ritas kleine welt

birgit and i went for a walk through berlin on friday afternoon in order to secure some tickets for the world premiere of the restored metropolis. (we were short of ten people in front of us when the box office closed. dang!) on our way to the friedrichstadtpalast, we crossed one of the many bridges across the river spree. this is what we saw...

monday just after i had finished teaching the second round of shakespeare's lusty world of sonnets, i was on my way to berlin to celebrate 20 years of the opening of the iron curtain together with birgit and christoph. at first it was wet. and then there were lots of people. and then we had a hunch that the people in front of their tellies saw much much much more and also heard what was being said. but still it was great fun! it's not every day that a nation gets to celebrate its freedom and invite the whole world to the party.

and then, shortly after midnight, christoph found himself in the arms of two obliging ladies who wished him a happy birthday.

before you continue with the content behind the cut, please, take the time to re-watch the original broadcast of the tagesschau with a very happy anchorman announcing the opening of the east-german borders.

yesterday, i received an email from sabine who took a picture of a pair of stolpersteine on her walk through the nikolaiviertel in berlin.

thank you very much for your contribution!

about ten days back, i spent some lovely days in berlin for the annual MASH meet-up for Whitsun. we had lots of fun, lots of sun -- and rain. lots of MASH, food and laughter. and we had enough time to cut lose to spend half a day inside the Pergamon Museum. naturally, i got a bit snap happy when i saw all those pretties from greek and roman and arab antiquity. you have seen some pictures already, but here are the rest.

on the happy occasion of the annual MASH meet-up in berlin, there was enough time this year to spend a considerable amount of time in a museum. on friday, i returned to the place that caused my fear of heights (the bridge across the river looked less reasuring some 24 years back). all i remembered from my first and only visit to the pergamon museum was the impressive ishtar gate and a couple of naked greek statues. luckily, this time i brought along my camera to document the visit.

on our strolls through birgit's neighbourhood in berlin on wednesday and thursday, we encountered many stolpersteine. quite a few were recently installed. they were all shiny and reflected the sun in such a way that they almost looked white. however, some of the older stones have not received proper attenion and are either dirtied over or even have dents. i still don't know why people who live in houses with stolpersteine in front don't take better care of them.

on a related note, on 9 april a number of new stolpersteine will be installed across a number of locations in leipzig.

because my travels spontaneously lead me to the german capital of berlin and birgit took pity upon me and gave me shelter and victuals and because the weather was so inviting and sunny and warm and just generally effing great, we went on a long walk through the city centre.

ps. i am still irritated by the exchange of pleasantries with the inscrutable mr j.

today was my last day as working person at the copy-shop. from now on, i shall only return in the role as 'the paying customer'. ironically, as i am now just about to start my second work contract with the uni, i received today the invitation for the interview with the crack of dawn.

so, please, for next thursday, keep all your digits crossed for this lowly wee one that she will return from the interview in one piece.

ps. i now have officially arrived in the 21st century. for about an hour now, i have been the owner of a new mobile phone -- including camera and mp3-player.

pps. i still feel that this glorified potato peeler is way too much for just calling someone, but at least it's got the added bonus of being pretty.

as you are all aware of, two weeks ago i spend some very pleasant days in berlin again. here are finally the scans of a few pictures i took on the occasion.