Happy Halloween?

Last night, the 30th of October, mind you, hubby & I were enjoying a pleasant dinner at the newly refurbished local bistro, when who should wander over to our table but 2 budding ASBOs (aka delinquents), girls of about 12, 13, with white face paint and wearing crude garbage bag 'costumes' over their clothes.

One of them came forward to our table and mumbled something about 'trick or treat' to me. I replied quite snappishly 'It's not Halloween, what are you doing here. And I don't have any candy anyway, as of course it's not Halloween.' She looked suprised that I even questioned her right to demand favours, in a RESTAURANT, the DAY BEFORE Halloween, but quickly recovered: 'Just give us some money'. Give us some money?? What?? That is NOT Halloween, and that is NOT trick-or-treating. And of course, I said 'No.' Again, I think somewhat to her suprise...

Luckily the manager came out shortly after, as the girls were making their way to the next table, and ushered them out. No doubt to hit up the next restaurant or pub, where no doubt many give in to their demands, muttering 'Halloween - stupid American holiday'.

And yet - that's not how *I* remember Halloween. Have I gotten to the stage of 'back in my day'? And I know it's been years since I celebrated Halloween in the US. So - US-based readers (of which I must have oh, 4 or 5) tell me: Is media coverage in the US dominated by more tricks than treats? Do you worry about being egged or mugged, rather than whether the candy will run out?

Or do you agree with this columnist, who believes Britain has put its own yobbish spin on Halloween, so please stop blaming the US of A. America may not be perfect, but let's take a little responsibility people...

Time to celebrate

Happy Candy Corn Day! Not really a big seller over here -- shame - it's not one of my favourites, but nothing says Halloween more... And if it's good enough for NPR, it's good enough for me.

Ich bin ein doughnut

Ok, ok, so Kennedy never made the ‘I am a jelly doughnut’ mistake, but that was the only quote I could think of about Berlin. And yes, in true procrastinator style, I’m finally posting about my Berlin trip – only about 3 weeks late... As always it’s impossible to cover everything about a trip in a single blog posting, but will try for some highlights.

One impression of Berlin is that it wears its recent history in particular on its sleeve much more evidently than any other city I’ve visited. Or is that just because the ‘last great war’ and the subsequent Iron Curtain still hold a grip on our (my?) historical knowledge. I felt that I both knew a lot and knew nothing about Berlin’s history, so was glad we tagged on to a walking tour of the city that included ‘800 years of Berlin history in 8 minutes’. A bit compressed, but still an education.

It’s also large and small at the same time – according to Wikipedia it’s the 2nd largest city in the EU, and yet we seemed to cover the same general area in our 3 days, and felt very comfortable the town, in a similar way to much smaller places I’ve visited. I’m sure that’s because the city itself sprawls much further than the tourist-centric maps we had, but still, it felt very familiar very quickly.

We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing – however you can’t help but see sights just by walking around. By far the most impressive I felt was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (part of that visible recounting of history). The memorial goes on and on; visitors can get almost lost within it – it’s both stark and in some ways human at the same time. The artist refuses to explain what it means – rather it’s up to each visitor to interpret and take what s/he will, and it was interesting to hear the different responses given by members of the walking tour.

The Jewish Museum was impressive as well – not least because of the architecture. I was most impressed, however, with the breadth of the historical record, showing the presence of Jews in Berlin for centuries. You wind through the exhibits mostly chronologically, learning about significant personalities here, impacts on the city there – all leading to, but not solely focused on, the Holocaust... which of course you know is coming, but seems all the more horrible with the knowledge of the contribution to and identification with the city the Jewish population had.

Particularly chilling to me was the ‘Memory Void’, with its installation ‘Fallen Leaves’ – rudimentary iron faces scattered like so many bodies. You’re supposed to walk over them, which I did, but it felt sacrilege, and I had to leave. The piece is also supposed to be forward-looking, though leaves fall the tree lives on... but while I appreciate the metaphor of life going on, I think that affords too much natural order to the Holocaust – there’s a difference between leaves and lives ending naturally or being stripped from the tree while still green.

We did more than wallow in WWII memorials, however – lots and lots of walking around, and much window shopping! Berlin has much to offer on the shopping front, both boutique and department store, and we made sure to investigate whenever possible. We also were very pleased with the Time Out Guide’s dining recommendations, including an ‘American Style’ diner for Sunday brunch (yummy bacon, though the pancakes were, umm, a little different. Tasty, but not exactly fluffy Bisquik specials!) We made sure to partake of some classic tourist activities as well: standing in both East & West Berlin (echoes of standing in East & West Hemispheres in Greenwich); looking for remnants of the Wall; passing by Checkpoint Charlie; and eating some yummy pastries. And of course, no holiday is complete without a visit to Starbucks, or its local imitator, in this case ‘Balzac Coffee’, which – other than the name – seemed scarily identical to Starbucks in every way. Weird.

Another highlight of the trip was talking. And talking some more – it was absolutely fabulous to catch up with Liz, my travelling companion and first-year-in-London flatmate, so thanks to her again for suggesting the trip... already looking forward to our next outing!

(PS - for more photos, you can check out Flickr...)

38 & counting

Happy birthday to my Lego-loving, Spurs-supporting, super-cycling, older-than-me-for-a-few-months-at-least husband. Here's wishing you a fantastic fun-filled 39th year...

Real live celebrity spotting

OMG. How could I have waited so long to post THIS?! I was enjoying the Golden Age of Couture exhibit at the V&A last Sunday, when an American accent (and cloud of lingering cigarette smell) caught my ear (and nose). I looked over, and there was a tiny doll of a girl (tsk, young woman), with tousled blond hair held back by enormous Wayfarers on her head, wearing short studded boots (possibly Louboutin) on her teeny skinny legs, and a huge furry hooded parka reaching to mid-thigh (the same length as her dress or skirt or whatever underneath - couldn't quite tell.) The round eyes delineated with black kohl confirmed my guess... I was in the presence of one of the Olsen Twins. (must confess, I'm not enough of a Heat or US Weekly reader to know if it was Mary-Kate or Ashley...)

I can sheepishly report I played junior stalker the rest of the way around the show to see if she had any celeb gossip I could gather -- unfortunately she and her friend pretty much only talked about the dresses in the exhibit. How dare they deprive me of a juicier story?!

And of course, no way did I have the courage to play junior papparazzo and take a snap on my mobile - so no visible proof, you'll have to trust me.

Beats all those sightings of George Stephanoupolous when I lived in DC, that's for sure!

Great website find!

I can't believe I've only now heard of this site: Chow.com -- for anyone who loves to eat, especially to eat out. It's jam-packed with reader comments, like for example, how I might find Andouille sausage in the UK. I think it's probably NYC-heavy, but covers other metropolitan areas, both US & beyond, and even has one category "Elsewhere in America". Yum. I only wish I'd seen this before our NY / DC trip!

needlecraft inspiration

Another year, another trek to Alexandra Palace and the Knitting and Stitching Show. Given the number of projects I already have piling up, I pretty much avoided the kit-selling-stalls (though couldn't miss the amazing Michael Powell, though did manage to resist buying one more Jennifer Pudney, as cute as they are.)

No, this year I just marvelled at the raw material, and all the different techniques -- embroidery, quilting, knitting, papercraft, beading, lacemaking, batik (and of course cross stitch), and on and on and how much do I wish I could do them all?! Ok, maybe lacemaking doesn't hold a huge appeal at the moment, but I absolutely would love to learn how to make a quilt. And I even know what I want it to look like. I just need the knowledge and the sewing machine!

And the artists on display - some amazing work with textiles. I think that's worth the price of the admission. Of course, no photos allowed, so can't post any here, but I get so inspired seeing what can be done with needle and thread and just a little imagination. So impressive! Already looking forward to next year...

How to celebrate?

It's National Chocolate Week... however shall I celebrate? Toll-House cookies, anyone? Or is it wrong to use an American classic to commemorate a British, um, 'holiday' (aka, corporate PR event)?

Sunday Puzzle Success

Woo-hoo! I knew if I went about it methodically I'd find the answer to this week's challenge:

Name a well-known city in the United States, two words, 10 letters altogether. Add the letter A at the front, add the city's two-letter state postal abbreviation at the end, the resulting 13-letter chain will be palindromic, that is, it will read backward and forward the same. What city is this?

(ps - mom & dad -- if you try to figure this out, do so before checking the comments!)

Li'l(le) adventure

Eek - am about to head off on my girly weekend to Berlin, and realised still haven't posted anything about our little weekend in Lille a few weeks ago. Last trip on Eurostar before it moves to St Pancras. Only there for about 28 hours, so not much time, but we did manage to cover a fair bit of the town. Of course, this was possible given the fact almost NOTHING is open on Sunday -- so that limted our options for our main day of travel to walking & walking some more. Which was fine, really - a great weekend for it, and we got to see many sights, including the massive street market (which is only open on Sunday - the reverse of everything else). Umm - it wasn't as cute and gift-laden as I expected... ah well - don't need to spend the money anyway!

A few selected photos:
Notting Hill Coffee -- unfortunately neither this nor 'Covent Garden Coffee' were open, so no chance to sample a Lille Latte

Meerkats at the larger than expected free zoo

A very very tall tower with supposedly a great view of the town. Open most days... except, err, Sunday

Cute little hotel if we ever go back [note to self - include more non-sundays if we do!]

Finally worth paying attention...

I mean, if NPR's going to cover cricket, I guess it must be a real sport after all.