New Years in Berlin

I'm always a fan of New Year's Eve.  Most folks think there is a lot of hype around the holiday, but I think it is an important one to observe.  Luckily, everyone and their brother in Berlin agrees with me and I was treated to one of my most memorable nights in the city.  I had been warned of the citywide celebrations on Silvester (or New Year's Eve) on many occasions during the time "between the years".  (A common German phrase regarding the period between Christmas and New Years).  Apparently, the local residents spend millions of Euros stockpiling powerful fireworks and then fire them off from every conceivable location at the stroke of midnight.

And so on the big night, Karen and I made our way through the city.  First we strolled down Unter den Linden to see the massive crowd partying at Brandenburger Tor, but the police barricades were a kilometer deep.  Fortunately, we were able to join some artist friends in the Northern part of the city called Wedding.  After a lovely meal where we wished each other einen guten Rutsch (a good slide) into the new year, our host rose to beat a large gong and ushered us, champagne in hand, to the balcony.  And as the church bells rang, the sky lit up with hundreds of huge explosions.  For over twenty minutes we stood in the cold, toasting each other and cheering on the colorful pyrotechnics launched in every direction including underneath us.  It was like a dozen 4th of July firework displays all at the same time.  We were amazed.

Like all good things, the celebrations slowly came to an end in the wee hours of the night and Karen and I tromped back through the bottles and burnt paper casing to eat our Berliner Pfannkuchen and get some rest.

~Kyle

Unter den Linden all lit up.

Ich bin ein Berliner.

A quiet Berlin Christmas

(Needless to say, we're a little behind here with the posting...New Year's resolution to recommit to the blog:)

As my job wrapped up and most of our friends headed home to visit family, Kyle and I settled in for a peaceful Christmas weekend. On Friday, we searched Berlin high and low for bagels for our favorite Christmas breakfast of bagels and lox. We finally got lucky at Barcomi’s, a bakery and deli opened by an American woman in the 90s. Next we headed to Kochhaus, a brilliant store that provides you with interesting recipes and sells you the exact amount of high quality ingredients you need to make them. We opted for some Guinea hens in a Madeira sauce for our Christmas Eve dinner.

On Christmas Eve we trekked through the rain to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church to hear a concert of Bach freshly arranged by a very energetic organist. The excellent acoustics in the 1960s addition to the church made for a dramatic experience.

Few people were out and about as we traveled through the city on Christmas weekend and Berlin was uncharacteristically quiet. Speaking with our German friends, we learned that Christmas Eve and the two days following are usually spent with family and center around meals together (hey, that sounds familiar!). Kyle and I were both missing family that weekend, but lucked out to have a very nice Christmas dinner with some American friends in Berlin. 

The alter in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Christmas Eve

Prague

A few weeks ago Karen and I were able to spend a wonderful weekend in Prague.  We have heard from so many people that this was a must-see city and it's proximity to Berlin was almost too easy, so for my birthday we took a four hour train across the border to the Czech Republic. (Luckily, my passport was returned the night before we left after spending a month getting passed around the governmental visa departments.)  On advice from some friends, we booked a charming room at a small B&B called House at the Big Boot.  This family run hotel is in a perfect location and our balcony looked up to the Castle and various embassies.  Despite the sporadic rain all weekend, Karen and I wandered the curving cobblestone streets of Old town, toured the vast Prague Castle and it's many churches, drank fine Czech Pilsners and ate Trdelniks at the Christmas markets.  I fell in love with this magical city and enjoyed exploring the different neighborhoods.  The architecture of the city is a mash of Medieval and Modern with Gothic spires next to Cubist offices abutting Art Deco apartments and Art Nouveau cafes.  The main areas are best experienced on foot, so we logged many miles hunting for quirky sculptures from artist, David Cezny and visiting the former studio of pop-up master, Vojtech Kubasta.  To cap things off, on our final night we witnessed a bizarre adaptation of Faust performed by a local long-standing black light theater group.  This trip will truly remain one of the most memorable birthday gifts I have ever received.   Thank you Karen.

From Berlin to Nairobi

Giraffes at the Nairobi National Park

The first week in December I set off to Kenya with my German colleague Ute to attend a conference on the creative economy in Africa. The conference brought together creatives from over 30 African countries to discuss the state of the cultural and creative industries. I learned a great deal (if you’re curious to learn more about the creative economy check out this report, for more on the organization that convened the conference, click here). 

The cultural economy conference

 The conference was intense, but luckily Ute and I had a little time to explore. Nairobi was a bustling city with new constructions going up everywhere we turned. This rapid development is happening alongside extreme poverty, which we only caught glimpses of from position as conference attendees staying in a nice hotel in the wealthy part of time. 

Me and my colleague Ute in Nairobi

The highlight of our visit was a tour of the Nairobi National Park, which takes up 117 sq. km. just outside of the city center. Ute and I took a Land Cruiser tour along the park’s rugged roads and got to see all sorts of large animals—several types of antelope, giraffes, white and black rhinos, buffalo, gnus, and boars. Sadly, no lions.

Artist workshops at the GoDown Center in Nairobi

We also got to visit a really cool arts space in Nairobi, The GoDown Center. GoDown converted an old industrial space into offices and studios for nonprofit arts organizations, artists, dance and music companies, etc. It was impressive to see how this cluster of creative enterprises was beginning to reshape and revitalize Nairobi's industrial neighborhood.

Saint Nicholas Day

Today is Nikolaustag or Saint Nicholas Day.  Saint Nicholas was a Greek bishop and patron saint of children, students, marchants, archers, sailors, fisherman, pawnbrokers and thieves, that lived in fourth century A.D. in modern day Turkey.  There are legends of his good deeds and miracles (which may have included magic wheat, would-be prostitutes and cannibalistic homicidal butchers!). Here in this part of Germany there is a big difference between St. Nick and the Weihnachtsmann aka Santa Claus/Chirstmas Man.  Santa Claus is more commercial (think Coca-Cola) and arrives on December 25th to the front door bearing gifts in return for a song from the children.  St. Nick looks similar but is dressed like a bishop.  In Germany, Nikolaus is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children put a boot called Nikolaus-Stiefel (Nikolaus boot) outside the front door on the night of 5 December. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts and sweets overnight, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful the last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch in their boots instead. (Other countries tell of Black Petes, Moorish characters who will steal the naughty child in a sack).  Apparently,  I was a good boy this year because this morning I found a chocolate Santa Claus (confusing, right?) on my doorstep!  Happy St. Nicholaus Day indeed!

Riding Black

The transportation options in Berlin are pretty sweet.  If you do not feel like taking your bicycle through the flat city on one of the many bike lanes there is always mass transit.  We have been taking the bus, trams and metro lines constantly since we arrived.  They are new, clean and always punctual (if not early).  This is a stark change from New York City.  The metro is divided up into many segments with the S-Bahn and U-Bahn doing the heavy lifting.  The S-Bahn stands for StadtSchnellBahn or City Rapid Railway and the U-Bahn is the UntergrundBahn even though much of it is elevated.  A passenger only needs a single ticket to ride any of the modes of transportation and it is based on the honor system (again, unthinkable in NYC).  I have been very dutiful to keep my monthly pass on me at all times, but recently I changed up my routine.  This week I also met the undercover ticket enforcement agents that confronted me on the last stop of my route.  Naturally, the one time that my ticket is sitting on my desk at home is the time I need to flash it.  The gentleman was not sympathetic to my plight and I had to pay forty Euros on the spot for "riding black".  That hurts.  I don't know where the phrase comes from, but it sounds pretty nefarious.  I could feel the cold stares from my fellow passengers as I mumbled a mixture of German and English regrets.  Needless to say, I now check hourly that my card is on my person at all times - if I accidentally ride black again I'll be in the red.

Thanksgiving in Berlin

We're still basking in the afterglow of our Berlin Thanksgiving, celebrated at our apartment last Saturday with old friends and new. As other Americans who have lived oversees have experienced, assembling a traditional Thanksgiving dinner can be a challenge. Lucky for us, one of the few butchers that carries whole, fresh turkeys happened to be located in our neighborhood, so we ordered the smallest size they sold (a whopping 15 pounder). The Friday before our big feast, I rode my bike over to pick up my bird and strap him into my bike basket. The cranberries came from our local farmer's market, from our beloved blueberry guy. With no canned pumpkin to be found, Kyle and I roasted and pureed a Muscat pumpkin. American-style pie tins are also hard to come by here, so we used a deep spring-form pan, which yielded something akin to pumpkin pie. Our friends brought some of the usual suspects (stuffing and sweet potatoes) and added some new twists (delicious cream puffs, chipotle cornbread stuffing, and a bottle of Polish vodka). All together we were 10 at the table, with our most honored guest, 15-month old Anna, presiding over the banquet. (Anna and her parents Sarah and Chris, friends from New York, were visiting us from Lithuania and brought delicious local sausages and some very strong mead.) Despite being far from home and family, we celebrated a cozy and delicious Thanksgiving here in Berlin. It was a good opportunity to reflect on the adventures and new experiences of the last few months and to feel thankful for the unique experience we're sharing in Germany.

Our cranberry connection.

Kyle carving up his first Thanksgiving Day Truthahn.

A very thankful (and hungry) crew.