Berlin Diary (Oct 13 - 15)

A warm spell, temps in the 70's, yanked us to the city's parks over the weekend. At Schloss Charlottenburg, a rococo palace which used to be a royal summer residence, we strolled along the River Spree, then meandered through the landscaped sections, admiring the rows of trees sporting fall foliage.
 A lively buzz came from families and tourists milling around on this bright Saturday afternoon. As we retraced the footsteps of Sophie Charlotte, first Queen consort of Prussia, accompanied by her friend, the philosopher Gottfried WilhelmLeibniz, Daryl summarized to me the plot of Prokofiev's L'Amour des Trois Oranges, our evening entertainment.

The silly, farcical fairy tale in which a hypochondriac, depressed prince is cursed by a witch to fall in love with three oranges which turn out to contain trapped princesses did not inspire enthusiasm for this, our 5th opera at Deutsche Oper Berlin. Nor did I care much for the non melodic, strange music. But, seated at perhaps the best seat in the house in the box section just above the stage, on Saturday evening, all preconceptions vanished instantly. Prokofiev's composition, I could see, was putty in the hands of a gifted choreographer. Success came from a stellar cast of actors with voices to match, in wacky and daring contemporary costumes, and visually arresting staging with black, white and the many shades of orange dominating. You get the distinct impression that the director had in mind an audience that came of age in the 21st century. A highly energetic performance to match the vivacious music, included cabaret, modern dancing, and amusing Berlin references. The three oranges were labelled after the three Berlin opera companies. Surely, even Prokofiev would've been gobsmacked by this riveting production!

On Sunday we awoke to a blindingly blue sky, which after weeks of mainly dull weather, required some adjustment. The antiques flea market across Tiergarten was a great way to enjoy the summery weather while browsing fine china, silverware, postcards depicting past eras, strange gadgets, paintings, etc. A quick stroll through Tiergarten, then to Kreuzberg for lunch. Boring options at Markthalle Neuen led to the discovery of a small Russian restaurant near Görlitzer Station.

Here, on their charming patio we sampled our very first blinis. It took a while for the meal to be prepared and when steaming plates of spinach and feta stuffed rolled up pancakes arrived we smiled in delight. We could see that they were carefully crafted, and indeed, the blinis were scrumptious.

We discovered several scenic places for walks in the afternoon. First, a leisurely stroll along the Landwehrkanal from the Prinzenstrasse UBahn stop, then, after coffee and cake at a hip cafe on Friedrichstrasse near Checkpoint Charlie (where everyone was glued to a MacBook), we hopped on a bus and alighted past the Reichstag where we found a path along the River Spree to Hauptbahnhof. A midsummer vibe could be seen and felt everywhere. At around 5:00 we returned to Tiergarten to enjoy the last bit of daylight over a beer with a canal view. And, as the sky took on rosy sunset hues we headed home for a quiet evening.