Back from Berlin

And straight into work. For a change though, it actually feels like I took a vacation that was a real vacation. I went someplace different. I didn't have any agenda or anything in particular to do. I hung out with a friend, and then I came back.

Berlin is a strange place. It's very large and grand for how underpopulated it is. And the reunification of the east and the west has been a strange business at times. It has resulted in no clear center, many different spots of intensification and two of almost everything. But it's a very pleasant city, if a bit large. There are loads of trees and parks and other green spaces. The sidewalks tend to be large and pedestrian friendly, and are accentuated in many places by cafes or restaurants that spill out.

I had some special green Berlin beer (which is regular beer with some sort of candy flavor additive put in it). They drink a lovely combination of banana and cherry juice. I ate at a restaurant that Bill Clinton ate at which was not surprisingly impressively good, but perhaps surprisingly not so expensive. We also ate at this strange Berlin wine bar where they just open bottles and serve food and when you leave you pay what you think you should. It's really no surprise that this sort of establishment works in Germany, I'm not sure it would work anyplace else!

So really, it was all very enjoyable aside from a bit too much rain and my shoes ripping my feet apart. But all in all a really good time! So now, work like a maniac. Going to a place called Scunthorpe tomorrow for an interview. All I know is every time I mention this to people here they come up with some song that goes 'Who put the cunt in Scunthorpe' which should tell you something. Thursday night with the Aloof one and Friday the flatmates move out!

Madness.....