Singing

A not so scenic picture of out venue for tonight's concert: the kaiser-wilhelm memorial church. 

A puzzling sculpture

I'm sure it has some significance, but I have no idea what. 

How about these bears

I just don't understand charlottenburg:

Dressed up bear

From a corner in charlottenburg:

By the Schloss Charlottenburg

We rounded out our Christmas Market experience with the one at Schloss Charlottenburg (the Charlottenburg Palace). There was essentially a light show going on the palace walls, and of course plenty of food, glühwein and arts & crafts.

Berlin is pretty great around Christmas time! 

More lights

Lights on deciduous trees can look silly, but in Berlin I've mostly seen it look lovely. I don't think the picture really captures how nice these looked.

Double Bears

I've mentioned that these bears are all over Berlin, and here are two examples. First, a bear advertising the "surf and turf" restaurant behind it..

And then, a bear holding up a hotel sign:

There are a few that I keep meaning to photograph... hopefully soon!

A plane?

I took a different route through charlottenburg to my choir director's house and found this model(?) of a plane.  I'm not sure if it's art or a playground or what! 

Touristing in Charlottenburg

We were playing tour guide this weekend, and ended up seeing a few sights in Charlottenburg. The Rathaus Charlottenburg caught my eye:

As did this bear:

Under the stairs

In a far fancier building than the one we live in, even the undersides of the stairs are decorative.

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. 

Schloß Charlottenburg

Today we met our friend Trey for brunch, then walked to the Charlottenburg Castle (Schloß). It doesn't look like a castle so much as a large house with an elaborate fence and a really nice park/garden/lawn behind it. The castle garden is really nice to hang out in, and on this pleasantly cool Sunday there were plenty of runners, walkers, loungers, and tourists hanging out there.

Exploring Charlottenburg

Tonight we met Trey - who will be one of my co-workers at AIP - for dinner in Charlottenburg (a west Berlin neighborhood). Dinner was tasty, and he showed us around the neighborhood, including this rather large lake (Lietzensee). If we end up moving to Charlottenburg, it will be a super great place to run. 

The picture is by David - he has a better camera and a better eye for photography!