I determined soon after I arrived in Berlin that I wanted to ride the entire perimeter of the former Wall (die Mauer): there’s a well-signed route that circles the whole thing. And since I’m starting a bike tour in Brittany and Normandy next weekend, I figured it was high time to get my butt inContinue reading “Mauerradweg: Stadtroute”
Author Archives: mourningdove
Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Five
Dionysia I don’t remember much of the journey back to Delphi. I went to a place I hadn’t been for a long time, a place inside myself that was like a nest in a tree or on a cliff, high above everything and everyone. Down in the real world, I put on and took offContinue reading “Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Five”
36 Hours in Amsterdam
I know, it’s not enough…but it’s what I had: and it’s only coincidentally named after the New York Times article series (they do 36 waking hours; mine was total). The first order of business was to get a reservation at the Rijksmuseum because I have loved Vermeer and the other Dutch Interior painters since IContinue reading “36 Hours in Amsterdam”
Ceramics Saturdays: Meissen “Red Porcelain”
Edmund de Waal includes an extended account of the development of “red porcelain” or Meissen red wares in White Road, but the upshot is that on the way to discovering a formula for a European white porcelain, Böttger and his assistants in Augustus the Strong’s kilns in Meissen first discovered a way to reliably produceContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Meissen “Red Porcelain””
Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit B: A-ha and ATEEZ
Basically, what I’m arguing here is that if you live in Berlin, the world comes to you. Within the space of less than a week, I saw two bands from far-flung shores–one from Korea and one from the 1980s–at a stadium less than a mile from my house. And the second concert I didn’t evenContinue reading “Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit B: A-ha and ATEEZ”
Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Four, Cont.
Phemonoe I can’t explain it, still, after all these years, not well at least. The closest I’ve ever gotten to the words to describe what happened to me when I saw Paulos cast the daemon out of the girl are the words he used to describe his conversion to following Iesus Christos: He said theContinue reading “Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Four, Cont.”
Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Four
Dionysia By the time we docked at Neapolis, I felt good again–better than good. I felt things were back to the old ways. Phemonoe and I were back on the hunt. We put our merchant disguises back together for the day’s ride to Philippi, which had always sat in a strategic location at the footContinue reading “Amicae Usque ad Aras, Part Four”
Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit A: Der Kegel & RAW Gelände
I’ve been meaning to do this for a while–try to document the reasons why Berlin is the best city I’ve ever lived in and certainly in the top 10 I’ve ever been to. This is maybe a weird place to start for most people, but I wanted to start with the climbing gym in myContinue reading “Berlin is Awesome, Exhibit A: Der Kegel & RAW Gelände”
Rear Window Berlin Edition: Update!
The denizens of 2G have started dining al fresco given the great weather: it’s two dudes with luxurious pandemic beards down to their chests and, tonight at least, a nice bottle of wine and bouquet of foxgloves on the table. Bon appetit, Beard Bros!
German Word of the Week: Glühbirne
It’s a lightbulb, obvs, but the literal translation is “glow pear”: cutest thing ever.
The Rookery 