Summer so far

For those of a certain inclination, summer only starts when the football season ends.  Back in May, before the summer truly became worthy of its name, I tagged along with the guys from ‘Union in Englisch’ as they met for an end of season meal at an old-fashioned Bierstube in Adlershof, prior to Union’s final game at home to TSV 1860 München.

It was a great day, and clearly those involved respected the gravity of the occasion:

 

Afterwards I wrote about the day - check out my article at: http://www.union-berlin.com/2014/05/17/last-supper-at-the-leichenkeller/

Of course, more football was to follow in the shape of the World Cup.  Over the course of the competition we watched many matches at many different venues - usually bars and beer gardens - but the highlight was being able to see the Belgium v Algeria game from a sofa at the WM Wohnzimmer at the Stadion an der Alten Försterei (thanks to Mark Wilson for securing the tickets, and Christian Arbeit, for use of the sofa):

 

An attractive shot of me, not falling asleep, but squinting in sunlight at Ostkreuz en route to the 'Wohnzimmer':

 

After four weeks and 64 games, Germany won and Berlin went bonkers.  A couple of days after the final, we went down to watch the victors parade the trophy through the streets from a spot directly opposite the prison in Moabit:

 

Taking a break from the football, on a very temperamental Saturday in June, a music festival,‘Fête de la Musique’, came to town.  This encompassed music of every conceivable genre (and a few inconceivable ones too).  There were performances throughout the city and, despite the weather doing its best to dampen things, a fantastic atmosphere prevailed in the Mauerpark:

 

Apart from the odd apocalyptic thunderstorm, there has been some baking hot weather so far, so it’s been a joy this summer to discover the lakes.  Luckily, we live just 2 kilometres (a very gentle bike ride) from the lovely Weissensee:

On a hot and hazy summer evening, I also love to spend a couple of hours chilling in one of the neighbourhood’s parks, whether the always alluring Mauerpark, the Ernst Thälmann Park just a few minutes’ walk from the flat, or, my particular favourite, Volkspark Weinberg, near Rosenthaler Platz:

A visit here usually involves a trip to the nearby 'Weinerei' on Veteranenstrasse for coffee (or wine) and cake.  If it’s a Friday, I also like to wander around, and maybe stop for a bite to eat at the market on Arkonaplatz:

 

It’s not all been swimming in lakes or lazing around in parks though; I’ve done a lot of writing during the summer and been to a few literary events (which I’ve mentioned in previous posts).  I also passed my TEFL exam with a score of 93% and a Grade A, which means I'm now better equipped to start looking for teaching jobs.

This weekend I’m off to The Reader Berlin’s literary festival at Fort Gorgast near the Polish border and next week we have visitors from the USA, so I’ll be playing tour guide and hoping that the good weather holds out.