Ich bin ein Berliner.

Guten Tag alles,

"Ich bin ein Berliner" as an American President once said (thus inadvertently covering himself in ridicule - since the word "berliner" outside Berlin can also mean Jelly Doughnut).

Berliner Krapfen *Jelly Doughnut*

I am enjoying Tee und Schokolade (tea and chocolate) whilst sitting in a very cosy and übercool flat in an übercool neighbourhood of Berlin.  This neighbourhood, Kreuzberg, is quite multicultural and filled with Italian pizza joints, Turkish bakeries, Vietnamese pho restos and the like.

Last night we walked down the road (quite literally) to a little club to attend a gig by Flimmer FrühStück, a pop-rock band composed of a pianist, a saxophonist, a percusionist and a bassist. The band members are friends of my hosts' so it was nice to get to know them a bit, plus I really enjoyed the show.

Today I walked around Kreuzberg before visiting the Jewish Museum. The museum is quite informative although I have to admit I looked in vain for mentions of the Maccabees (thanks to our friend David's Hanukah stories I have retained this little bit of Jewish history) before it dawned on me that, of course, the Berlin Jewish Museum would be mostly about the German Jewish experience. It is actually a very child-friendly museum (with play areas interspersed throughout the permanent exhibition) and I almost wished I were 5 again to be able to play with the giant cut-out Hebrew letters.

East Wall Gallery

In the afternoon I joined 40-or so other people for an English-language free tour of Berlin. Our guide Barry was a wisecracking Irishman/former Law student who clearly loves his adopted city. I have to agree that Berlin is a fascinating city indeed - how can one not be amazed by its central role in the history of the 20th century, along with its unique blend of modern, shiny, gritty and grand. We saw the major sites including Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag and a number of memorials. It was a great tour but by the end, most of us were cold and wet!

I also stopped by the Alexanderplatzen Christmas Market - which I must say was a lot more enjoyable in rainy weather since there wasn't much of a crowd. I ate some gingerbread and ooh'd and aah'd at all the Germany food like pretzels, WeiBs Wein, Glögg, and Flammkuchen (aka tarte flambée).

XoXo's Miss Engagée