Parties, flea markets, singing Germans and street robbery.

 

It is time for me to get into sensible mode and fit for summer. The main reason being I love to run (fast). The secondary motivation is fellow colleagues at my employers often take part in various team sporting pursuits. There are upcoming running events and also a dragon boat race which it looks like I am going to take part in. It just so happens my boss organises these things so I already have a seat in the boat. That's OK though because I like rowing and I love running. As I can be a bit overly competitive or a bit of a perfectionist I want to make sure I'm in good shape. 

 

So last week I went on a couple of great runs down by the canals. The weather has been particularly pleasant for a while now, which meant as I ran on the gravel paths by the canal, the orange sunset was reflected in the water and the smells of summer were in the air. It was quite perfect. I think I ate about four mosquitoes though. My right knee hurts a bit again as a result, I hope it's not going to worsen. 

 

I spent Saturday doing a bit of shopping and reading in the sun. Then in the evening a colleague's (great American bloke) girlfriend had invited me to her birthday party. I really like her, she's a bundle of fun. It was a house party and it consisted of about 60 lovely people, a bath full of beer bottles and great music. Berliners are crazy so the party kicked off at about 10pm and went into the early hours. After spending the night chatting to fun people I got home at about 6:30am and left a flat that looked like the American government had conducted their unique brand of international diplomacy there. I'm pleased I wasn't involved in the clean up operation. 

 

I managed to grab a few hours kip before meeting up with another friend from work. She had arranged to meet a couple of her girlfriends at Mauerpark in the now well-to-do district of Berlin called Prenzlauer Berg. And so it was I spent a wonderfully sunny Sunday in the company of three lovely German girls. There is a massive flea market at Mauerpark which sells just about everything from old bikes to Russian military hats to designer t-shirts. I purchased some cool prints from a local artist which are now covering the shit art that came as standard in my 1974 flat. The park is pretty big and there was something of a carnival atmosphere - and to think, it was just a regular Sunday afternoon. Sweet. There is also a modest amphitheatre which houses open air karaoke every Sunday. Hosted by a funny Irish guy, all kinds of people got up to sing, from the mediocre to the really terrible it was really entertaining and the crowd participation was fun. We sat in the sun and watched for a couple of hours which means I now have the beginning of a nice tan. 

 

To round off the weekend, my friend and I went for a drink near her place in an area called Neukölln. Not far from me, this has the reputation for being one of the roughest parts of Berlin, but I thought it looked OK. However, we were the victims of street robbery! I was being taught how to play an inexplicable German game called Kniffel. It's played with dice and a grasp of probabilities. I had never heard of it but have subsequently discovered it's Yahtzee (I haven't played that either). It seemed to me there were a staggering number of rules, but despite that it was good fun. As we sat outside, at one stage I looked to my left to find a 12 year old boy's face about 10cm's from mine. He and his little brother had decided to see what it was all about. In the process of doing so he managed to kick his football against the wall which in turn rebounded and smashed our drinks. As I went inside to get replacements the two kids had left. We went to resume the game and then realised the little blighters had taken off with five of the dice. Or so my friend maintains. I think she hid them because I was winning. 

 

In other news, I can't stop listening to a particular song. My friend Duncan introduced me to it a while back. It will forever more remind me of this period in my life. I hope you enjoy it, because if you don't then it's time to reassess your musical taste.