Nara and Chance in New York

a week in europe for Nara

2009-07-02T17:05:00.024-04:00

It was a whirlwind week in Germany and Italy last week! I went in order to attend the baptism of my godson, Benjamin (aka Benny), my friend Nadja's son, in Berlin. Meanwhile I also took the opportunity to jet down and see my sister Gillia and her husband John for a couple of days in Naples. My first afternoon in Berlin was spent relaxing with Nadja and Benny ...

... and eating some ice cream. (This was Benny's first taste of ice cream! Chance would be very proud.)

I spent the night at my cousin Jeff's apartment, which has this amazing balcony and a view of the TV Tower.

The next day, I flew off to Naples! Here's where my sister and her husband live, in the second floor apartment all the way to the left in this building with the green shutters.

They took me on a lovely walk of historic Naples, including a stop along the harbor (Mount Vesuvius is in the background).

We checked out the Castel Nuovo, among other things. This was built in the 14th century and has an amazing classical style triumphal arch sandwiched between the two castellated fortress towers. Very cool.

Of course, in Italy, there must be gelato. This was the point at which Chance was very missed -- he wasn't there to insist that we eat these tantalizing desserts!

We did have gelato later in the evening though - mmmmmm.

The next day we spent in Pompeii, checking out the ruins of the city. Here's John imitating Myron's Discus Thrower, very Greco-Roman!

:)

These are Pompeiian crosswalks, raised so that people didn't have to step in the open sewage that flowed in the streets.

Gil & John duked it out in the colosseum ...

and we ended our day at the forum, backed by a gorgeous view of the mountain that started it all.

Then we drove about an hour to Amalfi, which is a coastal town on the peninsula just south of Naples. The Duomo here is an incredible mish-mash of styles and eras, so gorgeous!!

After a lovely night in Amalfi, we finished up our Naples tour the next day with some Neapolitan pizza.

It really is totally different from any other pizza I've had in Italy or elsewhere. It's like thick Naan bread with the regular toppings ... extremely good.

Back in Berlin, I got to spend some more quality time with Benny and Nadja. Here Benny is learning to be a good German boy who eats sausage! (I had one too actually - it's much better than an American hot dog.)

Gil, John and I had dinner and drinks with Jeff and his fabulous fiancee, Debora ...

... and we explored Berlin, visiting (among other things) the Wall Park, where some of the few pieces of the Berlin Wall still remain.

Then there was more Benny time --

-- isn't he cute??? --

... and the week wrapped up with the main event, the baptism! Here I am with Nadja, the other godmothers, Kate (the blonde in the middle) and Nadja's mom Karin (crouching with Benny to the right). Kate's husband Jörg, their son Oliver, Nadja's husband (also named Oliver!), and Nadja's dad Kurt are also pictured.

What an amazing week, guys! Thanks so much for everything ... I miss Europe already, though I am happy to be home, too.

Jenn & Chris's visit!

2009-06-02T20:31:00.009-04:00

Our good friends from Seattle, Jenn & Chris, came to visit us over Memorial Day weekend. It was a hot, sunny couple of action-packed days ... kicked off by a visit to Gantry State Park in Long Island City (above) --

and a quick look at the Water Taxi Beach next door, complete with psychedelic palm tree.

Highlights also included the beer garden in Carroll Gardens,

a night in Coney Island, where we saw an unfortunately really really bad burlesque show (sorry guys!)

(but at least there was Coney Island Lager ...)

... a trip to the Guggenheim to see the current Frank Lloyd Wright show,

a walk through Central Park,

and the Met.

Thanks for weathering it all with me, guys!

Chance was studying for a final during most of this, and I'm happy to report he passed everything with flying colors as a result.

wednesday - a lovely afternoon

2009-05-14T20:33:00.004-04:00

The weather was PERFECT yesterday! I sat outside on the playground with my tutoring kids (three rambunctious fourth grade girls who it would be a crime to keep inside on such an afternoon!) ... then I walked to the subway through the lovely Brooklyn neighborhood of Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill.

As I was crossing the street, I experienced the most interesting aural effect - Mister Softee ice cream truck in one ear, and 6 o'clock church bells in the other! I had to get out the camera. So here's a little video of the rest of my walk to (and into) the subway.

my semi-annual post

2009-05-04T13:06:00.010-04:00

It seems I can't be bothered to update the blog regularly anymore, and I'm very sorry. When you're not travelling or doing anything to speak up except for studying, life doesn't lend itself quite as well to blogging. But here's what we've been up to since Obama got voted in last November (my last post) ...

In January, my cousin Karly came to stay with us. Just back from Scotland, she has decided to go to nursing school, and she was in New York to see if the community college/working part time thing would work for her here ...

So there was some IKEA-going as she settled in. (It turned out she found a better situation back in Seattle, and she left us in March ... but she'll be back someday, we hope!)

In March, it snowed. This resulted in very wet feet on the way to school, which later resulted in the buying of rubber boots.

My friend Cadence (upside down, right) and I went to the Armory show, because she had connections and got us in for free. The most interesting thing was the people watching.

I've been working all year at a public school here in Brooklyn, doing after-school tutoring for fourth graders. Here are some of my students. Aren't they fabulous?

And here's the classroom I tutor in -- it's a first grade classroom during the day, so I get to sit on little people chairs.

One of my classes visited the National September 11th Museum and Memorial planning offices and spoke with the Director of Collections for the museum. The offices have a really good view of the WTC site -- you can see the memorial ("Reflecting Absence" - two huge, square waterfalls in the footprints of the towers) taking shape.

It's spring, and there was a big thunderstorm a while back. It took me about 20 tries to get this photo, but isn't it cool? We don't get this kind of weather very often in Seattle, so it's super exciting for me.

My friend and classmate Aaron and his wife Laurie have been inviting us along to the opera recently. Not only is the music good, but the building is by one of my favorite architects, Wallace K. Harrison.

The chandeliers are cool too.

On a recent trip to the movie theater, we noticed this vending machine. I'm sure it's always been there, but it's in an unobtrusive corner ... only in New York. Or possibly Florida.

Open 24/6, except for Passover ...

Another recent discovery has been the neighborhood of Hunter's Point, which is just a 10 minute walk from our house. There's a really amazing state park there, right on the East River. They've preserved the old lifts where freight used to get transferred from rail to ferry to get to Manhattan.

The park has the most amazing view of the Midtown skyline ...

... and comfy reclining benches! It's our new favorite destination on a beautiful evening like this one.

Here's the view on our walk back home ... and that brings us to spring in Greenpoint, where it's now raining and I'm glad for the rubber boots. Finals are here, we're frantically writing term papers, and dreading the onslaught of summer with its 90 degree temperatures and humidity. It's almost AC time!

See you at Christmas, probably ... :)

OBAMA ... and other things

2008-11-05T22:49:00.015-05:00

It's been way too long since I've posted anything, so there's lots to catch up on! First, the recent news -- above is a picture from our polling place here in Greenpoint yesterday. We only waited about half an hour to cast our ballots, luckily.

The very helpful Officer Brown kept the line moving and people smiling and motivated. She was pretty awesome.

We celebrated election night in the East Village with our friends Jennifer, Brooke and Sarah.

Jennifer and Sarah are good friends of mine from high school, and this was the first time they had seen each other in (*gulp*) 15 years!! It was awesome to have us all together again, and especially awesome on this historic night ...

Here is Obama coming on to give his acceptance speech. It's good that he had some words, because I was totally speechless. He is amazing and I'm so proud and happy that he won!

The mood was deliriously jubilant ... fireworks were going off, people were hooting and yelling "yes we can," and running around giving each other high fives, as this guy was doing. It was one giant victory party. Today I am happy to report that New Yorkers seem pretty pleased and many of us are still walking on air ...

... in other news, a couple of weeks ago we attended Open House New York, a day when lots of different sites around the city are open for free. We visited the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side, a beautiful late 19th-century, Moorish-style building that has been in the process of restoration for two decades (finally finished now, and they did a nice job).

We also swung by the New York Marble Cemetery. You can't really see most of the marble because it's underground, in the form of vaults! We chatted with one of the caretakers for a while ... pretty interesting!

... and a lovely setting to relax in.

...

... Um, and then there's this. It's the Museum of Sex on 5th Avenue, and they've had an exhibition on animal sex for the past few weeks. I really cannot believe that they are allowed to have such displays in the windows (what awkward questions will little schoolchildren be asking their nannies??) and so of course I had to reproduce it for you here. :)

At the end of September we hosted a back-to-school-and-birthday-party celebration. It turned into a really giant party and we felt really popular and cool.

We had a lot of dishes to do though, unfortunately.

Wow, fall went by fast! I've been heads-down doing homework, so forgive my absence. I'll try to report any further points of interest more promptly in the future!

heading into fall ...

2008-09-20T23:33:00.006-04:00

It's been a busy few weeks! I turned in my MA thesis (and passed - I'm a Master of Arts now!), started a new PhD program at CUNY, and Chance started his MA at Hunter. Meanwhile, we received visits from good friends too, and enjoyed the last few hot days of summer with them!

First, my cousin Jeff and his girlfriend Debora from Berlin came to stay with us for a few days. We took a very long, hot walk around Lower Manhattan on one of the hottest days of the summer - here we are at the end, still looking perky!

We revived ourselves with some tasty pizza at Grimaldi's.

A week later, our friend Suzie came to visit from Chicago. Chance took us to a bar where they serve drinks in styrofoam cups that are as big as Suzie's head. Not good for the environment, but easy on the pocketbook!

We visited the MoMA, too.

Fall seems to be fast upon us now ... the weather is cool and we haven't turned on our air conditioner in a few days! It's a relief. We're getting into the swing of our new schedules and liking our new programs. In all, a good start to the school year!

a widding!

2008-08-28T17:22:00.015-04:00

We have just returned from a day spent in Seattle, where we attended my sister Gillia's wedding!

I helped her get ready at her place ...

... then we went down to the courthouse where the ceremony was being held. Unfortunately, her fiance had already turned into a pillar of salt --

-- just kidding. She and John got married overlooking this gorgeous view of downtown.

With my parents, Jon and Elizabeth.

I helped her do her hair. It turned out nice!

Chance tried to be very serious with his glasses.

I'm not sure how we all ended up color-coordinated, but somehow we did. From the left, my cousin Karlynn, my dad Jon, mom Elizabeth, John, Gillia, my sister-in-law Candace, Chance, me, Gillia's friend Yael, and my brother Kyall.

:)

Oh Nara, won't you stop talking so we can make a toast?

There was a bit o' dancing.

And much silliness. Good food too.

Our table (me, Chance, Kyall and Candace) quickly became "the kids' table."

In all, a lovely day. Many congratulations to the happy couple! I am so proud of my little sister, who is all grown up and now moving to Italy with her hubby. A glamorous life, with so much fun ahead!

a marathon week, but a good one

2008-08-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Last week, I finished up my job as a teaching assistant at SIELP, an intensive ESL program for kids who are entering high school. I miss my class already! It was such a great summer with them.

This week, except for a day spent at CUNY orientation, I have sat here. Every day. All day. Writing my thesis. And it's almost done!! Yay!!!!!

Tomorrow: on to my sister's wedding in Seattle ... stay tuned ...

VIP tour of the UN

2008-07-10T22:51:00.001-04:00

Today our friend and former Paul's house roommate Sune took us on a tour of his workplace -- the United Nations!

Because Sune is an intern (he's been working for his country, Denmark) we got to go into the special, non-tourist areas. Very V.I.P.

Sune showed us everything ... (here's a room designed by a Danish architect - he was proud).

The highlight of the tour was, of course, the security council chambers!

So cool. Normal tourists do not get access to this part. They have to stay up in the balcony. Ha ha.

We were allowed to sit in the chairs. So awesome!

Here's our friend Hadley, putting Chance (Libya) in his place ...

She also tried out the magic translation listener things. They weren't on.

In addition to seeing places normal people don't get to see, the architecture was just fantastic. I love Modernism done well! I hope they never get enough money to redo it (apparently that's what's been holding up the remodeling since the 1950s, and the whole building is asbestos-ridden) ...

It was an awesome tour and we're lucky to be in New York and have such well-connected friends!

Paris, enfin

2008-06-30T21:46:00.001-04:00

My last few days in Paris went something like this: I took a picture of our crappy hotel from the outside so you all could see how deceptively cute and harmless it looks.

.... but if you look closer, you'll see that the hotel is "in the works of renovation" -- i.e. no hot water, excuses for crappy, overpriced service etc. If you lift up that taped-on message, you'll see there are no stars under there. Hmmmmm.

We managed to get to the Centre Pompidou for an hour. It was unfortunate that we didn't get more time, but that's how things sometimes go when you are with a group and you are all very hungry. It was a really good collection and I am definitely interested in seeing it again next time ...

The balconies are pretty but you can't go out on them -- don't know what that's about.

These were part of the design collection -- interlocking pieces that you can hook together to make these branch-like room dividers. Very pretty. And clever.

Here's the outside, which gives me a bit of vertigo ...

Beautiful view, though! (I mean the buildings, not me.)

Here's the courtyard of our school building, where we often ate lunch. This photo proves that French people, in addition to walking around eating baguettes and bicycling while smoking AND talking on their cell phones, really do have banquets outside with wine and salads of haricots verts, and lie on the grass and relax even though it's cloudy and the grass is rather damp. Actually the girl lying there is our classmate and new friend Noemie, who on Friday night took us out in her very cool neighborhood in the 10th arrondissement --

We had food and wine at a really great little French bar, and then took a nice stroll through the quarter. We even passed over the canal that's in the movie Amelie. It was pretty.

Now, after overcoming the hurdles of striking train operators, gigantic hotel bills, and being bumped to a different flight, I am home. Chance had this lovely, tasty, and romantic dinner prepared for me. It's so nice to be back! I had a good time in Paris, but there's no place like home.

Paris, continued

2008-06-24T03:24:00.000-04:00

It's been a nice week and a half so far in Paris! I've been hanging out mainly with the group of five students who were in my last post. We saw the Sacre Coeur on Montmartre ...

... checked out the front of the Moulin Rouge ...

Near our school there is an amazing bakery --

with amazing "Macarons" (different from macaroons) --

mmmmmmmm..... (this is Emily and Cadence enjoying the baked goodness).

We visited the Eiffel Tower, the quintessential tourist experience!

They have these funny transparent garbage bags now. It's a bit unsettling.

We saw the Arc de Triomphe ...

(Curtis and Emily taking pictures ...)

On the weekend we enjoyed some gelato before entering the big cemetery, Pere Lachaise.

It's very pretty!

...

On Oscar Wilde's grave there are all sorts of graffiti and kisses of lipstick ...

On Saturday night Paris was having its annual "Fete de la Musique," where the whole city is filled with musicians, official and unofficial. Here is a capoeira troop --

-- in Notre Dame there was organ music --

-- the whole street was like a carnival, filled with people!

(The results of much celebration.)

These were Vietnamese people I believe, and they were singing Karaoke-style French Samba.

We took a rest in front of Napoleon's tomb afterward. :)

On Sunday I went to the Louvre.

...

There was contemporary art installed amongst the Classical galleries. It was interesting!

I also ran across a ceiling of the palace painted by Georges Braque. Who knew there was so much 20th and 21st century art in the Palace of the Academy??

Class is going well. I am looking forward to getting home, though...

A Bientot!

americans in paris

2008-06-17T05:26:00.000-04:00

I finally made it to Paris! I'm settled in and already in the swing of daily classes. They're held here:

... at part of the campus of the American University in Paris. It's behind this pretty little church in the 7th arrondissement. Our hotel is just around the corner ...

Here's my room. I thought I would have a roommate, but I don't, which is nice! The thing that sucked for the last three days was that I didn't have any hot water. The hotel is doing renovations. It finally just got working today and I had a luxurious lunchtime shower. I was pretty frustrated with the hotel management, but I'm glad now that it's finally working.

I like this little piece of post-modernism on the Rue de l'Universite nearby. It's a nice integration of the surrounding buildings, and it's a nice use of a glass curtain wall.

Here are some of my buddies from the program. From the left, Emily, Todd and Cadence. I knew Emily and Todd from previous classes. Emily knows Paris better than the rest of us so she navigated us on a lovely walk through the center of the city.

We ate falafel in front of Notre Dame ...

and admired the sunset over the bridges ...

and ogled the outside of the Centre Pompidou ...

... another member of our little group, Curtis, got his caricature drawn ...

Ah, Paris! So romantic! Such midriffs!

In all, a lot of walking, but a good night. I'm enjoying myself alot just wandering around. Classes have been good too!

A bientot!

on my way to paris, but still in new york

2008-06-14T19:59:00.001-04:00

I am sorry there is no picture to go with this post, but I just needed to share the insanity that I have witnessed today at JFK airport! My flight to Dulles (Wash DC), which was supposed to connect to a Paris flight, took off, flew to Washington DC, and then had to turn around because there were storms and they didn't have enough fuel to sit in a holding pattern! So after a very long, protracted flight back, I stood in line with a bunch of very bitchy, very INSANE customers.

It took forever for me to get to the front of the line. There were people who didn't speak English, people who seemed not to comprehend anything about airlines, baggage, gates, etc., and one guy who was loudly hassling the poor gate agents. Having sat there for an hour listening to them tell others that they needed to go to the baggage claim, get their bags, go to the other terminal and check in at the other airline, the guy then needed to WRITE DOWN those instructions. Now there is a hysterical lady at my gate asking to get on a plane that's about to leave.

I am calmly laptopping and reading. I am checked in for a flight at 10.50pm. Hopefully all goes well.

back in new york

2008-06-09T11:00:00.000-04:00

We made it safely back home to Greenpoint on the redeye Jet Blue flight from Seattle. Dragging our suitcases home from the subway at 7.30am, we couldn't help but notice that it was already in the 90s and quite humid! Our apartment was nightmarishly hot. So we went straight off to Target and bought us an air conditioner. Isn't it beautiful? Now it is a lovely 77 degrees in our office. Unfortunately, our apartment is a railroad, which means that the kitchen and guest room are still pretty warm. Word to the wise: wait until October to come stay with us!!

two lovely weeks in Seattle

2008-06-09T07:56:00.001-04:00

We had a really lovely time visiting our hometown these past two weeks. We haven't been back since we moved to New York last August.

The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was how good it smelled! You can smell the fir trees even in the airport parking lot. The first few days of weather were absolutely gorgeous.

Chance's mom and sister picked us up at the airport, and we all went to dinner before taking a little stroll around Volunteer Park.

Yes, Seattle was letting us know what a bad decision it was to move away.

Paul (of Paul's House fame) offered to put us up, and he even made up a little bunk for us, complete with directions as to where to put our heads and feet.

We grabbed a drink at Flowers with some good buddies before crashing late that night. Flowers has an awesome mirror ceiling, which is what's in this picture.

Paul's garden is even more effulgent than last year ...

...

And so is Paul!

On Memorial Day we hung out with my brother Kyall and his wife Candace, who have a strange thing called a "trikke" -- to ride it you do a slalom-type motion and twist back and forth. I managed to fall a couple of times, but Kyall and Candace have really mastered it.

One of the things we made a point to do was hang out in a couple of real Seattle coffee shops. We went to our favorite, the Joe Bar, and here is Chance at the Solstice on the Ave, trying to get some studying done for the GRE.

We had lunch with my friend and former boss Susan and her partner Larry at their new house in Mountlake Terrace ...

... and we got to play with the kitty, Sprig!

On one of our bus trips, we noticed that Seattle is using the same slogan that New York does -- "see something? say something" -- and that they also advertise against using your cell phone for loud conversations on the bus. I am fully on board with that one. Luckily cell phones don't work in the NYC subway!

We spent an evening our awesome friends Jenn and Chris, bar-hopping in Lower Queen Anne. It's a cute neighborhood with lots of good watering holes. The company wasn't bad either!

There was a barbeque/potluck at Paul's house on the weekend. Chance enjoyed pulling out our fancy grill that my parents have graciously been storing in their garage for us all this time. Kyall and Candace came,

... and so did my sister Gillia ...

... and so did Chance's sister Elyse, who this week decided to shave her head, inviting brotherly noogies.

Then we crossed the Sound to Bremerton to see the rest of Chance's family!

(His sister Jeanette and Sophie, the adorable yellow lab mix ...)

There were more noogies, of course.

And there was some really awful concocting of various sugary substances. This is green frosting squeezed from a tube onto red licorice. I have to confess, I don't get it. They are obviously related.

Then we headed up to Mt. Vernon to visit my grandfather and my aunt. Grampa has a kitty cat who loves to relax on his lap ...

... Kyall and Candace joined us (that's our awesome hostess, my Auntie Anne, on the left).

The next day we drove out to North Bend to hang out with my parents, grandmother and sister who all live there. My dad and I got a little music time in too!

We wrapped up our visit with a classic Capitol Hill pub crawl, which began at the Chapel. It actually turned into a bit of a pub "hop," as we pretty much just went to the Cha Cha after this ...

... the Cha Cha is still cool (especially when our friends are there) but we noticed a little different crowd is encroaching on the usual punk rock vibe of the clientele. It looks as if Capitol Hill really is changing a bit. Sad!

One last breakfast at 14 Carrots ...

... one last Humbau at Yak's ...

(mmmmmmmmmm...)

We had an absolutely wonderful time seeing our friends and family! We miss you all!

a visit from Mary Ellen

2008-05-23T07:59:00.000-04:00

This past week my good friend Mary Ellen stopped in for a visit. We had a great time wandering around together ...

... and eating some very tasty Ethiopian food, among many other things!

She is off to a wedding outside Washington DC this weekend. It was lovely to have her here for a few days, and to show her some of our Brooklyn haunts.

a day at the brooklyn botanic garden

2008-05-16T23:19:00.001-04:00

Yesterday my friend Yumi and I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Yumi and I know each other from the MA program at NYU, and she also originally hails from the Northwest, though from the other side of the Canadian border - she is a Vancouver native. It was a lovely warm afternoon ...

The peonies were in bloom ...

And here is a coffee tree, the source of my biggest addiction!!

The bluebells were out. So pretty! It was as if we weren't in the city.

Afterwards we headed to Habana Outpost, a great place with a patio and awesome, cheese-covered roasted corn. YUM. Twas a fabulous afternoon. Stay tuned for more of such adventures, since two friends are coming to visit next week and we're headed to Seattle the following weekend!

things you see while on the subway

2008-04-24T00:33:00.000-04:00

Really, it's the little things that amuse on the 8.30am commute, when you are waiting for your second train because the first one was too crowded to get on.

le printemps est arrive!

2008-04-12T14:59:00.001-04:00

It's spring! Time for doing new things, like making new kinds of desserts . . . (here is an Indian coconut layer cake I made the other day . . . yum!) (don't ask how much butter there was in it).

On Wednesday night we found a little bar hidden away on West 4th Street near NYU that serves Belgian beer. We aren't the biggest fans of Belgian beer, but the space is really cool and it would be lovely in the summer because they have a great patio.

On Thursday I went for a long walk in Central Park with my friend Sarah. In addition to realizing how out of shape I am, we saw turtles sunning themselves, and I got a little sun myself!

The cherries are blooming, a sure sign that spring is indeed on its way . . .

Later that day I attended a conference at the Columbia Law School. (The conference actually had nothing to do with law - it was on collective memory, return and commemoration issues in cultural studies.) The Law School is a special brand of High Modernist architecture that I actually find stunning. The balcony on the right makes the whole monolithic feel of it seem to make sense. The conference was good too.

On my way down Amsterdam Ave. to meet Chance after the conference, I passed by the cathedral of St. John the Divine. In the evening light it's magnificent. It's really massive. If you look closely you can see people on the lower right hand side of the photo. It dwarfs them!

On Friday we wandered around the "Curry Hill" neighborhood in Manhattan, so called because of all the Indian restaurants there. We ducked in to Kalustyan's, a Middle Eastern grocery store that also stocks a lot of Indian ingredients. Actually they have everything, from Latin American products to African ones! It's amazing. And upstairs there is this friendly gentleman, who made us sample his many Middle Eastern dishes. Oh man. SO good.

We stayed for lunch.

Happy Spring!

27 Rue de Fleurus

2008-03-15T20:34:00.000-04:00

Last night we went to see our friend Sarah's show at Urban Stages. It's a musical about Alice B. Toklas's relationship with Gertrude Stein, and Sarah plays Pablo Picasso, Mabel Dodge and Jean Harlow! All within an hour and a half! (That's her in the middle, channeling Pablo.)

She also gets to show off her absolutely GORGEOUS singing voice. Hearing her was sublime!

mary's visit

2008-02-29T11:37:00.000-05:00

We were really excited for our friend Mary to visit. Unfortunately, she arrived with the flu and has been sequestered in our house with a fever and a cough for almost her whole trip. It really sucks for her, but the upside is that we get her all to ourselves and we get to do lots of sitting around sharing nerdy YouTube links in the kitchen on our matching laptops.

Feel better, Mary!

hello people

2008-02-20T16:46:00.000-05:00

I do apologize for the lapse in service ... I blame the general February malaise (cold, rainy weather, school starting, general avoidance of all responsibilities). Anyway, it is high time I actually posted photos of Gillia's January visit (over a month ago now!). You might remember that she was here in the fall as well, but we didn't do very much sightseeing at that point, so we had to make up for it ...

Of course, the Brooklyn Bridge is always a good first stop --

-- as is Wall Street.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art...

... the Natural History Museum (very weird, very strange, very surreal place from another era).

... the MoMA (free on Friday nights, if you can stand the crowds) ...

... and Chance's favorite part, watching the sealions being fed at Central Park Zoo! They were SO cute!

Of course, the day isn't complete without some improv subway art (not our doing, though I wish I was this clever).

I promise I will be more prompt with my postings in the future ...

and a happy new year.

2008-01-01T20:29:00.000-05:00

We had a lovely New Year's Eve, without even going near Times Square!

First, we took a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to lower Manhattan, where we admired the architecture. Next we took the train up to Murray Hill, a part of Manhattan picture above, where there is a lot of cool Art Deco stuff, including the lovely Chrysler Building.

Later we met our friends Brooke and Ian (in the next picture) and rang in the new year in a part of Brooklyn called Park Slope.

Here we are on the train, making an ill-fated trip to a friend's party which turned out to be minus the friend. We had fun anyway! It was a good night, and we are now enjoying Chance's last day of freedom before he starts a long few days of work.

Happy New Year!

a very merry christmas

2008-01-01T19:47:00.000-05:00

The weekend before Christmas, we continued our thorough investigation of New York's sweets with some hot chocolate at the City Bakery. It was good, but you should really only ever drink an espresso-sized serving. It's incredibly rich! We felt a little queasy afterwards. (This did not, however, deter the two "real" Hohensees from making sure the gingerbread cookies at home had been properly baked.)

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Met ...

... and later joined our friends Sarah and Dylan for Christmas Eve mass at Grace Episcopal Church, where Sarah was singing. It was awesome, and there were candles. So Christmasy!

On Christmas day, Chance commenced the cooking of the Goose, which turned out very tasty:

But, sadly, quite fatty as well. Most of what you see here is actually just fat. There must have only been about 4 pounds of meat on the 13.5 pound bird ... next year we're definitely doing a ham!

Christmas dinner was yummy, though, and we were joined by numerous good friends. It was very cheery!

The next day, Elyse and I went to Coney Island to wander around.

It got a thumbs-up.

We wandered into the aquarium, just in time for the sea lion show ...

... and we saw the walruses. They are BIG, and I do mean big, as in bigger than polar bears! And they were swimming back and forth, zooming past the windows ... it was fun to watch them.

On Friday we took Elyse to the airport and saw her off ... it was so much fun having her, and we can't wait for her to visit us (hopefully) in the summer!!!

New York gets a thumbs up

2007-12-21T22:36:00.001-05:00

We have had a busy week! We went ice skating at Rockefeller Center (Elyse has her thumb up in this picture, but you can't see it ...) We got an extra bonus because they were having a promotion for the Simpson's DVD release, and we got free donuts. Mmmmmmmmm. Doooonuts.

It was crowded though. (That's Chance and Elyse on the right.)

The next day Elyse and I sampled the hot chocolate at Max Brenner. Mmmmm. Choooocolate.

And we finally got a tree! After going all the way to the Home Depot in Bed-Stuy, and seeing that they only had about 10 left, and they were all waaaay too huge to carry on the subway, we got one from the flower shop on the corner.

Baum, baum baum ...

Decorations come later.

The next day Elyse and I checked out Central Park, where all the lakes and ponds are frozen! It's very beautiful.

:)

Then we came home and decorated the tree.

Today, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. I am afraid of heights, and Elyse is afraid of bridges. We made it, though!

And we even appreciated its beauty.

.

.

.

Afterwards we warmed up with a really yummy chai at a cool little cafe we found in the Village. A very New York week!

An Early Christmas Present - Par Avion!

2007-12-17T19:50:00.000-05:00

We got to go pick up our biggest Christmas present last night at the airport ...

an Elyse! Straight from Seattle, by airmail. And she is very excited to be in New York. And we are excited that she is here!

Today I took her on a tour of NYU, where we went to the top floor of the library and courted vertigo by looking down. It really is cool looking. I have to breathe deeply in order to look down, though.

And I took her to the top floor of Kimmel, where there's a great view of Washington Square Park.

Then we headed up to midtown and wandered around the fashion district. At Macy's, we checked out the wooden escalators - so retro!

:)

... and we checked out Santa's pad. You have to take a "train" to get there!

Elyse sneaked a peek out the window. It must have been showing hard on the way to the North Pole, because you couldn't see anything ...

Once we arrived, we were whisked through Santa's toyland ...

... and eventually had our picture taken with Creepy Santa. Santa is just creepy when you're not five anymore. Plus, we were old enough to realize that there is more than one Santa at the end of the line. We didn't bother paying to get a copy of our creepy Santa picture. The poster is just as bad.

Next we walked up to Times Square for the ultimate set of tourist photos ...

New York gets a solid thumbs up so far! Woohoo! And we've got 10 days left.

snow!

2007-12-02T11:32:00.001-05:00

Seattle got a dose of snow this weekend, and I was a bit jealous - and then I woke up to this. Unfortunately it's supposed to change to freezing rain later today and become icy. Also, snow doesn't affect much of anything. No one is off of school. There are no disasters. It's not "Winter StormWatch 2007" on the news.

It's pretty, though.

a busy weekend

2007-12-01T18:14:00.001-05:00

Welcome to New York in the late fall, with its gorgeous sunsets (this is Lexington Avenue, and yes, that's the Chrysler Building). Unfortunately, the sun sets here at the same time it does in Seattle. 4:30. For two months. In a ROW. I'm very close to buying one of those full-spectrum lightbulbs. But anyway, it's not time to talk about Seasonal Affective Disorder! It's time for ...

... Christmas trees! I saw my very first New York Christmas tree lot last night. It was spread out along the side of a building. It was very long. I am excited for the holidays and have been playing Christmas carols already ...

Today was sunny, so we decided to get out of the house and explore. I wanted to see Battery Park, because I'd heard about some interesting memorials there. We didn't find them. It was 30 degrees, windy, and there were about 10 million tourists lined up to take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty (that small, pointy thing in the picture). So we left, and instead we went to ...

... the new Museum of Contemporary Art on the Lower East Side, which just happened to be opening today, so it just happened to be free! This is one really awesome thing about living in New York. I read about this building in the New Yorker two days ago. And today I went and I saw it in person. I can't tell you how cool that was.

Here we are in line - luckily we didn't have to stand for more than a couple of minutes to get in. Chance is sporting his new, $1.25 hat. It gives him awesome hat hair, and it keeps the wind out of his ears. A sensible purchase, I say.

The museum doesn't allow photography inside, but you can take pictures on the 7th floor balcony. Here's what the outside of the building looks like up close. It reminds me forcibly of the old Kaufhof in Berlin, which rusted and was very sadly torn down and replaced by something that looks like a cross between a Lamont's and a prison. The siding here might be a bit utilitarian, but I am a fan.

The view is nice too.

This may be the time to tell you that the museum's free opening was sponsored by Target, who also donated a huge chunk of cash to build it. While I'm philosophically opposed to Target, I am very happy they did this, as we'll probably never be able to afford to come here again. MoMA admission is $20. TWENTY DOLLARS. For a MUSEUM. That is RIDICULOUS.

Also, Target has good deals on housewares.

The seventh floor also contained a giant chest of drawers filled with red and white candy, which patrons were encouraged to take and put into little baggies. This was Chance's dream art!

Mmmmmmmm. Caaaaaandy.

Let me note that we did not make this mess. But I feel sorry for the people who have to clean up all the spilled candy from the museum. There was a little pile of it in the stairwell, too.

Ah, New York. Land of the free. Candy.

a thanksgiving tradition

2007-11-26T00:08:00.001-05:00

Having spent last Thanksgiving on an extremely awesome Spanish vacation with the extremely awesome Megan Anshutz, we got the pleasure of an awesome repeat performance this year in New York!

Walking through Central Park is always a good starting activity.

The painted tiles in the Bethesda Terrace ceiling were recently renovated and are a real treat for a tile-obsessed girl like me ...

On Thanksgiving Day we invited a bunch of friends (all somehow former Seattleites) over for a potluck. Chance cooked a giant turkey and carved it like a complete pro. So tasty.

Al, Malinda, Al's mom Alicia, Hadley, Vinh, Brooke and Ian all joined in the merry festivities.

And we were lucky to have an Official Former College Radio DJ in our midst, who spun the tunes all night long.

The last couple of days have been absolutely perfect for afternoon walks. It's a bit chilly and windy, but a little sunshine and a hot cup of coffee help.

The fall colors are finally here!

We wandered over the bridge to Long Island City, home to PS1, a MoMA-affiliated (but much cheaper) modern art museum.

It was pretty awesome. A perfect afternoon for Megan's last day in the city. She flew back home to Chicago Friday night.

On Saturday Chance and I took another walk and discovered a little settlement of feral cats just up the road -- what an interesting neighborhood we live in!

But a nice one nonetheless.

Enfin ... L'Automne.

2007-11-07T00:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is finally autumn here in New York. It feels so good - it actually even smells good, which is a miracle! The leaves are pretty, there's a brisk wind, and I get to wear scarves. I like it!

Another good thing that arrived this week was my friend Samantha ...

... who visited us for a few days on her way home from a whirlwind trip to Europe. We had an absolutely wonderful time with her --

-- we went to see a Swedish band called the Shout Out Louds who sound like the Cure ...

And we saw some of New York's best offerings in street detritus-turned found art objects (it looks like the bed bugs really set up shop here -- is that a toilet bowl cleaner?)

... and we gave our very own name to that mysterious stream of water flowing through the tunnels of the MTA, contributing to the unique geology found (and smelled) only here ... the Bahnbach! Think it'll stick?

I wish I had more pictures of Sam's visit. My camera's batteries crapped out halfway through. We had a great time with her though, discovered some awesome neighborhooods, had a real Celebrity Sighting (well, I did anyway - Chance and Sam had their backs turned, ha ha) and ate some fabulous food. Thanks for visiting, Sam!!

Over the weekend Chance and I tried to get out of the house for a breath of fresh air (we've been cooped up in here studying for weeks now), and we discovered that the NY Marathon had gone right by our house earlier that morning. All we saw was the aftermath ...

... and aftermath there was.

We saw parts of our neighborhood that we had never been to before. Greenpoint is so cool! So many little things to discover. We definitely need to get out of the house more often.

Alas ... this is the view we see most often - the view out our office window, where we sit dutifully procrastinating. At least it's a good view, especially at sunset.

Hooray for fall!

A Wisitor!

2007-10-16T21:15:00.001-04:00

'Twas a lovely week with my lovely sister, the lovely Gillia!

Yes ... there was laughing (here we are at the Ginger Man, our friend Scott's regular Manhattan hangout) ...

... and museuming --

-- here we are with Gil at the Met, where she deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs for us,

and debated the danger of dead scarabs with Chance. Also, we looked for Monet, but the section was closed. We did see Henry VIII's battle armor, however. I am sorry I forgot to take a picture.

We tried out the chocolate at Max Brenner's -- a 'Chocolati'-ish cafe, for you Seattlites. It was tasty as only a $4 cup of hot chocolate can be. (Chance is never one to pass up an opportunity to tease a sister, which he is avidly doing in this picture.)

As I've mentioned before, in New York you get some really quality buskers. Here is the Brooklyn-based band La Strada performing in the G train station. The acoustics there are absolutely perfect for folksy, haunting emo. Love it!

I forgot to mention that my back freaked out the day that Gil arrived, and by three days into her visit I basically couldn't move. I went to the doctor on Friday and got a shot of anti-inflammatory stuck directly into the problem area, and it's better now. Never thought I would beg the doctor for a shot!

To help me limber up, on Saturday Gil and I went for a walk in Central Park, where we enjoyed the ubiquitous New York street pretzel. Mmmmm. Soggy on the outside, dry on the inside, and covered in too much salt. Just what the doctor ordered!

Central Park really is magnificent.

So magnificent that Chance and I had to go for a walk there today too. The weather has gotten to be just perfect - in the 60's, sunny and a bit breezy ... ahhh, fall. It was a perfect day to pretend one is being rolled over by rocks --

-- or having to push them up hills.

Or climbing on them.

So lovely! In all, not a bad week. My back is much better, but our house is much emptier without Gillia's lively presence. We miss you, Gil! Come back to New York!

Newspeak at the Knitting Factory

2007-10-08T01:02:00.000-04:00

Those of us who had to read 1984 in Mr. Seidel's 11th grade U.S. History class might have thought Newspeak was just a figment of George Orwell's literary genius, but no ...

... they are actually alive and well and they're a fantastic experimental music group (I would just call them a "band," but then, that's just me) for which my friend Sarah is the singer. We went to their show tonight, and they were awesome!

They're all classically-trained musicians, and the group includes a guitarist, keyboardist, drummer, cellist, clarinetist, vibraphonist and an electrified violinist. Oh, and a vocalist. Did I mention the vocalist? Yeah, that's my friend up there on stage kicking some musical butt. They even did a Black Sabbath cover. Need I say more?

ahhh ... the scent of fresh, Swedish pine

2007-10-04T20:51:00.000-04:00

Yes, it was an IKEA-scented week. But first --

Last week, we sat in Times Square and watched a live telecast of the premiere of the opera Lucia di Lammermoor at the Met. It was weird to be sitting with a bunch of other people, perfectly quiet, in the middle of Times Square ...

The idea was my friend Sarah's (left). She and I used to be Best Friends Forever when we were twelve, and we haven't seen each other in over a decade. It's great to be in the same city again!

We braved IKEA on Saturday, and after recovering and waiting for the delivery guys, Sarah came over and helped me put together everything. Note: champagne + Allen wrenches = slightly crooked chairs.

So, here's what it looks like !

It's very cozy.

And we have chairs! Woohoo!

cafe (un-)grumpy

2007-09-23T17:11:00.001-04:00

Here's where we're hanging out today -- Cafe Grumpy, just a few blocks away in our new neighborhood. I hear they serve (or used to serve) Victrola coffee; right now they're having an "Ethiopian coffee month" so there is no Seattle coffee. It is, however, extremely tasty. The atmosphere is totally Seattle - everyone's got their laptops and is studying or talking quietly; there's lots of nice space and cool furniture; the baristas are wearing vintage glasses ... ahhhhh. Home once again. We're getting lots done. And there was a kick-ass mocha.

home sweet giant home

2007-09-16T10:11:00.000-04:00

Here is our new building, in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn! In a surprisingly fast turn of events, we found it Wednesday, signed the lease Thursday, and the movers came on Saturday.

Here's the entrance (just so cute I had to give it its own photo).

And the street.

The apartment is way, way bigger than we wanted or needed (we're used to tiny places). The kitchen is really really spacious, especially for New York, where everything is usually just squished into a corner or odd space somewhere. You can't see it, but behind where I'm standing taking the picture is another large space that's part of the kitchen as well.

The apartment is "railroad" style, which means all the rooms are in a line. Next comes the "guest room" I've been telling you all about. It's going to be our hallway/storage area at other times, as we really have no need for it...

If you walk through the "guest room" and another small room, you finally get to the Emerald City (it feels like, since it's miles away from the kitchen), which will be our office.

We're on the fourth floor, so we have a view! The Chrysler building and the Empire State. So awesome.

If you look back through the apartment from the office, you see our little bedroom alcove, then the guest room, and at the very end, the kitchen. Our house is HUGE but we love it, not just because it's going to be all cozy and homey, but also because we love, love, LOVE our neighborhood!! We have been congratulating ourselves on deciding to live here, not just because it's a great mix of Polish delis, interesting restaurants, dollar stores, cool old churches, hipster coffee shops that serve Seattle coffee (really!), awesome bars and artsy folks, but also because ...

... the neighborhood came with friends already installed!! We didn't know it, but our friend Nate from Seattle lives just two blocks from us. And our friend Antonio lives two blocks the other way. And our other friend Matt lives just a few blocks away too. Nate works as a fancy cocktail bartender now (apparently New York is the center of the world's high-end cocktail scene), and we got to take advantage of his mad skills at his place. He made me a very, very tasty Negroni.

After all this, we ended up back on Manhattan on Saturday afternoon and ran into this street performance in Washington Square Park. This is the fantastic thing about New York - even the random buskers in the park are really, really good. These guys are called Tic and Tac - they're hilarious twins who do acrobatic, break-dance stuff plus a comedy routine. We got totally sucked in and stayed for almost an hour. This is their signature move, called "The Helicopter." Pretty impressive! Also they make fun of racists, which is funny.

We are starting to heart New York big time.

WE HEART WILLIAMSBURG

2007-09-03T19:01:00.000-04:00

We know. It's so cliche. We have decided that we shall live HERE. (Cross your fingers.)

Hello, East Coast (with view of Staten Island)

2007-09-01T16:27:00.000-04:00

Our whirlwind week went something like this:

"AAAAH! We have to pack and load up a teensy storage unit to be shipped to the East Coast! We'd better get rid of some stuff." Thank god Paul's house is on a street where, before you can post your photos on Craigslist, your unwanted goods magically disappear off of the front lawn, regardless of their substantial weight.

"Woohoo! Storage unit packed and sent off -- all that's left to do is party! Let's pretend our wedding rings are monocles! That would be fun, right?" (This just minutes before Chance lost his ring and had the whole bar searching for it.) (Those are our fabulous friends Lisa & Cy to his right.)

Here's our new, temporary, home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Our room is very large and comfy and our "landlady" Ella is great! We know her through a former roommate from Paul's House, and she is letting us stay in her living-room-with-a-door.

Her apartment is adorable ... here's the kitchen.

The neighborhood is quiet - it's quite removed from the city, in the southwestern part of Brooklyn near the bridge that connects to Staten Island. It's got lots of trees with crickets and cicadas (or locusts - we are still arguing about which, if any, of these three are represented by all the night noises) and a nice breeze from the bay. Also, thank god, we have an air conditioner, as it's been in the 80s and unbearably humid all week.

The other night we went for dinner in Hell's Kitchen with a friend, and ended up walking through Times Square afterwards. I guess we really are in New York. Weird.

We still don't have an apartment, Chance doesn't have a job yet, and my classes don't start til Tuesday, so we're kind of in limbo ... but there is very good fresh bread at the Polish deli around the corner. I suppose that makes it all okay.

Married?!? Yes, married! Jheesh!!

2007-08-28T16:09:00.000-04:00

What a weekend! We had the greatest time celebrating our wedding with all of the closest friends and family who could come. Some of you couldn't make it, which we totally understand ... but you were missed! And you missed a great party!

On Thursday night we kicked it off with a joint Bachelor/Bachelorette party thrown at the Sunset Bowl in Ballard by my Best Woman, Jenn. We had a really awesome time NOT concentrating on bowling. I still bowled a 111, which for me is pretty darn good. It must have been the t-shirts that Vivek brought for us that gave me extra bowling power (Borat shirts that say "Very Nice!").

The next day we rehearsed in the park. Gillia (the Mayor who oversaw the festivities and the setting up) and I had much to confer about ...

... and Official Watergun Sheriff Megan Anshutz had to test out her weapon.

The next morning, while others slaved away preparing the wedding site at the park (every picture of Gillia from the wedding is of her On The Move) ...

... we hung out and ate bagels, and Suzie did my makeup. Ha ha ha. Being the bride does have its advantages! Suzie did a really amazing job and I definitely have her to thank that I don't look like a lifeless hag in all the pictures.

Chance's face here is one of frustration with the stupid tie they gave him with his tux, not pre-wedding jitters. Well, not many pre-wedding jitters anyway.

Meanwhile, back at the park, our good friend Mary was busy photographing all the guests for our guest book. We've really enjoyed looking at it - it's going to be so great in ten or twenty years to look back and see what everyone was wearing!

We arrived surreptitiously and hung out in another corner of the park til it was time to start the ceremony.

Chance got teased. He deserved it.

Finally, it was time. We traipsed across the field (through a family playing baseball - the dad was very cute and said "Hope you'll be as happy as I am!") and down the aisle ...

The most touching part of the ceremony was seeing our family and friends all turned and smiling at us! It was amazing to see everyone together in one place. We were reminded over and over again throughout the day how lucky we are to have such an amazing community.

.

Our friend Kristin's dad, James, married us.

We marched in to Schubert and out to Led Zeppelin. I thought it was a good combo.

This is the only picture I have (so far) of our three talented musicians - from before the ceremony. Michael played the guitar, Susan sang and Sharon played the piano. It was gorgeous! And speaking of not having pictures, if you are hoarding pictures of the ceremony, I'd love to have them ...

My mom Bizzie, my dad Jon, and Chance's mom Kris -

Our good friend Paula made our cake (she's the tall one that I'm about to hug in this picture). It was not only aesthetically pleasing, but tasted fantastic as well.

My cousin Erin made little crows for the top ...

And Paula made an extra chocolate cake, decorated with the phrase "I love Berlin" in German. (This is what Chance said to me the first night we met.) (It's still true, too.)

Apparently the placement of the hands on the knife is very important when one is cutting the cake. Whoever has his/her hand on top will supposedly control the relationship. There was quite the tussle, but we ended up with hands on the side.

.

Old = my ring (from my grandma)
New = dress from David's Bridal, the Freakiest Place in the World
Borrowed = comb for the veil (from Gillia)
Blue = my shoes (bought in Berlin, pictured here)

The Cousins.

And of course ...

Frisbee!

And just because it's your wedding day doesn't mean you can't tease your spouse.

What fun!

A hot, sticky, and demeaning week in New York. What fun!

2007-07-28T00:00:00.001-04:00

Well. we made it to New York, our soon-to-be-home. Since we got here late Monday night, we've pretty much been walking - first (on Tuesday) through Brooklyn neighborhoods (we like Brooklyn but found it a bit quiet), then up to Queens to see our friend Scott in Astoria:

(We allowed ourselves a brief respite from walking to have dinner and drinks with Scott - who has excellent taste in bars.)

On Wednesday we checked out Astoria in the daytime, then headed Downtown to Chinatown ...

... for a VERY tasty dinner and stimulating conversation with our friend and former roommate Vinh. Still thinking about that beef dish - YUM!

Here's the view from our now-regular breakfast place down the street from our hostel, which is in Chelsea. One of the only nice things about Midtown is the cool views of the Empire State.

On Thursday, we talked with brokers in Astoria. They showed us crappy places. We decided maybe we want to live in Manhattan.

Today I had my NYU orientation, after which we had lunch at a sandwich place in the Village. Scrambling for a table in the over-crowded restaurant, we happened to get the table with a downtown Seattle map handpainted onto it. Weird!

The orientation was good - I like the departmental advisor and I think it's going to be a good year.

This afternoon we saw a broker in Manhattan, and saw the depressingly small places you can get for $1500 a month. Yes, a 10 x 10 room with a kitchenette.

Our feet our sore. We have sunburns. But we do like New York...

We come back to Seattle on Sunday.

*Sigh.*

flags and fun

2007-07-22T23:42:00.000-04:00

As if there weren't enough celebrations happening already, we wanted to celebrate Chance's birthday - and mine too, since I'm going to be far away in New York by the time it comes - and our engagement, and it being summer ... so what better way to do that than play a giant game of Capture the Flag? I can't think of anything. We played in Ravenna Park near our house, where there is fun, tree-filled terrain.

Because we played by the Official Boy Scout Handbook Rules for Capture the Flag, we thought we should dress our teams appropriately for the activity. Chance's team got blue bandanas; mine got yellow. It poured rain on us, and we had SO much fun!

Here are our participants, from the left:
Michael, Karly, Chance, Gillia, Ben, Elyse, Kristin, Paul, Jeanette, Jenn, Kaela, Kyall, Candace, Lisa, Brook, Mark and me! We went home and chowed down on Ezell's Fried Chicken afterwards - mmmmmmm. What a fun day!!

The next day, a good friend of Chance's mom threw me a lovely bridal shower over on their side of the Sound in Gig Harbor. Here we are with our parents - from the left, my mom, Bizzie, me, Chance, Chance's mom Kris, and my dad Jon.

And here is Chance with his Grandma. So sweet! It was a lovely afternoon -- the boys took off and the girls played fun shower games and opened gifts. What a weekend!

hours of boredom / moments of panic

2007-07-18T20:04:00.000-04:00

Well, HELLO!

I do still exist. I promise. I have just been ... as usual ... well, stressed. To prove it, here are pictures. I left out all the boring parts (i.e. 80-hour work weeks, deciding on wedding invitation paper, obsessively combing craigslist New York for apartments) and put in the good (non-stressful) moments. I hope you appreciate it.

I'm starting you out easy with a picture of cherries in Paul's garden. We've been spending lots of time out on the veranda enjoying the gorgeous sights and smells of the backyard ... it really is its own little paradise!

One distraction from blogging: here's Wendi shooting her second instructional chess DVD, which I then edited on nights and weekends. Yes, chess for second graders. Don't ask.

Kyall's birthday got a little out of hand here. Gillia and my sister-in-law Candace thought they was fly or something.

Then came Kristin Hollywood's fabulous Easter Egg Hunt. Quite the production. There were two teams, each with 66 eggs (hidden by the other team) to find. Team with the best time won.

We were nice and hid the eggs in NORMAL places.

They were mean and hid the eggs in EVIL places. Therefore we lost. That sucked. But we did eat a lot of good food!

Our next Easter-related celebration was a Jesus Christ Superstar party hosted by our friends Morgan and Amy. We went as Romans.

In May we celebrated my friend Jenn's birthday with a long night out - here we are with Gil at the B&O.

At the end of May, our roommate Jennifer told us if we all came to a barbeque she would eat a 4-lb. steak. We all thought that was funny because Jennifer herself doesn't weigh much more than 4 pounds. She did eat a big steak! We are sad that she left us and moved to Salt Lake City, but she and her fiance Scott are doing very well and we're happy for them.

Our next outing was to the Georgetown Music Festival to see one of our very favorite bands, the Supersuckers. We took our sisters Gillia and Elyse. Elyse is laughing at Chance in this picture. One of her favorite pastimes.

They just rock.

Georgetown is pretty cool, too. It's sort of early-20th-century industrial, with brick factories and planes flying over to land at Boeing field. It's still pretty sparsely populated, but the couple of blocks around this area are full of artsy types. There's a cool coffeeshop and a couple of bars. It was a lovely afternoon.

I wish I was doing this. (This is Ash, my boss Susan's cat.)

In June we walked in the UW graduation ceremony. It was the one day of the year that it rained ALL DAY. We were soaked, even though they distributed emergency ponchos and we had an umbrella. This picture is from our roommate Sune, who, being Danish, was fascinated by the spectacle of an American graduation, even in the pouring rain.

Here we are, after sitting for three hours, about to walk up and be greeted by the UW president and get our diploma folders (they don't give the three thousand undergrads their diplomas that day - thank god - or we'd be there all night!) You can see that our hats are sagging in the wet. I'm glad we did it, but I'll be honest - it was miserable.

Sune was very excited, though!

Just a couple of weekends ago, we went to Ellensburg for our annual Cousin Get Together, where we meet up with a our Greene cousins. Here's my cousin Noah and my niece Sonja.

Sonja had a very good time accusing the guys on the porch of something. We still aren't sure what exactly.

If you look in the reflection in the window, you can see me.

From the left, top row: Noah, Michael, Gillia, Chance, me, Kyall

Bottom row: Hannah, Karly, Lisa, Sonja, Auntie Jan, Erin, and Candace.

Finally, just this last weekend my Auntie Anne threw me a lovely bridal shower with the help of my mom. Here's Karly amusing the public (from the left: Gil, Auntie Anne, Karly, Kristin).

Opening presents is weird when you've registered. It's kind of like you know what you're getting, but it's still a surprise. (On the left is my Aunt Betty, on my right is roommate Kaela.)

Next week we're headed off to New York City to look for an apartment! When we finally move there at the end of August, this guy, Rosco, is coming with us. Isn't he cute?

Wish us luck apartment-hunting!

That's it for now. Lots of NYC pictures to follow ...

a birthday for Gillia

2007-03-08T22:54:00.000-05:00

I think we can say that my sister Gillia's birthday has been duly celebrated!

First, there was the family get-together, for which she and my mom cooked absolutely deLICious pizzas ...

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Yum.

(Here are Mom, Nana and Chance during the festivities.)

Then, it was time to really celebrate her turning 21, with a night of pub crawling around Capitol Hill. Unfortunately I spent most of my time drinking and not enough time taking pictures (and bars, being dark, are notoriously un-photogenic), but I did manage to capture the first legally-ordered drink ...

... and the enjoyment of the Greek-style plate we ordered at Bleu Bistro for dinner (mmmm) ...

... and Gil's ultra-sexy pool shark stance at the Deluxe, where we fled for the comfort of old friends and drinks we knew would be yummy. Mmmmmm. And fries. Did I mention fries?

Happy Birthday, Gillia!

curious cats, bacon, and other late night activities

2007-02-15T01:21:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the delay in posting, but unfortunately life in Seattle isn't as exciting - or photogenic - as it was in Berlin! We've been doing our usual thing - trudging back and forth to school, studying, procrastinating, and working.

Here are the few activities I've managed to capture on "film" in the past few weeks:

A night out on the town with Jenn and Chris, our favorite drinking partners. We are currently on the prowl for a "local" - a regular hangout where we can meet for a casual evening together on a regular basis. We haven't found it yet, but Chris has developed a kick-ass chart for evaluating, rating and comparing those establishments that we try out. So far, our search has included lots of walking around Belltown in the cold, and a hideous (and hilarious) boob-grabbing sighting. Not cool. Or was it?

We also supported our (now former) roommate Garret by attending his show at the Jewel Box Theater. He's a great musician - you can hear some of his stuff at http://www.myspace.com/superhotjoy. Unfortunately, his visa recently expired and he had to return to South Africa, his homeland. Apparently plans are in the works for his soon return -- we're rooting for it!

There was a very Cute Cat Incident at work ... Sprig (my good buddy - he meets me at the door and "helps" with my office work) is very fascinated by the printer. Usually sleepy (see below), his eyes get very big and wide and he likes to stick his paw into the little hole where the paper comes out. It's just so exciting!

Here he is under his favorite lamp, where it's warm and there are, conveniently, papers that I'm working on for him to lie on.

Our latest fun activity was a long-overdue night out with our fabulous friend Isaac. He took us along to what must be the coolest drag show ever - Bacon Strip! Yes, there were strippers, and yes, there was indeed bacon being handed out by a man in a doctor's coat. It was all very surreal. This performer did a fabulous, complex dance routine with her entourage ... quite Cleopatra-esque!

Oh yeah. Havin' fun.

So fabulous! What more could you ask for? I know, our lives are terribly exciting. Now, back to thesis-writing, studying for geology and work. Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day! (We had pizza at Olympia Pizza House on Capitol Hill with our roommate Kristin - to the musical stylings of "Chris," a rather frizzy-haired man with a violin and a guitar. And a tasty Valentine's it was too.)

nous sommes arrives, nous avons joue, nous partons.

2007-01-14T22:21:00.000-05:00

My last couple of weeks in Berlin went something like this:

First, my friend Sam and I said goodbye, as she was headed off to Lichtenstein for Christmas and then home to Seattle. She had to get a visa photo taken, so we took the opportunity to also take silly photos together. (We're the ones on the right.)

I also had dinner with our friend Ulf, his wife Alexandra and their adorable son Gedeon. Ulf cooked us a lovely dinner and Gedeon entertained us by being really cute.

Sliding down the couch is one of his favorite activities. He also built a large Brio train track.

Later that week I attended a modern dance performance, courtesy of my landlord Christopher, who produces several different modern dance artists. In the lobby there were performances happening as well. One of them was this guy who looked like he was standing in thin air, leaning against a pillar! It really looked great.

Then ... finally ... the moment we've all been waiting for for three long, dark months ...

The arrival of Chance!

We rode the U-Bahn ...

... we ate Chocolate Muesli ...

... we had gelato ...

... we checked out the brand new Bode Museum ...

...

...

...

... and we travelled to Stuttgart for Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my relatives there. On the first night my family treated us to a wonderful dinner at a tradiation Schwabian restaurant, which served the regional cuisine. I had "Maultaschen" ...

... basically little raviolis filled with sausage and yummy things, accompanied by potato salad.

The entire cast of characters was present:

my Uncle Walter ...

... my cousin Daniel and their grandmother ...

... Daniel's wife Ewa and his mom Susan (who is my mom's cousin - that's how we're related) ...

... and my cousin Jeff (in the middle), whom you know already from previous adventures ...

(My cousin Anne was under the weather, so there isn't a picture of her, unfortunately!)

Also, these two clowns were there ...

...

... and Molly, the bunny. She is so cute!

As is traditional on Christmas Eve, we decorated the tree,

and Aunt Susie made an amazing meal.

The boys even found it in their hears to do the dishes. Awww. Christmas Spirit.

Later there was cake stealing by you-know-who. (See the guilty look on his face.)

We took the train home to Berlin. It was a lovely ride, especially since we happened to get first class tickets.

We tried to make the most of our Berlin time by eating lots of Doeners. Here's Chance eating Berlin's best Chicken Doener, at the stand where the guy plays Johnny Cash 24-7.

Later our friends Nadja and Olli had us over for a night of really yummy food, and a game of "The Settlers of Catan," which is really really complicated.

I suck at it.

But Chance won.

Finally, we got to wrap up our time in Berlin with a visit from our good friend Liz, whom we know from years ago in German class at the UW. She happened to be passing through Berlin, so we got to do some catching up ...

And, as is traditional for us on leaving Berlin, it snowed.

We arrived home safe and sound after a very long series of flights, which were all luckily on time. On New Year's Day, my brother Kyall fixed us a delightfully sinful breakfast - french toast with all egg yolks! A heart attack on a plate, but so good ...

We also visited Chance's family. Here's Mom and Grandma busy in the kitchen, as the puppy (Sophie) looks on ...

This week it snowed in Seattle! It's been a really strange year for weather. It cooled down during and after the snowstorm, so we've been living in a slippery and white winter wonderland for the past few days! They say it's going to warm up, though, so next week we should be back to normal.

It's good to be home to see everyone, but we miss Europe too! Too bad we can't magically transport all of our favorite people and things over there.

wrapping up for the holidays

2006-12-14T14:13:00.000-05:00

Well, fall quarter is finally at an end, and most of the class is headed back home, or to other foreign climes, for the holidays. On Friday we had a lovely farewell dinner at Max & Moritz, a German restaurant...

Yummy!

On Saturday I had lunch with Kristin at Babel, my favorite Lebanese restaurant. She left on Tuesday back to Washington, but we'll see each other again very soon at Paul's house, where we will once again be roommates! Yay!

Chance gets here on Sunday, so you can expect to see his face appear on here before long ... I am really looking forward to it!

life is a carnival ... complete with candied apples

2006-12-06T09:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday our class had the opportunity to get a tour of the Staatsratsgebaeude, the former seat of the central council of East Germany. It's one of the few East German buildings that hasn't fallen victim to the wrecking ball ...

The exterior includes, as part of the entrance, the balcony of the Prussian City Palace (Stadtschloss) from which Karl Liebknecht declared the Communist Republic at the end of World War I ... the rest of the City Palace was dynamited by the East German regime in 1953.

The building is now an historical landmark, so most of the interior has been preserved as well - with the same furniture and especially the fabulous lighting fixtures!

In the lecture hall there are socialist murals featuring happy women dancing about with flowers. farmers harvesting wheat, and engineers and workers building the industrial communist future.

The emblem of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany, or GDR) is part of the tilework in the council chambers.

Here's an interior view of the balcony, with the silhouette of our tour guide, Marek Dutschke (son of Rudi Dutschke, a very famous student leader from the 1960s). As you can see, right across the street a huge Christmas carnival has been installed. Complete with screaming teenagers on rides.

The building is leased now to a private graduate school for public policy funded by a bunch of rich German corporations. Therefore Erich Honecker's office (he was head of the GDR from 1971 on) is now used as a student lounge.

Tiles for a special, sound-proof room were donated by Mongolia - doves of socialist peace.

I just love this kind of interior design. This is a pair of doors leading to Honecker's office. Aren't they fabulous? I'm so glad this building has been preserved. Across the way they're still hard at work tearing down the Palast der Republik, another relic from the same time period. It breaks my heart that so many examples of this style are being demolished, mainly for political reasons (though no one will say so).

Afterwards a few of us headed across the street for a stroll through the carnival. Ieva decided to have some "Eierpunsch" (egg nog) ...

Left to right: Kellan, KC, me, Sam.

This, I believe, was the source of the teenage screams.

The colors were just amazing. So much sensory input. The music was hilarious too - mostly German "Schlager" Christmas music. Each ride had its own unique soundtrack of cheese.

Kellan had a candy apple - "gooey on the outside and crunchy on the inside." All that Red #5 turned his tongue bright pink.

The sunset and the lights made for really gorgeous color combos. This is, of course, at about 3.45pm.

Later that evening the class dined on fabulous Russian food at a restaurant called Voland. Todd even hired a band to play for us. They did jazzy, folksy tunes - mostly traditional Russian songs - and they were fantastic! In all, a very good day.

mmmm ... turkish food.

2006-12-02T12:08:00.000-05:00

Well, of course in comparison to last week's Spanish revelry, this week couldn't compare. But I did ...

... eat some really tasty Turkish food at the restaurant where the Doener was invented! (Doeners are the gyro-like sandwiches consumed so often and so enjoyably here).

... and I saw a really pretty sunset, set off by the lovely silhouette of the Michaelkirche in Kreuzberg. This was at about 4pm. Yes, it is a dark, dark place I live in.

Nara & Megan's Best Vacation Ever starring Nara and Megan

2006-11-25T16:06:00.000-05:00

Hola! I have just returned from Spain, where I met my good friend Megan for a few days of fabulous food, drink and avoidance of American Thanksgiving rituals. She met me on Tuesday evening at the airport in Madrid, and we promptly made our way to a restaurant recommended by her guidebook (bearing the title "Art Shop Eat Madrid," she knew that it couldn't lead her wrong, and she was right).

We couldn't read most of the menu, but we knew enough to order red wine (tasty), gespacho (even more tasty), and random seafoody things. A good start ...

Later we walked around to take in some of the city sights. Madrid has lovely architecture - relatively typical 19th century European, I would say, but with lots of wrought-iron touches that make it look very "Spanish."

Along the way we passed this picture, part of a lighted poster ad at a bus stop. It is a picture of Chance's and my exact clock radio in Seattle, and it says "sleep more," which I took to be a personal command. Megan and I didn't have an alarm in Madrid, so we happily obeyed.

Megan found us this lovely little hotel for our first couple of nights. It was run by two very nice ladies and was adorably retro ...

I especially loved the chandelier.

The other very cute thing about Madrid is their obsession with American state names. Above is one example - Cafe Iowa - but I also saw pictures of wigs named after different states ("New Mexico" was short with pink highlights), and later we ran across Cafe Nebraska.

The Madrid mascot is a bear eating from a strawberry tree. I didn't even know there were strawberry trees, but apparently in Spain there are, and bears like them.

Mmmmmmm. Spanish sweets. In Spain, when you order a croissant, it comes covered in a sticky substance that is a lot like, but isn't, honey. Megan thinks it is agave. Anyway, it tastes good.

I also loved the doors in Spain. They are all very ornate and formidable. A good combo, I think.

We both wanted to find a "vista," seeing as how Madrid has hills and we both currently reside in very flat cities (Chicago and Berlin). Finally, we found one. It was gorgeous.

Spanish people also seem to have a fondness for trompe l'oeil. These balconies and windows were painted onto the side of the building. They were really done well.

Here's another one. Can you tell which is the painted side?

And then, Megan finally found her Utopia. This was even funnier because we had just been talking about the irony of the fact that the word "utopia" literally means "no place." Heh.

Later we visited the Prado, the famous museum where El Greco, Valasquez and Goya are enshrined. It was much smaller than we expected, but we liked the art.

Then we took a stroll through the nearby Parque del Retiro, where the manicured gardens and sunset looked a lot like some of the paintings we had just admired.

And for those of you who had almost lost hope, do not despair: THERE IS HOT SOUP.

That night we celebrated the existence of hot soup with what was possibly the best dinner we had ever eaten, at Casa Alberto.

There was bread. There were bruschetta with fresh anchovies. There were little shrimps and fish and really wonderful Manchego cheese. And wine, of course.

I know they look scary, but they were so tasty.

And dessert. Don't forget dessert. These had cream inside.

Next to us was a British couple who reminded me of the Dursleys from Harry Potter. The man was fat, the woman also fat but long-faced and missing teeth. They were very drunk, spilled their wine and the man got horrid pipe-tobacco ash everywhere. Megan distinctly heard him utter the phrase, "He's a very well-respected banker." When they left, we had to take a picture of their mess just to remind ourselves of what we do not want to become.

Here is Megan's 100% true story of our encounter: "I turned and said to the aforementioned stodgy British couple, 'Our Beatles kick the [butt] of your precious Rolling Stones ...

... Later, upon reflecting begetting regret, did I sing at Laser Karaoke, one famous Rolling Stones single, 'Angie' ...

... and then promptly thereafter ...

... settled an old score by beating up the Paseo del Prado.

Veritas."

The next day we (after a long adventure in which we tried to find the bus station, walked all around the block where the map said it was, and then found that the bus station had mysteriously been moved) took a bus to Toledo, about an hour southwest of Madrid.

We stayed at a really nice hotel that smelled like a dentist's office and therefore, we figured, must be very clean. This (and the previous picture) was the view from our balcony.

Toledo was, in earlier centuries, the capital of Spain, and it has wonderful winding medieval streets that are fun to get lost in.

It also has an amazing Gothic cathedral.

...

... which has one of the most ornate interiors I have ever seen.

In one of the chapels, they have the painted portraits of every Bishop of Spain since the second century, including the most recent one (on the right).

It reminded me a little of a Vermeer painting, even though Vermeer is not gothic.

They also had lots of very old bishops' robes on display, as well as a pretty large art collection.

And a garden with unharvested oranges.

After taking in all this, we lunched at a restaurant whose ceiling was covered in cured legs of ham. Megan, a "pescatarian" (she eats fish but not other kinds of meat), just tried not to look up. It was fascinating.

Later we toured the edge of the town we had not yet explored ...

... met a black cat ...

... and climbed the tower of a different church, challenging us both to defy our fear of heights.

Then we made our way back to Madrid, stayed a night in a strange hotel owned by a Russian couple (my two sentences of high school Russian were not at all useful, but did serve to break the ice) and my camera battery died before I could document our last fabulous meal (served by a very friendly but non-English-speaking waiter). It did, however, come back to life long enough to let me capture the last view I had of Megan in Madrid - as we parted ways at the subway station. She was an amazing travelling partner and I cannot wait for our next vacation.

What a week!

[Veritas.]

london calls. and keeps calling!

2006-11-20T18:17:00.000-05:00

Hello! I am just back from a fabulous weekend in London, where I visited my friend Jennifer...

... She and I know each other from high school, and she's been living and working in London for the past few years. She has a very cute little flat in Bow, in the East End (above). As you can see, the sun is shining - we couldn't have asked for better weather this weekend. It was sunny the whole time, until today when it sprinkled a little.

First stop was for food. Jennifer took me to one of her favorite lunch places, Fire and Stone. They have amazing pizzas with all sorts of interesting things on them, like this one, which had fire-roasted potatoes and carmelized onion jam. Yum!!

We headed out to a club in the evening for a jazz show. It was part of the London Jazz Festival, and it was totally packed. The music was great.

On Sunday we headed out to the markets in the East End. Here's the street next to Spitalfields Market, where we had a restorative morning coffee before heading into the jungle of shopping.

The coffee shop was housed in a very old building, probably around 400 years old by now. I just love that about London. And ... they had mochas! I haven't had a mocha in a while, since they're hard to find here in Berlin.

I just can't get over it. It's so old and cute.

As you can see, the market was packed. It was huge, too! And not your typical cheezy community market, either - it was full of amazing independently designed wares - clothes, accessories, toys, photography and art ... and of course, food.

We had mini cupcakes (very tasty, and oh-so-cute) -

- and I had Ethiopian food for lunch. Extremely good.

Next we headed to Oxford Street, the main shopping district. It was so crowded! Everyone seemed to be out Christmas shopping already. It was insane. The worst thing was the line for the ATMs - 20 people long! Luckily we didn't need any and got to walk by and laugh at all the poor souls "queuing up" for cash.

On Sunday evening we took a small side trip to Greenwich, with the intention of seeing the observatory where "Greenwich Mean Time" is carefully regulated - however, it gets dark so early here now that by the time we arrived it was pitch black and the park looked "rather dodgy."

So we bought books instead. This guy had a really really great selection of bestsellers.

Next we went and had Indian food - you're going to think that all I did in London was eat, but don't worry, I did a lot of walking in between, there just aren't pictures of it. This is one of Jennifer's favorite Indian places, where for 10 pounds you get a huge feast of an appetizer, main and vegetable dishes, choice of flavored rice and naan! Needless to say, there were leftovers.

The bathroom there had this great sign. How is it meant to be read? Now wash your hands, as in "first you did you-know-what ... now wash your hands" - or is it more of a motherly reprimand, as in "now wash your hands ..."?? We may never know. In any case, I obeyed.

This morning Jennifer had to work, so I wandered around SoHo on my own. I couldn't help noticing the architecture. Look! A shining example of Critical Reconstruction, right there in London. *Sigh*. I suppose I just can't escape my thesis, even when separated from it by the English Channel.

SoHo has some really quaint and "Londony" corners too. This row of houses was built in the 1700s, according to the plaques over the doorways. I am very tempted to pick London as my next topic of urban history research!

Now I'm home again in Berlin ... Tomorrow it's off to Madrid to meet Megan. I had such an amazing time in London. Thank you so much, Jennifer, for being an excellent host!

a very boring week.

2006-11-17T09:49:00.000-05:00

Hi. Those of you who are faithful followers of my blog will have noticed that I haven't posted anything in a week or so. This is because I have had the most boring week ever - I have only thought about this:

(my thesis), and grad school applications. Really. I have sat at my desk and stared at the computer screen. Not a very photogenic activity. However, the sun did pop out for a few hours this week, and I walked downtown to get some photos of - guess what - architecture, and I went by this add from H&M for a wedding dress that they are selling. Yes. I could get an H&M wedding dress. Only 248 Euros - a good deal...

... but could I live with the huge bow on the front??

Finally yesterday we did something very photogenic as a class - went to Treptower Park. The sky was clear and the fall colors were brilliant ...

It was quite a lovely walk from the S-Bahn to our destination --

-- the Soviet War Monument. Part of the reunification conditions in 1990 was that Berlin had to maintain this site - otherwise I think they probably would have torn it down with the rest of the Lenins and things. The only thing I can really say about it is that it's ... well ... huge!

As you proceed up from the entrance, these soldiers with machine guns are kneeling in honor of the dead.

Then you look out across this huge expanse of graves - yep, Soviet soldiers are buried here, and that absolutely massive statue at the end. Along the sides are steles telling the Stalinist history of the war.

You can't tell here, since Miriam, Sam and Brenda are in the front, but the statue behind them is absolutely massive. He must be about 50 feet tall, not including his base. He's holding a child, a massive sword and he's standing on a broken swastika. Oh yeah. That's subtle.

After taking in the magnitude of the Soviet monument, we strolled over to the other side of the park, where it meets the Spree river. This bridge takes you to the "Isle of Youth" ...

(I just loved Todd's expression in this.)

Later we had coffee and crepes at a really nice cafe on the river. There was even a seaplane, which is what KC is staring at in this picture. It almost felt like home.

On the way back to the S-Bahn we passed the set of a movie - Berlin is the center of the German film industry. It was a nice day to be shooting, and walking. Tomorrow I'm off to London, so expect more pictures after the weekend. Then on Tuesday I head to Madrid for more Euro-jet-setting fun! Definitely not a boring week ahead of me, and thank goodness no more Berlin architecture for a while. I need a break.

no line?!? it's a miracle!

2006-11-09T11:13:00.000-05:00

So, the final activity of my day as class leader (see previous post) was a night visit to the Reichstag, the German parliament building. It's pretty neat - you get to go up into the glass dome, which you can climb via a spiral ramp, and look down into the parliamentary chambers. I picked a night visit because not that many tourists know that they will let you in until 10pm. Usually, during the day, you have to wait 2 hours or more to get in. Still, I expected to have to wait at least 20 minutes in line - even in the arctic cold of March, (as some of our lovely friends who visited us last year know), there's a crowd waiting at 9.30. So I went early, around 8.50, thinking I would hold a place in line for those in the class who wanted to join me for a viewing.

But no one was there. Not one tourist. Just two employees manning a little booth with flyers. I asked them if it was closed. "No," they replied, "no line!" No line?!? It's a miracle!

Of course, this miracle meant that I was stuck outside in the cold, without a horde of tourists around me to buffer me from the wind, until the rest of the class got there at 9.15.

We found each other eventually, though, and (from front to back) KC, Brenda, Kristen, Sam, me and Evelyn (hidden behind someone's head) had a great time frolicking about on the roof of the German government building.

Can you find me in this picture? I'm very sneaky. These mirrors are part of the "green" design of the building - they reflect daylight into the chambers to save on electricity costs for lighting.

Sam and I stopped for a quick photo on our way to the top. Behind us you can see how pretty Berlin looks at night, all lit up.

On our way back to the U-Bahn station, we couldn't resist one last touristy photo in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Thanks, girls, for being such faithful walking tour participants and listening to me blather on about architecture! (They liked it. Don't let them fool you.)

oh yes, the winter dark is upon us. and a walking tour.

2006-11-08T11:31:00.000-05:00

View from my apartment, 4:45pm, November 8th, 2006: T minus 5 weeks to winter solstice and counting. I told you it got dark here, and now you have to believe me.

It was a pretty sunset though! [As I'm writing this it's now it's 5:30 and pitch black.] But enough whining about winter darkness, which is really just an excuse to light lots of cozy candles and get lots of reading done and take hot baths! Today was actually sunny and beautiful, just perfect for an somewhat impromptu Nara-led walking tour of Nazi (and other) architecture in Mitte. I was in charge of the class for the day, as Todd was away. So what do we do in Berlin? That's right! Forward march!

First we did some socialist hand-holding. These murals still survive from East German times. That guy must be a really strong socialist worker, because he's holding up both Kellan and Yair! The best thing about this mural is the huge army of workers coming out of Karl Marx's ear. The inscription reads "long live the social revolution, long live the freedom of the people." Strong people, apparently.

Then we took a look at the Foreign Ministry. This is the front part of the building, built to obscure the Nazi architecture (formerly the Reichsbank) lurking behind.

This is architecture, but it's made out of chocolate!! That's right. There's a store in Mitte where they have models of the Brandenburg Gate, the Gedaechtniskirche AND this, all made from pure chocolate. Who knew that architecture could also taste good?

Sam bought a little sample. None of us can afford the Reichstag at 50 Euros a kilo.

Next stop was the "Foundation for the Rebuilding of the City Palace," where we met a man who had sold his father's house and donated the money to rebuilding the Prussian palace (that victim of my vehement detestation, as they're tearing down the lovely Palast der Republik to build it). Wow. That's dedication. Inside they have this neat model of Berlin around 1900.

And Yair bought a bag with Frederick the Great on it. I think it suits him.

Last stop was the Finance Ministry, former home of Goering's air ministry. When the government decided to move here from Bonn in the early 90s, it turned out that it was too expensive to tear down these huge, fortress-like Nazi buildings, so the Finance Ministry in particular pushed for renovation instead. Wish they would do the same for the East German buildings, but they tear down too easily, I guess.

See how fun my walking tours are? The students were jumping for joy!

... and we celebrated with some fruit-flavored beer (yes, they put sugary syrup in) afterwards. Nice job, guys, and thanks for sticking with me all the way from Alexanderplatz to Potsdamer Platz! What a great bunch of Berliners.

taking this sleigh to dresden

2006-11-04T17:58:00.000-05:00

As you all know, it was Halloween this week, and the American students on my program threw a costume party. I went all over town looking for an easy and affordable costume, and finally I found this -

- it was 2 Euros at the drug store. Lucky thing that Germans don't have Thanksgiving, so the Christmas stuff is already out! It was a big hit - especially the blinky nose. Unfortunately it wasn't very comfortable.

This weekend the group travelled together to Dresden, which is 2 hours southeast of Berlin by train. The first day was gorgeous, though quite cold. We stopped for a photo with the "Golden Rider" ...

... then admired the view of "Venice on the Elbe" as we crossed the bridge into the Altstadt - the oldest part of town.

Dresden is just so pretty.

Who is that girl with the hat? (5 Euros at H&M - it keeps some of the rain and cold out, and it's quite the fashion statement as well. Also please admire the coat, somewhat more costly, also from H&M. May as well just walk around with an H&M sandwich board as I haven't bought anything from anywhere else.)

Yep, Dresden really is pretty.

Still pretty. This is the outside of the Zwinger Palace, which houses lots of museums, including the painting gallery, where you can see that famous Raphael with the sickeningly cute little cherubs that are reproduced on everything.

So, there is this silly change-donation box in the Zwinger palace complex that tempts you by having a cool-looking apparatus inside. Now, I remembered doing this change thing the last time we were in Dresden, and I remember it being cool. But I think I might have just remembered the coolness of putting in the change and expecting it to be cool, rather than the actual result. After loading the top bucket up with change (and it takes about 400 grams of change to do it - so we all spent some ungodly amount on this stupid thing), it falls down and rings the bells. Just once. Really quickly. And then your change? Gone! All 400 grams of it. Lame. The expectation was cool, though.

Dresden. Truly beautiful, as I said.

And a nice sunset to boot.

Can't have a trip anywhere in Germany without meeting ... you guessed it! SCHINKEL! Yes, this building was a guardhouse designed by Schinkel and is now a cafe with really yummy-looking cakes. Unfortunately it was full. (From the left: KC with her back turned, Evelyn, Brenda, Kristin, Yair, Zach and Sam.)

But we found a different cafe and had this cake, the "Torta Toscana," which was truly one of the best desserts I've ever had. After a very cold afternoon of walking around and visiting museums, it was even better.

After our busy sightseeing-filled day, the whole class met for dinner at the Paulaner restaurant. The food was excellent, the company wonderful, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Then we went out on the town to hear some music, ending up at a club called "Sputnik" listening to a Czech band. They had a clarinet, which I'm still not sure I feel 100% okay about. When you grew up being a clarinet-playing band geek, it's hard to see clarinet as an acceptable part of a trip-hop band who thinks they are a cross between Zero 7, Dire Straits and Jefferson Airplane.

Today we made our way to the downtown to stow our bags at the train station before heading off for an edifying experience at the Hygiene Museum. There happened to be a soccer match between Dresden and FC Union (former East Berlin's team), and since there's been some very bad violent incidents at soccer matches in Germany lately, there were hundreds and hundreds of police guarding the fans as they got off the trains.

The walk to the Hygiene museum was very cold and wet. Of course, all of us had left our umbrellas in the lockers at the station, which is probably why it rained. Here are Brenda, KC and Ieva asking themselves: "Do we really want to go out there again??"

As you can see behind me on the roof of the museum, it was wet. (This was in the foyer.)

And a wet train ride home too - luckily we were in the warm, first-class train car. Todd and Brenda are reading in the reflection. Home again to Berlin, where at least it wasn't raining, which is good, because later I realized I had left my umbrella on the train. So it goes.

prison linoleum, invisible dogs, mysterious table knives, and hanging miniature church boats ... sailing the seas of learning in Rostock

2006-10-29T18:58:00.000-05:00

This weekend three other students and I joined our professor Todd for a trip to Rostock, which is 3 hours north of Berlin by the slow train. It's on the Ostsee, a body of water that lies mysteriously along the north of Germany, but about which the exact whereabouts in relation to Denmark, Sweden, Finland etc. remain rather foggy and unclear. It is part of former East Germany and Todd studied there as an exchange student in 1988, so he still has friends there.

Our crew consisted (from the right) Evelyn and Sam (spontaneously impersonating Charlie's Angels), and KC (conscientiously objecting to TV violence).

We stayed in the "Hansa Hostel," pretty much the best hostel ever. The owners are really nice, and it was very clean and hospitable. It was boat-themed, and our room was in the basement. The presence of our own sink and lockers made us feel like we were really on a boat, so we insisted on calling each other "sailor" the whole weekend.

First stop on Saturday morning was the former Stasi prison, now a museum, where the East German secret police held and interrogated people who they thought might be threatening the state.

We got a personal guided tour, starting with the holding cells ...

... not a pleasant place to spend the night.

Prisoners were required to sit upright on their stools or beds during the day and lie flat on their backs with their hands visible during the night.

Every once in a while they would let you out into an open-air cell in order to get some fresh air.

The strangest thing about it, I thought, was the "interior decoration." The floor was this very East-German-looking linoleum, with a, well, kitcheny design.

Even down in the basement isolation cell area, one wall was cheerily wallpapered with an autumn leaf print. I don't know when this was done - perhaps later when the area was just used for people doing forced labor rather than actual imprisonment. Still, a weird thing to see. (Todd's friend Anne is in the foreground, who played host to us while we were there.)

Next we visited St. Mary's church. That's a very high ceiling!

For lunch, we had bratwurst grilled on this fabulous hanging grill. The guy swings it around, I guess so that it cooks better? I don't know, but it tasted good.

In the square where we had lunch was this group of very odd sculptures (in the summer it's a fountain, but they turn the water off for the winter). A little Chagall, I thought, but with the requisite Very Large Feet and Hands of communist sculpture.

Then we met for coffee with a city politician who is a member of the Green party (left, with Todd) and talked about the problems Rostock and the East have experienced since reunification.

Then we went for a walk in the Altstadt, the oldest part of town, where apparently someone escaped his appointed waiting place. Or perhaps Rostock is just full of invisible dogs.

Then we strolled over to St. Peter's church, whose spire is pretty much just ridiculously tall.

And there are extremely steep circular stairs leading up the tower, which of course we had to climb.

The view from the top was magnificent. Below you can see that the Altstadt still has its midieval street plan and quaint old houses.

(This is me thinking, "There is no way I'm going down those stairs. I'm taking the elevator!")

Since Rostock is a port town, there are miniature ships hanging in all the churches. Also maybe because this is St. Peter's, who was a fisherman, who knows.

Here is sunset behind the district court - a beautiful neo-Gothic brick building ...

We got dinner at the "Braukeller," a cellar restaurant across the street from our hostel. The food was good, but what's with this knife? Have you ever seen such a thing? It's like a pie server! I don't know what it was - a regional tradition, perhaps. If anyone knows, please tell me. (Despite its strange appearance, it functioned just fine.)

Then we went out with Anne's babysitter, Wiebke, who took us to the student club. It was packed and everyone was dancing and having a good time.

We had arrived early, when it was still relatively empty. As we were leaving, we saw that a long line of people had developed, waiting to get in. Sam, KC and Evelyn posed sadly at the end of the line for a picture, then we merrily turned towards home, glad that we weren't the people waiting in the cold to get in.

Of course, no evening out is complete without a snack ...

Oh yes, even sailors like a Doener once in a while.

Back in Berlin this evening, we finished off our weekend of cultural activities by attending a dance performance. It was a great show ... here are KC and Brenda checking out the program afterwards while waiting to catch the U-Bahn home. A busy weekend, and a good one. Next weekend: Dresden!

pumpkins!

2006-10-27T02:45:00.000-04:00

On Thursday afternoon, I went to my friends Nadja & Olli's house to carve Halloween pumpkins! They had never done it before and wanted me to "show" them how.

The thing is, they are such organized and responsible people that they had researched everything beforehand, picked out face designs and even read up on techniques. Olli especially proved to be quite the pumpkin carving talent ...

... and he is good-looking, as well!

Didn't they turn out great?? Not bad for beginners. ;)

We saved the seeds and roasted them in the oven. Yum yum. They made a great appetizer for ...

Nadja's pumpkin soup (her mom gets credit for the recipe)! It was amazing. Pumpkin, ham, apples and onions blended together to make the perfect mix of savory, tangy and pumpkiny! It was SO good.

Then Olli donned is card playing gear (actually he took off the sunglasses later because you don't need a poker face to play "Phase 10" or "Skat"). He tried very hard to teach me the complex and intricate German National Card Game (remember how I bought the cards?) but we ended up playing a version of Crazy Eights instead. To my credit, it's not easy to learn a card game that:
a) has all sorts of weird numbers and points, plus the cards are all mixed up with the 10 coming after the Queen and King
b) the person teaching you is speaking German, so not only are you confused about points, but there are strange, unfamiliar words for things like "spades"
c) the person teaching you is a card genius and decides that you also need to learn strategy along with all the confusing points, etc.
I wasn't bad at Crazy Eights, though.

Winnie, of course, was also on hand and tried to help teach me Skat by licking my face and being cute.

Yep, card playing is a tiring activity! In all, a wonderful evening with wonderful friends. I am so lucky they have adopted me!

a little more history

2006-10-27T02:10:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday,

after dropping Mary Ellen off at the bus to the airport (thanks for visiting, Mary Ellen! It was lovely to have you!)

I met my classmates for a tour of Jewish Berlin with Ulf. (From the left: Sara, Kellan, Ieva, Kristin and Aaron, who isn't a classmate but we like him anyway ...)

Ulf showed us where the Jewish quarter was during the midieval and Renaissance periods --

and also showed us a graveyard whose stones were removed by Nazis during WWII and never replaced, since Jewish law forbids marking graves wrongly, even if it's by mistake.

We also looked at the "New Synagogue," built in the 1800s, then bombed in the war and recently restored.

On my way home I ran across some "stumble stones" - a type of monument that commemorates people who were deported to concentration camps by the Nazis. Each plate represents a person who lived at that address, and has their name, deportation and death dates ... I love this memorial and think it is really effective.

The Bode Museum, which houses the Byzantine collection and German sculpture, just opened last week. Every time I go by there is a line around the block - even in the pouring rain - to get in. I think this is ridiculous, as no amount of Byzantine art or German sculpture is worth waiting 3+ hours in the cold, especially when it means that once you're inside it'll be so crowded that you won't be able to look at the art! But people must love to line up for things. Here is the line in front of the museum a half hour before it opened - I was walking by on my way to school. Later that day I'm sure it reached all the way around the block. Enjoy your art, people!

just look at Nara's & Mary Ellen's fabulous European lives! (jealousy mandatory)

2006-10-24T17:51:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have been doing my utmost to live a desperately spectacular European life this week.

Monday night I attended a play at the Berliner Ensemble, the former theater of Brecht, with some of my fellow students ...

From the left: Brenda, Zach, Sam, Kristen and Evelyn.

The next morning I met Mary Ellen at the train station (she was in Poland over the weekend, visiting another friend) and we went shopping in Prenzlauer Berg, then stopped for a tasty coffee and apple cake with whipped cream at a cafe on Kastanienallee.

Mmmmm.

My purchase: 2 sets of Skat cards at 50 cents each from the Oxfam thrift store. I think they look cool and I thought I might even learn to play it. I read on the internet that it's the national card game of Germany! The rules look complicated though, so that's all I know about it so far.

Tuesday evening was beautiful and warm, so we walked from Friedrichstrasse, which is downtown (here's a building that's part of my study area - looks cool at night, doesn't it?) ...

... to Kreuzberg, where we had dinner at my favorite restaurant - you should know it by now - Marques!

... and just to torture you, I shall give you a thorough rundown of what we had - starting with pumpkin soup,

with a side of bruschetta with lachs, caviar and creme fraiche ...

Then tapas: tortilla espanolia, figs wrapped with bacon, stuffed mushrooms ...

... and don't forget the flaming chorizo!!

We finished it off with creme catalan - aka creme brulee. A perfect end to the perfect dinner!! If you're not envious by now, you can't say we didn't try ....

protests, projects and pos

2006-10-21T10:44:00.000-04:00

Today after dropping Mary Ellen off at the train station, I headed downtown to take a tour of the Konzerthaus, the theater that makes up part of my study area for my senior thesis.

On the way I ran into a large protest - there were nationwide protests today agains the politics of the leading government coalition, mainly led by unions - here they are getting set to march down Unter den Linden.

In front of the Konzerthaus there was another group, mostly made up of parents and kids, protesting education reforms ...

... these teenagers had made some really cool signs. "We want free rooms for projects" - "We want to revere young teachers!" - "We want to use modern media."

Finally I went on my tour, led by the former public relations secretary for the Konzerthaus. He was a very well-spoken and personable older man, with a great sense of humor and bit of a dramatic side! Built in the early 1800s by - surprise! - Schinkel, the theater was bombed in WWII and ruined, then rebuilt during the 1980's by the East German government - quite the undertaking, as it was very expensive.

We got to see all of the different concert halls, from the big one (the Grosser Saal) ...

... to the small hall (Kleiner Saal) ...

... to the reception rooms (the coffee machines were of special interest, because when Schinkel designed the first rooms he didn't leave room for such modern conveniences) ...

On my way home the light was so beautiful, and among other things I walked by this hilarious huge billboard next to the Humboldt Law School. There were lots of people ogling it and making funny comments like, "Appropriate for your bedroom, but ... ?!?" Ah, Germany.

girls on the town

2006-10-21T04:11:00.000-04:00

Mary Ellen's visit continues!

On Thursday night we went and had yummy German food at Max & Moritz (well, Mary Ellen had Wiener Schnitzel, but close enough) ...

Then we took advantage of the fact that the state museums are both open late and free on Thursday nights. First we checked out the Pergamon Museum, home to Greek, Babylonian and Islamic art ...

Then we went to the Altes Museum and saw the bust of Nefertiti. Here's Mary Ellen on the stairwell.

At night they have been doing interesting light installations on Berlin monuments - the Altes Museum is to the left, and the Berliner Dom to the right. It was a beautiful evening!

In the morning we started off with brunch at Barcomi's, my favorite coffee shop - they have really yummy bagel sandwiches!

Then we headed to do more museum-ing at the Gemaeldegalerie (the Painting Gallery), where we got to ogle Duerers, Brueghels and Rubens'...

... looking at art can be tiring! So,

we restored ourselves with a little gelato at Potsdamer Platz! Yummmmmm.

Walking back to the S-Bahn, we stopped off at the Jewish Memorial ...

... and the Brandenburg gate ...

... and Frank Gehry's DZ Bank building (don't you wish that the EMP looked more like this? I do.)

Then we headed home on the tram to prepare for an evening of intellectual discussion with my professor and some classmates. In all, a full and successful day! This morning we are headed off to the train station to send Mary Ellen to visit a friend in Poland ... she'll be back on Tuesday, though, so look forward to another appearance by her.

a visit from Mary Ellen

2006-10-19T11:00:00.000-04:00

My friend Mary Ellen arrived on Wednesday morning for a three-day visit! It is so nice to have a friend to do things with, as my apartment does tend to get a little quiet, especially in the evenings. I have been helping her combat jet lag with a vengeance by marching her around the city ... here she is last night at the Kulturbrauerei (an old brewery that has been turned into concert and theater venues, cafes and a cinema) in Prenzlauer Berg.

We had a lovely italian dinner, then finished the night off with a visit to my favorite cellar pub, the Enddorn ...

Today we saw some of the big Berlin "sights" - the Franzoesicher Dom on the Gendarmenmarkt ...

The memorial to the Nazi book burning (which unfortunately doesn't photograph too well) ...

The path of the Berlin Wall ...

And, just because we had to be in the area for something else, Checkpoint Charlie, possibly the most touristy place in the whole city. (My favorite detail: the cafe called "Snackpoint Charlie.")

Then we headed to the headquarters of the "taz" - or "die tageszeitung" - Berlin's left-leaning newpaper, where our class was scheduled to meet with the editor, who used to be a 60's radical. (Our class is partly on "oppositional cultures," so the 1960's student revolts are a big topic.)

While we were waiting for the class to show up, we had a coffee in "tazpresso," the cafe next door.

Naturally, they use fair-trade beans. I wonder if that's bio-milk in my latte macchiato. (They call organic things "bio" here, and it's totally as big as it is in the US.)

Best thing about the cafe, though - hanging basket chairs!!! Yes!

They also have bean bags. I am totally sold! Perhaps I'll start reading the taz rather than just watching those news blurbs on the TVs in the U-Bahn.

After our visit with the editor, which was interesting (he used to be a Maoist! ... maybe he still is, who knows?!?) we headed off to the mecca of capitalism, the KaDeWe, which is a humongous department store in West Berlin. On the way we happened upon a statue of Wilhelm von Humboldt (on the right) and Peter Christian Wilhelm Beuth - both important Prussians who were good at looking stern. Then Mary Ellen went crazy buying toys for her two boys and we checked out the smelly cheese in the grocery level of the KaDeWe, and now we are home taking a nap.

In all, a good day. Later we're off to dinner and the museum - a night of further Berlin adventures awaits us! 'Til then ...

fall approaches ... library card in hand.

2006-10-17T12:30:00.000-04:00

Today I took a group of my fellow students to the library in Kreuzberg to get library cards. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky, and though it was chilly we decided to walk and enjoy the gorgeous scenery along the canal. Here's Zach enjoying some architecture along the way. (This is an apartment house by Hinrich & Inken Baller - sorry it's fuzzy.)

Then we enjoyed the beautiful views afforded by the canal ...

We also talked to some swans,

and Sam, Evelyn and Yair stopped for a photo-op, courtesy of Zach.

We did manage to get library cards, but only in-house use ones, because we don't have visas. What is the use of getting a card when you can't check books out, you may ask? Ah-ha! This is because in Germany, most of the books are kept in a secret storage space to which only librarians have access. You have to order them in order to look at them and for this you need a card. Welcome to Germany! And this is the most easy-to-use of the libraries, by far.
... Anyhow, on my way home, the fall light was just so beautiful ... here's the side of a big yellow apartment building in Kreuzberg - a little surreal, n'est-ce pas?

Having gotten my library card, I headed to Alexanderplatz to run an errand before heading home. And what am I assaulted by as I come out of the U-Bahn?? This monstrosity that they dare to call the Kaufhof. Can you believe that this is a brand new exterior? They took the wonderfully kitschy aluminum diamond-shaped siding off, citing "structural inadequacies," then they replace it with something that looks like the old Frederick & Nelson's in some American strip mall. I guess you now know how I feel about it.

I breathed a sigh of relief at the lovely view from my stairwell. Given, you have to climb 3 1/2 flights of stairs for this view, but don't you think it's worth it? Quite the sunset scene, and many of you know how I feel about sunsets. There's something so 19th-century industrial about my neighborhood ...

It's almost ... Dickens. But without the coal smoke and the orphans. Also no porridge. Well, close enough.

consumerism at its swedish-est

2006-10-16T07:22:00.000-04:00

Today I went to IKEA. I needed a lamp. IKEA is a great place to go if you feel homesick, because every IKEA is eerily similar. Same Billy bookcases, same little tealight lanterns with star cutouts, same meatballs.

And the best thing is that this slightly nerdy-looking halogen lamp was only 1.99 Euros. Now I can read at night without getting frustrated by the darkness in my room and giving up and going to bed instead. At least, that's the hope.

the children on my ceiling ...

2006-10-14T09:50:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not losing it (though the fact that I'm posting this might tip you off as to what my mental state is like during a weekend of being sequestered in my apartment and reading about architecture for my thesis). There really are children on my ceiling - these little rectangular plaster freizes which I assume are part of the original building. I can't figure out what exactly the children are doing (bathing? playing? one seems to be holding the front legs of a cat ...) but they do keep me entertained when I get tired of poring over articles on Critical Reconstruction and city planning in Berlin. At least they seem to be having fun!

a night (not) at the movies

2006-10-12T15:44:00.000-04:00

Tonight, Kristin and I decided it might be a good evening for a movie, so we headed to Potsdamer Platz to check out the latest girly film in English ...

A girls' night out is definitely not complete without ice cream. Potsdamer Platz has some of the best gelato to be had in Berlin. She had "After Eight" and I had "Pocket Coffee" - yummmm.

Then we headed over to the Sony Center, where the theater is located. It was, as usual, all lit up and full of people.

... and so was the theater! In fact, the movie we wanted to see was already sold out. So we headed back to the U-Bahn - at least we got a good gelato out of it.

And, we got the unexpected treat of seeing some Art (a light installation on one of the buildings). It was even animated, so that these faces moved. Surprising and fun - that's Berlin!

a beautiful day in the neighborhood

2006-10-10T08:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday it was absolutely gorgeous out - a perfect day to walk downtown and photograph the area I'll be studying for my senior thesis, which is the point of this whole trip. On the way I stopped at a few other spots in Mitte, the central neighborhood of Berlin...

First I strolled by the (former) Palast der Republik, the old East German parliament building. It used to house all sorts of cultural attractions as well - theaters, a cinema, even a bowling alley! Now the government has decided to tear it down and to rebuild a version of the Prussian Palace that used to stand here. I think it's a shame, as the Palast der Republik was not only a cool, retro example of 1960s/70s modernist aesthetics, but also a reminder of the existence of East Germany itself, which the city has gone to great lengths to hide or erase. I actually shed a few tears when I saw that it's really coming down. ;(

I also checked out the Foreign Ministry, which incorporates the former Nazi Reichsbank. In order to obscure the Nazi building, they built an entirely new building in front of it (to the right in the picture). However, they left a courtyard in between that and the older building, so that visiting officials still pass through the old entrance into the Reichsbank in order to access reception and meeting rooms. I think it's a bit odd, but architecture by committee sometimes has weird results. You can see the little break behind the new building, and then the roofline continues on - that's the former Nazi building.

I was happy to find that there is still construction happening in Berlin (it used to truly deserve the name of "Biggest Construction Site in Europe"; now all that has waned as everything's mostly finished). I love the big pink pipes that pop up whenever they're building something. This is because Berlin has a very high water table and they have to pump all the water out whenever they dig for a foundation. I just like that the pipes are always pink.

Finally I reached my destination, the Gendarmenmarkt. It really is one of the prettiest squares in the city, especially on a sunny day. Everyone was out having lunch and sunning themselves! And guess who designed the theater? ... Yes, Schinkel. Can't have a day without Schinkel.

I thought I would put a picture of a human form in (my shadow) to give you a break from all the buildings before I start again ...

Heading home, I thought I'd show you the street I live on, Ackerstrasse. To the right is the doorway into the courtyard of my building. Right nextdoor is a little Italian "cucina" and cafe - I had espresso there this morning. Mmmmm.

Courtyards are a very well-known feature of Berlin architecture. There used to be little factories - for clothes, furniture and household items, mostly - back in these, as well as living spaces. They were notoriously dark and dingy from the coal that was used for heating, and because they were overcrowded. Now they are lovely, quiet places to live. How things change.

That's my balcony up there on the top floor! I am really glad for the view and the light, but there are quite a few stairs... good for the heart though. Especially when carrying groceries.

ein Ausflug im Osten

2006-10-08T17:31:00.000-04:00

This weekend we were whisked away to the north of Berlin (about an hour and a half on the slow, regional train) to the state of Mecklenburg, in former East Germany.

We stayed in a lovely little village called Koldenhof, in one of a group of vacation houses owned by the person who also operates a "Wirtshaus" on the property - a traditional German restaurant/bar - where, as the sign attests, every Friday and Saturday they roast a pig on a spit and you can have all you can eat for only 7.99 Euros!

This we did. Here I am with classmate Samantha... (Of course, you can't enjoy a German meal without some traditional German beer as well.)

The rooms were very homey and had some traditional touches, such as this lace. Ours blended in nicely with the landscape, too.

The countryside was very beautiful - rolling hills, fresh air, fields ... Kristin and I agreed it was worthy of a scene from 'Pride and Prejudice.'

The coolest thing about this part of the country is that it's dotted with lakes. In the summer it must be great for swimming, but the weather was getting a little cold for that. Don't fall in, Kristin!

But it wasn't too cold to be out on the water. In a nearby village there was a place that rented canoes, and the whole class took to the paddles for a nautical afternoon adventure on Saturday.

Our boat was the first one out and, I'm proud to say, the fastest. :) Ryan was in the front, with Kristin, Evelyn, and me making up the rest of the crew.

We had fun chasing down ducks and exploring the coastline, until we finally sighted what looked like a good landing place for a picnic lunch.

Then we "moored" our boats and set to our tasty picnic lunch of fresh rolls, deli meats and cheeses, apples, pickles, juice and (of course) chocolate!

Denise, Vicki, Christian and Jenni joined us for the trip as well. They're local teenagers who were "hosting" us there, as sort of a cultural exchange. They are all involved in a really cool community video-production program run by our professor Todd's friend Heike. It was fun to have some youthful energy being exuded ...

... and apparently it was contagious! (This is my classmate Kellan - I just thought this was a great picture.)

Saturday night there was a "Disko" at the Wirtshaus in celebration of the 57th anniversary of the founding of East Germany. There's still a fair amount of "Ostalgie" (nostalgia for the East - in German Ost means East and they combine it with their word for nostalgia, Nostalgie) here in Mecklenburg. The DJ was spinning hits of the DDR and the Americans hit the dance floor along with older East Germans! It was quite the cultural encounter.

Of course, you can't have 17 people in a vacation house without doing a lot of dishes. Here's Kristin channelling Aaron Hansen (those of you in Paul's house will appreciate her Aaron-esque footwear!). She did a lot of dishes - thanks, Kristin!

The other main entertainment activity in Koldenhof was the neat zip-line swing in the back yard. The country definitely has a way of bringing out the kids in us! It totally reminded me of our swing growing up.

In all, it was a wonderful weekend and I think we all feel refreshed and ready to return to city life once again.

1950s architecture east and west

2006-10-04T10:28:00.000-04:00

Today we took a little tour of Berlin architecture from the beginning of the Cold War. At this time, both the Eastern and Western regimes were competing to show their architectural prowess and illustrate their own political and cultural ideals through prominent housing projects (housing being one of the main concerns for people after the wartime destruction of Berlin).

In East Berlin under Ulbricht's Communist regime, they took cues from Stalin's Moscow and built in a neo-classicist style that purported to represent Germany's "true aesthetic heritage" (thus including many references to our favorite German architect Schinkel!), and, maybe even more importantly, was also the direct opposite of the architectural style encouraged in the West.

They mounted a huge, almost decade-long project along a prominent avenue in East Berlin, first named Stalinallee and later changed to Karl-Marx-Allee / Frankfurter Allee. Here is a prime example of the Stalinist so-called "wedding cake" style (named that way because the ornate decorations and strong horizontal lines make it look like a wedding cake): symmetrical, imposing, ornate with strong linear characteristics and reliefs showing happy communist workers. These are all apartments with room for businesses on the bottom - this is still a popular place to live and supposedly the apartments are very roomy and comfortable.

Meanwhile, across town in West Berlin, an architectural competition was financed by the government in an area of the city called the "Hansaviertel," most of which had been levelled by bombing. All sorts of famous Western architects participated, including Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. Their approach to architecture was almost the direct opposite to the East's: these architects and planners wanted to create non-hierarchical, egalitarian, open and individual living spaces. Thus the buildings in the Hansaviertel are scattered about in a parklike setting, and in true modernist tradition they have no outward ornamentation whatsoever. Though they are geometrical, they are often highly assymetrical.

Of course, nowadays people admit that the plain, boxy modernist style so heavily praised in the middle of the century actually served to create alienating and cold spaces. People even admit now that they prefer the neo-classicism of the former Stalinallee to the modernism of the Hansaviertel. Both are here to stay, however, as both quarters are now designated historical landmarks.

I just thought I would throw in a hint of color for you here at the end, after all that dark and dreary architecture! As you can tell by the clouds in the last two pictures, it rained today and I was reminded forcefully that I need to buy an umbrella. Hello, Autumn!

happy day of german unity!

2006-10-03T13:40:00.000-04:00

Today was the German national holiday, the "Day of German Unity," when Germans celebrate having a day off of work. On my way to meet my friend Nadja for a walk in the Tiergarten (Berlin's central park) I strolled through the government district to see what was going on.

Mostly people were just milling about; on the main street there was a street fair with food, crafts, and I assume lots of beer. I avoided the crowds and took the more scenic route along the Spree River instead.

Look at all these responsible Germans reading their constitution on German Unity Day! This installation next to the senate offices has pieces of the constitution engraved on it.
I stumbled across this lovely fountain that I had never seen before...

... and I walked along the edge of the Chancellory before entering the Tiergarten.

Next stop was the Siegessaeule (the Victory Column), which you might recognize from "Wings of Desire," on my way to the Neuer See on the far edge of the park.

As you can see in this photo, the freizes that surround the bottom of the Siegessaeule appear to have been used for target practice by invading armies... It looks like now pieces have been removed for restoration. I suppose Prussian soldiers with holes in their heads aren't exactly the most attractive thing to show tourists.

Finally I arrived at my destination, Cafe am Neuen See, and met Nadja. It was so pretty and peaceful, and the weather isn't yet too cold to sit outside.

We had a little snack of coffee and pumpkin soup (yummmm) before strolling off around the park...

On our walk we discovered a museum of gas lanterns - yet another museum to add to Berlin's endless list! They love to collect things here. This one is from London. It was actually pretty cool to see them all lined up together, from different places and eras.

We also ran across a monument to Karl Liebknecht, the communist activist from the early 20th century who, along with Rosa Luxemburg, was murdered right here in the Tiergarten and thrown into the water. A sad site to happen upon, but as with so many places in Berlin, the ground is laden with difficult history. As Nadja said, "This afternoon we're not just having fun, but culturally educating ourselves as well!" Thank you, Germans, for reuniting and giving me a day off to walk through your capital city!

as promised ...

2006-10-03T05:21:00.000-04:00

Many of you have expressed a strong curiosity about the gravel in my bathroom. Well, here it is.

As you can see, they covered the normal linoleum floor with little white rocks.

(Please ignore last summer's not-yet-removed nail polish.) As you may imagine, this type of floor necessitates either very calloused feet (though I have clinically-proven structurally-imperfect feet, they're not that hard on the bottom yet) or slippers. The biggest mystery: how am I supposed to clean it??

Nara and Chance in New York

a week in europe for Nara

Jenn & Chris's visit!

wednesday - a lovely afternoon

my semi-annual post

OBAMA ... and other things

heading into fall ...

a widding!

a marathon week, but a good one

VIP tour of the UN

Paris, enfin

Paris, continued

americans in paris

on my way to paris, but still in new york

back in new york

two lovely weeks in Seattle

a visit from Mary Ellen

a day at the brooklyn botanic garden

things you see while on the subway

le printemps est arrive!

27 Rue de Fleurus

mary's visit

hello people

and a happy new year.

a very merry christmas

New York gets a thumbs up

An Early Christmas Present - Par Avion!

snow!

a busy weekend

a thanksgiving tradition

Enfin ... L'Automne.

A Wisitor!

Newspeak at the Knitting Factory

ahhh ... the scent of fresh, Swedish pine

cafe (un-)grumpy

home sweet giant home

WE HEART WILLIAMSBURG

Hello, East Coast (with view of Staten Island)

Married?!? Yes, married! Jheesh!!

A hot, sticky, and demeaning week in New York. What fun!

flags and fun

hours of boredom / moments of panic

a birthday for Gillia

curious cats, bacon, and other late night activities

nous sommes arrives, nous avons joue, nous partons.

wrapping up for the holidays

life is a carnival ... complete with candied apples

mmmm ... turkish food.

Nara & Megan's Best Vacation Ever *starring Nara and Megan*

london calls. and keeps calling!

a very boring week.

no line?!? it's a miracle!

oh yes, the winter dark is upon us. and a walking tour.

taking this sleigh to dresden

prison linoleum, invisible dogs, mysterious table knives, and hanging miniature church boats ... sailing the seas of learning in Rostock

pumpkins!

a little more history

just look at Nara's & Mary Ellen's fabulous European lives! (jealousy mandatory)

protests, projects and pos

girls on the town

a visit from Mary Ellen

fall approaches ... library card in hand.

consumerism at its swedish-est

the children on my ceiling ...

a night (not) at the movies

a beautiful day in the neighborhood

ein Ausflug im Osten

1950s architecture east and west

happy day of german unity!

as promised ...

Nara & Megan's Best Vacation Ever starring Nara and Megan