March 29, 2012
I now have a favorite wine shop. The sister of the restaurant with no prices. Eclectic owner.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Neighborhood jewel
March 29, 2012
I now have a favorite wine shop. The sister of the restaurant with no prices. Eclectic owner.
Reingold
March 27, 2012
First of three marathon meeting days. Nice though to find time for a drink at the neighborhood speakeasy. Another ice ball cocktail provides a satisfying ending to a long day.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Cured meat
March 26, 2012
Rewe (the local grocery store) is an endless source of adventure. Wondering what these round things in gelatin are. But not quite enough to warrant buying a pack.
Relic?
March 24, 2012
A beautiful day. Walked for five hours in the hood. What a playground. Grafitti. And pre-war relics?
Discovered Suicide Sue's bread and coffee. And a new farmers market. Love exploring new streets, shops, markets. Found a 19th century piano lamp for peanuts. I'd been looking for 4 years for that.
A good day.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Life in 3D
March 23, 2012
Signs of future products appearing on my desk.
Called in sick this morning. Fog headed. Spent the afternoon thinking about the stories behind the products. And then enjoyed the lucky happenstance of an Austrian wine makers dinner.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Work in progress
March 22, 2012
Looks nice from afar but then you walk into heart of things and everything is still very much a work in progress. Incessant pounding giving everyone a headache.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Daylight
March 21, 2012
Milestone. Getting out at lunch and having an adventure. Even if it's just lunch.
Exhausted today. Home early. Bed soon.
Dinner run
March 20, 2012
Exploring the neighborhood. Discovered a restaurant where the menu and all prices are unknown. Drink and eat what you want and pay what you feel it was worth. It was worth it.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Personal Maps
March 19, 2012
Shortcut through the park while biking home reveals an empty Nola. Seems to be a Swiss restaurant. A summer brunch spot according to TripAdvisor. Christmas lights must somehow signify Switzerland?
I've been thinking a lot about how to make maps more personal. How can I use them to tell a story of living in Berlin I've been tagging the posts here with locations but am not sure how that information reveals itself. I decided to take the different places I've explored and map them so that others exploring or looking for a restaurant or bar can look at my living map of Berlin. Story telling, curated places, lists of places I want to go, and little bits of life are my personal map. Not sure what I think about the My Maps experience from Google, but for now it's what I am going to work with.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Chores
March 18, 2012
Sunday nothing is open. It's taken some getting used to but now Sunday has become recreated as the chore day.
House is clean, Ikea furniture assembled and new herbs tucked away on the kitchen window sill.
Spring Fever
March 17, 2012
Spring has arrived, at least for today. Everyone is out and going somewhere. The local currywurst place is packed.
Feels great to be out. Little victories. Picked up dry cleaning. (Marianna's two weeks worth of intensive German proved very valuable in that interchange.) Hours of walking. Antique shops, hardware store, kitchen shops, haircut, grocery store, and discovering new streets with hidden finds. Everyone seems to be eating ice cream. (Or currywurst. Or having a beer at a sidewalk table)
No more ice balls tonight. But more discoveries with our friends. But my new favorite drink is a whiskey sour. Nice mix of the winter brown spirits with fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and occasionally an egg white to make the drink foam nicely... Two new finds. Pauly Saal and Keyser Soze.
Frozen Balls
March 16, 2012
Very good friends leaving returning after their six month stay in Berlin. Intend to make the most of this last weekend together.
Had my first spaetzle in Germany. Unlike anything I've had before. Amazing. Even more spectacular was the whiskey sour at the bar afterwards. First time I've ever been served a drink with an ice ball. An amazing experience. Felt like a giant whiskey gobstopper when the drink was gone. Just the week before I'd noticed a company that sells ridiculously priced units that make these balls.
Feels good to get out.
Here
March 15, 2012
Project done. Delivered. Am totally spent. Ready for the weekend.
Feel the need to get out, hopping on our bikes to see what looks and smells good. Ended up at a Yumcha Heros for Chinese dumplings. And then to the Cocktail Nazi for a Masterbaker. (Sherry, calvados, rasberry vinegar!)
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Done-r
March 14, 2012
Pit stop on the way home from work. New favorite doner stop. A doner pita and "Ayran" salted yogurt drink is dinner.
Looking forward to the end of the fire drill.
A Good Kind of Blue
March 13, 2012
Grateful that ever since I've arrived here, all I've worn are jeans. Makes the morning routine just a little bit simpler. I could get used to this.
Worked 18 hours today. Handed off assignment to the Sunnyvale team as I neared passing out, then they work till 11:00pm PST and then when I wake up, it's back to me again.
Monday, March 12, 2012
The tell
March 12, 2012
10 years ago I did the AIDS ride from SF to LA. I was not a seasoned biker and so when I purchased a stick on rear view mirror for my helmet people chuckled and called me "Fred". (Some kind of biker slur). But when we were biking I became the warning beacon since at all times I knew what was coming from behind. Not fashionable, but useful. Now that I bike to work in Berlin, the trusty rear view mirror is once again a life extender providing early warning for trollies, taxis and other bicyclists who all terrorize the new biker to Berlin.
Keeping an eye on what's coming from behind is a good practice for all of life's domains. It's back to working round the clock again to compress what should take weeks into days. The bloodshot eye is the tell.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Half a century
March 10, 2012
Beautiful city.
Decadent evening. Birthday celebration for a great friend.
Making tracks
March 9, 2012
First excursion. Train to Prague. Champagne and Iberico ham make the 5 hour trip go by in a snap.
It's great being on the move.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Between Seasons
March 8, 2012
All the outside tables have been brought out in anticipation of the next season. But today everyone is still packed inside. Tonight's late night at work and take out pizza leave me surprisingly optimistic.
Silence of the lamb
Mar 7, 2012
Local Azerbaijani restaurant. Good to reflect over a Sabzi qovurma. Looking into the smoking chamber that's acting as the owners office.
No smoke. Plenty of fire though.
Break me
March 6, 2012
Adventure in the smallest form. Opening the drapes.
Learning to do more. With less.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Clean Slate
March 5, 2012
New offices. New camaraderie. Team together.
Biked to work. Returned home somewhat numb. Still cold out there.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Outdoors
March 4, 2012
It's beginning to thaw. People enjoying life. Ran into several friends on the street this afternoon. A serendipitous moment and a nice afternoon.
Mom has begun walking. Assisted. Slow progress but a relief. A bit like life here.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
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