Changing Course, with Difficulty Friday, 23 October 2015 photo by Mario Micklisch (https://www.flickr.com/photos/fvfavo/) I am not supposed to be writing this blog.* According to the itinerary, I should in fact at this very moment be arriving at the above scene: Wadi Rum and the The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
Cheap Thrills Friday, 9 October 2015 Last Sunday, our friend Christoph H. said: “Where else but Berlin can you be entertained for so little money?” The three of us were sitting at a table-clothed table with Kaffee und Kuchen, waiting for a free violin concert, after a free tour of the Karl-Foerster-Garten
Politics and Privilege Friday, 25 September 2015 Being uncomfortable with both the very public and the very private, I have tried in this blog to navigate a middle course. But two public and private things have so dominated the last couple weeks, writing about anything else today—bottles, teepees, Grillparty— would be dancing
Calm, Peace and Near Silence Friday, 11 September Just after I pushed the “publish now” button for my last blog entry, we got in the car and began a three-day weekend to the Rheinsberger-Seengebiet, a lake region about 75kms north of Berlin. It was the perfect antidote for lingering thoughts of the creepy former East
Irony and Evil Friday, 28 August I am looking at my old map of East Berlin, purchased in 1987 during my only visit to this part of the city before the Wall came down two years later. Just north of the Lenin-Allee and just east of Ho-Chi-Menh-Straße is a blank spot, an area
Convention Friday, 14 August From a distance, I’d seen signs but imagined that I’d missed it, or if not, that it would be at a far-flung venue at an inconvenient time. But I was wrong on all counts. The Berlin Tattoo Convention was last weekend, right at the end
Of Cherries and Berries Friday, 31 July We have finally proven our friends Denis and Virginie D. wrong. Ever since we moved half-time to Berlin in January 2013, they have been pointing out a certain perverse proclivity of ours to spend most of those six months during the dark, cold, gloomy winter. But it’
Vive la République Friday, 17 July It is impossible to live in la République for any length of time without bumping into la fonction publique. Bureaucracy, if not quite omnipresent, is a major force in French life. In fact, reducing its bloated numbers is viewed by many as one of the country’s
Dog Days Friday, 3 July La canicule is as integral to the French summer as le 14 juillet and le Tour de France. It’s the time when temperatures rise and for several days hover between 30°C (86°F) and 35°C (95°F). The term in English is dog days
Modern Façades Friday, 19 June A couple of weeks ago I was watching Roland Garros (French Open) on television. Frequently the camera would pull back for an aerial view and there at the top of the screen, beyond the Bois de Boulogne, loomed the island of sky-scrapers that constitutes La Défense. It
The Anglos and the Saxons Friday, 5 June Einstein's study, Christ Church, Oxford When the French talk, often derisively, about les Anglo-Saxons, they mean the English. But five days in England last week was a constant reminder of the second part of the appellation, the Saxons, the Germanic tribes that settled in Britain
Travels with Elsa and Louise Friday, 22 May On the road again last weekend, this time with Louise D. and Elsa. Another château but a different sort of experience. We were visiting friend and painter Claire Basler and her partner Pierre Imhof near Vichy, about four hours south of Paris. Louise, a friend since my
Pretty but Paper-thin Friday, 15 May The mild shock I wrote about last week at returning to the geometry of the Tuileries gardens, after the more free-spirited approach to nature in Berlin, was just a warm-up for this week. On a three-day road trip, David, Trevor P., Dana W., Bertrand du V. and
Two Versions of Spring Plänterwald Friday, 8 May After all these years on the earth, how is it that I am still astonished by spring? Every year I watch the world come alive again as if witnessing a miracle for the first time. In Berlin the wonder and excitement are particularly intense. The city
Never too late to be a Nimby Friday, 1st May Before the bombs fell, Berlin was largely a creation of the late 19th century. Although founded in the 13th, it didn’t become a European powerhouse until Bismarck defeated France in 1870 and a year later united disparate states into Germany with Berlin as the capital. So
Ode to Forsythia Friday, 24 April In Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, the narrator describes a critical encounter with a row of hawthorns. This is a short blog posting, so I won’t quote extensively from this predictably lengthy passage, except to say that still a boy, he stood before
New Horizons Friday, 17 April In my pre-bike Berlin days, I often looked longingly at some spot that seemed just a bit too far to walk in the time available. So the last couple of weeks have offered the exciting possibility of actually getting to some of them. The one I looked
Joining the Ranks Friday, 10 April I have been an urban cyclist for as long as I can remember. In Toronto, with my tricycle on our dead end street, where I was frightened that even three wheels might not stop one of those tectonic ruptures in the pavement from tipping me over. In
Traditions, Part II Good Friday, a holiday. As is Easter Monday, thus keeping both Protestants and Catholics happy. Another religious observance and its concomitant traditions taken seriously (see Traditions, 10 Dec '14). The Frohe Ostern’s began early in the week; yesterday afternoon Berlin got very quiet. The workers who are still
Molecule Man Back in Berlin, after a mother-son-dog road trip. If it sounds picturesque, tant mieux. The truth is that even though William made it much easier by being excellent company and driving more than I did, any car journey between Paris and Berlin in a single day renders one almost delirious.
Love-Hate Locks “I am standing on the Pont des Arts in Paris,” begins Kenneth Clark’s Civilisation, written in 1969. “What is civilisation? I do not know. I can't define it in abstract terms—yet. But I think I can recognise it when I see it: and I am looking
City of Light Thursday, 12 March With US snow still fresh in my mind, I sheepishly report: it’s been gorgeous spring this week in Paris. Bright, chilly mornings have given way to warm sunny days, each one noticeably longer than the one before. The first birds are chirping at 4am and a
Inner Voices Central Park, Sunday, 1st of March Thursday, 5 March 2015 I have just returned to Paris from two plus weeks of travelling: New York to the Berkshires, Philadelphia to Washington, DC and Virginia, then back to New York. Besides trying to tout Someone Else in bookshops along the way (not
Paris lives Sacré Coeur, from rue de Chartes/rue de la Goutte d'Or Thursday, 12 February One reads these days about Paris becoming a museum. Or a jewel box (see last week’s post). This may be true for certain arrondissements, but outside the hollowing centre, the story is quite
Different Boxes ![ [https://mf.ghost.io/content/images/2015/02/DSC_1054.jpg] Some Someone Else's, back in Paris Thursday, 5 February When David and I talked about buying a place in Berlin, we said: wouldn't it be great to find something outside the box. Some part of