Berlin

This past weekend, Martin and I headed to Berlin, one of the few remaining cities I wanted to visit, for a weekend of history and relaxation. From the moment we arrived Friday night at the stylish Hotel Q, in Savignyplatz (which we subsequently learned is known for being home to some of Berlin's most popular restaurants and cafes) I knew it was going to be a good weekend.

Saturday was spent Griswald style, “ticking the box” off the main sites, including the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, a trip to the top of the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz (going against my normal rules of travel and paying money to enjoy the view, but happy I did) and climbing the 285 steps to the top of the Siegessäule, Victory Column. However, although the sites and historical references were amazing, and the main reason for wanting to see Berlin in the first place, my favorite moments were those you would never find in a guidebook. They included wandering through an art gallery in Hackescher Markt, a walk through the Tiergarten, enjoying a beer, currywurst and pommes with the locals on Friedrichstrasse, sitting in a local café drinking coffee and sharing a home made apple strudel, getting lost in an eclectic German bookstore and finding (and buying) the most ridiculous book on ceramic garden gnomes, and seeing Martin’s German pride show through, not in front of the capital building, Reichstag, but rather when noting the efficiency of his people by putting a change machine next to the 50 euro cent pre-pay WC. And, of course, the exhausting day was perfectly wrapped up with a hard earned German dinner at Florian’s near Savignyplatz.

With an afternoon flight out on Sunday, we found just enough time for a full European breakfast, a stroll through the flea market near Bernauer strasse (located in the death zone on the east side of the Berlin Wall) and one final currywurst and pommes. Like all trips, this one definitely left plenty of reasons to return.

My European Life

I always figured I would pick up a few "European tendencies" living in Switzerland for 2 years. And I knew that those tendencies would only increase, what with having a German boyfriend. However, after this past weekend of hiking on Saturday (through snow, without a map or trail, up the side of a mountain, with only the reassurance of cold beer at the top to keep me going) and skiing on Sunday, I realized I needed to re-evaluate my European lifestyle. So, for all of those true blooded Americans out there, consider this my confession of my European tendencies.

• I crave the standard European breakfast of cold cuts, cheese, eggs and bread with butter and honey almost, if not more, than the traditional American breakfast of bacon and eggs or pancakes. I will even get out of bed early on vacation to enjoy in the European breakfast buffet typically offered at every hotel
• I enjoy a coffee or espresso every afternoon, and prefer to drink it with a slice of home made cake
• I prefer my salads with just olive oil and sprinkle of salt rather than the heaviness of salad dressing
• As mentioned in an earlier blog, I own, and wear, leggings and had to stop myself from thinking that a random girl’s outfit, which included green tights, was, while slightly ballsy, something I respected and wished I could pull off
• I prefer the cute boyshorts to boardshorts on guys
• I find myself enjoying more techno than I care to admit (and may or may not have some on my party mix on my iPod)
• I prefer to walk, and when the weather is nice, which granted, is rare, I will walk the 30 minutes home rather than take the tram, and finally
• I now hesitate when deciding if I would like sparkling or still water with each meal

So, while I am currently losing the "cultural integration" battle in the relationship, I hope to regain some ground when I move home and I have home field advantage.

Day 45

On Day 45 of work without holiday and over 50 days without leaving the country, I am starting to fall in to the slow painful rut of my profession, accounting. And this routine is beginning to feel more like Groundhogs Day (the movie, not the day, which incidentally happens to be one of my favorite holidays in the US) than an actual career. The mind numbing routine is so tedious that the only thing getting me through, but also might be driving me slowly mad, is the melody of Leo Bloom's accounting song from the Producers. Just to get a taste, here are the first few chords:

Unhappy...unhappy..very unhappy
Unhappy...unhappy...
Very very very very very
Very very unhappy

Oh, I debits all duh mornin'
An' I credits all duh eb'nin
Until dem ledgers be right

Yes, I am an accountant… and 9 months out of the year I am able to delude myself into denying that I am not only an accountant, but worse than an accountant, an auditor. But these 3 months every year (January through March), fondly refered to as "busy season", beat me back down like an abusive boyfriend... an abusive boyfriend who will somehow manage to sweet talk me into staying one more year through the persuasion of happy hours, free lunches and dinners and plenty of time off. And, what is worse, I always come back.

So, with 5 days left until we are officially done (irregardless of the fact that Q1 is just two weeks away), I am counting down the days, hours and minutes, while singing Leo's song until I am done and finally able to start the healing process. Hope is just around the corner!

My apologies for the lack of fun recently, but I promise to be back in action in no time.