Old mirrors in new rooms
Autumn lights
Deep into the season now, yet it feels like autumn has only begun to unfold its particular lights.
Peacock; Walnut
A rainy Tuesday seems the time to reflect on a radiant autumn. This tiny girl has now started school.
Lately, every sunset in Berlin has been remarkable: after the show's over and I've drawn the curtains, I bask in the glow of sunsets from other Berlin neighborhoods in my Instagram feed.
The other day we baked a cake and celebrated a friend's birthday on Peacock Island. It's perfect in the autumn, for conker-collecting and more. The wind off the Wannsee was so strong the candle went out twice before we got it to burn long enough to sing a fast round of 'happy birthday'. The birthday girl wasn't halfway through when an avid peacock darted over and - yes! - seized her chocolate cake in his beak. A minute later, only crumbs were left.
On Sunday, we spent an idle afternoon at Cafe Botanico, about which more soon. For now, this crate of black walnut drupes and a head of mottled hydrangeas to mark the mid-point of the Cold Dew term.
Windowsill, Walking
The summer has done its work: the nuts cluttering the streets are fat.
Statues and dragons (A day out in Potsdam)
In Potsdam, as in Paris, stone profiles play hide-and-seek between the trees. Broad gravel paths, verdant lawns hazed with weeds, and curlicued ironwork gates evoke a world more distant than the half-hour journey from Berlin might lead you to expect.
(My favorite thing: skip the hassle and bustle at Potsdam Hauptbahnhof. Stay on the regional train to the Park Sanssouci station. Alight with two or three others and make your way alone to the long avenue of trees leading to the Neues Palais.)
In Potsdam, I find figures amidst the scaffolding too. A flock of courtiers have been coralled between the two wings of the Neue Palais. The wind piping through the open metal rods that enclosed them made a haunting music too beautiful to believe. Summer's ending, do you feel it too?
Afterwards, on a whim, we climbed the many steps to the stately Drachenhaus. The cartoonish dragons decking the pagoda-like octogon will delight a small child. We liked the blue ceiling painted with stars very much. Look, the fried feta cube straight from the deep-freeze won't wow you: that's why the view of the ruined Belvedere in the distance is there.
New Palace, Potsdam (map)
Drachenhaus, Maulbeerallee 4a, Potsdam (map)
Two or three things for summer's end
Nesting for the winter begins with handmade books and beautiful textiles. This lovely risographed zine has stories by Victoria Hannan and illustrations by Jazz Feldy. Beneath, a cozy eggshell and charcoal rug courtesy of the Urbanara shop, of which I have grown very fond. Mary wrote all about the Berlin-based homeware store here.
I let you have a glimpse of Rita Zepf's wonderful hand-stitched portrait of my daughter in the spring. The dangling threads are particularly appealing picked out in the summer light.
Do you remember when white lilac was everywhere? Now, visits to the organic market at Kollwitzplatz show dahlias in ascendance.
Makrönchen Manufaktur goes heavy on the ground almonds and easy on the sugar when making their macarons. Our favorite trio is pistachio, rose, and Madagascar vanilla. Their tarts are fluffy and not cloyingly sweet, with the happy surprise of red currants studding the fluffy yogurt cream filling. The rainbow-hued base, thrillingly, was made with ground macarons. Ailene took some stunning photos of Makrönchen Manufaktur's cafe interior here.
Urbanara shop, online & showroom, Gipsstr. 10, Berlin-Mitte (map)
Rita Zepf, textile artist, Berlin-Friedrichshain & Uckermark. Open by appointment. Makrönchen Manufaktur, Apostel Paulus Str. 4, Berlin-Schöneberg (map). Snug cafe with macarons, tarts, and hot and cold drinks: I love their sparkling lavender water.