(As usual, English version at the bottom.)

Hey hey,

Ouain, on dirait que j’ai attrapé la grippe à Stef. Je suis congestionné pour vrai! Mais bon, on va se geler solide à coup de pilules et continuer d’explorer, et ça va finir par passer.

Au moins, le seul vrai rendez-vous au programme était la rencontre avec Tina, notre amie journaliste, que j’avais connue en 2007 lors d’un échange de conversation français-allemand. On se rencontrait au Manzini, un très sympathique café sur Ludwigkirchstrasse, à 5 minutes à peine de notre appartement!

Ça a été très agréable, on a parlé plus de deux heures. Et la nouvelle est que… Tina est enceinte! Holy SHIT! D’environ quatre mois et demi. Ça ne paraissait pas énormément non plus, et elle avait attendu qu’on se revoie en personne pour nous le dire, la coquine. Ce fut tout un choc! Elle m’avait déjà mentionné l’an dernier qu’elle en voulait un moment donné, mais je pensais que ça viendrait plus tard. Eh ben!

Elle nous a aussi invités à son party d’anniversaire à la mi-août. Je n’avais pas prévu retourner à Berlin l’an prochain (on a déjà Amsterdam-Istanbul en avril-mai), mais je pense que pour l’occasion, je vais modifier mes plans!

Nous nous sommes donc quittés vers 13 h 30, et ensuite, je me suis contenté d’aller faire une promenade dans le coin de la gare du Zoo, Wittenbergplatz, le KaDeWe, etc. Les médicaments commençaient déjà à perdre leur effet. Enfin, ce fut un petit détour à l’épicerie et un autre succulent souper aux kébabs.

Demain, rencontre avec une autre partenaire de conversation allemande : Beate, francophile aguerrie (sans joke, la première fois que je lui ai parlée, je pensais qu’elle était Française) très gentille que j’ai connue l’an dernier. On se rencontre à Alexanderplatz, et bien sûr que je vais en profiter pour prendre des photos!

En attendant, voici quelques photos de ma promenade.

Beuh-bye!

—

Hey hey,

Soooo… looks like I caught Stef’s flu. I’m stuffed up something fierce. Time to get numb on flu/cold medicine and keep going, eventually it’ll get better.

Fortunately, the only thing on today’s agenda was seeing Tina, our journalist friend, who I first met back in 2007 in a German conversation tandem. We met at Manzini, a very nice café on Ludwigkirchstrasse, not even 5 minutes from our flat!

It was great — we talked for more than two hours. And the stunning news is… Tina is pregnant. Holy SHIT! About 4 1/2 months. It didn’t show that much either, and she had waited till we met in person again to tell us, quite the joker! We were absolutely stunned. She had already told me (last year) she’d want kids eventually, but I thought it’d be for later. Wow!

She also invited us to her birthday party next August. I didn’t plan on returning to Berlin next year (we already have Amsterdam-Istanbul for April-May), but I think for the occasion, I’m going to change my plans!

So we said goodbye at around 1:30PM, and I decided to just go for a little walk near the Zoo station, Wittenbergplatz, KaDeWe, etc. The cold medicine was already wearing off. Then we went to the supermarket and got another round of kebabs for dinner. Awesome.

Tomorrow, I’m meeting another German conversation partner : Beate, an accomplished francophile (I swear, the first time I talked to her, I thought she was French) and super nice lady whom I first met last year. We’ll meet at Alexanderplatz, and of course, I’ll take a few pictures!

In the meantime, here are some pictures from today’s walk:

CAPTIONS: –1– This is the second time I’ll use this expression online in two weeks, but it’s worth it: « Deux femmes en or! » (Two incredible women — also a movie in the 70s) –2– I look very tanned and very tired… –3– On to Breitscheidplatz and the Zoo. Here’s the Remembrance Church, with a protective structure during its renovation. Ugh. –4– Here’s what it’d normally look like. The renovations will be completed around the end of this year. –5– The Europa Center, built in 1916 and now a historical building. Still a nice shopping mall. –6– The Elephant Gate, one of the two entrances to the zoo, on Budapester Strasse (the other one, Lions Gate, is right next to the train/subway station). –7– The aquarium, next to the second entrance. –8– Zoom! –9– Here is where R.L. and K.L. (two communists) were taken to and executed, on January 15, 1919. –10– The KaDeWe, the second biggest shopping mall in Europe, and quite nice to visit! –11– Opposite the KaDeWe, Wittenbergplatz subway station. Very nice too! –12– Retro style sign for the KaDeWe. It says « New products for the start of the year ». –13– Conrad is an big electronics store nearby. –14– Der Tagespiegel is a newspaper. « Rigorous. Objective. Critical. » –15– Konditorei = pastry shop. –16– « Beer at its best. » –17– « Opel », wouldn’t you believe that?!? –18– BZ = Berliner Zeitung, a tabloid newspaper. –19– Reifen = Tires, as you probably guessed. –20– Wittenbergplatz. A scene from the movie Ninja Assassin was shot at this exact spot (you could even see the snack bar). Horrible movie. In my opinion, that scene was the best part. –21– Wow! Old school! Toyoya Celica… 1981?

(Jesus Christ, those captions took a long time to write in English. Apologies for any errors and shitty grammar, I’m stuffed up and tired as hell.)

See ya!