A Day in 1928: A Market, a French Lunch, and Historical Transport

It is early October but only a few trees have begun to be splashed with yellow, a few maple leaves mostly green with spots of warmer colour drifting to the sidewalks, and a few red leaves like beech or alder and Virginia creeper.

I walked to the Marheinekeplatz in Kreuzberg to buy groceries for the '1920s' experiment, which ended up just being cauliflower, gold-green grapes and a wildly expensive set of Provençal candies that looked like pointy macarons. The Bergmannstraße was busy. For the first time I walked behind the market hall and found the open-air market, with its knitted goods, trinkets, antiques and vintage items. A few shoes and dishes looked like they might be from the Twenties, but because our apartment is already so full I didn't buy any. I was mainly here to see a relative who is at the market on Saturdays, and it was nice to find her and have a chat.

On the way back I popped into a French brasserie and bought two filled baguettes in paper wrappers, from a long glass counter full of French cheeses and sausages and a quiche that the salesperson had just popped in. I was willing to be surprised, but the salesperson stuck his head into the kitchen and hollered in French to ask what was in the baguettes, and the chef 'Magalie' answered back. And I asked for a red wine to go with the baguettes, and he gave me a light Pinot Noir after hemming and hawing over the bottles in the shelves.

I've known the brasserie since it opened. It stood right beside the bookshop and they let my mother take over a tray of their china espresso cups plus the freshly baked croissants that she sometimes bought to fuel herself and whoever was dropping by. And often when one passes, patrons are sitting outside it speaking in French, so the shopkeeper clearly knows his business. It does feel a little like knowing someone from their infancy and feeling pleased with how well they're doing.

That said, it still feels weird to have enough funds to be able to buy freely from its more expensive section; my obsession with the advantages and disadvantages of capital continues.

We had a light lunch at home afterward: baguettes (the one with thin slices of yellowy sheep's cheese, beet greens and other greens, sun-dried tomato kept in oil, and garlic-infused olive oil was especially delicious), water, tea, and wine.

Then I telephoned Uncle Pu and we chatted about French fries, how he spent his Friday in Berlin, work, and when we're going to visit him again.

And after that, Ge. and I went to the Technikmuseum in Kreuzberg.

It was the first time I've been there. It would take such a long time to confirm the facts, that I won't write about it much for fear of committing pseudo-journalistic malpractice.

To keep things short: it had plenty of exhibits from the 1890s to the late 1920s, interesting material for my historical experiment. It added puzzle pieces to my mental picture of Berlin across the centuries, too.

Quite footsore after browsing amongst the pre-1918 aircraft (enhanced by Ge.'s professional knowledge of airplanes) and trains, and the sugar industry section, with a few glimpses of antique bicycles and the ship exhibits, Ge. and I were tempted to eat something on the way back home to restore our energy. Families were strolling past — I won't say smugly, because that would be unfair — with ice cream in their hands.

Instead we walked past the red rose hips, tall Canada goldenrod, overblown clematis seedheads, greywacke plant beds, dark autumn berries, bristling nettles, ripening blackberries, etc., of the parks in our neighbourhood, until we reached home. The sun gleamed beneath the gray-blue clouds at the horizon, and one or two photographers with long professional lenses on their cameras were still stalking about to take advantage of today's bright, late summer lighting.

At home we reheated pizza (not very 1920s) and had more red wine and the grapes I'd bought earlier (1920s enough). And had some of the After Eights and the rest of the caramel candies from yesterday. And then I was so drowsy that I took a long nap.