Goodbye Simon-Dach Str ---> Hello Leipziger Str!

And thus on the 15th of March 2006 we have successfully put our humble posessions into various containers (mainly calico fabric baggies and plastic bags from Galleria Kaufhof) and ordered a mini-bus to transport it. The taxi lady was slightly confused why we were asking for a mini-bus if there are only two passengers, so it took a little while to explain that we have _a lot_ of luggage.

As I was standing on the ground floor of Simon-Dach Str. waiting for Jack to bring down all of the bags the old guy who looks after the house came by to check what was going on. And one of the first questions he asked was 'why are you moving at night?' to which Jack proceeded 'well we work during the day, so when do you suppose we should be doing it'... and then ran upstairs to get more stuff leaving me to my little knowledge of the great language. The old guy stood around for a bit confused and then said something to which I proceeded 'Entshuldigung ich schpreh nicht Deutsch'... basically something to let him understand that I do not understand him or anything he says. To which he gave a very loud snort and retreated.

The taxi driver was also rather confused to see people move in such a non-efficient fashion... ie. by throwing about 50 little bags into the back of a mini-bus. But it worked and in about 30 minutes we have already dragged all of the stuff to the 14th floor of the new place... Thankfully non-Russian style the lift was working.

So here we are... in our new humble abode. It is only 48 square meters, but we like to call it cosy. It is all IKEA furniture, but we like to call it minimalistic. It is all very white and cream, but we like to call it Zen. And the balcony is farken HUGE!!!!!!! I think we got sold on the balcony thing... Jack's thinking planting a little herb garden there... I'm thinking of putting up a hammock :)

One of the great things about this place is the location - it's pretty much smack-bang in the middle of Berlin in Stadtmitte. And yes Denya, we're still definitely in the East! It's about 20 min. walk to Unter den Linden (main big commie street) and the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag. It's about 10 min. walk to Checkpoint Charlie (former famous checkpoint between East and West, now has a museum and some memorials). And it's about 10 min. walk to Potsdammer Platz (one of the big main squares). And prolly about 15-20 mins. walk to the Museum Island (an island which has a lot of museums on it... doh, those Germans - so precise in their namings!).

Without further ado I give you Leipziger Str.

The lounge room...

The kitchen (and dishwasher - yey!!!)...

The bedroom...

The view...

Closeup of the view...