Ice Cream

Know thyself.  

So goes the ancient Greek aphorism.  

“Myself” is like an ant on speed.  (That would be pretty funny!)  I am always flitting about working my way through the thousand errands I have listed in my head.  When I was younger, I used to envy sloths and layabouts for the apparent ease with which they could slump on a sofa for an entire day and channel surf or read or basically do things that in no way contributed or improved the status quo.  

Or nap during the day.  

Even when I was positively shattered from sleepless nights with little L, I still could not sleep during the day.  I would lay in bed with the curtains drawn and listen to the blood rushing in my ears, my mind filling up with things I need to do until the errands seemingly trickled out of my ears!  Enough!  I would leap out of bed and begin.  

I used to fight these impulses and try to be more relaxed about it all (I take this parenthesis to note that to me, the word “relax” is probably the most irritating word in the English language!).  Clearly I lost that war.  About 5 years ago, I decide to embrace my apparent short comings and you know what I discovered?  Being neurotic is actually fun!  I enjoy going to Ikea and building shelves while bopping about to the tunes on my iPod.  And I prefer making my own cookies or pasta or whatever.  Just now, having mopped 200 sqm of wooden floors, I am basking in the after glow of a job well-done.  

But, to borrow from the Greeks yet again - I am a bit like Sisyphus and his rock.  Although, unlike Sisyphus - I can take a break.  But I can’t relax in my own home as the minute my bottom makes contact with the sofa - I am up again to tend to some urgent matter that just can’t wait!

Instead I go down to the ice cream parlour downstairs.  It’s called Eis Laden and serves organic ice cream in the most bizarre array of flavors including; avocado, sea buckthorn, hot mango (with pieces of chili) - in fact they boast 130 different flavours!  By looking at their website, I have learned that they have been around for 13 years, are a family business and have 3 stores in Berlin.  

I love that it is a bit on the naff side.  I say this with complete affection, by the way!  The logo incorporates an upside down triangle, in a certain shade of blue that to my mind simultaneously evokes communism and the early 80′s.  Inside it’s painted an odd shade of yellow and one wall is clad in some tiles (which I actually like).  Outside they have some sort of truck base that they use as benches.  

The side-walk is always full of people enjoying a “kugel” (scoop) of ice cream for the bargain price of…€0.80 per scoop!  My plan is to make my way through their entire list, one scoop at a time.  

I love to sit on a bench, savouring my ice cream and watching the world go by, in the 10 minutes or so it takes me to get through it I think of nothing at all…  

What bliss!

Flavors I have tried so far; chocolate, sea-buckthorn, lemon sorbet, walnut, rice pudding (wowsers! you have to try this one!)

Luisenstraße 14
10117 Berlin
030-28045454

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5 Responses to Ice Cream

  1. Giulia says:

    What flavour is the one in the picture? It looks nice and refreshing!
    I find it interesting how things like chili or pepper are being introduced into ‘sweet’ foods. My friend makes a great strawberry and pepper jam…and it reminds me of some of the Mexican use of chocolate in savory foods.

  2. That is the sea-buckthorn one. It is really sour but it is refreshing! Want to meet your friend! : )

    • Giulia says:

      I am attaching her website link.

      http://www.genussreich.ch/pages/show.php?kategorie=2&nr=

      She is based in Switzerland and I know she ships within Switzerland, but maybe she’ll send some to Berlin? I used to work with her in Switzerland. The website is in German, but if you look at the product section I think you’ll be able to figure out what they are as well as the season she makes them in (otherwise have your hubby translate).
      She does speak English though.

  3. LOVE this post! So happy. ‘Knowing thyself’ - so perfect, and especially with a .80 Euro kugel in hand.

  4. The photo of the orange ice cream is incredible! It reminds me of the name of a novel by Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises :)

    Kathleen

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