Our Apartment in Berlin

• 335 Clayalle, Berlin, Germany.  Our street was named after U.S. General Clay who was the initiator of the Berlin airlift in 1948-49 that saved all of Berlin from becoming communist.  This street is in the southwest area of Berlin which was the American section of West Berlin. The troops finally left in 1996.  They were here for 49 years to protect West Berlin from the Russians and German Communists.  Our apartment is the tan balcony directly above the words Sonnenstudio.  We think you can read German--what kind of studio is this?  We are directly across from a grocery store!

          Now we will take you on a tour of our cozy little apartment.

  

The entry way is our clothes closet, storage room, and eating area.

• This is Tom's first Berlin "Doner."  It is similar to a Greek Gyro.  The bathroom is directly across from the table.  The bathroom door opens out and if the table is touching the wall, the bathroom door clears the table by 1/4 inch. 

•  The bathroom/laundry room is 4 x 7 feet.  I think it is about the size of my closet at home.         The clothes washer is very small and can only hold 5 shirts at a time.

• The kitchen and stove are very small.  The kitchen is 9 ft. x 7 ft. with a big window.  The refrigerator has a small ice box which is 6 inches high by 16 inches long and only 11 inches deep.  We were able to find an ice tray which has made Tom very happy.  Germans do not use ice cubes!  The refrigerator is 23 inches high by 17 inches wide.  The size of the refrigerator keeps down electrical costs and keeps the markets busy everyday.

• This is our only counter space for preparing food. It is 2 ft x 2 ft.  The burners are solid--take a long time to heat up and a really long time to cool down.  There are no garbage disposals in Germany.

• We do not have a clothes dryer except this portable drying line.  Right now we put it on our balcony but when the weather changes we will have it in our apartment.  Tom loves his rough and scratchy towels!

• The beds in Germany are two twin beds pushed together.  (That's what we had at the hotel also)  The individual cover is a Federdecke encased in a sheet.  This is great--Mary Ann wraps up in her feather quilt and Tom sleeps with no covers.  This is the easiest bed I have ever made!  The two AP's picked out our purple flannel sheets and flowered cover!  The one from Switzerland knew exactly what to buy but the one from Utah kept asking the clerk for a queen sized cover--he was a little confused.  The bedroom is also the study and sitting room.

• We love to go jogging in the morning in Berlin.  This area is directly behind our house.  Berlin has many beautiful wooded areas and cobblestone streets and sidewalks. The main roads are asphalt.

•  To get to the forest where we jog, we have to run two blocks on cobblestone sidewalks and streets.  We haven't sprained our ankles yet.  Our jogging is early in the morning and we are the only people out in t-shirts while the others are walking and wearing coats.  We wear our name tags and have conversations with a few walkers.  We say "Guten Morgan" to everyone we meet.  This is a very non-German thing to do.  Germans walk pass each other, do not look at each other, and do not say a word.  When people do talk to us we hand out the pass-a-long card with the LDS German website on it.  We have found no one who wants to talk about religion YET!  The theme in our mission is fishing with NETS--the internet.  We find, we teach, we baptize, and we KEEP!

         This is the beautiful forest where we run.  We just returned from a rainy day in downtown Berlin.