Komische Oper Berlin: Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro

LE NOZZE DI FIGARO / DIE HOCHZEIT DES FIGAROS / 

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

If you haven't already had a chance to see this very witty production at the Komische Oper Berlin, currently "Opera House of the Year", then there is one last chance this coming Friday ... the 13th at 19:30. 

Care of www.komische-oper-berlin.de

Directed by Barrie Kosky, who is now Intendant of the Komische Oper, this is a fast paced, well-comedic-timed production. While it is a long opera (3.5 hrs) it remains a very good opera to introduce newcomers, and the benefit at the Komische Oper are the individual seat subtitles, whereby you can choose your language of German, English, French or Turkish. 

Care of www.komische-oper-berlin.de

Tickets are still available, either online via 
www.komische-oper-berlin.de and naturally there is an english portal, otherwise in person at the ticket office at Unter den Linden 41, or at the box office just before the performance.

Photo: Gunnar Geller

And the cast for the final performance in this season should be:

Graf Almaviva Dominik Köninger

Gräfin Almaviva Brigitte Geller

Susanna Jasmina Sakr

Figaro Philipp Meierhöfer

Cherubino Annelie Sophie Müller

Marcellina Caren van Oijen

Basilio Stephan Boving

Don Curzio Peter Renz

Bartolo Stefan Sevenich

Antonio Hans-Martin Nau

Barbarina Adela Zaharia

Erste Brautjungfer Saskia Krispin

Zweite Brautjungfer Mechtild Sauer 

Conductor Hendrik Vestmann

Continuo Matthew Toogood

Nikolai's Adventures

 

NIKOLAI THE HUSKY - NIKOLAI'S ADVENTURES IN BERLIN

A quick refreshment at the Barn (check out "Kaffe in Berlin series: #2 The Barn") with Nikolai. #Nikolaithehusky

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Photography Playground OM-D Olympus Berlin

Photography Playground OM-D Olympus Berlin

We recently went to the Photography Playground hosted by Olympus. 

  

FrankLovesEllen has posted about our experience and included some of the pictures that we managed to take. Check out the blog here:

In short, in exchange for your passport you were given a new Olympus Camera for 90 minutes. You then walk around the 1930s factory, which Olympus had converted into various exhibitions and lighting situations, in order for you to test the qualities of their cameras. And at the end you were given the SD Card to keep your photos. 

All in all a pretty cool deal - especially for free!!! €€€€

But check out FrankLovesEllen.blogspot.com for more of the details.  

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Kaffee in Berlin series: #4 Ampelmann Shop

AMPELMANN SHOP UNTER DEN LINDEN

Amidst the building works currently disguising Unter den Linden at the intersection of Friedrichstrasse now stands yet another Ampelmann Shop. To describe what that is and why it is signifcant to Berlin I will leave for another blogpost. However I do wish to make mention of the coffee that is now available at this particular location.

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Firstly it should be known that Unter den Linden is a tourist hotspot, being the boulevard linking two of Berlin's iconic landmarks - the TV tower at Alexanderplatz, with the Brandenburg Gate at the entrance to the Tiergarten. As such, most of the shops and restaurants in this vicinity cater to a tourist market and so prices are often inflated. 

One of the biggest reliefs when the renovated Ampelmann Shop opened on this particular corner, was that their prices remained consistent with their other shops, and that the coffee is not only good value, but actually quite nice. 

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Within the shop itself they have a coffee wagon, with benches and tables nearby where you can rest while drinking your coffee (although, I doubt you would linger, as one is still inside the ampelmann shop...) and it has an interesting indoor/outdoor feel with the fake cobblestones and crossing lights. 

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It was curiosity that initially drew me in to sample their "introductory rate" of coffee (at the time, only €1 for an espresso - what it really should be anywhere in Europe!) and not only was I pleasantly surprised, but I was shocked that a "non-coffee" chain in a densely tourist populated area could  produce such a satisfying espresso. The prices have since risen 50 cents, which brings the Espresso to €1,50 and the cappuccino to €2,50 - however those are quite standard prices in Berlin. And cheaper compared to many other options on Unter den Linden.

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So if travelling-by on your Berlin sight-seeing tour, be assured that this is a reasonable coffee pit stop, and most likely you will then be encouraged to pick up some truly Berlin souvenirs in the Ampelmann Shop itself. Corner of Friedrichstrasse and Unter den Linden (Part of the Westin Grand building) (Directions here)

And for the history of the Ampelmann and the cult that has grown out of it, check out their website here: http://ampelmann.de/

Finally, they also offer a loyalty card with stamps - 10th coffee free!

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In summary, the Ampelmann Shop Coffee comes in at a good recommendation, particularly given the location being a tourist area:

Coffee: ★★★☆

Service: ★★★★ 

Atmosphere: ★★☆
Recommended Drink: Espresso or Cappuccino
Price: €1,50 or €2,50
Best quality: The effort in creating the store and the coffee wagon.

Berlin Craft Bier Fest 2014

BERLIN CRAFT BIER FEST 2014

Quite by chance we found ourselves at the weekend at a beer festival - promoting local craft or micro-breweries.

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It was held at the RAW-Gelände, Revaler Strasse in Friedrichshein, which we immediately recognised as one of berlin's famous nightclub and dance areas, which we hadn't ever visited during the day... It is located in a discarded Tram Depot near S-Bahnhof Berlin Warschauer Strasse, address Revaler Strasse 99 (Google Maps here)

Unfortunately the beer festival was only two days 30-31 May, however they have a website www.craftbierfest.berlin and I assume this festival takes place more often than once a year.

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We only sampled a couple of beers with lunch, mainly because the wind and pollen was causing our hayfever to spiral out of control. But we tried a pale ale quite similar to an Australian wheat beer, and two local Potsdamer beers from Braumanufaktor.

Of the two Braumanufaktor beers we drank, I preferred the Hell (meaning light, as in colour clarity - don't be fooled, the alcohol content is the same as the weizen 4.8%).

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However the best discovery of the day was actually a Londoner Pie maker (wow, that sounds dangerously close to Sweeney Todd) with a selection of meat and vegetarian pies. We all decided on the wild mushroom pies, which were delicious.

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Obviously catering to expats, this company is suitably named "hello good pie" and their website www.hellogoodpie-Berlin.de They only started operating in 2013, and as they proclaim on their website, the flavours cater to a German pallet and naturally to the longing expat community. 

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We will be looking out for Matthew Minch (chef) and his pies everywhere we go in Berlin now. Absolutely delicious!!

Leben? Oder Theater? Ein Singspiel

LEBEN? ODER THEATER? EIN SINGSPIEL
(Life? Or Theatre? A Song-Play)

Charlotte Salomon was a German-Jewish artist originally from Berlin, who created a series of autobiographical paintings while she was hiding from Nazi persecution in Southern France 1941-1943. Tragically she was deported to Auschwitz in 1943, where both she and her unborn child were executed. 

Self Portrait 1940. Charlotte Salomon - care of Wikipedia.

Marie Pohl and her father Klaus Pohl have developed Salomon's "wagnerian" work of gouaches into a libretto, which will be presented as a semi-staged reading with music at the Komische Oper Berlin this coming Monday late evening.

Care of Joods Historisch Museum, www.jhm.nl

There is a real eclectic mix of international artists involved with this project, including writers, actors, directors, musicians, singers, etc from America, Cuba, Australia, England and Germany. 

The performance will take place in the foyer of the Komische Oper Berlin, Behrenstrasse 55-57 on Monday night 2 June 2014 starting at 22.15. Tickets are only €15 and the performance should last 75 minutes.

Further details are available in German on the Komische Oper website here: and more history of Charlotte on wikipedia.

Berlin getaway series: #1.1 SZCZECIN - COLOMBUS COFFEE

SZCZECIN - COLOMBUS COFFEE

Since many of my blog posts revolve around coffee, it is perhaps apt that I start with an awesome cafe that we found in the middle of the street....

COLOMBUS COFFEE

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Granted this is a chain coffee store (I discovered that it was founded in 1999, and appears to only be in Poland), but the architecture of this particular café is SO cool.

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Located in the middle of an intersection between two discarded tram lines (now transformed into a paved narrow parkland), the use of the narrow space is compensated by numerous levels and an amazing open plan glass structure. A word to the wise however, the top level, where we made our regular table, is the warmest area - being a fully glassed enclosure with no windows to open - and in warm, summer temperatures I suspect the heat becomes overwhelming. 

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Nevertheless it is a very relaxing view looking out onto the Park towards the river.

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Otherwise the downstairs floor (beneath the service area) has very comfortable arm chairs, which provide secluded areas for private conversations. 

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As for the coffee itself, we only tried the "poco cappuccino". It was a great relief to find a decent coffee. The price equated to around 2€. The array of African references, pictures and dedicated time-zone clocks suggests that is where their beans come from. So the coffee was good, even if it did remind me a little of Starbucks...

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The selection of panini, salads and doughnuts were very good for picking up a cheap and quick lunch. And the staff were extremely friendly, courteous and spoke English surprisingly well.

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Obviously Colombus Coffee is a reliable place to pick up a coffee, yet this particular café is a definite stop if visiting Szczecin. They even have a facebook page, named "szczecin meeting point" - visit it here: www.facebook.com/szczecinmeetingpoint and for finding it on googlemaps here:

Oh, and if you are likely to be there for more than 6 visits, it is worth getting the loyalty card, so that you get a free coffee...!

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