Right across from my hotel in Alexanderplatz sat the oldest building in Berlin: the remains of a Franciscan monastery from the 13th century that was the first outpost/settlement of the town by the Margrave of Brandenburg. There was a roughly simultaneous settlement on the nearby island in the Spree River that is now Museum Island,Continue reading “Franziskanerkloster Ruine”
Author Archives: mourningdove
Ceramics Saturdays: Ru Ware
Ru ware is the rarest of the products of the Five Great Kilns of the Song Dynasty: only about 90 examples are still extant, and on the even rarer occasions they come up for auction, they fetch millions of dollars apiece. They were thrown only at a single kiln site in Henan for a periodContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Ru Ware”
Friday Favorites: Anthem Playlist
I realized that each year I have a few songs that I listen to so often that they become anthems for the year–like “Love Runs Out” by OneRepublic, which I must have listened to at least 100 times in 2018 preparing for the K-pop style dance performance we put on for my birthday that year.Continue reading “Friday Favorites: Anthem Playlist”
SOFI
Yummy bakery on the beautiful Sophienstraße.
Museum für Naturkunde
I went to a really interesting panel here tonight called “Mapping Co-Habitation,” but the stars of the show were the incredible brachiosaurus fossil that loomed over us and this beautiful little archaeopteryx above, who had his own chapel-like viewing room. They apparently usually have AR (augmented reality) headsets that let you view the brachiosaurus andContinue reading “Museum für Naturkunde”
Sunny Fall Day in Berlin
The weather is supposed to be nice through the weekend!
Ramen
Miso ramen and genmaicha from Hako on a rainy fall day in Berlin.
Berlin
View from the rooftop garden of my apartment in Prenzlauer Berg. Attended the reopened Humboldt Forum’s Ethnology and Asian Art collections tonight and had a nice dinner at Kin Za, a Georgian restaurant near Rosenthaler Platz.
Ceramics Saturdays: Ge Ware
Our fourth Great Kiln of the Song Dynasty is a controversial one. Ge ware is very similar to Guan ware, so much so that scholars cannot agree on a definitive distinction. The celadon is less green overall and the glaze crackling more pronounced—what is called “double crackle,” with both fine crazing and stark, dark linesContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: Ge Ware”
Friday Favorites: Audiobooks
I thought I would do a quick list of some audiobooks I’ve listened to recently that were really good. I got all these titles through my Libby app linked to my local public library–it’s a great resource for free audiobooks, even if sometimes you have to wait for someone to turn the book you wantContinue reading “Friday Favorites: Audiobooks”
The Rookery 