A Saturday in late October

What does one do in Beriln on a Saturday in late October? I spent the morning on a task that I have not done with regularity for over 20 years: my own laundry. In our usual division of labor, this is my wife's job, while I do the shopping. This morning I even very bravely ironed a shirt.

After that essential task, I went looking at more housing possibililtes. Our real estate agent did not have time for me this week (which is a bit troublesome), but I went to a building on the to-be-seen list that is very nearby. It is impressively yellow (see picture) and clearly has had some significant modernization done in very recent times. The ground floor has a restaurant and a language school. The area is residential, with a bakery and grocery a scant 5 minutes away.

I also went to the Galleria Kaufhaus at Alexanderplatz. Alexanderplatz is famous both for the Döblin novel ("Berlin Alexanderplatz") and for the police headquarters (which is still there). The Kaufhaus (department store) was clearly a popular distination for Berliners. It was as crowded as if this were the week-end before Christmas. I need to buy new running shoes that would absorb the shock of the hard Berlin pavements. One of the great advantages of Berlin department stores is that they have staff who can give serious and intelligent advice. I now know more about the various forms of padding and support in running shoes than I thought possible. In the end I bought shoes that not only buffer against hard pavements but help to hold my foot straight.

The rest of the day I spent preparing my lecture, since I had no time in the office yesterday to get anything useful done.