Wow, almost a month again..

Hello again.

I always think I've blogged about x, y and z, to find I've only blogged up to n, o and p. So, yes...

VISITORS OF THE BEST KIND
(pic left: cyclist on the left there, heat before the rain). First, Luke came. That was brilliant. We cycled around the city a fair bit, over to Tiergarten along Unter den Linden (that unexpectedly wore us out), saw some markets, spent an evening in the old gallery, went out with a couple of friends, and yes.. our next meet is scheduled when I return to Edinburgh, star of August. Skypes and letters and emails until then.

Mum and dad came to Berlin, and rented an apartment from a shifty guy with a limp, who said they need never meet again. Joking mother! It wasn't that bad really! That is a warped telling of the nice chap who didn't grumble when we were an hour late from the airport, apparently sounded like Sven on the phone, but whose English did lead to the odd exchange I mentioned. Me and mum and dad met up a few times, for a lazy sunday brunch and market, dinner out and lunch, and a meal at mine meeting the flatmates (& chinchilla), but really they had their explorations to themselves. I supplied the map and dictionary ;)

(pic right: Karneval der Kulturen parade and spectators) The weekend after came Miss Jenny, an Edinburgh uni friend, for the ascension day weekend (a national holiday in Germany). She'd been here before, so we explored some of the nicer areas like P'berg and Mitte, watched films together, had coffee and cake and ice cream and wandered some markets. We went to Karneval der Kulturen in Kreuzberg on Sunday, which happens yearly on that weekend. Its a bright mix of a music and dance parade, and a street fest area packed with stalls with little gifts and african/malaysian/french/other food, alongside some stages. The most interesting item I found on the programme was "Hungarian speed folk", but unfortunately were there at the wrong time, so we saw some african drumming. Flamenco/jazz/turkish folk/etc. were also on the list. I have also finally taken a boat tour, which gave a welcome breeze for us in the pretty close weather.

VISITING
It was my turn to be the guest last weekend, as the long-promised visit to my flatmates' hometowns came into the programme. They both live a little way south west from Dresden, both in the countryside in small towns.
[Reminder, I live with a couple of friends I met when we both visited our church for the first time. They study in Berlin too, and are going out with each other.]
So, at M's we had an evening at the village fest over across the valley, catching up with M's old school mates, and the next day me and S had a mine tour with M's mum, and a photographer-come-rock expert, who included unofficial mine-photo shoots into the bargain. We joined in on the dinghy race part of a volleyball-canoe tournament M was playing in, and I drove the 10min trip back. Yes, it was all fine, and M was a brilliant instructor, very calmly telling me to move more into the centre of the road now and again, as well as where on earth I was going. The gears were fine, but the whole of the car is on your right. That was odd. That evening, we joined S's family and spent time in family birthday celebrations with them.

(Pic left: palace-y place) I'll break up the chronological story telling with our Sunday trip to Dresden (before our return). Dresden is a city with a very impressive and beautiful old town, which isn't actually old because it was all restored after WWII. The buildings also use sandstone, which doesn't help wear. The riches of the guy who built it were certainly shown off. The new ton is plainer but still nice, with bars and cafes and shops. Incidentally, our trip coincided with a music-street festival, which made it particularly busy and bright. (pic below: cool drainpipes in newtown)

THE LAST BIT OF TIME...
The weekends have been spent pretty eventfully, this last bit of time.Now its back to work, but making sure to keep the balance right and not let work get (by perception) out of proportion, a bad habit of mine. Hausarbeit, German course, Language Aquisition German exam, dissertation prep.. goodbyes, birthday celebrations, seeing friends, making the most of Berlin.. (side note: riding my bike is great). Under 6 weeks till I return, I am looking forward to it, but these weeks are all the more to make the most of. I wonder if I'll manage another blog before I'm on UK soil..

Kt
PS Unpolished blog, hope I've not blundered too much.