2022. 12. 2 Fr

Lunch at Nolle - this is a kind of German tradition for us. We tried a small cookie shop next to Dussmann with a handsome wooden frame. I had seen it several times before but never entered. It’s unlikely I would buy just one for myself in any circumstance, but as soon as you’re hosting someone your appetite for such things increases because you want to treat them. Here and there rather unimpressed-looking bunches listening to their guide for whatever piece of information he has to offer - these are kind of like seat fillers of Unter den Linden. Does it really please them to be treated like some pathetic herd being constantly fed random local anecdotes they will soon forget anyway? We passed one of them huddled up probably talking about the book burning which had taken place there and explored the market in Bebelplatz. Most of the shops were under the long row of tents forming an arcade thus warm but getting quickly stuffy with a lot of people crowding in. There was a shop selling minutest figurines carved from mammoth ivory, which we could closely examine with a magnifying glass. I bought a hand-painted hanging tree decoration from an old Turkish man and his many crescent moon-filled tent, which reminded me of Istanbul and miniaturists who lost their eyes. It’s shaped like a small red tree with a rather odd-looking Santa’s face in the middle which strongly resembles an onigiri. After a quick glance mum said, “Yes it’s exactly your taste.”

   

S moved to a new place on Köpenicker Str so I helped him with a bit of settling in. It’s a small room but he seems to like it and has managed to make it cosy in a very short amount of time. We hung some balls on a very small tree which kept stabbing my fingers and ate pizza. A few episodes of the revived Chucky series with very bad internet.