Long Time Gone

Between Christmas preparations, Christmas, Italy, New Year's, and visitors- I have been a long time gone. Christmas was marvelous and Italy was warm. In Rome I went about without a scarf or hat and when I first arrived in Venice- I wore a cardigan! Skies were blue and it was hard to believe it was winter.


I spent a few days with my Uncle Mike, Aunt Sam, their boys Noah and Abe, and my Grandparents- celebrating Christmas and playing with my active cousins. So much energy! But not surprising, they are 10 and 8 year old boys. Day after Christmas, we headed to Rome- it was gorgeous. Warm, sunny, and full of exciting buildings, etc. I'll need to go back some day, but there is so much to see!


Upon immediate return to Berlin, the blue skies kept for a few days- it was bitter cold, but beautiful and sunny. By New Year's Eve, the damp cold of before returned- this time much more cold than before I had left for Italy. And New Year's day, Melissa, the Grandparents and I awoke to snow. SNOW! Not much, but snow nonetheless. New Year's Eve in Berlin was an experience- to say the least. I was at Potsdamer Platz, it was a veritable war zone. Everyone had rocket launched fireworks and firecrackers that they threw every which way. The debris are still present to some extent on the streets of Berlin.


Around 1am, I got onto a train with some friends to head into Kreuzberg, another area of Berlin. The trains where completely packed with people singing, drinking bear, and celebrating the New Year. It was insane, when Melissa and I got on a train to go home around 4.30am- they were still quite full. That day, around noon, when Melissa and I went to meet the Grandparents, I spotted some people just tredging home.

Now my world has quieted down, visitors are gone and I am regaining energy to finish off my semester.


I am surrounded by light snowfall and the cold- New Year's resolve don't fail me now!

Visitors from France and Other Exciting Happenings

This past week, an old French friend of Melanie's and her friend came to visit Berlin. They are musicians and we had the most marvelous time together. I think I shall miss those funny Cabaret singing women now that they have returned to France. Night before last, they performed part of their act at a local French bar. The bar was great, apparently a little piece of Paris in Berlin (and only a 25 minute walk or so from my apartment). I drank an exciting wine, listening to their music, and had fun switching between German and English, explaining repeatedly that I did not, unfortunately, speak French. I think it will be next on the list.



The weekend just kept getting better too. Last night I went to Yorckschlößchen, this Jazz/Blues club to check out the music and the possibility of going there with Melissa and the Grandparents for New Year's eve. The club was awesome, the band this time was a Jazz Hip Hop group from Switzerland. Their Swiss German was funny and incomprehensible, but they would switch to Hoch Deutsch when speaking to the audience, thankfully! The club was quite cozy with good wine (though not as good as the French place) and awesome music. I'm going to call this week and make reservations for New Year's. I found this picture of the bar in winter, ah...I wonder if it'll look like this???



The icing on the cake, however, was the amazing and surprising news that Cordelia is coming to Germany during her Spring break! I was teasing her and said she should fly here tomorrow, she looked at fares and found a great deal in March, during her spring break. SO she's coming! I feel like dancing on air, I am so excited. I think we may go to Poland together, because what could be better than going to Poland with Cordelia?