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”
Tag Archives: Berlin
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.
Rear Window: Berlin Edition
So, its been a couple of months now, and while I haven’t met many of my neighbors–I find Berliners keep mostly to themselves other than the forced ritual of having the DHL guy leave packages with you for other people who then show up sheepishly at your door at 9 pm to collect them–that hasn’tContinue reading “Rear Window: Berlin Edition”
Berlin Wildlife
I’ve seen some critters here that we don’t have where I live in the States, and so I decided to do some watercolors of them. Not pictured: the Eurasian jay, but I have yet to get a good picture of one I can sketch and paint from….
German Game of the Week: Bildergalerie-Solitaire
I learned a new form of solitaire from my colleague Birgit last week while we were in Spreewald. It’s fun and not too hard to win: you just have to make sure not to fill up all the open spots in a row if there are any cards already down that belong in that rowContinue reading “German Game of the Week: Bildergalerie-Solitaire”
Field-Trip Fridays (actually Saturday and Sunday): Spreewald
My friend and colleague here Birgit had a delayed 50th-birthday celebration with a group of friends out in the Spreewald (delayed because she got omicron right before her birthday! She was boosted and thus had a typically mild infection, but of course she was terribly disappointed). The Spreewald is a marshy oak, alder, and birchContinue reading “Field-Trip Fridays (actually Saturday and Sunday): Spreewald”
Berlin Philharmonic: Stravinsky & Bach (with extra-credit Handel)
Last night I went with a group of friends to hear the Berlin Philharmonic play some ballet pieces by Stravinsky and a Bach concerto for oboe d’amore (Baroque oboe). First of all, the Philharmonic hall is a wonder in and of itself. Designed by Hans Scharoun and built in 1963, the hall was a bitContinue reading “Berlin Philharmonic: Stravinsky & Bach (with extra-credit Handel)”
Ceramics Saturdays: The Porcelain Cabinet at Charlottenburg
So, Edmund de Waal covers this history at length in White Road, but during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, rich people collected Chinese and Japanese porcelain like crazy–like it was toilet paper during the pandemic; like there was a zombie apocalypse on, and the only things that could stop zombies were teacups. SoContinue reading “Ceramics Saturdays: The Porcelain Cabinet at Charlottenburg”
The Rookery 