Chuchichāschtli usw.

I've been hanging out in Switzerland. They speak a funny language there. Not a dialect of Hochdeutsch, rather a whole language unto itself from which high German originates (as I understand it). I find German spoken with a Swiss accent has something of a welsh lilt to it; it's a beautiful accent I think. After travelling down with Mitfahrgelegenheit, I met N in Burgdorf and from there we travelled up into the mountains near Thun. Eriz is difficult to adequately described. A sort of festival, family, friend, gathering, surrounded by mountains and sunsets spectacular and cows. 

Places like this make me happy because they are full of good people, who are generous, who hug easily, who enjoy making music and telling stories. People of all ages, eating, drinking, dancing. (And what incredible food it was). In the nighttime the stars light brilliance and the woods exude darkness. Walking by the glow of the white track through the black I made my way out of reach of Eriz's sounds and lights. There, the mountains explode into an accidental orchestra! A chorus of bells, unmeditated, pervasive, every pitch and notes soft and clear. It's like the stars are singing. 

(Photos credit to Sabina and Helmer)

Following Eriz, the following days were spent mainly on, in, and beside rivers. Gummiboot adventures. Swimming with the currents, lazily, avoiding the tankers. On Saturday I made it to La Lance via Roller (motorcycle).* Sailing, Kayaking, exploring vineyards and old libraries, hanging out with my cousin. It was a good day.

*I have never been so cold in my entire life. Never drive on one on a motorway, with sandales, when it's raining. Also, don't let me drive it either. 

DÜDADO

April was a brilliant month. Overnight Berlin exploded into green. Tomkins descended on Neukölln, I turned 21, and finally escaped the city.

Hitchhiking to Basel was quicker than the train and considerably sunnier. We made it in good time to be greeted with wine, and some of the best people to be found in Switzerland. Everyday should begin with a swim in the Rhein, followed by homemade pancakes and a little red radio that belts out a Beethoven soundtrack to the boats that go past. Bread baking, egg painting, chocolate eating, docks trespassing, street dancing, train hopping, tree climbing, feet running, pedal cycling, treasure finding, letter writing, wine drinking, bubbles blowing, people talking, photo making -

A Red Room With a View

For someone who has no responsibilities, I appear to be quite busy. It's already been a week since I last wrote here, and everything is going in new directions. I've moved into a room for a month, a beautiful, big and very red room (I'll get some photos soon). I live in a WG that is divided between two apartments one above each other, the upper having the kitchen, spacious Wohnzimmer and Balkon. We're on the top floor and coffee time on the balcony is perfect for watching the world go by and the miniature dramas play themselves out on the busy street below. Coffee happens a lot.

This week has been full of french, as various friends from Switzerland descended on the city. I've had people staying with me which has been really cool, my first proper visitors you could say. The blend of languages has been interesting, rather than move from English to German then to French I've opted to blend them all into one mishmash of confusion. So that's fun! I'm also planning on teaching my flatmate Englisch in return for Spanish lessons - and I'm living with two spanish men for the rest of the year - so I'm going to learn German with a spanish accent?! Total papperlapapp!

Today I have just signed up for German classes. Four hours a day, Monday to Friday, for one month costs €110. Pretty good, I think it's cheaper because I'm going to be living here for a year so the government subsidise the classes. I've also been working as a babysitter for a french family so that's a tidy bit of money for the occasional night in of film watching. Perfekt!

Really exciting, I have acquired a Praktica Kamera MTL3, an old manual SLR from the DDR. It's beautiful. I've been inspired by how auf Deutsch you "Foto machen" (make a photo) rather than "Foto nehmen" (take a photo). So now, I consider each photo carefully, I'm aware of the light and composition, I take notes on the settings used for each photo and then I'll get them developed into real objects. They'll probably all be crap. But then I'll learn and get better. I love thinking about all the people who've made photographs with this camera, all the stories that it has seen and the places it has been.

So a few places I have been:

Bar 25 though highly recommended by various people this turned into a complete disaster. After we missioned it there on a Sunday night, queued for a ridiculously long time, the bouncer with his red clipboard refused to let us in. Why? Apparently we were too young. Oh you're all over 20? Well, you're still not getting in. I felt outraged at having my finest most polite German rejected. My understanding of this place is that is has some 'reputation' to uphold and therefore decides on a whim who to let in, and apparently we were too foreign and too big a group for them. I'm not sure I want to go to a place that acts so high and mighty, with its red clipboard.

Club der Visionäre was much more of a success. Friendly bouncers, good tunes. Slightly more expensive than standard Berlin bars, more like english prices with just over €2 for a beer.

Last night I went to a cool, grungy, and magical bar next to Samariterstr 32. Recommended for comfy sofas, cheap beers and great wall art.

I highly recommend this excellent blog for stories of hidden gems in Berlin.

So, I think that's it for now. Email me your stories please. Come here for New Year's Eve, it's going to be out of this world.

Bisous,

N