Winter in Spandau

New Year's Resolutions

I hope to write some more posts in the next two days, but for the moment I am in the perfect mood for writing some resolutions. For me, as a Foreigner in Berlin, my wish list is:
- To explore every single interesting corner and to find the hottest and extraordinary stories from Berlin
- To share them online and turn this blog into an important source of information and fun
- At the end of the next 12 months, to finish the manuscripts of two small but sexy books about Berlin, one in English and one in another language
Need to go now, Berlin is calling me!
Have a great time you all!

The most important snow in the last 110 years

This is a real pleasure to live in Berlin at this time of the history!
Let it snow!

The mysterious fox

I've heard first about her when I moved in the area: there were a couple of articles in the media talking about her. Once, I was told, she was quietly waiting the green light. I must confessed, I never read myself those stories.

This summer, late after midnight, while looking for a parking place one street away of my house, I saw a shadow of an animal which I took for a dog. It was looking as a dog, but with a big fury tail. "Are they street dogs in Berlin?", I asked my boyfriend. "What a thought, no, of course, why?". "Look there", and I showed him the wandering shadow. "I can't be a dog, maybe a fox", he said apatic. "Can't believe it, this is the fox", and jumped out of the car to catch the real thing. But it was already out of my poor sight.

Today, I've heard again news from her/him: there were some traces discovered in the garden, fresh in the snow. A discrete presence during the night. I was warned to forget about the idea of living some food during the night.

The other fresh news is about the wild boars you could see around Tierpark, and not only in the Gruenewald area, where I knew for sure they can be found. 

Better stay home?

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I am not the winter type. Not at all. I don't like the cold, the snow, the ambush on the highways, the loads of clothes. Nothing of this. I like the sunny days, the long days, the light. 

I don't drive too much while in town. During the normal seasons the public transportation is working well, and I don't need to commute, as my usual interests are maximum 45 minutes away of my headquarters. 

But today, I had to experience fully a messy transportation: long delays of U-Bahn and S-Bahn, wagons overcrowded with people, tourists or people like me, hurrying up to reach the center of the city. If the last Thursday I had a bliss looking at the snow falling on Ku'damm, today I needed to yell effectively for reaching my exit and to wait in the cold for an unknown number of minutes before the train was coming. Everybody is talking about weather, about the suspended flights on Heathrow, about what we have to expect in the next weeks and when the first sign of spring will be delivered. But the tourists continue to arrive in flows and the Weinachtmarkt are a successful attraction for people all over the world and the city. 

It is a good time to look around and keep writing.

Related articles

• Snow brings Germany to near standstill and they're not coping any better than us (dailymail.co.uk)
• Your Berlin Travel Guide: Where To Go In Berlin (hellobeautiful.com)
• The Snow in Britain (socyberty.com)

Backstage in Berlin: Kiosk

The Iranian underground from Eastern Berlin, featured by Radio Free Europe.

beirut - prenzlauerberg

More visitors in the Berlin museums

2009 was a good year for the museums in Berlin, with an increase of 2% in number of visitors in comparison with the previous year. The top visited places were connected with the communist period.

Winter/Tonight - near Ku'damm

English lit

Are you interested to find out more about the latest trends in English literature? And you are in Berlin?

Have a look then at this interview with Sharmaine Lovegrove, the heart of the P' Berg English bookstore and visit Dialogue Books Berlin.

I will, despite the serious winter around.

Chag Chanukka Sameach!