I forrige weekend var jeg i Berlin med min mor på operatur. Sidste år var vi i Oslo, i år i Berlin, så gad vide hvor vi finder på at tage hen næste år – Wien, Barcelona, London og Milano er på den mulige liste.

The weekend before last my mother and I went on an opera trip to Berlin. Last year we went to Oslo, this year to Berlin, so I wonder where we’ll go next year – Vienna, Barcelona, London and Milan are all on the possible list so far.

Tilbage til Berlin. Det var en skøn miniferie. Vores hotel lå yderst centralt, men vi valgte alligevel at købe dagskort til de offentlige transportmidler. Det var en god investering, for man kommer længere omkring, når man bare kan hoppe af og på diverse køretøjer. Nå ja, vejret var heller ikke for festligt et par af dagene, og så er det jo rart at kunne komme tilbage til hotellet uden at blive gennemblødt.

Back to Berlin. It was a wonderful mini vacation. Our hotel was situated very centrally, but even so we chose to buy day cards to the public transportation. It was a good investement, as you get further around when it is possible just to jump on and off the available transportations. Oh and the weather wasn’t that glorious some of the days, which makes it really nice to be able to return to the hotel without getting soaked.

 

Vi besøgte nogle af de sædvanlige turisthøjdepunkter, gik gennem Tiergarten, ind mellem Holocaust mindesmærket og under Brandenburger Tor. Men vi tog også lidt længere udenfor centrum. Vi var bl.a. nede ved det nyrestaurerede “East Side Gallery“, hvor en god bid af muren står og fungere både som galleri og mindesmærke. Det styrtregnede da vi var der, men på en måde var det passende til det tungsind, der helt af sig selv lagde sig, når jeg tænkte over den betydning den simple betonkonstruktion har haft.

We visited some of the usual tourist highlights, walked through Tiergarten, between the collums of the Holocaust memorial, and under Brandenburger Tor. But we also went a bit further out of the centre. Among other things we went to the newly restored “East Side Gallery“, where a chunk of the Wall still stands and is both art gallery and memorial. We walked along it in a downpour which suited the feelings I had when thinking about what the meaning of this simple concrete structure is and has been.

Højdepunktet på turen var uden tvivl operaen. Vi så “Tosca” på Deutche Oper og det var fabelagtigt. Alt var perfekt, musikken, opsætningen og ikke mindst sangerne. Klart anbefalelseværdigt for operafans.

Der blev selvfølgelig også tid til at gå i butikker og ikke overraskende sørgede jeg for (jeg var kortfører) at vi kom forbi diverse kreative butikker. Dels gik vi ud til Frau Tulpe, som vist må siges at være en af de hyggeligste, mindste og mest inspirerende stofbutikker, jeg nogensinde har været i. Sikke en stemning, og jeg kom vist til at lade mig rive med og købe fire lækre stykker stof. Derudover ledte vi selvfølgelig efter strikkebutikker. Ved hjælp af Ravelry havde jeg lokaliseret nogle stykker, men det blev kun til et rigtigt besøg. Det var i LaLaine på Kantstrasse, som må siges at være en positiv overraskelse. Vi var gået forbi den, den aften vi ankom, og ved første øjekast lignede det mest en 70’er-agtig (på den knap så gode måde) butik med lidt for meget akryl i assortementet… Men som bekendt skal man ikke skue hundene på hårene, og butikken var virkelig lækker. Så lækker at der hoppede noget skønt pink strømpegarn og tre nøgler “pashmina” garn i posen helt uden modstand. Det var faktisk også den afsluttende butik vi besøgte inden vi gik i KDW og spiste tidlig aftensmad og fik champagne. God afslutning.

The highlight of the trip was without a doubt the opera. We saw “Tosca” at Deutche Oper and it was fantastic. Everything was perfect, the music, the production, and not the least the performers. I can only recommend most strongly for opera fans.

Of course we also had time to shop, and perhaps not very surprising I managed to steer us (I had possession of the map) past several craft shops. First visit was in Frau Tulpe, which I have to say is the most beautiful, tiny and inspirering fabric shops I have ever visited. What an atmosphere! I think I was caught in it and happened to buy four beautiful pieces of fabric. Otherwise we of course loooked for yarn shops. With a bit of help from Ravelry I had managed to find adresses for a couple, but we only managed one proper visit. That happened in LaLaine at Kantstrasse, which has to be said was a very positive surprise. We had passed it the night we arrived and had put it down as a 70’ish (not in the good way) shop with perhaps a tad to much acryllic on the shelves… Sometimes you should not judge a book by its cover, and that was clearly the case here, because honestly the shop was gorgeous inside. So gorgeous that some wonderful pink sock yarn and 3 skeins of “pashmina” yarn jumped into my bag by their own accord. It so happened that it was the last shop we visited before touring KDW and had early dinner and champagne before going to the airport. Perfect ending.