Treasures on my Walks– First MidWeek Berlin
Over the past two days, I have wandered around Prenzlauer Berg trying to get my bearings and a feel for this neighborhood.
I continue to be charmed. I have already listed what I found on my first walk, and because of all those treasures, I returned to that area.
I wanted to visit the second hand and handmade vintage shop again. I loved the dresses and skirts that were hanging on the outside sale rack, and I had heard Johnny Cash playing, so I knew this would be a fun place. This time when I went inside Allison Krauss was playing. Who was the owner with such good taste in music? And such lovely taste in both clothes and decor! The inside felt like a combination of a neat, beautiful, and carefully arranged closet and an artist’s sewing room. To the left, there was a sewing machine where the seamstress displayed her latest project. She was making what looked like a quilt or a tapestry. There were several colorful, felt circles ranging in size from 3″ to 5″ in diameter. These were stitched together loosely with small loops of yarn. This in and of itself was a very nice design, but to add to the composition, the seamstress layered some of the circles with little lace or crocheted doilies. So pretty! I had to ask her about this! But first I visually took in a little more. On the shelves above the clothes racks there were vintage lunch boxes and post cards of 1940s Hollywood movie stars. Her inventory of clothes was feminine and elegant. I felt at home in this magical place.
I shyly began to speak to her, hoping we’d have enough language between us to communicate. We did. Her name was Iris. She had traveled recently to Thailand, and she spoke excitedly about how the colors there were her inspiration for the work. The doilies belonged to her mother and grandmother. I complimented her on the choice to add simple line stitches over the doilies to create another layer. She smiled and humbly pointed to her sewing machine which also came from her mother. I complimented her on her shop and promised to come back to buy something. I thought of my friends Nikki and Jessie while I was in there. I know they’d be equally enchanted. Oh, and the shop is perfectly named, Aschenputtel, which translates to Cinderella. Yes, I am going back to find many glass slippers.
I continued walking to discover my first neighborhood kitty.
He was sitting outside an artist’s studio, and weirdly enough he was on a leash. With all the dogs that run next to the bicyclists or hang out in the parks without leashes, it was strange to see a cat on a leash. At first, he seemed spooked by my crutch, but after I slowly set it down, he walked over to me. And what a talker! He meowed happily when I pet him. He gave me his chin, rolled over onto his belly, and mewed again. He didn’t want me to leave, and I will return to see him again. I hope he is the first of many friendly felines.
Next, I went into a neighborhood Bio and ice cream store. I must have looked as confused as I felt trying to understand the new labels, because the young woman who worked there approached me. She began in German, and when I used my tag line,”Ich verstehe nicht,” she enthusiastically changed to English. God bless the young people here and the German education system for instilling an interest in English. Not only did she answer my questions about everything from dunkel bier to cherry juice, she reviewed vocabulary and pronunciation with me as I shopped. She was so sweet and smiley. Her name was Lina, and this was her summer job. She was going to go to university in the fall to study design, web and print design. Of course I shared that this was Benjamin’s career, and she was excited to learn that he was happy and making good money. I will return there as well. Kindness like this goes a long way.
More kindness was extended when I visited the art supply store the next day. Kunstler Magazine is located on what I think is the border between Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte. They sell mostly paint, brushes, and paper, so of course I thought of my niece. She’d love it in there! It is very well stocked and a painter’s dream! I was on the search for scissors and glue, however, and thankfully they had a small selection. The woman who worked there was very nice, but when I asked if she spoke English, she smiled and said, “No, ah, my colleague.” She then went to the back and out came another younger woman. I asked her if there were any fabric stores nearby. She kindly drew me a little map and directed me to a shop called Frau Tulpe, which translates of course, to the very cute, Mrs. Tulip. She also gave me a metro map! YAY! It’s fine to look things up on Google map, but I still need paper to navigate. I thanked her profusely and left.
The route to Frau Tulpe was beautiful. I walked in one of the tucked away neighborhoods of Mitte passing a gorgeous church, a store simply called Chairs, that my friends Jen and Nick would love as it had all kinds of modern design chairs, and of course little coffee shops. The inside of Frau Tulpe was adorable. Individual ribbons hung from the ceiling, so when I went to look at the rows of thread beneath them, it felt like being surrounded by a happy mobile. My mom would have loved the bright selection of fabric as well as how knowledgeable and friendly the staff were. No waiting in a long line like at JoAnne’s. I was helped as soon as I asked, and I learned how to pronounce ‘nadeln’ and ‘faden’ or needle and thread. Yes!
Finally, to close my journey of charms and treasures, I will describe my new favorite cafe, Butter, and one the best experiences I have had in this city so far. Butter is the perfect cafe. It’s open, airy, and bright. The tables and chairs are perfect for writing, and the layout has multiple floors and small, hideaway nooks for those of us who want to focus undisturbed. Their cappuccinos are delicious, “styled’ with a barista’s signature leaf swirled into the milk, and served with an amaretto cookie. For me, the best quality of Butter is the music. I have heard everything from classical and jazz piano to folk to Kate Bush’s “Wurthering Heights.” Like I said, it’s perfect.
When I was in there last, I sat at my little corner table sipping and writing. A couple came in and sat at the table next to me, and to my ear’s delight, they were speaking Spanish. Ah…When the waitress came, the man switched to German to order, but as soon as they left, he went back to Spanish. From what I could eavesdrop, they were talking a lot about music. As I sat there, like a kitten content in a sunbeam, I heard the music, the Spanish, the servers and other patrons speaking German, and slowly these haiku/song lyrics that I have been working on began coming back to me. I was writing again. After long months of focusing on the move and putting art aside, it felt divine! I must have gotten pretty lost in it, because the couple finished their breakfast and started to leave. The man turned to me and said,” Tschuss,” and I answered, “Adios.” This response made both of them laugh and they began talking to me in Spanish. Whoa! I couldn’t get out of it with English, because they didn’t speak it, so here was my opportunity to practice. I learned that they were not a couple. They were brother and sister. They were from Argentina, and as I had overheard, they were a musical duet. He was a guitarist and she was a singer. They explained that they were in Berlin to perform at the Instituto Cervantes Berlin. Of course, I wrote down the address of this center. They were patient with my beginner Spanish, and smiled as they said goodbye. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better exchange.
