Writing Talent

I recently posted about sister Frances' sketching/painting talent and sister Pauline's poem writing talent. Nice to report another one. It is about Holger in Bremen. He recently visited Berlin in the company of his better half, the wonderful Gabi. I posted a story and photos about their visit.

He gave me a book as a present and to mark our first meeting in many years. I recently finished reading the giant book about 'The German Genius' and so only recently opened his present. It is a book of 22 short stories by the same number of writers. They are illustrated crime stories about art. This is the common link.

The book is in German and composed of stories by local 'hobby' writers. Like Holger, they all have full time jobs and write as a hobby. They are also members of a Bremen based writers group who meet up and plan writing tasks. I can recommend the book to all my German readers. The ISBN is 978 - 3 - 95494 - 048 - 6.

Holger's story is at the end of the book on page 164. His story is called 'Der Kunstliebhaber' which I translate as 'The art lover'. It begins with a man sitting at home who will shortly die. He is surrounded by lots of valuable paintings, but they mean nothing to that which he saw years ago, could never forget and saw again only that day. The story then moves to Guernica in Spain in the spring of 1937 and unfolds.

Very nice story Holger and I hope millions of Germans buy the collective book and you all write another one. Now to read the stories of others in your writers collective. Happy reading!

Before and After

I couldn't wait to try the McVitie biscuits, so as I munched the first one I thought I should do something else in addition to chew. Yesterday I sorted out three bags of paperwork and threw most into the re-cycling bin. With no more paper to occupy my time. I looked for something else to do.

I decided to polish the silver again. Some time ago I found these pieces in the cellar and returned them to my living room. I was rather surprised at how dark they had become during their long sleep in the cellar. Stefan: Now tell me they were not sleeping!

I enjoyed seeing them return to bright shiny life as I munched the McVities with coffee. I thought about the other silver, bronze, copper objects in the cellar which I brought back from India many years ago. I need another room for these, and my paintings from India.

They don't fit into my current room designs. I need a larger place with an India Room. That is a good idea -- and now it is time for another McVitie!

McVitssssss

Unbelievable but I found some. What? McVitie's Digestive biscuits, of course! The first time ever in Berlin. The story began earlier today. I galloped to my local bus stop for the 09:38 towards Lichtenburg S-Bahn/U-Bahn/Regional station.

I wanted to go to the AWO building where we Oldie SPD members meet for our Thursday breakfast. I got there at 10.00 am, which is when the chewing and slurping normally begins. But not today. Some idiots got into the empty flat about the AWO rooms and opened all the taps. Breakfast was literally 'washed out'! I believe the police are investigating.

Denied of my Oldie Breakfast, I walked to the station and decided to look around the recently opened EDEKA supermarket there. It is a large chain in Germany and boasts a wide range of goods. I browsed the aisles and then my eyes came out like 'organ stops!!'

I stared at a range of McVitie biscuits. They stared at me and we both blinked!  The classic digestive and one with chocolate. They whispered, "Buy Me". So I did, and more than one packet.  I am going to munch them later with coffee. Now how can I get a store to sell Pork Pies from Skipton?

November 2014 Things

October was a month of mixed things. Some old and some new. It was dominated by a return to regular  teaching which ended yesterday, and helping two groups of mainly senior women to improve their English. They need it for travel/tourism next Spring and Summer.

They are great fun to be with for they have life experience on which to base communication. They seem to like it for the keep asking if friends can join. We now have two groups and they do all the homework and enjoy talking. Hope they keep talking during November :-))

I'm looking forward to getting back into my weekly routine, particularly to training and meeting Kerstin's Oldie Keep Fit Gang on a Friday morning. In addition I have my PhotoClub, on Wednesday afternoon, the SPD Senior Breakfast Gang each Thursday morning, Photoshop Gang each Friday afternoon and my Spanish Gang on Tuesday afternoon.

I've also been invited to a number of SPD meetings including a regional conference on the 10th November, and a conference about the future programme of the SPD at the end of the month. Should be interesting and that I can in some small way influence policy which has an impact on the lives of many Berliners.

Who has a birthday in November? Daniel hits all of 19 tomorrow, Jeff/Robb/Annie all celebrate their 60th birthday on the 19th November in/around Amersfoort in the Netherlands, Sarah follows on 22nd November with her 55th in London, Stephen S. hits 58 on the 28th in Berlin and ends our birthday list. Happy Birthday to each and all and have a great day with family and friends!

Sleeping Breakfast

I got an interesting E-mail from Stefan yesterday. It was about my recent blog post with photo and text about the leaves dropping from the trees in my garden. He was not too happy about me using the word 'sleeping'.

This is what he said: " Btw. the leaves are not "sleeping", as you stated euphemistically, they are actually dying and rotting (being digested by microbes), but that's the circle of life (giving back their nutrients to the environment).

In Göttingen I worked beside other things on aging of leaves. The beautiful bright Indian Spring colours derive from carotinoids and xantophylles the plant produces to protect itself from drought or other abiotic stress. I now do the same with algae: I reduce their nitrogen source and turn up light exposure in order to make them produce lipids (fat=biofuel) and they turn from spring-bright green to autumn shades of olive & sad yellow."

Now we know!  He is a highly qualified biologist/botanist/ and knows his stuff, so my leaves are not sleeping....they are moving into a natural 'not-alive' stage! 

He recently moved to a new town, flat, job and laboratory. Here is a photo of him at work and his breakfast. He calls it his 'Traditional English Breakfast'. In the canteen he gets strange looks from vegetarian colleagues. 

He also commented on my pork pie post. He included a list of other dishes he likes based on meat and pastry. Here it is:  pelmeni, tortellini, ravioli, piroshki, pirukad (estonian!), empanadas, kudu, oystrich, Maultaschen, dumplings, wan tan, spring rolls, pot stickers. 

He is a much travelled man and enjoys discovering new foods and tastes. Stefan, on behalf of my readers I would like to thank you very much for your contribution. 

Heaven

The meaning of this word has certainly changed a lot since used to describe a place opposite to hell. I can give an example as follows: Living in Berlin with no pork pies is hell! Living in Skipton near the pork pie shop opposite the church would be heaven!

How about that for changing word meaning? This superb image was sent by cousin Barbara. I think all weddings in the UK should stop including the three tier wedding cake and replace it  with this luxury version of a pork pie family.

Every time I look at it I can taste again the Skipton pie shop products. Biting into the sill warm pastry, into the succulent spiced meat and feeling the juice running down my chin. Chew, chew and enjoy the changes in taste before swallowing and getting the jaws ready for another bite.

If I lived near that pie shop I would weigh about 250 kilo by now! Thanks Barbara and I think we should go to the shop together when I visit next June. We could take a camera to record me entering a real state of Heaven ---- and with juice running off my chin!

Sleeping leaves

In my last post I told you about the onset of Autumn. I used a tree in my garden to show leaves turning to golden shades and that they were falling onto the ground --- to sleep!

I got a few nice e-mails about using this phrase/playing with English. Glad you liked it! Now you can see all of what one week can do. Here is a photo of the same tree, but without leaves. Yes, you can see them all on the ground and sleeping.

I decided to take a wider shot of the garden to show the really BIG tree. This still has a lot of leaves about to fall but you can see that its fallen leaves have already covered a large area of the garden. They are also sleeping, and if you go into the garden after 10.00pm you can hear some of them snoring lightly. I jest not :-))

This week has started well, but the hard bit starts tomorrow with lots of teaching and travel for the next three days. At least the students are now clearly making progress, but then they do work hard.

I've just returned from a Spanish lesson where all of us ended up looking very lost after trying to understand all the rules about irregular verbs. At least I am not the only one to be lost in what to us looks like lots of confusing mathematical tables! Now to do my homework.

Season change

Today the clocks went back one hour in Europe. We are now officially in Autumn/Winter time. This is NOT my favourite time of the year. I am a Spring/Summer Mensch. Months of dark, dreary, grey, wet, cold days are waiting for me.

I have already dragged bags of winter clothes out of the cellar, and put summer clothes in their place. As ever, Berliners do the same and the colour of the next six months is ..... guess what?......Yes, you are right. It is BLACK! We look like a host of shadows moving around!

I took this photo of a nice tree in my garden a week ago. Now most of the leaves are sleeping on the ground. Surprising how quickly some things change. I wanted to sleep long and late this morning, but my body clock had a different idea. Yes, it woke me at 6.45pm - new time. I tried to sleep but gave up.

I decided to just get into the day so I updated the security on my laptop, did lesson plan preparation for my Oldies on Monday and Tuesday, then my Spanish homework. I tried to understand Spanish irregular verbs and decided I had to learn them like mathematics. Problem is that I can't keep all the rules in my head. I could when I was 13!  Have a restful Sunday.

Daniel iPad

Hello, this is Daniel, and not John!

As you can see on this picture, I am holding my new iPad. The story is that I applied for a scholarship last May. I thought I wouldn't get it but I am  pleased to say that I was wrong!

I got a letter from the foundation to say that I would receive the scholarship for my new studies at a college. At the end of August, I started a course to prepare me for A-levels  in medical laboratory work.

As you read on John's blog, we went to Hamburg where I  received a certificate and scholarship details. This included money to buy a new laptop and a tablet.

Last week I bought this iPad, and I have just added it on John's W-Lan. That means I can look for English words on the internet when I come for English lessons.

John is envious and threatened to steal it. No way :-))    My next task is to find a suitable laptop by next week.  I asked him if he thought Patrizia would read this, as she did his post about dogs/pets. He said he was sure for he would show her this post tomorrow, Friday.

Artist Adam

I think it is the first time on my blog that I have posted reports about two artists after each other. My last blog was about sister Frances the artist.

This is about Adam the artist. I posted a story about him and his work some months ago. Can't be sure when so just put those words into my blog search window and you will find him.

He lives with his parents in London and studies at a university there. His hobby is creating images. When I was at school it was called pottery. His parents call his creations 'Adam's Pots'.

I think he should stop studying and become a full-time pottery artist. I know it is difficult to earn a living as a full-time artist, but he certainly has the talent.

I have selected three of his works of art to share with you. If you would like to own one of his works of art then please contact me. I shall then contact him/his parents on your behalf to start the process of you buying one of his 'pots', or even an animal.

It is interesting to discover how many people you know who have such artistic ability. Look around your own  group of friends and see how many have such talent. One of my sisters is a visual artist and the other in Cambridge is a word artist. What talent!

Artist Sister

Sister Frances is showing her artistic skill. I recently got these photos from husband Geoff, and was really surprised to see them. They show real talent. I had no idea she could produce such works of art. But then when I look into her/our past I should not have been surprised.

Our father had a natural talent as an artist and produced many sketches and drawings. After producing them he used them to light the fire in the living room next day! Even so it was clear he had a talent and I remember he talked to his children about art and drawing and encouraged us to draw and paint at school.

I remember Frances producing interesting sketches, paintings and drawings at that time. As she grew up I do not remember her producing any more, or talking about painting and drawing. Getting married and having a family became her priority.

I am really pleased that she has gone back to her artistic roots and started to paint/sketch again. Keep it up Frances and ask Geoff to send me more of your works. As my family knows, they love dogs and recently adopted another couple. Waiting for drawings of the new members of the family.

I was prompted to post these drawings/paintings to share them with Patrizia. She is in my new English class and we had an interesting discussion about pets and dogs only yesterday. Patrizia also loves dogs and she had one for 17 years. I showed her photos of dog lovers in my family from images in my blog and we had an interesting discussion.

Hope you like these images Patrizia and I look forward to talking about them with you next Wednesday. I have added Frances' painting of a bowl of flowers. This shows a real ability different from painting animals. Well done!

Kyrill cooked

I left Frohnau yesterday afternoon and headed for Spandau. From the far north of Berlin I took two S-Bahns and an U-Bahn to get to my destination. It all took another hour. Spandau is in the far north-east of the city. I have been there a number of times before and posted reports on this blog.

The reason this time was an invitation from Kyrill. He is Marcel's flatmate and they study the same subjects at the same university. I posted a photo and brief story about him when Marcel moved in and I visited for the first time.

This time it was to enjoy typical Russian cooking. I know that in my last post I said I was in a restaurant after my Frohnau walk, but I knew I had a meal waiting in Spandau so I only ordered a small appetizer. A good decision.

I picked up some red wine on arrival in Spandau and that was the right choice for the food. Kyrill had really put a lot of effort into preparing and cooking the meal. He also likes to cook and does so when he is at home in Russia. He told me about the dishes, but I can't remember except one was Ukrainian borscht. Very tasty food and as usual with conversation laced with lots of jokes and humour. Thanks Kyrill for a very special experience.

Footnote to my Berlin readers: They are looking for a new flat/rooms to move into by the end of the year at the latest. It is not easy to find a place in Berlin now as you know. If you know of a place please contact me. Thanks.

Frohnau.

I went to Frohnau with an Oldie Walking Gang yesterday. I know the leader of the group and he invited me because there were some Non-German speaking visitors and he wanted me to translate/help. I readily agreed for I had never been to Frohnau. It has a population of 17,000 making it slightly smaller than the suburb in which I live

It takes a good hour to get there by public transport from where I live. I duly arrived, met the group and we got to know each other. It was a gentle walk through forest ending in a village called Schulzendorf. There we had a tasty late lunch in the large 'Dining Room' of a restaurant.

Frohnau is a very desirable place to live. It is in the borough of Reinickendorf in the far northern part of Berlin. It was founded in 1908-10 by Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck (You don't get many names like that anymore !). He inherited the land and decided to create a new town based on the English concept of a Garden City.

It was designed by Joseph Brix and Felix Genzmer. The town centre is built around the train station, open garden/park areas and large buildings such as the Casino Tower. You will not find manyhouses there. You wander the tree lined quiet streets and look at large gardens in which sit mansions/villas, of course with rooms for a servant or two! It was incorporated into Berlin in 1920.

It is surrounded by forests and walker tracks. It also has the tallest hill in the north of Berlin. A very large tree grows at the top of this hill, as you can see in the photo. I enjoyed visiting the town and walking through the woods in ideal weather for the time of year.

3 October

The 3rd October is a special day in Germany. It is an official holiday to mark the (re)unification of West and East Germany. This year was the 25th anniversary, so a special day for all. The weather was ideal with sun and blue skies.

My Mugglesee Gang and I decided to spend the day on a healthy bicycle ride plus picnic. Uli had the task of organising the event which he did very well. I noted that as we were moving, he looked at his smart phone. Yes, all the information was there on the internet. Only a few years ago we used maps printed on paper!

We met in the bicycle compartment of a S-Bahn going to Strausburg. It is to the east of Berlin and if you miss it and keep going you arrive at the Polish border. As regular readers will know, it is one of my favourite places in the countryside east of the city.

We exchanged information about what we had done since out last meeting before we got out. Uli took the lead and led us towards a nearby lake. We got there okay but ended up on the walkers track near the water rather than the higher bicycle track. No matter, we stopped for a break  at the water side. See the photos.

We continued cycling, had our picnic and ended up at a lake north of Strausburg, which I had not been to before. There we had another rest and enjoyed the sun, as you can see in the photo. Back on the bicycles and a steady pace to the S-Bahn station.

We reflected on the day as we returned to Berlin and all agreed it was one to remember. Great sights, weather, picnic and friendship. Looking forward to my next Muggelsee Gang meeting.

Muscles cooked

I've had a very busy and often stressful week. One bright spot was on Tuesday when Muscles M arrived. He called earlier to ask when I was at home, if he could cook and stay over. The only free  afternoon/evening was on Tuesday, so he arrived late as usual :-)

He returned from Hungary a couple of weeks ago, but I knew he had to prepare for an examination. That was on the Friday of his call. I have to admit that he really studies hard and his level of German has improved considerably. He had to prepare for another exam next week so I grabbed the chance to see him.

He wanted to relax, cook, talk about his summer holiday and enjoy a Gin & Tonic a la English style! That was easy to arrange as we settled into his summer adventures. I liked the way he presented his adventures with photos, and there were a lot of them.

I really enjoyed the photos of his time at Lake Balaton with his Opa und Oma and the time he spent with old school mates who are all now studying at different universities in Hungary. Marcel is the only one in the group to be studying outside the country.

Then he decided to go to the shop for things to cook. He did this and then started cooking quite late. It did not matter to him as he threw himself into the task. He finished at 11.10 pm. Yes, you read correctly. By this time my eyes were closing. I talked to him as he ate, prepared his bed and said 'Goodnight'.

I now never eat after 7.00pm on Docs orders, but I enjoyed seeing him tucking into his creation. He left me some to warm up next day, which I did and it was tasty. I look forward to our next meeting and seeing how much his new chin beard has grown. :-))

He said he was going to shave it off. I told him that if he did I would cut his arms off. I wonder what the next photo of him will look like?

Hamburg

Yes, the USA hamburger did originate in Hamburg, but was not originally eaten in a 'bun'. Just one of many interesting facts I uncovered when reading about the history of Hamburg as preparation for my visit with Daniel yesterday.

Its official title is the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. This reflects its long history as a mainly independent city state. The first recorded history of the place is in an order from the Emperor Charlemagne in AD808 that a fortress be built to defend against Slavic incursion. It was called Hammaburg: Burg means a castle or fort.

In AD834 it became the seat of a Bishopric which later merged with one in Bremen. In AD1189, Hamburg was granted the status of an imperial Free City by the then Holy Roman Emperor. After that, it began to expand as a major port. It is on the southern part of the Jutland Peninsula and so has the North Sea to the West and the Baltic Sea to the North-East.

During the Middle Ages, it became the centre of a banking system linked to trade and shipping. Before the creation of Germany in 1871, it was a fully independent republic state. In the second half of the 19th century Hamburg expanded due to Atlantic trade and shipping millions of German speakers from other areas to the USA. This made it Europe's second largest port after Rotterdam.

Although incorporated into the new German state, the Weimar Republic and what followed, Hamburg has managed to maintain a level of independence and played an important part in the founding of workers movements including trade unions and the SPD.  Currently the state government is led by a SPD/Green Party coalition led by Olaf Scholz. He was a minister in the national SPD/Green coalition after the year 2000.

It is situated on the River Elbe, 68 miles/110klm from the North Sea coast but is considered to be a sea port because of its ability to handle large ocean-going vessels. In Europe it still is 2nd to Rotterdam but 9th worldwide in the volume of goods handled. It is also the most important banking city of Northern Europe.

The Rathaus/Town Hall can be seen as a statement about city pride. It is a richly decorated Neo-Renaissance building completed in 1897. The tower is 112 metres (367feet) high and the facade is 111metres (364feet) long. Go and stare at it when you visit Hamburg. It is worth a visit!

Dan-Ham

I went to Hamburg with Daniel yesterday. Can I hear anyone asking why? His father could not go so he asked me to deputize. I readily agreed. We met at Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 6.45am, went to the underground tracks and jumped into our train which left at 6.59am. The journey took three hours.

It was Daniel's first train journey in Germany and he was looking forward to the experience. We went to Hamburg to attend a  meeting of students who had received scholarships from the joint Joachim Herz and Robert Bosch Foundations. It is the 5th year of the project.

The scholarships are given to students from non-German backgrounds and/or on low incomes. Daniel had succeeded in his application to go to college starting at the beginning of September. The scholarship includes financial support for living expenses and pay college fees. It also covers payment for a laptop computer! He is looking forward to buying one.

We found our way to the 'Fischermarkt' on the waterfront, where the ceremony was to take place, and registered. Daniel joined other students to prepare for the event and I joined parents for a guided boat tour of Hamburg harbour. That was really interesting.

In the afternoon the ceremony started by welcome speeches from representatives of both Foundations before the main event. This was when each of the 110 students were called onto the stage to receive their scholarship award. Their names were displayed on a large screen and here you can see Daniel getting his documents.

After, we all relaxed over a buffet. We got talking to a student from Pakistan who lives in the next district to me! What a small world.  After more talking and eating, students and parents began the long journey to their respective homes. They had come from many areas of north Germany. Daniel and I went by bus and stopped off at the Rathaus/Town Hall to take a few shots.

At the main station we found confused passengers for a computer system controlling part of the area had broken down. Some trains were cancelled so we were very relieved when our train was announced. We left 5 minutes late and arrived in Berlin at 10.20pm. A very enjoyable and memorable day which I am happy to have shared with Daniel!

A Dram

Just opened an E-mail from Falk and Elvira. Nice photo of a glass. Guess which drink it was designed for and which country?  Okay, you give up so I will tell you. For whisky and Scotland.

Having a 'wee dram' is a long tradition in Scotland and I note the modern design of the glass. You can hold this one in the palm of your hand while talking to friends. As you do so, the heat from your hand warms the whisky and releases more flavours to add to its taste. Mmmmh.....

Off to Hamburg tomorrow with Daniel. I am standing in for his father and have to wear a tie and jacket/suit for the event! Daniel is attending a meeting of students getting financial help to study. The foundation is paying for all to meet up tomorrow.

It will be the first time Daniel has travelled on a German train. I'm taking my camera so hope to get some photos of an interesting city to share with you via my blog.

Shower

I had a new shower cubicle 'thingy' fitted two hours ago. The Silsdeners are asking "Why?" I have had a shower curtain hanging over/into the bath since I moved into this flat. It was supported by a number of metal rods which fed back to a central plastic piece which was screwed into the wall.

Is it all clear so far? The old system is okay but the weak point is the central plastic piece for the screws tend to stop supporting it and fall out. When this happens the metal rods fall into the bath along with the nice curtain you took some trouble to buy from Aldi or Lidl when they had a special offer!

I decided it was time to improve my system. It talked to a Hausmeister (Caretaker) and he found information on his mobile phone. I later went to a local company selling different kinds of showers and ordered one. Twelve days later I got a call to say it was ready to be delivered. It arrived on plan last Tuesday.

I called the Hausmeister and it was agreed he would come with an assistant this afternoon to install the thing. The two arrived at just after 2.00pm and introduced me to a new and younger Hausmeister. They asked if he could work with them as part of his training. I readily agreed and settled down to watch the installation.

All went smoothly and I noted how the Hausmeisters made jokes in perfect 'Berlinisch'! So, I learnt to listen and understand more about this local variation of German. The photos show my new facility but not with all three doors open. Some kind of 'glue' was used so I can only expand it tomorrow when I take my morning shower. Looking forward to that. 

Little Crane

Goodbye to Little Crane. He was the little brother of Big Crane at the building site opposite my flat. Big Crane was dismantled about a month ago and I posted a story.

Yesterday morning I was woken from my slumbers by the sound of machines revving up and lots of banging. I opened the curtains to see a mobile crane being set onto the ground and a number of long flat lorries lined up to take away Little Crane.

I made some green tea, rubbed my eyes, wondered why they couldn't start work at 10.00am rather than 7.00am and settled down to watch. Two men climbed up Little Crane and started the long task of dismantling it.

Mobile crane hung over the two specialists until they got the word to move away from the long part of the crane. They did this and the mobile crane took away the long part. Then the specialists started to dismantle the upper body of the crane.

Again, the mobile crane took this away leaving the 'stump' of Little Crane sticking out into the air. This was then separated and lowered to the ground. On the ground, lots of other men were busy dismantling the sections and then loading the smaller sections onto waiting lorries.

It took hours to dismantle Little Crane and I had breakfast and prepared lessons as this took place. Now we have no cranes on the building site. Other workers are on the site to build water and sewage systems, electricity/gas, and finish off construction of the flats.

I liked the comment by a reader about the toilets outside my window and can now happily tell all that they have been taken away! I now live in a Toi-Toi free zone :-)) 

A Concert

I went to a concert today. It was at the Konzerthaus Berlin which is in Gendarmenmarkt. This area is also home to the German and French cathedrals, which are all on the Tourist Map of Berlin. The concert was organised by five regional co-operatives.

One of these is EVM. This is my housing association and building the flats opposite my flat. The co-operatives decided to host a concert for members and my EVM contacted me to say I could have a free ticket to the concert and to a buffet after. This was to say sorry for having to put up with building outside our homes.

I accepted this offer immediately for I have been living with noise, dust and inconvenience for a year, as have many others! I jumped out of bed this morning and got ready for the concert. I walked to Holger and Gabi's hotel to have a cup of tea with them and say goodbye.

I then went on the public transport system and arrived at the concert hall in time to settle into my seat in the first row in the middle. Nice placing! The theme was "Broadway meets Barock". A really interesting mix and concept.  The performances were excellent and all led by the moderator Jan Michael Horstmann. A very talented musician and moderator with lots of humour.

I enjoyed the buffet after and got into conversation with a couple. They were both from Turkish parents who came to Germany in the 1960s. They went to school here, got jobs, worked and founded a family and are now pensioners.

We talked about the new refugees and how they could help. I gave them some tips, names and telephone numbers for which they were grateful. I returned home reflecting on a very full and interesting few days. More to follow as this week unfolds.

Early Christmas

Christmas came early this year. It happened yesterday. Saturday. It had nothing to do with commerce. I told you in an earlier post that my local supermarket starting selling Christmas goods in the first week of September. Unbelievable!!

Holger and Gabi drove to Berlin from Bremen on Saturday and booked into the same local hotel where Alan and Lynne stayed. They also liked the large room and facilities for the price. They called me on arrival and insisted they find the way to my flat.

They did this via a Google App which took them the long way around! At least they found me. On the telephone we had agreed to enjoy a G & T to celebrate our meeting after many, many years. We each sipped a cool glass and so started a day of talk, talk and talk. There was a lot to catch up on.

I first got to know them in Brighton almost post-uni days. They helped me to move to Bremen shortly after. Our paths went different ways. In their case they started a family. They found me on the internet via this blog a few years ago and so we re-established contact.

I recently helped them to find a family in London for their son. He is 18 and wants to experience life in another country/language. Holger and Gabi had a weekend free to hit the road to Berlin. It really was wonderful to welcome them into my flat and note they still looked younger than their age(s).

They brought me many gifts hence I thought it must be Christmas. They know someone with a Winery and so brought some bottles plus a book and a CD with music fusing classical and modern/jazz. Holger likes this fusion.

We ended up at an Indian restaurant nearly opposite their hotel and then a return to my place for more talking and drinks. It was then that I took a few photos. They were sent to their son in London. Here are two I like plus a photo of their generosity. They invited me to visit them in Bremen so watch this space in 2016 to see if I make it there!