So i had heard too many good things about Berlin for way too long. And a few months ago, whilst visiting a friend in Winsford and talking over paella, we decided to see what Berlin was all about. And so, the Easy Jet flight was booked, the Airbnb room found (IF YOU DON'T USE AIRBNB. WHYYYY NOT?), and we were ready to go. Normally i re-search a city voraciously before going, but this time there was no need to. I put a message out on twitter that i was going and was then inundated with responses. A facebook status achieved the same results.
Berlin is a lovely city. It's quite strange how it's all been knocked down, built back together, has mis-match architecture, filled with graffiti, but just "works." We got to do many things in the 5 days we were there, from take bike tours around the city, to spending hours in the National Gallery, cry at the Jewish museum (Daniel Libeskind you absolute genius), and literally eat and drink our way through Berlin's amazing array of restaurants - all at affordable prices.
Below are some picture from our stay in Berlin.
I'm about to share some wisdom that i think you will be grateful for. Picture the scene: you're tired, you need comfort food you need it within half an hour.
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| Chop all of this meat and veg. (The long green hard thing is a courgette) |
OBVIOUSLY, make use of younger siblings/cousins
Mix together oyster sauce, soy sauce, lime juice, honey, fish sauce, and rice wine vinegar. Seal your meat in a wok, pour over the sauce, add the veg, stir - pour in 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water, cover and leave for 20 mins.
Tuck in.
I’m incredibly excited about the future of TV; I look forward to it becoming interactive and i suspect Youtube will be a TV service provider that will aggregate all tv shows. But on the interactive front, imagine watching a travel show, and you see the most idyllic spot in the French country side and you want to go there, but finding out where it is exactly isn’t really possible or easy. The TV of the future, i assume, will allow you to click on the screen and see where the area is located and how to get there. It will tell you when it's best to visit, which will be the cheapest airline to go with and what dates work with your schedule. Or you could click on an actor and see their personal profile, what shows they're staring in, or what plays they are preforming in and then you can book tickets to watch them. Mark Holden of PHD says that users you will be able to click on actors tie and ‘like' it which will then show on their Facebook page; and if you choose to, you will be able to buy it. The future of TV is exciting and i look forward to watching how it will evolve.
Here’s more of Mark talking about the future of the TV.
I think half the world tuned into the Super Bowl because they cared about Madonna’s Nicki’s and MIA’s performance, okay well maybe just Madonna’s; and the others cared about the game. (BTW WELL DONE GIANTS).
For a few of us, we watched because of the adverts. It was an important time in a marketers life. We collectively asked, “who soared?” “who preformed?” “who failed?” “who do we love?” I've never claimed to be cool - anyway here are my favourite SuperBowl ads of 2012.
Samsung - it hurts me to take any attention away from the iPhone and Apple but i have to. A well executed ad for Samsung.
As Jack Frost descended all over England this weekend, we all became prisoners in our homes - quite literally. It was fine after the first film but then it all got a bit vapid. To over come it, we thought we would get a little raucous. Here are my tips to deal with being caged in.
Have black and white "Sambuxo" - well just alcohol really.
Show the next generation that you will always win a snow-fight.
Make Nigella's chocolate brownies, they are HEAVEN. (Chocolate gooyness in its finest form).
Wearing Long-Johns will save you.