, but it used to be its own town, I think. I see this every morning on my walk from the s-bahn to the bus. 

Schloss babelsberg

Schloss translates to castle, and one bus stop past my work is the "Schloss Bablesberg" stop, where I snapped this picture. I would be very amused if this was actually the castle. More likely it's some sort of gatehouse.

Cooking!

Tonight, I did some cooking so that I'll have more food to take with me to work. Here's some lentil soup:

And this should turn into very nutty granola bars when it's cool. If it holds together. It's an experiment. 

Berliner bear

Bears are a symbol of Berlin, and these particular bears are all over, just painted differently depending on who put them up and where they are. This particular bear is at the Philippine Embassy of Berlin, which is currently where my choir is rehearsing.

Babelsburg station

My train station down in Potsdam is one of a few that has a charming old sign notifying you which stop you are at. 

Touring around

More touristing with Ferah, this time in my neighborhood. First is the solar system painted on the windows of a storefront:

This, I don't understand. Was the DDR really good at making soft ice cream in clam shells?

And last, the absurdity of a hostel on a boat:

We're on a boat!

My friend Ferah is visiting, and in celebration of that and my birthday, we took a boat tour of the spree river. We saw lots of great stuff, but my best three photos are of the molecule men:

The Pergammon and TV tower:

And the Reichstag:

Little work kitchen

I don't really know what it is about this kitchen, but as soon as I saw it, I thought it was very German. Maybe it's the lack of big fridge (there is a half size one behind a cabinet door) or the several methods of making coffee, or the strange bar stools. It is also the entire social space in my building, so when I reheat my lunch, I often linger and chat which whoever stops by. 

Tomorrow, I should have pictures from a boat tour!

31!

For my birthday, I give you a selfie:

Ostbahnhof

Another transit picture, this one on the train platform at the Ostbahnhof (translates to: East Train Station). I took this picture mostly because I was noticing the ceiling - the curved, skylighted roof is relatively common along my train line. It usually signals a station where there are a few transfers between different s-bahn and regional lines. In the back of my head, I must be comparing it to NYC, where similar stations would be primarily underground instead of above it. Compared to cities its size, Berlin is pretty spread out - lots of room for train stations!

In the middle of nowhere...

Ok, I'll well aware that there are places that qualify for that title much more than the AIP, but as a city dweller, commuting to work feels a little bit like going camping. I had errands to run this morning, so I arrived in Potsdam when the bus from the train station was infrequent, so I walked. And documented.

After walking through a few blocks of cute little storefronts, the road to my work suddenly looks like this:

And that's before you hit the area where the park is across the street: 

After a few little houses on the right, you catch sight of the AIP:

That little building is the cafeteria - it serves lunch for a few hours every day. You do know you are in the right place, because there's a sign:

My building is pretty far into the AIP campus. There are buildings to the right and left, but to get to my office, you hang a left after that dome below:

And keep going....

And finally, you're there. My office, dead ahead!

First day at work

My new building (Humbolt Haus at the AIP) has three different domes on top of it, a relic of a time when the majority of the science was done at actual observatories. Now, the telescopes in these domes are either museum pieces or primarily used for public nights. My office is just through those closest two windows!

Paella Experiment

Ever since we went to Madrid, we've been wanting to try our hand at vegetarian paella. We bought supplies yesterday and today we put in some teamwork to put it together:

We don't have a dining table (and might not for a little while) so we had to have our feast on the couch:

It turned out super well. It feels like a treat to be able to cook in our own kitchen, so it looks like we'll be eating in for a little while! 

Kaufland

Right before we moved to Berlin, we ended up running some last minute errands at Target. David and I talked about how we expected it to be very different than our life in Berlin.

Well, this isn't Target - it's Kaufland (Kauf translates to "buy" or "buying"). It's more like a giant grocery store, including a section with small appliances and a drugstore type area. But it is a big box store with a huge parking lot and very wide aisles, and it's only about a mile away from our apartment. It feels very... American.

And, as you might have guessed, we stocked our new kitchen with plenty of new groceries!

Oktoberfest

We stopped into a department store to look for a saucepan and get a lid for our frying pan, and spotted this:

Oktoberfest for the whole family?

Train for tours

David took this one of a tour train - apparently you can ride this to tour the u-bahn system!

A real kitchen!

Through the magic of an electrician and a gas installation tech over the past two days, we officially have a functional kitchen! The sight of David cooking dinner is pretty relaxing (just scrambled eggs tonight - starting small).

It's not done, but we are super relieved that it is functional. Hooray!

The end of the line

Sometimes, I look at locations on the map and wonder what they are like - especially the end of train lines. An errand brought me to the end of a subway line, and on my way to the store I found a drive through McDonalds - the first I've seen in Berlin:

And this cute sign - I think it marks the end of a school zone:

Laundry

Clothes dryers are very rare here - most people have a washing machine and then hang their laundry to dry. Finding, buying, and installing a rare appliance sounds like a lot of work, so we are following the trend. We did invest in a spiffy drying rack and some cheerful clothes pins, pictured here with a full two loads of laundry:

...and I'll try to find something more interesting to post tomorrow!

Dishwasher... And old school trams

Our big accomplishment of the weekend was installing the dishwasher. It looked easy from the instructions, but required trips to both IKEA and the hardware store. The empty spot next to it will hopefully one day contain an oven and range....

And from David (on his trip to the hardware store), a picture of an old-school tram they were running on the tracks today:

Blankets

In Berlin, sitting outside is so popular that instead of bringing people in as soon as the weather turns cool, restaurants instead put out blankets so you can stay warm outside!

At AIP

I don't start at the Astrophysics Institute until a week from Monday, but I dropped by today to check it out. This is one of the buildings on the campus - the one I'll be working on is more historic than modern.

Welcome

Today I went to the Ausländerbehörde (where visas are processed) to get my work permit and blue card straightened out. Everything was super easy and should be processed relatively quickly (and I have a temporary document while it all goes through).

It draws a strong contrast to the experience of refugees that are currently in Germany or trying desperately to get here. I am feeling my privilege - white privilege, western privilege - that allows me to so easily travel between countries in search of a temporary or permanent change in my life. I do hope that this welcome is truly for everyone:

Street art!

We saw these murals as we were headed out to some delicious pizza in Prenzlauer Berg. It seems to span the usual range of murals/street art, all in one go.

Delivery

This pan-asian restaurant is down the block from us, but we see its delivery vehicles - the vespa and the smart car all around the neighborhood. Sometimes I think about asking them for a ride back home, since it's on their way. The little vespa + delivery box is probably the most common type of delivery vehicle around here.