There is a German phrase, “Wenn schon, denn schon,” which doesn’t translate literally or make a whole lot of sense, but means something like “If you’re going to do something, you may as well do it all the way.”
About ten days ago, I had the idea that I’d like to see twenty-four hours of sunlight. [...]
I love Berlin. Today was a perfect day. I think I could live here. Berlin is fun without being expensive, funky and gritty without being seedy. It’s got street culture without the usual bobo (bourgeoisie-bohemian) posing. Berliners themselves are open, have style without pretension and seem to be patient and even welcoming with foreigners.
A few [...]
After a rather tiring weekend of cycling, bopping to German punk and the occasional/continual pint, it was a pleasure to drive the hour or so northeast from fun, noisy Dresden to Anja’s quiet village of Kreinitz, near Riesa. Germany is a beautiful country, and the plains of Saxony are no exception. The drive took us [...]
Dresden is a fascinating, exciting city. I arrived just in time for the DBR festival. The streets of the Neustadt are filled with punk bands, cocktail stalls, flea-markets and street bars. The music starts early and goes til late. Not really any point trying to sleep, seeing as my room is only one story above [...]
I made it. I even got a decent night’s sleep, somewhere along the way. 1300km, 29 hours.
Almost suffocated to death sharing a compartment with two chain-smoking Bosnian women between Sarajevo and Banja Luka. I suppose it’s almost karma that one of them left a full packet of cigarettes and a lighter on the seat [...]