Decidimos hacer Palma de Mallorca nuestro hogar y hemos alquiler un piso en el barrio, Son Espanyolet. Nos encanta este barrio porque lo es auténticamente Mallorquin (¡hay solamente españoles aquí….muy pocos extranjeros!), pequeño y cerca de la playa. Queríamos nuestro hogar se siento como una casa local, por tanto buscamos y encontramos artículos locales de esta región. Tambien, decidimos construir muchas muebles – por ejemplo: nuestra mesa de cocinar de madera recuperada, nuestro sofá y nuestra mesa de trabaja. ¡Thomas es un genio con construcción, que hace todos estas cosas muy divertidas!
We’re back on Mallorca! After getting settled in our sunny apartment in the Santa Catalina neighborhood of Palma, we were lucky to have our first houseguests – my cousin Liz and her husband John. They rearranged their Spanish vacation to visit us, and we were thrilled to show off our new island home.
On Saturday, we took the historic train 33 kilometers from Palma across the island to Sóller and Port de Sóller. This rail line opened in 1912 and passes from the city into the countryside, passing through orange groves, chicken coops and carved-out island tunnels. We made the trip in vintage carriages still outfitted with mahogany panels and brass fittings. Very cozy.
It was a fun touristy thing to do, and gave us a chance to explore the quaint village of Sóller and spend time with family. Thanks for making the trek here, Liz & John!
Uno de las primeras cosas hicimos cuando aterrizamas de nuevo en Barcelona fue inscribirnos en la escuela español. ¿Porque no mezclar un poquito de español a nuestro formación actual de aleman y ingles?
Thomas fue un principiante, pero durante las cuatro semanas pasadas puede pedir una comida en español ahora y comprar para pescado, verduras y frutas cada día a nuestro mercado favorite, San Antoni. La escuela experiencia ha estado frustrante porque no necesariamente estamos de acuerdo con su estilo de enseñanza (eso está demasiado academico y no suficiente centrado a hablando o mundo real aplicaciones de la idioma) pero a pesar de eso, Thomas ha prosperado.
Estudié español en colegio y tengo un poquito comprensión de la gramática y el vocabulario, pero he ponido nunca en hablando practicar recientemente. Así, decidí a combinar clases diarias con un intercambio. Un intercambio es una person con quien puedo hablar sobre una base regular – alguien que quiere practicar su ingles mientras puedo practicar mi español. Está trabajando muy bien a mí obtener diaria practicar que necesito – y especialmente porque la escuela tiene demasiado foco en grammatica (aburrido y no está practical).
Nuestro proxima viaje está Palma de Mallorca para una mes. Hay tan alemanes como españoles allí, así estamos esperando vamos a estar bien preparados para navegar la vida cotidiana mallorquín con nuestra mezcla de alemán, español e inglés.
The drive from Barcelona down to Jávea was a beautiful one, hugging the Spanish coast and overlooking the Mediterranean at times. We arrived at Carlos & Sandra’s stunning home overlooking Mount Montgo, excited for our visit with their lovely family.
Our five days with them were so special. We got to know the sweetly affectionate Sofia & Poppy – both of whom taught us some Valenciana, which they are picking up so quickly in school. Each day, the 6 of us set out to explore a different part of the region – the old town of Dénia, the charming campos of Jávea, the waterfront at Moraira and a big hike through the olive fields & mountains of Tarbena. Lunch was always the big meal of the day, and we developed a healthy obsession with conejo, paella, arroz al horno and of course, Spanish wine.
The week went by too quickly, but we’re hopeful we get to see more of these four in the coming month as we prepare to spend even more time in Spain. Thanks to Carlos, Sandra, Sofia & Poppy – we love you guys!
A week in Bavaria wouldn’t be complete without a road trip out to the Tegernsee. This cozy, idyllic, beautiful lake is situated only an hour outside Munich, and together with Frank, we made a day of sightseeing the countryside. Walking along the water, gorging ourselves with wholesome German food and then hiking it off in the mountains surrounding the lake made for one of our favorite days in Southern Germany.
Christian & Alexandra loaned us their adorable Mini and planned a ‘Mini Adventure Cozy Place Outside Berlin-Wannsee-Caputh Trip” for Thomas & me. Each step of the day was planned out – complete with a hand drawn map illustrated by their 6-year old son Ben. It included notes on where to sink our toes in the sand, where to find a cup of coffee with the perfect Seeblick and finally, which castles were best to visit.
With our cute wheels, we headed west out of Berlin. We walked around Heilandskirche first and then made our way to Cecilienhof Park. The weather was beautiful, so we sat in the park with a picnic, napped, found a warm spot for swimming in the Heileger See and then poked around the castle. We were then off to Sanssouci, another lavish castle with magnificent gardens. After a quick stop in Altstadt Potsdam for Kaffee und Kuchen, we watched the fairy go back & forth in Caputh over a delicious dinner.
It was a wonderful day of sightseeing as our time in Berlin was coming to an end. Many thanks to Christian & Alexandra for planning out such a sweet trip for us!
Scarves are another great canvas for textile design. We found beautiful cottons at our favorite Berlin markets and set about dyeing them in every way possible. We designed & cut stamps, mixed crazy custom dyes and rewrote the rules of traditional shibori to keep it interesting. Here’s a sample of our hand stamped, shibori and batik pieces, which we had fun shooting in the neighborhood.
It was a busy August with even more of our dear friends coming to visit us in Berlin. Niko, Gina & Sophia had a layover on their way from Greece back to New Jersey, so we met at one of our favorite biergartens in the Tiergarten for dinner & catching up.
Abby flew all the way from New York for a quick 4-day visit, so we had to fit everything in: bike riding all over city, David Bowie exhibit where we had our faces tattooed (see post), dinners out, visits to the Berlin Wall and chilly afternoons in the park with rosé.
Michelle & I started taking annual trips together a few years back, and this year she hopped over to Berlin from London to visit & meet Thomas. We got back on our trusty bikes (see a theme here?), met Raimond & Stefan for dinner, spent a lazy afternoon touring Berlin’s canals by boat and sauntered through some of Berlin’s great flea markets & sights.
Thanks to all our friends who’ve been able to come all the way to Berlin to visit. We have loved having you!!
Ich bin jeden Tag im diesem Sommer Deutsche Sprachschule gegangen. Heute war meinen letzten Tag und jetzt ich fertig bin!
Deutsch ist hart und zu lernen eine neue Sprache schwierig ist. Ich habe mich zu viel durch die Sommer darüber beschwert. Am Ende, bin ich mit die Herausforderung zufrieden. Deutsch Grammatik ist ärgerlich, aber muss ich es los lassen. Dafür muss ich immer meine Haupt Punkt sprechen und nicht an der Grammatik zu konzentrieren. Mein Freund ist immer geduldig und hilfreich mit diesen Sachen!
Ich freue mich mit unsere Pläne für die Zukunft, aber bin ich auch ein bisschen traurig meine Sprachschule verlassen. Ich glaube ich muss wieder Deutsch sprechen, üben und lesen während wir in Indien sind. Ich möchte mit meinem Deutsch fließend zu werden!
Old Berlin buildings were constructed to account for the city’s extraordinarily deep blocks. As we walk through Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte or Kreuzberg, we peek through the main building carriage doors into these beautiful courtyards and Hinterhäuse hiding behind.
When these buildings were erected, the front houses were built as spacious apartments for officers, civil servants and ‘higher’ society. These Vorderhäuser open up to beautiful courtyards and then another set of buildings which were workers’ dwellings, garages and shops in the wings and rear houses. And in certain cases, there is yet another courtyard and a third or even fourth set of rear buildings, all completely hidden from the street.
We love walking the cobblestone streets of Berlin, spying through doors to see how deep some of these Höfe go into the block. We’ve spied the most beautiful ivy climbing the sides of Hinterhäuser, visited secluded courtyards filled with wildflowers and stumbled upon quaint restaurants nestled between the third and fourth set of rear buildings. All are little treasures we’ve loved discovering.
brooklyntoberlin.com 