Frühling

The District Six Store- A piece of South Africa in Berlin

The most heartwarming comments received on the opening night of the new District Six Store in Kreuzberg is its on point resemblance and atmosphere of Cape Town and South Africa. Nestled next to the ever popular Anna Durkess Ice Cream store, Number 80 Graefe Strasse has become a bold, colorful and vibrant space of which Caroline, the owner of The District Six Store and my dear friend and colleague couldn't be prouder of. Not a day goes by where stories of passerby's share their experience in South Africa, inquire about the great African playlist blurring in the background, and remark on the beautifully curated products and put together space the store has. 

Only the best of South African Design has found i'ts way to the store  some of which include Pichulik, Klomp Ceramics, Lauren Fowler prints and illustrations , and Heather Moore's ever popular Skinny Laminx.

Having a small part of South Africa in Berlin is truly something  unique, and The District Six Store is always eager to see new face and a different story with each person that comes and goes.

Their opening hours are from Tuesday to Friday from 11 - 19:00 and on a Saturday from 11- 17:00. 

Their online shop is always an alternative to late night shopping for those who can't make the shop hours or who simply aren't anywhere near South Africa or Berlin

Skeletons in my closet

It's no secret that from day one of living in Berlin, my clothes have had to stay nestled snugly on the floor as a means of storage (I term this in the loosest possible way). It's also an unwritten law that when you move into your significant other's apartment, it's only obvious that you'd share closet space. However, when both the closet and apartment are as small as they can get, that is imply no option. The funniest part is that I was strangely drawn to the idea of keeping them neatly piled on the floor whereas in the past I'd fling anything unfolded and worn into a deep dark corner of the closet.

Seven months down the line and we finally found the perfect non closety looking closet at a fraction of the price of the hundreds of other possibilities we looked at (and no, Ikea was not even on our list of last resorts). It was an unsuspecting find at the Market at Boxhagener Platz on Sunday and it didn't take a lot to convince us that this was the one we had been looking for. 

Fuck Winter, it's time for spring

What has felt like the longest winter ever, I couldn't be happier that the sun is shining more regularly, the days are becoming longer and most importantly of all, the temperature is gradually becoming warmer. February and March have been incredibly busy months, with a lot of inspiration and opportunities. Working two jobs , as exhausting as it is, is the most fulfilling thing I could wish for regardless of the fact that I have not uttered the words "free time " in quite a while.

The slow start to spring has also brought an abundance of new friends and faces, and I am finally starting to feel like this is home. Speaking of home, ours has becoming an absolute overgrown jungle of plants and flowers celebrating our newly found freedom from winter.

The sweet life (well...sort of)

Despite having the day off and the well deserved opportunity to sleep in, I awoke to an inflamed throat, deep chesty cough and a sniffly snotty nose. My appointment to exchange my South African drivers licence didn't go to well either, since I lost my original licence and tried to explain my way out of it with poorly spoken and half broken German. This is not the first time it has happened and I am starting to doubt whether the Universe even wants me to be in possession of having one, be it a German or South African one. Having walked out of the offices in low spirits and still without a licence, I decided to treat myself to a visit to the doctor  (not very often you hear that). What I thought would be a 30 min wait and consultation, turned into almost 2 hours, with the doctors recommendation of "some throat sweets". I hadn't waited all that time just for someone with some silly medical degree to tell me some herbal sweets would do the trick, when hard influenza drugs and antibiotics is what I really wanted

Another door was walked out of that morning with my spirits lower than ever. If all I needed were some throat sweets, then that's exactly what I would get (well sort of anyways).

I stopped by Herr Nilsson's Scandinavian candy store in Stargarder Strasse for my so called doctors prescription of vanilla fudge pieces and chocolate covered almonds and Brazilian nuts. A cosy traditional like candy store where you fill up your own brown paper bag with sweets without limitation, I however managed to control my temptations and only purchased a bag totaling 1 Euro 40 ( to my surprise too). I nibbled on a few pieces on the way home and snapped some photos of my proud purchase whilst the sun was still peeking in the late afternoon.

I may not be completely cured of influenza, but I sure did cure my sweet tooth cravings.

Frolicking like a five year old

Having tried to write a few failed sentences and half put together words about snow falling, and how beautiful it was ( can somone say cheesy!), Nobody really cares about my words, and with reason since the images are just so much more! I should however highlight that the title of this post does actually reference me back to Saturday night where I had experienced snow falling for the first time and may also have  had  a few glasses of wine in me too. This entire experience that night however did not make the taste of Fabrizio's 1 euro noodle box taste anything remotely like noodles (mostly just noodles doused in soy sauce)

South African Snapshots- Part One

Having lived overseas for just over a year and a half, returning back to South Africa and seeing everything for the first time was like I was on some serious psychedelic drug. I suppose it really put the saying "being high on life"to a whole new level.

The most overwhelming feeling was in actual fact the sense of space that surrounded me everywhere. On first waking into my parents living room (which is not big, but most certainly double the size of our apartment), the closest description I can come to is that of being in a museum hall. I suppose the fact that the space I had lived in and been surrounded by on an almost daily basis whilst growing up felt strange by seeing it "for the first time"again. Needles to say, I threw myself onto my old bed with the linen smelling just like home and with fond memories.

On one of the first few days of being back, I casually went to Pick n' Pay, a South African Supermarket, to buy some essentials. I felt completely gobsmacked by all the food options and variety of absolutely everything! I became so used to shopping at  The Netherlands's Albert Heijn and Berlin's Netto, where there is literally just one brand of each item. I must have looked like a tourist with all the snapping away I was doing with my camera and small notes made in my sketchbook. When paying for all my items at the cashier, I felt  absolutely spoiled when a lady (Spongile) personally came and bagged my things. If you may not already know, here in Europe, you have to bag your own things at such a fast pace due to the 'production line' of customers behind you. I was quite traumatized by this experience in the first few months of living in Europe, but realized that all along I was quite spoilt with the service I had in S.A 

What I anticipated most about being in South Africa was going back to Johannesburg and seeing the city I fell so deeply in love with whilst studying there. I never in my life though I would be so overjoyed at seeing Taxi's clog up the city's CBD and hearing their never ending honking. On one occasion, I quickly snapped a photograph of a taxi whilst at a robot (what we call a traffic light in South Africa). The light turned green before I managed to finish taking the photograph, but the starstruck taxi driver  stood still and waited for me to finish taking the picture before driving off. 

The overall energy of South Africa is truly something I cannot explain. Perhaps it's just what I have ever known growing up, or maybe I just love that damn place so much, despite all of it's flaws. One such flaw is a serious lack of funding towards public museums and culture. I visited the Johannesburg Art Gallery ( JAG), to view an installation by renowned South African Artist William Kentridge. The building itself was in absolute deterioration, and not a soul around to view ay of the incredible works despite the museum being free of charge. I realized as we drove out of the museum parking lot and out into the crowded, chaotic and rubbish piled streets of the CBD and Hillbrow, that there are far bigger problems to take care of. If you are ever in need of a reality check, thats most certainly the place to go to.

Johannesburg Arts Galery, Pick n' Pay, Fort Klapperkop, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Maboneng Precinct, Protea (South African National Flower), Braamfontein, Voortrekker Monument, Juta Street, Askari Game Lodge