a rather nice head from Cyprus 10th-11th century BC - in the museum

Mitte

enjoying the "scene" in a building in Mitte called Tacheles -now an art centre saved after the wall came down as it was in the east - squatted by young artists and now has been saved again as it is, rather than being renovated like almost all the other buildings (from war damage), mostly for tourists.

Saturday walk

on saturday last I went walking near where I live in Kruezberg - this is the Landwehrkanal just up the road.

Statues from the roof in storage in a side yard, being repaired to be replaced eventually.

gallery installation

Marek in a gallery where I was helping him install the show you see around him. This show
opened on Friday last and was quite good - the framed photos of the installation became the most important aspects (and sellable) of the show.

Schloss Charlottenberg

a view of Schloss (Palace) Charlottenberg where I went yesterday to visit the museum of Pre- and Early History and see the Schliemann finds from Troy - the displays are actually copies as all the gold is in the Hermitage in Russia, taken as "war-reparations".

Marek

Marek Schovanek outside his studio.

cobblestones

the sidewalk nearby - they are all made of these granite cobblestones which are deeper beneath the ground than what you see, the patterns and colours are fascinating.

graffitti

graffiti on a phone box near the house

Start

It has been hard to believe that it's almost December - the weather has been very nice most of the time, with sunny days and blue skies. We had a little snow, but it soon melted. The apartment I'm sharing with Myra is on the fifth floor (up eight flights of stairs - no elevator) of a typical prewar building in Berlin. The blocks are built round a courtyard (hinter hof) so every room has a window. Apart from having to lug everything up all the stairs, the flat is quite luxurious with central heating and nice rooms - kitchen, bathroom, large front bedroom with tv (that's Myra's room) and another with a sliding wall off the kitchen (that's mine) - I have been doing some drawing in there and I like the access to the kitchen sink.
Beds are comfy and I can get BBC world service on the radio or play cd's too.
Since my old laptop was stolen just before the trip, I managed to finance the purchase of a new mac ibook through the university and have been learning gradually how to use it here. I also bought a new little digital camera and have been enjoying documenting my trip and downloading the pics each night.