Our new apartment

So we are finally settling into our new apartment. I have to say that it has taken a couple of weeks, just to get used to the new area and the quirks of a new place but we are enjoying it now and think it will be a great little nest for the next six months. It's about 20 minutes walk from our old apartment. It’s still in Prenzlauer Berg but in the quieter part with a more of working-class East Berliner feel. You know us, keeping it real as always!

Our apartment block (pic above) has an interesting history. My tandem partner's partner (!) is an architect and told us it was designed by the German architect Bruno Taut, who was involved in building social housing in the 1920s and 30s that provided more space and light than built previously. And he succeeded! It is a certainly a lovely bright warm apartment which will do us nicely at least to the end of February 2009.

So now for the grand tour - this is our bedroom/my workroom. You can access the balcony from here, which has a little bench that Eric likes to sunbathe on.

This is the sitting room. You can't see it from this angle but on the other side of the room is another desk where Eric works from. There is, of course, a bathroom, which is nice but not nice enough to warrant a photo.

And lastly, but most importantly for us, is the kitchen. This was the clincher for us as it was a sit-in kitchen which we really wanted. It also has access to the balcony. Our lovely landlady is a medical student called Melanie who is on work placement in Sweden for six months and so we have the run of her place with all her furniture, including all kitchen stuff, towels etc. The best thing of all is the much lower rent, which is going to allow us to stay on here in Berlin a bit longer. So all in all, I think we got a great deal (she even threw in the cute blonde guy in the shorts for free) and look forward to being here through the Berlin winter.

Hefferooney visit

At last some pics from the recent Heffernan-Mulrooney family visit with us. Richie, Dee, Séimí and baby Peter were here with us for with us for six days and we had a lovely time with them, doing the usual walking around, eating (above is the family at our favourite pizza restaurant), talking, and seeing the sights. They were particularly struck by our area, Prenzlauer Berg, which Eric calls 'Kinderland'. This small area has the highest birth rate in the whole of Europe! Basically everyone here is either pregnant or had a baby, and the whole area is totally set up for parents and children alike - lots of parks and baby-friendly restaurants. Perfect for the Hefferooneys.

They seemed to have also brought the good weather with them because the sun shone for the whole time they were here. If truth be told it was a little too hot sometimes. I took the photo above on the hottest day. This is in the kitchen and notice how the candles are all melted. The temperature gauge behind says 32 degrees, in the shade!

Still it didn't stop us from getting out and about, though we tended to stay close to the apartment during the hottest part of the day. Luckily we have a great park just around the corner from us, which has a pirate ship that Séimí loved.

In the evenings we went further afield. On the Thursday we made a trip to Museumsinsel, or Museum Island, where as the name suggests some of the main museums are located as after six every Thursday all the museums on the island are free. We got to bring them to the Bodemuseum and we looked after Séimí while they went to the Neuesmuseum. In front of the Neusmuseum is an open area where there is a fountain and what was lovely that evening was that it was full of kids taking a dip. So by the time that Richie and Dee got back Séimí had gone native and jumped in too. He had a complete ball!

We also had a great time with Baby Peter who is now seven months old. His personality is really starting to come out now. He loves a good laugh (see for yourselves from the clip below) and can't seem to stop smiling. He won a number of Berliners over by just beaming at them (it's honestly melt-your-heart quality). It seems though that not only did Berlin love the Hefferooneys but the Hefferooneys loved Berlin, as when they were leaving they were are already planning their return trip next summer. Who knows, we might even still be here!

The Obama Blog

So the long-awaited Obama Blog (meaning me a-waiting a long time to write it)! I'm sure all the excitement of the day is probably now a long distant memory to you all, as the summer has ambled on. In some ways that was what it was like for me when I came to writing this blog. We have just had our friends Dee and Richie and their kids visit us so my mind is full of their visit (we had a grand ol' time). How and ever, it just took a look at our photos to bring me back to that day.

First to set the scene. Ever since I gave Obama's autobiography to Eric, he has been like a man possessed. Throughout the Democratic Nominee elections he would wake up about half an hour earlier than usual to read all the newspapers and then, over breakfast, I would get a low-down on all the poll-data. Seriously. And when he heard that Obama was coming to Berlin, well! Needless to say that he was very excited. I have to admit that I haven't been as emotionally invested in Obama as Eric has been. I'm sure that has a lot to do with the fact that I am not American, and as a European I have my own perspective. However, Eric's enthusiasm was completely contagious so that on the day I was very excited.

So myself and Eric went down to the Brandenburg Gate at about 5pm. We thought we were being smart arriving nearly two hours early but it seems that there were tens of thousands of people that had the same thought. We had been warned that there would be tight security and a heavy police presence, and not to bring any bags because they would be taken away from us. But when we got down there there were just a few vans of Polizei sunning themselves in the Platz. But that was it - no bag-checks, no men with guns, just a gaggle of Berliners coming out to see Obama speak. The atmosphere was more like a carnival than anything else. There were tourists getting their photos taken beside mock DDR soldiers (above pic).

There was a woman dressed up as Marilyn Monroe singing outside of the American embassy.

There was also an Afghani family protesting about Obama's pledge to increase war efforts in Afghanistan, which I thought 'Good for them' as I'm sure it can't have been easy to do with so many Obama supporters around.

A huge range of different people were there to hear Obama speak. From families with young babies (pic of baby above that spent nearly the entire time on his dad's shoulders waving at the tens of thousands of people behind).

There was also a lot of elderly people, many of whom, like the lady above, brought stools and books to keep themselves occupied in the two-three hour wait for Obama to appear. For a crowd of an estimated two hundred thousand people I have to say that I was impressed by how laid-back and easy-going the crowd were. There were vendors selling beer and hot-dogs but no-one was drunk or disorderly. People were just there to enjoy themselves.

We went as far as we could go and positioned ourselves in front of one of the many big screens. Here I am patiently waiting (I know it looks like I'm praying but I'm not). By the time that Obama finally did come out, with the setting sun behind him, the crowd went wild. To give you a feel of what it was like I filmed a short clip on my camera.

I was impressed by so many things on the day. I was incredibly impressed by the crowd, that 200,000 people in Berlin came out to hear what a visiting politician had to say (I mean he's just a senator from Illinois right?). I was delighted by how welcoming and how open they were to him. There was also a wonderful sense of history in the making that Eric talked about in his blog. It felt that we were witness to something special.

I was also impressed by the man himself (and not just because he is good lookin', which he is). He had a number of good things to say in his speech. I liked that he spoke about a greater humanity, about being citizens of the world, about tearing down walls and barriers. I liked that he talked about nuclear disarmament and about reducing carbon admissions. I also liked that he, as an American politican on foreign soil, talked about mistakes made by the American government in the recent past. I thought that kind of owning of responsibility that needed to be said.

However, I have to admit that I felt a bit disappointed too. He seemed a bit nervous and fluffed a number of his lines. Also much of his speech felt like it wasn't meant for the crowd that had waited there for several hours. It felt like it was meant for the electorate back in America, that it was meant for the many journalists there, that it was for the interested governments around the globe. It felt like a politician's speech and for some reason that irked me. Where was the infamous Obama wow factor I wondered? Where was the man of the people?

Talking to Eric afterwards I realised that for all my detachment up until now, that I had, and do have, a lot of expectations of Barack Obama. I realised that I, like the many people there that day, have projected a lot of my own hopes for the future. I realised that though I'm not an American, I am sick and tired of Bush and his cynical, stupid, greedy form of politics, and that I am as ready for a change for the better as everybody else.

I realised that in piling all these hopes onto Obama that I subconsciously had turned him into some kind of superman (he'll solve everything!). When in fact he is just one man, a good man certainly, a man that I think wants to change America for the better, but just a man all the same. I know that a lot of people are almost fearful of the hope that he represents, that he might not be able to deliver on his promises. But I reckon that hope is always a good thing. I think optimism and the belief that things can get better is always good for the world.

The fact is that people, not just in America but all around the world, want change now, and this would be the case whether Barack Obama existed or not. He just happens to be, I believe, the right person, in the right place, hopefully in the right job, at the right time, which I'm sure can be both a blessing and an enormous burden for one man to bear. Personally, I think we will all do much better if we give ol' Obama a bit of lee-way to be human. I don't think it is possible for him to fulfil all our expectations because there are just so many. And the truth is that if he does become President, he is going to make mistakes. And no matter what, he won't be able to please everyone. And I know I won't agree with everything he does (even Eric doesn't agree with him 100% of the time!).

If Obama does become President of the United States, he will inherit a terrible legacy left by Bush. He will need to change the health system, turn around the recession and boost the American economy. He will need to change American policy to climate change and reduce dependence on foreigh oil. He will need to improve foreign relations around the world. Now I'm not too sure if any one person can do all this. But even if Obama trys. As long as he can hold on to integrity, which I think he has. If he makes mistakes but owns up to them, which I know he has done. If Obama can do this, with his characteristic (good-lookin') optimism, then I think it will be good for the world as a whole. Which is why I for one am going to keep on hoping.

200,000 bei Obama

By Eric: Being in the Tiergarten with over 200,000 people - all ages, races, walks of life - I was struck by the great buzz of anticipation awaiting a speech from a U.S. Senator from Illinois. I asked a German friend could she imagine a crowd like this for any German politician or European politician and the answer was an emphatic - Nein, nie!

So it was with a sense of pride to see that America can still evoke a promise of such great hope in the world. I also felt the pride of living in a city where the summer's evening crowd, gathered en masse, imbued such excitement and a sense of a world community and did so in typical Berlin style - in an über relaxed and easy going way.

Kusi can attest to the fact that I have read and watched an awful lot about Obama. I mean a lot! So for me, I knew that the speech was not going to be a campaign style speech. Overall I thought the speech itself was good but with moments of greatness. It walked a thin line of outlining a new direction for America and its relationship with Europe while also being careful not to criticize Bush or American foreign policy as is the custom when travelling abroad. I thought a lot of the speech was for diplomat's and journalist's ears. Even so, as many times as I have watch videos of Barack speaking, their were still moments of the speech that gave me, an unabashed Obama fan, major chills and inspiration. I was reminded later that this was the largest crowd, three times over, than Obama had ever spoken in front of.

I feel fortunate and happy to have been there. Walking through the Brandenburg Gate, past the Reichstag, into the Tiergarten, past the Soviet War Memorial and watching Barack Obama stroll along the Victory Column - it felt like an historic evening. A moment in time where the chance for things in the world to get even a little bit better seemed somehow within reach. The most profound thing I can think to say is - How cool is that!!

(Soviet War Memorial)

Here are my favourite parts of the speech, the chills up the spine moments for me.

"That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another. The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

"Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don’t look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

"People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.

"We are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again."