Berliner Pr0n

Warning: Lots of Photos. Little Content.

Greetings from Prenzlauer Berg, former German Democratic Republic (AKA East Berlin), in all it's falling apart/rebirthing glory. In a word, this 'hood is awesome. I love how every other building threatens to fall on your head, while the neighboring one has been so completely renovated as to look brand new.

After yoga this afternoon, I decided to get my yarn shop browsing out of the way. First stop: Loops, which is just up the way from the apartment I'm renting.

Loops has a really great selection of GGH and Lana Grossa among others, too many other things. I spent about half an hour deciding on sock wool. If you ever see the Regia Tweed (at least that's what I think it's called) around, grab it. It's super soft and would make great sitting-by-the-fire Winter socks. I may go back and get some.

I ended up with three skeins of Lang Jawoll, which I will eventually use to practice stranded knitting.

And then there's the mystery yarn. All I know is that it's produced in small quantities somewhere in Germany, and that it's made form lamb's wool and regular wool. I'm going to knit B a scarf with this. Eventually.

I also went out to the KaDeWe, the up market German department store chain. Their Berlin store has the distinction of being the Continent's biggest one. I'm not sure it beats the main Galeries Lafayette in Paris*, but that's what my guidebook said.

KaDeWe has a separate annex devoted to craftsy endeavors from scrapbooking to sewing to painting to knitting and needlework. They mainly carry Lana Grossa, Rowan, Gedifra, and Schachenmayr Nomotta, which by the way has some nice stuff.

I only bought some wool wash and a Regia sock pattern brochure. It's in German. I'll figure it out somehow.

And then... then... I made my way back to the main building to the "gourmet foods" floor. While not as impressive as Harrod's in London, the KaDeWe's food floor is pretty nice. They have regular supermarket items mixed with fancy pants gourmet. Then there is the section of American condiments, complete with American flags and mini Statues of Liberty.

I very nearly cried right there in the store when I saw the Dr. Pepper. I occasionally feel homesick for the U.S., but this really hit me. Growing up in Texas, you don't live if you don't drink Dr. Pepper. I bought the Devil's Food cake mix b/c I've recently been jonsing for it; I'm pretty sure it's because of these. The salsa is because I usually eat burritos once a week and I'm self-catering.

Oh and just in case you were wondering, the socks are progressing very, very slowly.

These were shot with the camera in my lap, set to go off with the timer. That's the view of the crumply ole building I'm staying in. I assure you it's quite cute on the inside.

I leave you for now with this shot of the the fountain at Alexanderplatz.

* BTW, there is a Galeries Lafayette here. Guide Book says that they import baguette dough from Paris every morning. Dude, could you pass up such opulence?

Comments

[Jen in CT]

Oh my, that picture of the shelves in the yarn shop gave me goose bumps! I'm positively jealous. :-)

[jennsquared]

Holy Moly! When I went to Germany, I must went to the wrong cities! Although I did get to try the best Rieslings in the world (I was traveling by the Rhine river)... Next trip to Europe (my honeymoon hopefully) I'll have to do the whole Europe yarn hopping thing :)

[schrodinger]

Wow, that yarn display is something to behold. I'm happy for you for finding something from home, I know what it's like to miss the homely tasty treats. Enjoy!

[Jen]

JenCT: Yeah it was a really nice crafts store, but if I were looking to make a sweater, I'b far less impressed with the yarn selection. They maybe had 6 balls of any one thing. Now their button section on the other hand... I stood there for ages and didn't end up making a decision on some buttons I needed.

Jensquared: Oh you're gonna be bummed, but Cologne has one of the nicest shops I've ever been in. Hit the travel link on the left and you'll see my Rhineland/Mosel photos and the yarn I picked up in Cologne. There are actually a couple more shops but they're not on my maps.

Schrodinger: You're from the UK, no? There're are a couple of shops in the Hague that specialize in British goodies. My husband likes them b/c they also stock vegemite, the grossest stuff in the world. ;)

[Patti]

Lovely photos with that "wall o yarn" being just heavenly. Good luck with the socks!

[becky]

That's my favorite sock picture to date. Very nice.

[Jessica]

I'm very much enjoying coming to your blog for my daily dose of Europe. *sigh* Someday I will get to see these places myself... someday...

[Josie]

Thanks so much for the wonderful pictures. I must be travelling in all the wrong directions - I always seem to get *farther* from yarn!

[Jen]

Patti: The Wall-o-Yarn was pretty nice. If you can imagine, the whole store was like that. It was literally a fancy department store for crafts with all the high-brow presentation you'd see in a Gucci shop. Not like the picked-over you-know-whats chain stores back home.

Becky: Mine too. When B- gets here I'll see what I can do in front of landmarks. hehe Somebody's gotta make sure it doesn't get stolen while I fiddle with the knitting.

Jessica: Until we moved here, I only came to Europe in the Winter when cheap weekend-end getaways abound. If you're willing to say, give up Thanksgiving one year, that's a really excellent time to come over.

Josie: Berlin's particularly interesting. There seems to be a real strong leaning towards handmade clothes, all arty stuff. Keeping in mind that Berlin is one of the cheapest cities in Europe, so it attracts a real vibrant youth culture.

[Heather]

A GF? ça alors!!!!

Love the Lang Jawoll--I'm doing a stranding project out of it now and I really like it. Glad you're enjoying your stay in Berlin!

[Jennie]

Oh my, the images are fabulous! I'm drooling over the yarn pics...ahhhh deliciously yummy, sooo many colors!
It's so funny to see "American food" to be in its own special place. One of these days I'll have to send you an homesick care package. :)

[Jen]

Heather: I didn't make it to the GF after all. We ended up doing our shopping in some of Berlin's funky boutique shops - much cheaper! ;)

Jennie: You're too sweet, but it's funny that I don't wish for these foods when I'm actually in America. Except the Mexican food. I hit the Baja Fresh as soon as I step off the plane. hehe

[Amanda]

Mmmmm...Dr. Pepper and burritos....I don't think I could live anywhere that didn't have good mexican food. :)

How fantastic is that wall of yarn?! All those colors!

[Jen]

Amanda: don't I know it!

[laurie]

Thank you for the Berlin yarn fixes!!!

I am here visiting from the US and NEEDED to get my yarn buying fix while I was here. I am glad KaDeWe has some yarn! It is an hour trip on the S-Bahn from where I am working for the next two weeks and of course I am here over a weekend when everything is closed because of the holiday. (German Reunification day on Sat...)