Craving the sun

We're back to the usual here in Berlin. Cold, rain, even some snow. Last weekend though was completely different. Warm and sunny and I really hoped it would last.

On Tuesday my friend Erika and I decided to take advantage of the sun. We met for lunch and a quick walk at the park. We went to a nice italian place and enjoyed some very tasty pizzas.

Say hi to Erika!

Look how nice she organized her pizza leftovers :)
They are even sort by color too! Super cute!

This is what I had. Yummy :)

After our lunch we went to a nearby park.

I really like when we meet. Even if it's only for a quick lunch. We don't know each other that long but somehow our conversations are always long and meaningful. It's good to have that...

Happy Easter!

Yesterday was the Orthodox Easter. Living in Greece for so many years I got to celebrate a lot of Easters. I really love how it is celebrated there. The food, as always, is very important on the Easter Day. On Saturday evening, after the midnight Divine Liturgy, the family gathers together for the traditional Magiritsa. In the beginning I couldn't stand it at all, but that changed after a few years.

Being away from home I decided to try and make my own Easter dinner. It would be the first time for me so the stress was high. I'm not that really talented when it comes to cooking. We wanted to celebrate it with our new friends and the fact that they are vegetarians didn't help my stress, because the traditional Magiritsa is made with meat. I was wondering what to do when one of my friends suggested that in stead of meat I could use mushrooms. What a great idea!!! But then to make things even more difficult I decided to make both of them. So I just went form never cooking a Magiritsa in my entire live, to making two of them at the same time!! Even though I used only half of the ingredients required for both of them, we ended up with too much food just for 4 persons. Yeap, that sounds like the Greek Easter in deed :)

Also there were red peppers filled with feta cheese, baked Hallumi and for dessert my friends had brought with them some chocolate cakes wich had liquid chocolade in the middle! The cakes were gone within seconds so there was no time for taking any photos. I can assure you though that they were a m a z i n g !!

We had a really great time and that made us feel a little bit better about being away from family and friends.

          

Grunewald

On Saturday the weather was very good, so Mr G. and I decided to take a little trip. We went to Grunewald. We didn't want to go very far away and Grunewald is about 40 minutes with public transportations from where we live. The area is very nice. Beautiful houses, trees, even a small lake make the scenery peaceful and relaxing. We walked by the lake for a few hours talking and taking pictures. I like exploring new places.

Isn't that lovely? After this walk we were pretty hungry. A plate of Vietnamese food is always a good idea :)

yummy...

  

A walk and a surprise

Since yesterday we're staying in a different temporary apartment. One that is much cheaper than the previous one and a lot more cosy. It's a tiny one room apartment, centrally located, close to the Märkisches Museum.

Today I have a day off school and I supposed to be studying. I'm behind with the vocabulary and some other stuff. But I couldn't concentrate at all. It's a sunny and rather warm day so I decided to go for a walk instead. I haven't seen this area of Berlin yet, so it was a good opportunity to do so.

Pretty arctic scenery :)

After wondering around for about an hour, taking pictures and admiring the scenery with many amazing buildings, it was time to grab something to eat. Just as this thought came to my mind I found myself next to a little sushi place wich looked very nice. And it was a happy hour too so everything was half price!! My favorite combo :)

Yummy!

On my way back I passed through the park which surrounds the Märkisches Museum.

To a great surprise, within the park, I found myself face to face with a huge bear. A real live bear! She was kind enough and posed for me just for a moment though. A true lady!

Isn't she beautiful?

When I saw the bear I was amazed. So I just stood there and watched her for a little while. And what I saw made me very sad. The bear was by herself, on this small (for her size) piece of land. She just walked around from one side of the wall and back. There was a small building behind her, I guess it's where they keep her for the night, but the door was locked and she couldn't go inside. I felt really bad for this amazing animal being kept there like that. Once I came home I tried to find more informations about her and I found this. So apparently, there suppose to be two of them. I only saw this one.

Anyway, I know people here love animals, and the bear looked like she is being taken good care of. She was beautiful. I just don't like the way she is being kept and how lonely she looked...