Happy 5772 !

May your ways this year be sunny and blessed.

Here in Hamburg, the search continues... from the application forms and paperwork we have to hand in, you might think our last name was Bin Laden and we were trying to get jobs at the Pentagon. Filling in the musical instruments questions with not one, but two violins is not really earning us any points either. None the less, important lessons are being learned. For example, "Beautiful Newly Renovated Apartment" does not necessarily mean that it has a floor. True story from yesterday: a realtor looked me in the eye and explained that although the owner had remodeled the place, he expected the renter to bring a floor. Obviously. Not even a touch of irony, either.

These things aside, Fall is here- golden and beautiful , and Schumann's Scenes from Faust last night was a smashing success.


* photo taken in Positano. We might be looking at these for a while....

We might be homeless, but at least we have a Burger Joint

Mostly to ease the pain of rejection and failure with the never ending apartment search, but also because of our serious dedication to finding the perfect burger, we made our way over to the m{eatery} this evening. Conveniently around the corner from the opera, inside a swanky design hotel, this place goes way beyond the call of duty as a burger joint. They take meat very, very seriously, and have all sorts of cuts that are smoked and aged to perfection. Their classic burger was happiness on a plate*.... so now that we have that sorted out, you can all come visit.

* bonus points for the house wasabi mayonnaise

I could tell you about the Mietschuldenfreiheitsbescheinigung I need to get, or the line of over 50 people waiting to see the apartment we went to check the other day ... but I think I'll ignore that. We might as well spend a few minutes in Positano....



95 % of the pictures we took in Italy were of our food. Which is mildly embarrassing, but it was that good. Also, planning meals and eating them took up a rather significant part of our days, so it only seems fair. Fluffy heavenly gnocchi at a beach snack shack, fabulous mozzarella everywhere you turn, Ravioli to make you cry... H. was so excited about a cake we ate at the corner deli he managed to shamelessly charm the Grandma into giving him the recipe.



We were thrilled to hear an american guy at the next table unrepentingly ask the waiter if he could PLEASE HAVE SOME GeNO-CHEEEY THANK YOU !

Priceless.

I leave you with this gem of a sfogliatella we ate in Amalfi :

still here

This one is just to prove to you that I haven't gone and fallen off the face of the earth. Almost, but not quite. But where to begin? There was a wonderfully sublime wedding, a dreamy stop on the Amalfi Coast and now a brand new city plus a festive amount of bureaucracy to be conquered.
I may be off looking for a new place to call home, but I'll be back with wedding banter before you know it. And have I got stories to tell.....