Another Week in Berlin

For the last week, I have been spending time a lot of time writing in Shakespeare and Sons Bookstore and Cafe. I love this place! I sit in the chair near the front window, order my cappuccino and something sweet (the baked goods are of course delicious), and I write. Writing about writing can be too twirly sometimes, so I will simply say that it feels beyond good. Like visiting with an old friend. The vignettes will eventually connect into a complete work of fiction. I can feel this too. All good.

This past weekend, Julie, Brendan, Benjamin and I socialized again. We had dinner, wine, and whisky at their place Friday night. Julie is a fantastic cook, and the conversation was once again a welcome retreat from trying to adjust to a new city and culture. We met Neko, their silver tabby, and I almost cried because he looked so much like Trampoline. He is such a sweet cat. I loved how he batted around the wine cork and did that grizzly bear thing kitties do when they get up on their hind legs and swat at their “toys” with their front paws. Neko would make appearances like this, and then go back to the other room to sleep. Typical, lovely kitty-ness.

On the way to their place, we stopped in a store called Whisky and Wine. The man who worked there spoke a billion languages (spoke to me in Polish a bit and I thought, “I want to learn that language too!”), and he let us sample two Berlin vodkas. The one called Held was good, but my favorite was one called Adler (which translates to eagle). It was stronger and quite tasty. This could be my substitute for Chopin (since he did not have any potato vodka and his Belvedere was too expensive, just like in the States). Benjamin, as serendipity would have it, chose Brendan’s favorite whisky, and it was really nice to see both of them so happy about this.

On Sunday, we met with them again for brunch (Butter rules!), and then they took us to a flea market down the street a bit from Mauer called Arkonplatz (I think this is the spelling). Great flea market! They bought a beautiful chair, and Benjamin found a nice leather bag. I saw antique litho prints, letter press text, typewriter pieces, more of those mysterious, vintage, secret sewing boxes, and clothes that I wanted. I am waiting to buy house stuff and more clothes until we have our new place. I did buy a wool/felted ring though when we stopped by Mauer. It’s pretty, bright, and feminine…these adjectives will be one of my cures for the gray here.

We ended another week having dinner and conversation with Christoph. This time we went to an Indian restaurant, and of course, like all the food we have had here, it was fantastic. He is such a sweetheart! He has that quality some people have of twinkling eyes. He’s also incredibly patient with us and all our questions about language, culture, and city. It is very nice getting to know him.

The weekend was rainy, and admittedly, I am going to have to fight this grey, but time with friends makes it a whole lot better.