The Cold War spy station on Devil’s Mountain
Teufelsberg — ‘Devil’s Mountain’ — is a man made hill that rises 120m above sea level and provides a 360 degree view of flat Berlin and the surrounding Grunewald.
Writer, Explorer and Travel Philosopher
Palace walk with lockdown blues
March 24, 2021 by 2 Comments
Portrait of an irritable man
I took a long walk through the neighbourhood again, partly out of a desire for new sights in a year of lockdown drudgery, and partly as an antidote to irritability caused by too little sleep and too much noise.
The end of hobo chic
March 3, 2021 by Leave a Comment
I like to stop by Bebelplatz for a visit to the Empty Library
The barber shops reopened in Berlin this week.
I’d booked an appointment as soon as I saw it coming, to beat the mad rush of involuntary hippies. And so I set out this morning to put an end to my out-of-control hobo chic.
An afternoon with Dicke Marie
February 24, 2021 by Leave a Comment
This tree is Berlin’s oldest resident
It’s beginning to feel like someone broke the weather.
We had snow here two weeks ago — the most snow I’ve seen in four years in Berlin. It didn’t snow at all last year. Before that, a few centimetres once or twice which melted within a day.
German pillows are a crime against sleep
January 18, 2021 by Leave a Comment
How does this make any kind of sense?
How big is your head?
I’m not suggesting you know its exact circumference in centimetres, but you do have an idea of how much space it takes up, right?
I don’t think this is the case for German people. How else would you explain their pillows?
Scolded by Germans
December 16, 2020 by Leave a Comment
One of my old friends is going native.
I went to the beach with her and her sister long before kindergarten was on the horizon, and we attended the same high school in our tiny hometown.
The misery of apartment hunting in Berlin
December 10, 2020 by 1 Comment
“There’s gotta be someplace out there for me…”
It’s easier to get into North Korea than it is to rent a flat in Berlin.
I can say that with great confidence, having done both.
The ‘Forbidden City’ just outside Berlin
November 16, 2020 by Leave a Comment
This was once the largest Red Army base outside the USSR
The largest Red Army base outside the Soviet Union was a 40 minute drive south of Berlin.
It was just beyond where the new airport — and the old Schönefeld SXF — is today.
The abandoned airport down the street
November 6, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Tempelhof airport was once the world’s largest building
I’m moving flats next month and saying goodbye to Tempelhofer Feld, my favourite space in the neighbourhood.
But before I pack up my books and lug them across town, I’d like to tell you a bit about the history of what was once the world’s largest building.
The Heavy Load-Bearing Body Down the Street
October 20, 2020 by
The base of the Schwerbelastungskörper
I’m moving flats soon, after four years, leaving this neighbourhood behind for another pre-war altbau in a different part of the city.
Imminent departure has prompted me to poke around some of those minor historic sites I’ve passed so often but never gotten around to exploring.
