I'm thinking that I'll go German from now on, and whenever I want to express something that consists of multiple nouns, or some sort of noun-adjective combination, I'll just shove it all into one word. I want you all to say the words as one in your head.
For example: Christmasmarkettime.
Pretty easy. Because you know the three words that make up the one word.
Now try Feuerzangenbowle.
(Let's be honest- as a lazy Australian, you had some trouble getting past that first group of vowels. 'What do you mean I have to pronounce each vowel individually??!! Can't I just put in some sort of mumbled bastardised grunting sound- it's what my people have been doing for 200 years!?')

I've been having fun looking at biglongGermanwords and then trying to transect them in Google translate. Sometimes you are convinced that you should be able to break the word down further- and it just won't work- but at least half the time you have a magical babushka doll of a word, and.. WAIT! there is an even smaller one within!

Anyway. Onto the happylongsaturdaymarketpicturepost:


Firstly- apologies for the lack of snow pictures- almost immediately after the snow happened the sun came out:

And then, I'll be honest, went straight back in again.

But as there wasn't a great deal of snow to begin with, the combined shining of the sun and the respiratory efforts of the grass resulted in it being almost all gone in about an hour. It did make for some cool patterning  in which the snow hung around on the parts of land without living thing.

Like the gopher holes:



Anyway, Pau and Juan organised for us to go and see a movie (in English- I'm sorry we cheated), at the Sony Centre in Berlin.... so I frolicked a little in Potsdam on my way to the hauptbahnhof (central station. Incidentally: Haupt= head/main, bahn= railway, hof= yard.. Ah German, you've done it again!)



The Potsdam station is much more of a thriving centre, than, say Thornlie train station. It has a massive double story groceries store, plus lots of other smaller shops.. and I think perhaps a movie theatre.
Apparently, it also comes complete with weird bird-people on stilts:





I rather enjoy the way she is advancing on that little kid in the foreground. Kid is evidently frozen in terror.

She was definitely going for the bird look.. kept cocking her head and staring intently at people. Plus she was on stilts, and was walking in a stilted bird-like manner.




So after the frolicking  I got to the platform to find Adam- who was evidently not about to be left out of seeing Twilight- and Pau and Juan, and we all zoomed off to Berlin + Sony Centre (pictured left).

Actually we ended up watching Cloud Atlas which.... woah! Weird film. I think it was supposed to be deep- but it's possible that half way through one of the directors decided to skip deep and go for slapstick/action instead.Who really knows.  It was definitely interesting.  And there are a lot of black and asian people in white-face in that movie: they have seven or so main actors playing about 30 important characters. If you go, I recommend you take this:
I would probably watch it again just to try to work out which actor is playing who at what time. Maybe by the third or fourth time I'll understand entirely what is going on...

Anyway. The Sony Centre looked very pretty. Some people thought that the fireplace on the giant tv screen was tacky. Some people are Christmas Grinches.


Onwards to the Christmas Markets:







This is actually kind of creepy. At the Potsdam markets they have an animated one that sings at you. Delightful.

Anyway- it was crazy busy, but there were nice smells and a generally lovely vibe.... Plus we got pretty good at sniffing out the free samples!

And they had the perfect Christmas tree, which had beautiful little mirrors that slowly rotated and sparkled


Alternatively, less cultured yet more hungry among you: Christmas tree number 2:


One of my aims in life is to own a cheese cellar.

Imagine just being able to go down to the cellar and cut a chunk off a huge wheel!

True happiness!

At one point in the market a sudden whiff of mature melting cheese burst onto the scene. Turns out it was these guys, with their specially designed cheese-melting implements: