what the what ? 2012?

So they say it's 2012. How did that even happen?
Here's wishing that your year is marvelous, where ever you may be. We spent the New Year in Berlin and in Potsdam working, catching up with friends and participating in general merriment. We then fled the war zone (the folks here are very,very serious about New Years fireworks and stock up on enough explosives to send us all to kingdom come - if need be ) and headed north, back home. 2011 might be tough to beat as far as major celebrations and milestones go, but hopefully with a little effort 2012 will be just as fantastic.

*Pictures of St. Nikolas , where we performed on New Years

The 8th Night :

Our search for sufganiot here in Hamburg left us somewhat disgruntled. We ate our way through several dry , tasteless and oily doughnuts before we realized we would have to take matters into our own hands and make our own Hanukkah-worthy desert. In the end we decided on an Italian olive oil and orange zest cake from one of my favorite cookbooks "The Frankies". I'm pretty sure those good Catholic boys didn't have Hanukkah in mind when they put it in their book, but it turned out fabulous and festive (And has definitely has enough oil in it to qualify !) It's a simple, humble looking cake but be warned- it is highly addictive. Don't say you weren't warned if you suddenly notice you've eaten it for breakfast lunch and dinner....

*not that that happened around here, of course

You can find the recipe here
And the key to the cake is a really good fragrant olive oil ,and a little more zest than the recipe calls for.

the end.

Oh, and Happy Hanukkah !

The kitchen at Schumannstraße gets pimped or ; How we won the Western Hemisphere

After a few unsuccessful bids, a painful loss involving the Eastern Hemisphere and additional time wasted lurking around eBay, I finally got my hands on a vintage school map which now graces our kitchen wall and adds a certain flair to all meals eaten in it's shadows. All other plans to show you around the place are on hold until the sun shines enough to allow some decent pictures (which by the way things are looking around here, might not happen until Spring).

60!

Just because I was internet-less on the momentous occasion of my father's 60th birthday does not mean that I am willing to miss the opportunity to publish something this wonderful from the family archives...




so there you go.
Happy Birthday Abba, ad 120 !

Weihnachtsmarkt

In what can only be described as a freak accident,
the sun came out the other day...

We celebrated by eating sausages, Apfelstrudel ,
as well as other shameful and tasty seasonal fare

Ti Breizh

Attempting to survive the rain, sleet, hail AND snow we had really no choice but to seek shelter in one of Hamburg's coziest spots. Right on the Nikolai canal and off one of the oldest streets in the city, Ti Breizh is a Creperie that serves traditional Breton buckwheat galletes. Purists can enjoy them plain in all of their paper thin glory, but true to form we went for the ones with ridiculously wonderful french goat cheese. (That one does seem like a no-brainer...) To add to the charm, all of the waiters wear striped fishermen's shirts.

Hamburg -->Leipzig--->Hamburg

I'm spending a week in the old Leipzig in self-imposed exile -Rehearsing, practicing and meeting my Professor.Visiting one's former life is so startling in it's perspective. I guess nostalgia holds it's own delusions, but studying seems so luxurious all of a sudden ...
The weather is crispy but kinder than most Novembers, and Advent has just begun- meaning that the city is full of Christmas markets and people cheerfully zigzag-ing home full of Glühwein and Würst. I'm very happy to visit, but even happier to head back to Schumann Str. on Friday.



*One of my favorite buildings in Leipzig (and the view from my old window) the Bundesverwaltungsgericht ...

Not for the faint of heart...

Watching this took my breath away. And it also made me a little uncomfortable, sitting cozy on my couch*. It made me think of courage in its many forms, of pushing limits, and also of searching for beauty. It also made me think that it's never good to get too comfortable...
and that sometimes you just need to jump-whether the cliff is literal or metaphorical.

*Disclaimer* This is not to imply that I have anything against the couch, or its coziness. It's a very welcome little addition to Schumannstr. after a very long search, and most definitely beats sitting on the floor or on moving boxes.

A Visitor

Here at Schumannstraße, we just had our first guest...We were really excited to have my Dad here on a quick visit, and true to form documentation ensued . (I'm thinking this might just run in the family? We seem to take picture-taking pretty seriously...) Here are a few pictures from his stay, and a little look at what we've been up to...

***
a peek into our apartment through the mail slot ,

music and books stacked around the house,

Posters for upcoming concerts, seen around the U-bahn

The Laeiszhalle, were we often rehearse and perform,

and a windy bridge in the beautiful Speicherstadt , the old warehouse district

*All photo's by my Dad, who somehow managed to stay behind the lens this time.