Berliner December

I spent the weekend in Berlin catching up with a good friend from grad school, and I have to say that visiting Berlin during the run up to Christmas is well worth considering. The city glows with equal parts urban cool and winter wonder and there are a gazillion and one things to do - Christmas-y or otherwise. April in Paris? New York in June? Sure! But don't count out a Berliner December.

This wasn't my first time in Berlin (and I sincerely hope it won't be my last!), but it was my first during December. With pretty winter lights strung along trees, streets, homes and shop windows, and Weihnachtsmarkts (Christmas Markets) scattered throughout the city (erm, sorry, I don't think Berliners scatter anything; strategically placed at optimal locations might be a better way to put it), the festive season was in full swing.

Of course, the highlight of the trip was getting to spend some quality time with my old classmate, but I loved munching and sipping my way through the markets and sampling all sorts of yummy German treats. It was also an opportunity to try out my new Nikon D700 (which moving to it from the D70s is like hopping from the driver's seat of a VW to a Porsche). I've still a ways to go climbing the learning curve to operate this camera but I'm pretty happy with my results so far. See what you think:


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. Can't see the above pics? Click here to view them on Flickr.

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Read more about my weekend in Berlin ...

Berlin!
Chris Osburn
Qype does London
December 16th 2008



Our line of attack planned, we set out Saturday morning to do Berlin in grand style. A mix of the sobering (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and nearby Memorial to Homosexuals persecuted under Nazism) with the delightfully festive (Christmas markets at Charlottenburg and Gendarmenmarkt) and the historic (Brandenburg Gate, the remnants of the Berlin Wall) made for a perfect weekend, with plenty of glüwein and würst and all sorts of yummies (I loved the seasonal grünkohl with ribs!!!) rounding out the tour.

Read the complete Berlin! post at Qype does London.

Expat Perspective - Chris in Freiburg - Mom's Visit

Welcome to the latest instalment of Expat Perspective, a series of posts by guest writers who come from X but are living long term in Y. Here's the latest post from Chris Mavergames, an American librarian who's recently settled into family life in Southern Germany.

Recently, my mother, who is 67, came for a visit. She's been to Freiburg, a city nestled in the heart of the Südschwarzwald (southern Black Forest) region of Germany - last year right after our son Arvo was born. But, I'm always interested in what she finds interesting about where we live. For example, nearly all German dwellings have rolladen on the windows, a type of rolling shutter that lowers to completely cover the window rendering the room pitch black if you like. I've become used to them and forgot that we don't have those in America and they are quite helpful for mid-day naps, especially for an 18-month old!

My mother also enjoyed the "Radler" drink very much as she's not a big drinker. A Radler, also know as Shandy (UK) or panaché (France) is a mixture of pils beer and zitronenlimonade or German style, sparkling lemonade - like Sprite but more natural. And what goes well with a cool
beverage? Football, or soccer if you prefer, of course! I was surprised by my mother's enthusiasm for the Euro 2008 championships currently underway in the host countries of Switzlerland and Austria.

Overall, I think my mother quite enjoyed her visit here. Sadly, she had to return to America before the Euro 2008 final coming up next weekend. Perhaps she can catch it on ESPN in America, though she'll have to mix her own Radler!

Expat Perspective - Chris in Freiburg - Berlin

Welcome to the latest instalment of Expat Perspective, a new series of posts by guest writers who come from X but are living long term in Y. Here's the latest post from Chris Mavergames, an American librarian who's recently settled into family life in Southern Germany.

I just visited a friend in Berlin. The last time I was there was the summer of 1997 while on a backpacking trip through 9 countries and at least as many cities in Western Europe and found Berlin to be my favorite. So much has changed there in the last 10 years that I hardly recognized entire areas of the city and it was as if I had never been here before. Examples: Potsdamer Platz: from dirt field trying to be a construction site to a "Times Square" experience; Oraniengburgstr. in Mitte: from no streetlights and buildings still slightly in rubble to swank cafes and restaurants. My friend lives in the Tiergarten in the Hansaviertel, an area dotted with utopian architecture from the 50s and 60s. My friend lives in one of these strange high-rise buildings (see picture).

I spent my week there re-introducing myself to the neighborhoods of Kreuzberg, Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg and Schöneberg. Also, I visited the glass dome, cupola, atop the Reichstag, actually formally referred to as the Bundestag now, something I would highly recommend anyone visiting Berlin to do, for the views alone. Other highlights included: Victoria Park in Kreuzberg, farmer's market in Schöneberg (Sat. and Wed.), the glass box bar on Karl-Marx-Allee, Alt Berlin in Mitte, coffee or lunch at Cafe Adler, a famous cafe from the Cold War era, a walk in the Tiergarten - hell, a walk anywhere - Berlin is an excellent walking city and a half-day trip to Potsdam, which I didn't have time for but came so highly-recommended that I am comfortable passing the recommendation on to others. Finally, a slightly amusing note for any Americans reading, I voted while I was there in Presidential primary, upstairs at a restaurant called Max and Moritz in Kreuzberg. The food is excellent there by the way!

Expat Perspective: Chris in Freiburg - "One of the Most Stunning Places on Earth"

Welcome to the latest instalment of Expat Perspective, a series of posts by guest writers who come from X but are living long term in Y. Here's the second post from Chris Mavergames, an American librarian who's recently settled into family life in Southern Germany.

Basically, for this edition of Expat Perspective, I'll let the images speak for themselves. I'm originally from Georgia, USA which is a beautiful place in its own right and now live in southern Germany in the heart of the Black Forest, Freiburg. It truly is one of the most stunning places on earth and is also a culturally diverse and lively place with excellent food and drink.

Click here for a short video of the mountain area behind our house and views overlooking the city:

For more information, freiburg.de.

Expat Perspective: Chris in Freiburg - Arvo Meets Arvo

Welcome to Expat Perspective, a new series of posts by guest writers who come from X but are living long term in Y. Our first post comes courtesy of Chris Mavergames, an American librarian who's recently settled into family life in Southern Germany.

My name is Chris Mavergames and I'm originally from Griffin, Georgia, USA and after spells in New York and London now live in Freiburg, nestled in the Black Forest of Southern Germany. My experience here thus far has been tremendous. It is one of the most beautiful cities I know in the world and is a vibrant university town, which has its benefits - art house cinemas with movies in original language, live music (this past Saturday Howe Gelb, singer of the seminal band Giant Sand was here and Will Oldham played in Basel, Switzerland which is 45 minutes from here on Monday night) and an active social and political community.

On 11 January of this year, our son, Arvo, was born. He was named after the composer Arvo Pärt. Yesterday, we had the good fortune to introduce the littlest Arvo to his namesake! See attached picture. Mr. Pärt is here receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Freiburg. For more on Freiburg, see freiburg.de .