Sunday in Berlin

It was a fairly simple suggestion, but as usual Berlin had some surprises up its sleeve. The weather here has finally turned lovely and on Sunday I suggested to Claudia that we get on our bikes and go to Tiergarten for a bit of exploring and maybe to find somewhere quiet to sit and read.

Tiergarten might be compared with Manhattan's Central Park, though in fact the amount of greenery in Berlin is seven times the size of Manhattan! Berlin is over 40% forest, park and lakes.

What I've always enjoyed about Tiergarten is that you come upon the unexpected there. Admittedly, cycling along by the Spree we were seeing all the usual things; tour boats and tourists.

I halted at this splendid looking place, which is where Chancellor Merkel hangs her fitted jackets.

But as Claudia and I sat for a drink by the river we heard the noise of bells and we went exploring.

At a memorial belfry beside Haus der Kulturen der Welt, a free performance was about to begin which was a combination of prerecorded computer music and live bell ringing. Claudia and I lay back on the grass with the other sixty or so people and enjoyed the performance of the three pieces. If I knew how to upload a file other than an image file I could put up a sample few minutes of the music - but I don't know how!

On the way home, we stopped off at a famous ice cream café in the gay Motzstrasse area of Berlin.

It was a lovely afternoon in this most enjoyable of cities. Man am I lucky to be living here. If you ever feel like exploring Berlin by bike, check out this website.

Melvin Burgess

As I seem to have stumbled into writing a series of entries about gifted friends, I might as well draw a line on that subject (for now) with a word about Melvin Burgess. A few years ago (2003, I think) I was invited back to Dundee Contemporary Arts where I was part of some panel discussions about young people and film. Mairi Thomas picked me and Melvin up at the airport and on the drive to Dundee he and I had our first chance to get to know each other. Over the following days we managed somehow to like and dislike each other at the same time; Melvin, like his writing, can be abrasive and provocative, I, like my writing, would be a bit more in the old style. This didn't stop us from remaining in touch after the Dundee encounter and when Melvin was over in Berlin as a guest of the Literary Festival he contacted me and we met up a few times.

I even took him for a little tourist stroll. We remain in contact, and I keep threatening to drop in on him for a visit in Manchester on my way to visit my brother Luke in Chester.

Melvin has a fantastic website and a very active myspace. He has also written a great body of successful, challenging books. If you don't know about Melvin or haven't read any of his books, there is something missing in your life!