Berlin Reified | Food, design and life in Berlin

Looking out the window

Second Advent: Dahlem Christmas Markets

Walk through the black winter forest to the lake, admiring the trunks mossed a fluorescent green. Covet, then buy a pair of cream and clover mittens knit by a twinkling grandmother with a weaver's studio in Brandenburg. Take part in the call-and-response led by the storyteller on a velvet throne thronged by engrossed toddlers and cavorting Dalmatians. Appreciate the fact that the Jagdschloss Grunewald's Christmas market snack situation is really quite good (rosemary potatoes, fish soup out of a cauldron).

On the bus back, impetuously alight at the Domäne Dahlem stop. Be pleased to be back at a beloved Christmas market. Admire, once again, the extraordinary indigo work on offer. Buy too many jams (more on those later). Drop by the local bookshop on the way home and be grateful for booksellers so unerring in their appraisal of your taste. Spend the evening on the sofa immersed in short stories while your daughter draws pencil loops on the hallway walls.

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Next week we'll be in Stockholm. Do you know cozy cafés we should visit or blogs we should consult?

I hope to compile a little Berlin guide of evergreen favorites for Christmas gifts, but let me alert you now to the beautiful 2010 calendar that Balkon & Garten has produced (below). It's on special offer today for only €6 + postage!

First Advent: The Markets

Do you remember these ornaments from a few years ago? Time to pull them out soon: It's beginning to feel like winter again, and, much to my delight, the Christmas markets rev up this first Advent weekend.

Over the years I've become more savvy. The one at Gendarmenmarkt is atmospherically located, it is true, but often overcrowded and best left to the tourists, I think. I will be back at the Domäne Dahlem Christmas market though (see breathless reports of my first visit here and here) and will swing by Kollwitzplatz one Sunday too.

Meanwhile, I'm off now to the Advents-Parcours just now, which is not so much a market as an open day (today and tomorrow) of shops and studios in Neukölln's Reuterkiez. And then we can hop on the U7 to the Swedish and Danish Christmas markets, which we miss every year, because they're so early (just this weekend!) but have inked into our calendar this time around. And then for future weekends perhaps the Rodeo design market, and the one at the Jagdschloss, and at Klausenerplatz — and do you have a favorite? — but more on all that later, because otherwise I'll miss all the fun.

In the garden

I asked for comfort in cold times, and look what weather greeted me. Can you believe this photo was taken yesterday, in late November, in Berlin, while we lunched al fresco? I suppose you can believe me if you're here too. What a lot of strength this sunshine affords!

Saint Martin's Day Parade & Darkness

Last week's Saint Martin's Day parade already feels so far away. What have you been doing to keep the early dark cozy?