tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19442255503239775572024-03-13T01:22:47.573+01:00We are (glutenfrei) donuts.We are two honkies from Western Australia spending a year in Berlin. Follow our bloggery as we tell you all about our attempts to stay vegetarian, 66% gluten-free, soy-preferring, fair-trade-buying fussbudgets. It may be a little tough in this country of beer and bread, so we are sure hijinx will ensue. Also, we will post up other guff that we find funny and/or baffling, so it won't all be about food. Promise.Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-80998776528556553362012-07-14T11:16:00.000+02:002012-07-14T11:16:41.847+02:00Any Suggestions for Indoor Activities in Berlin?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the two forecasts below, one of these places in the middle of summer. The other is in the middle of winter. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_x-vAW1dl32BgZrrerRTCLr2KrvDhJJjuaq0s4mnEDoLkfje3PpaILXSO8pgSVnVeODjmtgKxHM-EfGIdUZcj_q0Ny94Ew3VzDiZ8grxcfGmOv8m_nAlkk_vhkv832Iy6CDvcmbORTGCn/s1600/berlinweather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_x-vAW1dl32BgZrrerRTCLr2KrvDhJJjuaq0s4mnEDoLkfje3PpaILXSO8pgSVnVeODjmtgKxHM-EfGIdUZcj_q0Ny94Ew3VzDiZ8grxcfGmOv8m_nAlkk_vhkv832Iy6CDvcmbORTGCn/s1600/berlinweather.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glorious Berlin Summer</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9k1kwGzrulaHeOrzm0tlco6KZryY0AGZaemcSqUrYo6EbqpbVNG9BDWY-4e6Zu9NruMS0FmosbRRapZL_wzouTxZJ6bWRIHN6KuTV7ncPg7cIB4zWVftQCK4jMBYCZxDiPs-O2QM-kpV/s1600/perthweather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV9k1kwGzrulaHeOrzm0tlco6KZryY0AGZaemcSqUrYo6EbqpbVNG9BDWY-4e6Zu9NruMS0FmosbRRapZL_wzouTxZJ6bWRIHN6KuTV7ncPg7cIB4zWVftQCK4jMBYCZxDiPs-O2QM-kpV/s1600/perthweather.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rubbish Perth Winter</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vicky and I have some friends visiting from Perth this week. It's been piddling down pretty much the entire time they've been here. I'd like to blame them for the horrid weather, confusing the seasons, especially when last week was a little bit hot and I even wore shorts outside the house for the first time since leaving Dubai in January. I'd just be trying to stop myself from feeling so guilty, however, that their trip has been so disappointing. It's making it really hard to recommend afternoons in Prater, or Mauerpark, or the Tiergarten. Good one, Berlin.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello again. Sorry, I know it's been a while between decent posts. We had absconded internationally again, visiting Denmark and Sweden. It was tremendous and Copenhagen is truly brilliant - so many bicycles and sexy bicycle legs! Still, it does feel good to be back home in Berlin. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, we ate very well in Copenhagen, mostly, but it was pretty tough to find vegetarian and gluten-free options. Much, much harder than Berlin, at any rate. (That's not entirely the reason I'm glad to be back but it's a contributor and blog relevant).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime, while I work up the enthusiasm to write another donuts post, here is a photo of me enjoying a beer on the mean streets of Berlin, just in case you didn't believe me when I wrote about how awesome it was.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prost!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5L6PoHLEAAvcsNGUeUoMVv8x70lOjsSOryY1XLO1Ob2ywkBrd_KRM7fQUPREqu6TcUUlDgdzjzcDzNcy0MXwD154rBnIOPLz2PR4iKCyoIrgFICxmGi2dI2HdsRY4EB8v-3zV5cwBDZz8/s1600/P5270056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-21666071043576216642012-06-28T20:19:00.000+02:002012-06-28T20:19:43.164+02:00oh no.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The manchild what scribbles those <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/06/faceoff.html" target="_blank">stupid faces on walls in Prenzlauer Berg </a>must have been given a bicycle for a gift or something. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just spotted one of the hideous visages on my lunch break in Kreuzberg.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fuck. </span></span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-21636742894727762662012-06-27T08:45:00.000+02:002012-06-27T08:45:21.582+02:00Rude Shock, Happy Ending<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't buy my usual bargain beers at the weekend just past. Our bags were heavy enough with Vicky's booze (gluten free beers and organic cidre) so I gave our shoulders a break and the beers a miss. It would be okay, I naively thought; I have rum at home.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, I finished off the rum on Monday and decided to have an alcohol-free day on Tuesday. What I fool I was. It was a rough day at work, I was home later than I'd hoped and, after I flopped onto the bed, Vicky popped open one of her beers and settled in next to me (we are too povo for a couch). </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I put my shoes back on and trekked five doors down to the Asian mini-mart (note: not open on Sundays) where I was charged the exorbitant sum of €2.40 for two cold beers. Okay, sure, some of that cost is the pfand deposit but I won't be the one to return the bottles. Doing so would rob the neighbour children an income.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My point is: if you're a recovering alcoholic, Berlin may not be the best place to visit. If you're anybody else, it's flipping ace. If you're a small boy, there's money to be made in my building's recycling bin. </span></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-80849249785264736282012-06-25T07:00:00.000+02:002012-06-25T07:00:01.416+02:00Shopping in Berlin is maximally munted<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't mean this to come off as a massive whinge. One of the reasons I left Australia (albeit temporarily) was to get away from an endlessly-whining upper middle class complaining that governments weren't giving them enough free money. To turn into one of those horrid, self-entitled arseholes after leaving would make me very, very ashamed. Also, there is an awful lot that I love about Berlin. There's great, big heaving armloads of things to love. Too much for one man to hold in his manly arms!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But seriously, Berlin, shopping here is really fucked.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a long whinge, so settle in.</span></div>
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<b>Point #1: Multiple Trips. </b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, it is easy to buy vegetarian, gluten-free, fairtrade, vegan, and/or carbon neutral <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/06/wankers.html" target="_blank">wanker things.</a> What is blimming annoying, however, is that you can't get them all from the same place. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The store situation in Germany seems to be one in which they all source and/or manufacture their own things. This often makes grocery shopping fantastically cheap while they all try to out-do each other. It also means that some places sell some things you want and other places sell the others. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily for us, there is a Bio-Company (where we buy our snooty things) directly opposite a Penny (where we buy our cheap things), and both are near to where we live. This makes it easy to pick up carbon-neutral soymilk and organic, gluten-free beer in the same trip in which we buy Mike Mitchell's American Sandwich Loaf and €2.50 six-packs of beers. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But while Bio-Company specialises in organic guff and Penny specialises in bargain stuff, neither specialise in gluten-free. To get Vicky's special-needs bread and our pasta and pizza bases, we have to take an additional trip, in a different direction, to a Vitalia store. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we want to purchase gin, tonic, corn chips or those <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/02/almondy.html" target="_blank">utterly splendid glutenfrei Almondy cakes</a>, we have to go to Kaiser's. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we want to purchase fairtrade instant coffee, we have to go to Lidl (which I think is the best of the discount chains because they carry a whole range of fairtrade groceries and stock awesome fresh-baked bread daily). </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To buy Milo, we have to go to Australian Shopping World near the Australian embassy. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although all these little mini-shops are a bit convenient because we live in a shoe-box and our larder is a small overhead cupboard, I am getting flipping sick of it all. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CAN'T YOU ALL JUST GET ALONG AND CREATE ONE STORE THAT CATERS ONLY TO OUR NEEDS?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But don't let Netto into your new alliance. Their stuff is truly horrible and not cheap enough to be worth it. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Point #2: Brown Coins.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was only a wee lad when Australia did away with one- and two-cent coins. I was a bit sad at the time because this made it more difficult to purchase 5 cents worth of carob whirls at the school canteen. Now that I am older and slightly wiser, however, I see the inherent wisdom in that move.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are still one- and two-euro-cent coins. These are nothing but a gigantic pain in the arse. No machines accept them. Nowhere sells 5 cents worth of anything. All these coins are good for is leaving offensive tips and insulting buskers. Neither of these things are worth doing.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Their use is truly baffling. According to the internet, Australia did away with the coins by 1994. The Eurozone introduced them in 1999. WTF where they thinking? This whole Eurozone crisis would probably have been avoided had the worthless coins never entered circulation. If they did away with them, productivity would shoot through the roof. Sometimes at the supermarket I get stuck behind old ladies who count out precise amounts with shaking fistfuls of brown coins. It pisses everybody off, including the old lady, but what else can be done with the coins? </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used to secretly dump these coins into cafe tip jars but for the last couple of weeks I've been holding on to my change. Look at what I've earned in a very short time. I still don't know what I'm going to do with them. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivustPkF258b5RP5pWVV1lq0Cu0Ip13UDifwTCsnW7TenqLXcQ6MGeBGpAcDw1H2nxrBpVu1Kex6VWZtxplyF5jvR7lbKweh3brOVXGK3GUmOvTgCyrN-L1f53XbwlstMVyKJyf986ARl2/s1600/P6250021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivustPkF258b5RP5pWVV1lq0Cu0Ip13UDifwTCsnW7TenqLXcQ6MGeBGpAcDw1H2nxrBpVu1Kex6VWZtxplyF5jvR7lbKweh3brOVXGK3GUmOvTgCyrN-L1f53XbwlstMVyKJyf986ARl2/s640/P6250021.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Box of nerds added for size comparison. Note that with all the heavy coins pictured, I would not even come close to being able to purchase a box of nerds.</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The supermarket checkout issues segue nicely into...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Point #3: no self-checkouts but no actual checkout assistance.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For a country so internationally recognised as efficient and precise, Germany has terribly inefficient checkout practices. In the first place, I am yet to come across anything resembling any sort of express/"X items or fewer" lane. This is damn annoying when I have only one bottle of gin and two bottles of tonic and am stuck behind an old lady buying a month's worth of groceries for her entire extended family in the hope that they will drop by for tea one day soon. Obvs, it is even worse when she drags out the coin sack to pay for the extensive purchase. But, as I mentioned before, it isn't her fault. If she weren't to spend the brown coins, who would?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly baffling, in a country of electrical wizards, is the lack of self-checkout machines. Not only do you not have an express option, you must also purchase your embarrassing things from a real live person each and every time. I wouldn't mind so much, except that I really don't know why they are there at all. In Australia, at least, these checkout operators are also skilled at promptly stuffing your shopping bags for you, in an orderly and logical fashion. In Germany, as the goods roll toward them on the conveyor, the checkout operators simply make sure that each one is scanned, and then they couldn't care less about what happens next. Their only remaining task is to advis</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">e the total cost, which any numerate person could read on the screen (indeed, Vicky and I often do, thanks to the operators' propensity for mumbling amounts in incoherent German); and to take your money. There is no actual checkout "assistance" from these assistants.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, sometimes, there is even </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a conveyor belt on the other side of the cashier, so there's no chance at all that he/she could be expected to bag your purchase up for you. No, it is whisked away from both of you---faster than it approached.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether there was a conveyor belt on the other side or a simple, tiny counter-let, Vicky and I used to panic-bag everything hodge-podge in an attempt not to hold everybody else up. We'd chuck everything into our totes and fling sweaty cash before anybody could roll their eyes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, we have since learned that the system is expected to work whereby you unload your trolley onto the conveyor, then chuck your stuff back into your trolley after it is scanned by the drones, then wheel off to a further counter where you can pack your bags at your leisure. We get it now. But it's still stupid. It's unnecessary treble-handling. Berlin, I have some ideas how we can speed-up and improve this process. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Point #4: No Sunday Shopping. </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like most of Perth, Berlin (and, from what I hear, most of Germany) has no Sunday shopping. Unlike most of Perth, this convenience-ban also extends to the city centre and small, independent shops. So few places are open that, if you really do need to buy any groceries at all on a Sunday, you only have one option. There's no IGAs. Instead, you get the equivalent of a servo without the petrol. It's all of the inflated prices and creepy counter guys with none of the selection. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently, the shops are closed on Sunday so that people can have a day off work and catch up with their friends and families. It's a nice idea. In fact, it's such a nice idea that they've made it really easy for you. You can catch all of the manned public transport options (on a regular, non-restricted timetable) to a staffed cinema, watch a movie, and then go to a cafe afterwards where human waiters will take your orders and deliver them to you and your friends so you can discuss the movie's themes in comfort. If you are having a good time, you could then move on to any number of staffed pubs/or restaurants to continue the conversation and good times. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yep, you can do pretty much whatever you like on the weekend, just so long as it don't make shop-front retail staff help you purchase things. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Idiots. I can't buy a jar of instant coffee on Sunday but I can buy a labour-intensive flat white at a cafe instead. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Point #5: Nowhere Sells Decent Lollies.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's all Haribo and Trolli stuff everywhere, in every store. The shops all have their own range of oranges and kitchen towels but there is no option whatsoever for those who don't want to chew on brightly-coloured rubber garbage.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, I think I'm done for now. </span></div>
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</div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-87052562079279562582012-06-22T07:19:00.000+02:002012-06-22T07:19:49.143+02:00Famous<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The citizens of Berlin have taken Vicky into their hearts.
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAv8uycSRW3oi9-lnuuktleEqC3iVtc-5Cz16HadxS64rKftSpW2gGcMMXUXRvoxPxMepKxezEQh8ZyuNvIj1F1LvM2sF93NqKkcU1ouUqs_xdO9pnwn00gK8DB8l9JSKcI7Vv_R1kgB9I/s1600/P6190077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAv8uycSRW3oi9-lnuuktleEqC3iVtc-5Cz16HadxS64rKftSpW2gGcMMXUXRvoxPxMepKxezEQh8ZyuNvIj1F1LvM2sF93NqKkcU1ouUqs_xdO9pnwn00gK8DB8l9JSKcI7Vv_R1kgB9I/s640/P6190077.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My friend Wickie</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They also seem well aware of her penchant for funny hats. </span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-77951030356428880112012-06-19T07:19:00.000+02:002012-06-19T07:19:00.742+02:00:O<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Norway <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/06/wo-ist-walter.html" target="_blank">he's</a> know as "Willy".</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He's got more names than Santa Claus, this bloke.</span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-1076974610591252012012-06-18T07:49:00.000+02:002012-06-18T07:49:10.430+02:00wo ist walter<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of weeks ago, I <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/05/wo-ist-wally.html" target="_blank">posted up a photo</a> of Where's Wally, erm, <i>enthusiasts</i> near Alexanderplatz. My friendly American friend Katie advised that Wally is known as Waldo in America. Although I was originally jiggered if I knew why his name was changed, I have since discovered: he has a different name in Germany too!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAd-clplDG7_gYfWVNEk89rgYdGZDO11hBgjavh2vM5DO23PTr7yDftYsl-hNegQU8qiVBWPR55Ev3aJ_Y3vhqwOfLLKVqnjg36Zu09cc_zF73s3EnLL3WEaTCuwQ_eI0Rzk-5vs1WTVi/s1600/600full-wo-ist-walter%3F--gro%C3%9Fes-wimmel--bilder--spiel--buch-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAd-clplDG7_gYfWVNEk89rgYdGZDO11hBgjavh2vM5DO23PTr7yDftYsl-hNegQU8qiVBWPR55Ev3aJ_Y3vhqwOfLLKVqnjg36Zu09cc_zF73s3EnLL3WEaTCuwQ_eI0Rzk-5vs1WTVi/s640/600full-wo-ist-walter%3F--gro%C3%9Fes-wimmel--bilder--spiel--buch-cover.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wo ist Walter?</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No wonder he's so flipping hard to find all the time, and always trying to lose himself in a crowd. He's an international man of mystery! What do we really know about him, anyway? Certainly not his real name! And that outrageous get-up. He must surely be wearing it just to rile CCTV promoters: he can stand out in a crowd and still not get caught. He even wears that stupid beanie to the beach! Is he some anti-establishment revolutionary, thumbing his nose at the Man and his cameras? If I recall correctly, one of his accomplices is a "wizard". That's certainly shifty. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Has anybody ever seen him and/or Austin Powers in the same room together at the same time?</span></div>
Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-22613191168105083842012-06-17T21:47:00.000+02:002012-06-18T21:31:53.621+02:00wankers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not only is Berlin a fantastic place to live and be a drunken yob (see the start of <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/06/faceoff.html" target="_blank">this post</a>), it's also really easy to be a self-righteous wanker. I've already recounted our regular trips to <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/03/vego-foodworld.html" target="_blank">Vego Foodworld</a> --- a vegan fast-food paradise where even the potatoes come from "happy farms" --- but check out some of our other grocery-shopping purchases:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlZukwUnOsiddRA2vq8Co_2yOHpZFSI22h5OHqM6lhVGmvSqhRHESsXZQOyybOjWdZJAEad2Cz4JufViRDVYkZOcS-geGDMhuX_VCkjfRxVfOGJ13mDIH5xMrwJSvaqDXrFPsF4gldXxR/s1600/P3290019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlZukwUnOsiddRA2vq8Co_2yOHpZFSI22h5OHqM6lhVGmvSqhRHESsXZQOyybOjWdZJAEad2Cz4JufViRDVYkZOcS-geGDMhuX_VCkjfRxVfOGJ13mDIH5xMrwJSvaqDXrFPsF4gldXxR/s640/P3290019.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is our regular soy milk. It is not only made from organic beans, it is carbon-dioxide neutral. I hope that Germany introduces a carbon tax so that its price will plummet. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ausctxX3m3rNJtlEw7uXy30VhXSfFLCb2WATWmUMa1dali5AzTxEo_x7UnllDYlMR3_HKSqAblHpjFyl4YBJKG3DnXWKyJByrMnxaxND2TAJIDB5TWQBYt9FCgBVo4RWaRHZ55dXPPHZ/s1600/P3300032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ausctxX3m3rNJtlEw7uXy30VhXSfFLCb2WATWmUMa1dali5AzTxEo_x7UnllDYlMR3_HKSqAblHpjFyl4YBJKG3DnXWKyJByrMnxaxND2TAJIDB5TWQBYt9FCgBVo4RWaRHZ55dXPPHZ/s640/P3300032.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is some vegan chocolate we ate. It is myclimate nuetral AND fairtrade. It was nummers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLTP2C_Z3lfqwjqxjDPQbDMaES41VUPaXOPy1ynpUZ37qtHRCoJ08nActBkff88kB655gh9yBxi26BIHEnpHa5k2dKcHvKb9DIWm09Gs1D8h-8FrZ0Or65tfViZgDFkhApkPM4W4jtLUH/s1600/P3300033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLTP2C_Z3lfqwjqxjDPQbDMaES41VUPaXOPy1ynpUZ37qtHRCoJ08nActBkff88kB655gh9yBxi26BIHEnpHa5k2dKcHvKb9DIWm09Gs1D8h-8FrZ0Or65tfViZgDFkhApkPM4W4jtLUH/s640/P3300033.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is some different vegan chocolate. It is also sugar free AND cruelty free AND fire free. It tasted a bit naff.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvk2uof5lSoXy-iIkLolXAv1Nn9Fbj2N9PR4FXW6XDrI4SIwvkDSt7CGQm_a9mQuJ1-UFzTcYiq1hQ-4TIgIZ3cRB0hvYAcdhus49BpIovgrDlQtio7_BM0vCNHLxnrdIkolDcnpuA-pI/s1600/P3300035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvk2uof5lSoXy-iIkLolXAv1Nn9Fbj2N9PR4FXW6XDrI4SIwvkDSt7CGQm_a9mQuJ1-UFzTcYiq1hQ-4TIgIZ3cRB0hvYAcdhus49BpIovgrDlQtio7_BM0vCNHLxnrdIkolDcnpuA-pI/s640/P3300035.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No fires were harmed, cruelly or otherwise, in the making of this product</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYG6ScK6C0xI7HqkOR-OBpZOuDrnz5dxv3bsOlOsFp5R0lrka-ab2-zU4xZWqAFwj6deWCd8l-qrolm10jPKS3PZjfIde7quUsM2z7coThzCQM-59PP-zxJnTymYYYSvia_sPkiOI4J51R/s1600/P3100002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYG6ScK6C0xI7HqkOR-OBpZOuDrnz5dxv3bsOlOsFp5R0lrka-ab2-zU4xZWqAFwj6deWCd8l-qrolm10jPKS3PZjfIde7quUsM2z7coThzCQM-59PP-zxJnTymYYYSvia_sPkiOI4J51R/s640/P3100002.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We even gots vegan cheese! Mostly bought because of the name. It was terrible. We threw most of it away.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also bought some vegan coconut ice-cream from the <a href="http://www.veganz.de/" target="_blank">Veganz</a> store. I forgot to take a photo of it. We ate it so fast. It was just about the best thing ever, and I'm not even too wild about coconut.
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
I don't really know why I wrote this post. Mostly to show off, even though we are back to eating cow cheese, and because I had the photos, I guess.
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
In summary, here are my vegetarian shopping tips for Berlin:</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><ol>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't touch cheezly with a ten-foot Pole.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Buy coconut icecream by the truckload.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Live and shop and eat in Prenzlauer Berg.</span></li>
</ol>
</span></span></span></span></div>
</span></div>
</span></span></div>
</span></div>
</div>
Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-37701071571289904202012-06-13T08:08:00.000+02:002012-06-13T08:08:09.555+02:00You wouldn't believe that people won't believe I'm not from the UK, the US, NZ or, (sometimes, for true) DE<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think that I am going to have to start saying that I am from Oz-tray-ya, so that people will believe it.</span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-6675855913228911212012-06-09T19:52:00.000+02:002012-06-09T19:54:08.979+02:00Face/off<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is an awful lot to love about Berlin. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's the seat of the country's right-wing government, which is refreshingly liberal and thankfully not batshit crazy. Booze is plentiful and affordable and publicly drunk---and the public drunks bother nobody but themselves. I'm pleasantly amazed that in this multicultural international capital city, where unemployment is high and alcohol is cheap and consumed everywhere, children fearlessly walk the streets unaccompanied at 9pm. Unhindered access to grog has not created a den of vice and sin with weekly bashings and race riots. I've never felt safer. City of Perth, please take note.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vicky and I have taken to strolling the streets with a couple of beers and cigars, plonking down on park benches when we need a rest. People don't look down their noses at us. They ask for directions or advice. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People do as they like and nobody is unintentionally offended or telephones the fun police.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, graffiti is everywhere. It must not be illegal or, if it is, it must be on par with jaywalking. If you've followed the blog for a bit, you'll know that often this is really <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/search/label/street%20art" target="_blank">lovely or cute or interesting, and a great sight to liven an otherwise ordinary day.</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure, a lot of it is also hideous scribbles and tags but there are surprisingly few swears and I have seen only one racist sentiment, and even then it was small (almost ashamed of itself) and written in liquid paper. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But more than the scrawls or the lone emasculated racist, there's one graffiti gimp that's really shitting me. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some numpty living around Prenzlauer Berg must really have tickets on him/herself. This twit has scrawled the same fucking face all about the place. Wherever there's a bit of room, you're sure to spot one of these idiotic smilies. I wouldn't mind so much but, seriously, they are fucking everywhere and it's worn tremendously thin. I am only exaggerating a little bit when I say that the handful of photos below are truly the most interesting of the BILLIONS of the damn things that litter my field of vision every day. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I post them below only as a warning, so that you may be prepared when visiting. It can be a bit much. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlHpDHaqQRTBhTP30T5_ObFIjEXt2Jzu_i-A9ar4BMPVxIV4EATWDNweAgFr07Wx_gP2iJ_fWZv6yeMPC898OENHM1rbf3UB5NxAusirdPgA16nlY5QewpuTkIoOrlvWzl-vR9zD23RnY/s1600/P6010065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlHpDHaqQRTBhTP30T5_ObFIjEXt2Jzu_i-A9ar4BMPVxIV4EATWDNweAgFr07Wx_gP2iJ_fWZv6yeMPC898OENHM1rbf3UB5NxAusirdPgA16nlY5QewpuTkIoOrlvWzl-vR9zD23RnY/s640/P6010065.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hello, I am the stupid smiling face that's everywhere. Here I am in crayon outside an abandoned building.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhYSKAU38Ggz6P6cB7E2O_RtjxTcxcf-ng1hFXggFGCcELEM_m_aSzhANh0WmjGhkQ4vG_mHt6jJ1uPPx2RYyqTlwLkIf6XadDyoUPcaLkcs_fI81S8cuo74rRtA_BHsCpBF_qv0js84c/s1600/P4280222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhYSKAU38Ggz6P6cB7E2O_RtjxTcxcf-ng1hFXggFGCcELEM_m_aSzhANh0WmjGhkQ4vG_mHt6jJ1uPPx2RYyqTlwLkIf6XadDyoUPcaLkcs_fI81S8cuo74rRtA_BHsCpBF_qv0js84c/s640/P4280222.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">And here I am supersized onto a recycling bin! w00t!</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBSWLjtzooNBZsp8jE3fRPNzj8NAiT3blIf1wiEGTluNbOwPBfz2sNsI8rB-PUvbwHVr5xGBbW-DF41_Sy8Oe1OTgIbJu6VCk5BB7X5HE_X_Jfho41JF6zm09JLNmmTkhOLZLXsXev5oKs/s1600/P6010064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBSWLjtzooNBZsp8jE3fRPNzj8NAiT3blIf1wiEGTluNbOwPBfz2sNsI8rB-PUvbwHVr5xGBbW-DF41_Sy8Oe1OTgIbJu6VCk5BB7X5HE_X_Jfho41JF6zm09JLNmmTkhOLZLXsXev5oKs/s640/P6010064.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Down here! Now I am a flowerpot man! hyuk.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEgDLgdGx-NjqbO0MvWmxgGshgolLmTds-cHkUp0SokX6okVJB4a43e2ntLaWUx4zcm6NqSc_Tk83NRUwDJGfkBRKfya1ZtHnQ6tnm1LcssRnhpnJW57eajzllAeZIpLHGioJ8gRrjxRx/s1600/P5280061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEgDLgdGx-NjqbO0MvWmxgGshgolLmTds-cHkUp0SokX6okVJB4a43e2ntLaWUx4zcm6NqSc_Tk83NRUwDJGfkBRKfya1ZtHnQ6tnm1LcssRnhpnJW57eajzllAeZIpLHGioJ8gRrjxRx/s640/P5280061.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hee hee, I can squeeze into windowsills, too.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDb9tR74IQYN41_8_Ju08-xZaGECv9LXnUT66woFkq5S7l857V2Y4r7a_5noyaQrFjqTTYMLDsJ5yLS-J6BodLpxaxSTscylp5Dn0ALqNjfQSQN4q8XscR-eDVmI9Y70FHwYtizlG_BwrI/s1600/P5280059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDb9tR74IQYN41_8_Ju08-xZaGECv9LXnUT66woFkq5S7l857V2Y4r7a_5noyaQrFjqTTYMLDsJ5yLS-J6BodLpxaxSTscylp5Dn0ALqNjfQSQN4q8XscR-eDVmI9Y70FHwYtizlG_BwrI/s640/P5280059.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sometimes I look a bit munted and my eyes slide forward, but I am still a jolly chap</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheUZlnnDMxDKyIP_47GV8R69wIOE8suwygMbCyi1052TXSpk-IdC7-UTaihhogdT3QBPnWTLLWxeFgD5NxPuYuhuzYwNHf6c_7Js8Ov713rqyM3LbTofAuRU-8N9w_5fd57M8ZQda7zSUA/s1600/P6010066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheUZlnnDMxDKyIP_47GV8R69wIOE8suwygMbCyi1052TXSpk-IdC7-UTaihhogdT3QBPnWTLLWxeFgD5NxPuYuhuzYwNHf6c_7Js8Ov713rqyM3LbTofAuRU-8N9w_5fd57M8ZQda7zSUA/s640/P6010066.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">even black-on-black, you can still spot me!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfP9sxGEqedEDcwN_nlZj5I-4JKOHp_66R4OCYjyokOYpTd04-IbUIioMZWN5DdvYro5oBcyd8F0-DDUPmtwwgZ_dhW6vWRU4555xcI3eyMfz78abOwT8JkyvLozVkY3joJ0IjgEBDba3F/s1600/P4020020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfP9sxGEqedEDcwN_nlZj5I-4JKOHp_66R4OCYjyokOYpTd04-IbUIioMZWN5DdvYro5oBcyd8F0-DDUPmtwwgZ_dhW6vWRU4555xcI3eyMfz78abOwT8JkyvLozVkY3joJ0IjgEBDba3F/s640/P4020020.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I multiply so fast that there are two of me in one spot! Look out!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEdWPNlWv4ZR3RvncBRh4lWoEIaaVlxbR6epZLoLG3ECq2qPu8rgi6vEMzHj4HfeaU7dGd_Ycp82PiqLMNm6kwlzyHQ_cvWsPj0vwaZCNQohTWqG1XIvG0RhxUAm0lpXZ6PDvS45ebm3AD/s1600/P4280221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEdWPNlWv4ZR3RvncBRh4lWoEIaaVlxbR6epZLoLG3ECq2qPu8rgi6vEMzHj4HfeaU7dGd_Ycp82PiqLMNm6kwlzyHQ_cvWsPj0vwaZCNQohTWqG1XIvG0RhxUAm0lpXZ6PDvS45ebm3AD/s640/P4280221.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't try to paint over me or cross me out. I'll just come back below!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvZwpBwFya33obD4OyCxYDlDvl3Bnp-aLWvGJ7T1qCz-7gF51bAD0WR2bOrLgdwlJ98c2w7BakGz28n8LR70eiGBnj2T43T39yl3V43gFQNIcPBY9vYI0xgsLM1mr_Wn-6aOylMez_bvK/s1600/P5280060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvZwpBwFya33obD4OyCxYDlDvl3Bnp-aLWvGJ7T1qCz-7gF51bAD0WR2bOrLgdwlJ98c2w7BakGz28n8LR70eiGBnj2T43T39yl3V43gFQNIcPBY9vYI0xgsLM1mr_Wn-6aOylMez_bvK/s640/P5280060.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">now I am getting cocky because I have grown arms and can fold them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi351PO_DKgeAPteIwjJBJCSdto2oT51KmVmLZRR3g8BVmupSiyIpznUeDFm-gQsK-fD_sh-5F1Ze-Rl6bI4sExfaxRHhmfYefdRYFPl_WQ8lZ97RvCC-gwZfdnhYVp3PkZ7J11QpLtbs-W/s1600/P5270055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi351PO_DKgeAPteIwjJBJCSdto2oT51KmVmLZRR3g8BVmupSiyIpznUeDFm-gQsK-fD_sh-5F1Ze-Rl6bI4sExfaxRHhmfYefdRYFPl_WQ8lZ97RvCC-gwZfdnhYVp3PkZ7J11QpLtbs-W/s640/P5270055.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">look at that over there!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was nothing worth looking at where it was pointing.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seriously, whoever the fuck you are: get a new gimmick. This has gone on long enough. </span></div>
</div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-16324218284310814672012-06-03T13:52:00.000+02:002012-06-03T19:42:10.590+02:00Karneval der Kulturen<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last weekend we experienced Berlin's tremendous Carnival of Cultures. Beforehand, I was told that it involved different cultures in Berlin doing a dance. When asked how many cultures would be involved, a native Berliner answered "all of them". </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"All" of the cultures doing a dance. I didn't expect it would be a fun way to spend a day. Turns out it is blimming fantastic. There is near endless parade of culture, including some of the lesser-seen or never-before-heard-ofs, and stalls offering all manner of tasty delights. If you are in Berlin next year for the carnival, I strongly recommend attending.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, it was difficult to find vegetarian, gluten-free foods at the stalls. Fortunately, there was plenty of multi-kulti booze.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some of the better photographs.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR26-jsnenKrpcW-GJ3BMrf25LAD415QmwMkt4j9vqFLZpq8Aw86h2NjBH6dfC7C-S6KuZ6cMIbAJ_-EXfiqmjOk-FIB2h8UUklkov1XfVKWSwO7s-Bf-K1Im4q6wJCDRWDszDDxxsA7en/s1600/P5270002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR26-jsnenKrpcW-GJ3BMrf25LAD415QmwMkt4j9vqFLZpq8Aw86h2NjBH6dfC7C-S6KuZ6cMIbAJ_-EXfiqmjOk-FIB2h8UUklkov1XfVKWSwO7s-Bf-K1Im4q6wJCDRWDszDDxxsA7en/s640/P5270002.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here I am enjoying a cultural cocktail in the morning. I am cultured.</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpypK0MEAkUQ9YKDKYGekKqmtHJeq6Lhq45gwLvGslkjNR-QHbglxPpdqgcQPJQaZ0gDA0OTUHJfO9z2-A0cX4BDTdhPJbQNw9DLuMnB1P0jjgDw4RgWIoUpIZVEBu3HlbL9jdU5md0-E/s1600/P5270004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpypK0MEAkUQ9YKDKYGekKqmtHJeq6Lhq45gwLvGslkjNR-QHbglxPpdqgcQPJQaZ0gDA0OTUHJfO9z2-A0cX4BDTdhPJbQNw9DLuMnB1P0jjgDw4RgWIoUpIZVEBu3HlbL9jdU5md0-E/s640/P5270004.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the portaloos are so well designed, they have a urinal as well as a seat</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNu9HeKhZSYVaMBh25JOQop2hiJUVa2NyipZ3Kf94gyYEPKd8MkVzXwOmYTq8hKN9c7B2VI7JnMSk6htc96DK2eVFZM6KwnrGtczjglN4hIwKlc4Cn93gnKsuDXsFunTt0G7MOlQGAq6o/s1600/P5270005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNu9HeKhZSYVaMBh25JOQop2hiJUVa2NyipZ3Kf94gyYEPKd8MkVzXwOmYTq8hKN9c7B2VI7JnMSk6htc96DK2eVFZM6KwnrGtczjglN4hIwKlc4Cn93gnKsuDXsFunTt0G7MOlQGAq6o/s640/P5270005.JPG" width="432" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No mofos!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GGOZsBt06zqDyriO4LnwVBIy2jUn0VeNniLYz6jhLEOUVwvxzaXXriAhVML7KZ6zWQUi3ASkWMmHy6lbrg0p-Ard1m9HzaGZ6ZCY9Dyb9q8TjXwF4RdG7FADYQZSoSoWWiIqYz_ZfiBX/s1600/P5270006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GGOZsBt06zqDyriO4LnwVBIy2jUn0VeNniLYz6jhLEOUVwvxzaXXriAhVML7KZ6zWQUi3ASkWMmHy6lbrg0p-Ard1m9HzaGZ6ZCY9Dyb9q8TjXwF4RdG7FADYQZSoSoWWiIqYz_ZfiBX/s640/P5270006.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our gluten-free, vegetarian lunch (American Carny Culture).</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQkHVsejQBumEeBUlkF1fynC9_bIs771ZTc_rusnjQfGdQmkF_w6tRkLtZbT7Coxpi1lkiZGBAHWKKsZC3drq93P8wzVDhAiDCjGNmFnpA4J5CBbExdCJgae1LigqNoUBsoaAJfd-g-hx/s1600/P5270010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQkHVsejQBumEeBUlkF1fynC9_bIs771ZTc_rusnjQfGdQmkF_w6tRkLtZbT7Coxpi1lkiZGBAHWKKsZC3drq93P8wzVDhAiDCjGNmFnpA4J5CBbExdCJgae1LigqNoUBsoaAJfd-g-hx/s640/P5270010.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Berlin is so open</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFaCYqha_mOZNoyG7f3tIMz72O8HthPxqXXwzdzSWq75lKr2kYWblar8EY2XYWwEbESbTp_b5PQAmAAcbPQY_P4yTMptz9fHkGYpKmRZi8rn4QD1DDQapqbNhWMKyUh0LFcq9tlL8y_hK/s1600/P5270014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFaCYqha_mOZNoyG7f3tIMz72O8HthPxqXXwzdzSWq75lKr2kYWblar8EY2XYWwEbESbTp_b5PQAmAAcbPQY_P4yTMptz9fHkGYpKmRZi8rn4QD1DDQapqbNhWMKyUh0LFcq9tlL8y_hK/s640/P5270014.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dancing with pillows culture</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwULyXSExcNHKdVAJmOvJnQ5OZmVYAOZ9amkPTmw5qQK8na3GbcCECljqFYVN-kyDoT0h3DPBD-4n6VV1kL-qsGGWbYcVoZ6Lj7Tn1osVrwtwnLt8ZA5HtsVyOlrtSVVT6TLdEF-OP28DV/s1600/P5270015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwULyXSExcNHKdVAJmOvJnQ5OZmVYAOZ9amkPTmw5qQK8na3GbcCECljqFYVN-kyDoT0h3DPBD-4n6VV1kL-qsGGWbYcVoZ6Lj7Tn1osVrwtwnLt8ZA5HtsVyOlrtSVVT6TLdEF-OP28DV/s640/P5270015.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Puppet culture</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbw4xXn8UpYpERSBysooRVjVwMi-qofqloqa6f3BKv7hn1cwEV1rxiAPla2Gbnfo9mvtyYP9vEcW-spTNEcoKrM5yegsnujkK2HyRtV1yEbyPw3bfZ-f6ydBTk2TYLolW8BfhlaEbdFXST/s1600/P5270016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbw4xXn8UpYpERSBysooRVjVwMi-qofqloqa6f3BKv7hn1cwEV1rxiAPla2Gbnfo9mvtyYP9vEcW-spTNEcoKrM5yegsnujkK2HyRtV1yEbyPw3bfZ-f6ydBTk2TYLolW8BfhlaEbdFXST/s640/P5270016.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">mask culture</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Ce6NxuxywwUAGHR-cYfZeW3oRsjZ3mye94nzV1OCE_OKWudGGg9cPQ-Vd6DENvmYzj4S5wQfuCa5wICSlyJ4FY5Zb8DCHPMrUQJRFq2btRdLzjrlEkPYmwKjY-pHfFpjNfIpgOuQcOBV/s1600/P5270017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Ce6NxuxywwUAGHR-cYfZeW3oRsjZ3mye94nzV1OCE_OKWudGGg9cPQ-Vd6DENvmYzj4S5wQfuCa5wICSlyJ4FY5Zb8DCHPMrUQJRFq2btRdLzjrlEkPYmwKjY-pHfFpjNfIpgOuQcOBV/s640/P5270017.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">big world dress culture</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirD7Cyn0ujiShGEtFobleQZOdclGRDkLCwhyH42CEx_WwfpBc0fCPg6dqMZ5QXQtgL0E2hvZLc8gk6kfRqL3O55bUIh62iqCfYiGqrN_dXkOm4s1OtouSLTnqolyELhvIPCyOZ6p6Rrws5/s1600/P5270019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirD7Cyn0ujiShGEtFobleQZOdclGRDkLCwhyH42CEx_WwfpBc0fCPg6dqMZ5QXQtgL0E2hvZLc8gk6kfRqL3O55bUIh62iqCfYiGqrN_dXkOm4s1OtouSLTnqolyELhvIPCyOZ6p6Rrws5/s640/P5270019.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only non-welcoming thing I saw all day.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_bLklMNo_91pJN-hYxyQN0leVuFVChjeNs2So1qOi7gPTUg9-xXANnYS5VU8l106xWDB_Uk5BBDVQCKsJU7G9ptyxHVlOktv_NZwb6Zdebu4pk2dQTBddmrqcFusRQmomygrWzKrVtGp/s1600/P5270020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_bLklMNo_91pJN-hYxyQN0leVuFVChjeNs2So1qOi7gPTUg9-xXANnYS5VU8l106xWDB_Uk5BBDVQCKsJU7G9ptyxHVlOktv_NZwb6Zdebu4pk2dQTBddmrqcFusRQmomygrWzKrVtGp/s640/P5270020.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taiwanese scrap-metal dragon</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY17x-Z_WugFU6zGPPZdotBzvsP04xI903YWqzbOdNhACaf8xsbbaF7WuLCkptsuDKNuTTiJSMEocCLent9Mf1luI_oKV-zboBmPsJQWw4dBs96Zy0H9HsTS40KMlGs6CP3UexBBK8nvD-/s1600/P5270021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY17x-Z_WugFU6zGPPZdotBzvsP04xI903YWqzbOdNhACaf8xsbbaF7WuLCkptsuDKNuTTiJSMEocCLent9Mf1luI_oKV-zboBmPsJQWw4dBs96Zy0H9HsTS40KMlGs6CP3UexBBK8nvD-/s640/P5270021.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">harassed office worker in the 80s culture</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgilqhmoZdNsajMLU6eMQJ8re7YbJzMbEiOmsMXz0XLFNL3M8R3oC0zlpEo_eIdM7yEHGbWNp-4V18dRp82osP82aqDRG12L4S07-M6r9uuYOhRb9sDYVPTQnCRFS1nk3jJ5B5xRQ1eNf84/s1600/P5270022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgilqhmoZdNsajMLU6eMQJ8re7YbJzMbEiOmsMXz0XLFNL3M8R3oC0zlpEo_eIdM7yEHGbWNp-4V18dRp82osP82aqDRG12L4S07-M6r9uuYOhRb9sDYVPTQnCRFS1nk3jJ5B5xRQ1eNf84/s640/P5270022.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look a the size of his phone</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheu1QWKsGGi7TCgHWFZMp4AojiqVh2gJIVU-mnj6ql3s2EUNewQuSUeyLOWC0_Ta0gm9Nm2asWPwLymQV_xLw8KZF77nDysj3_6QOeXTNEdSkV_qEshPv6QmUMjJDB5LWHiRBDHDsh1ML/s1600/P5270026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiheu1QWKsGGi7TCgHWFZMp4AojiqVh2gJIVU-mnj6ql3s2EUNewQuSUeyLOWC0_Ta0gm9Nm2asWPwLymQV_xLw8KZF77nDysj3_6QOeXTNEdSkV_qEshPv6QmUMjJDB5LWHiRBDHDsh1ML/s640/P5270026.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Irish pub culture</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvvxHCTgtKQo4hDYk5yLCLM17rc-GgCgS_McetMX8MjyH0UfqJMN1e2F2otn5GSW_E6q50hM_LQnFZmH2mO5gJjXvXYisV1KLo7v8ndvPUigUTOjXvsgfmRhgkhaSJi4mp1QuMQJhIr16/s1600/P5270030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvvxHCTgtKQo4hDYk5yLCLM17rc-GgCgS_McetMX8MjyH0UfqJMN1e2F2otn5GSW_E6q50hM_LQnFZmH2mO5gJjXvXYisV1KLo7v8ndvPUigUTOjXvsgfmRhgkhaSJi4mp1QuMQJhIr16/s640/P5270030.JPG" width="432" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wizard culture</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBri6gLKztChk3wQpXSCqc9jsbNK1BqIPyE-ZSihgCyLvEVPqMktPb8LFesXfZr0pjDo0GE2hEE_SiBLjGysfzRoGONa8Kbrz23SpOlZOug7C8CjK-DvGOayxA4CwLe1VXnaxKAdC0Mu_/s1600/P5270029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBri6gLKztChk3wQpXSCqc9jsbNK1BqIPyE-ZSihgCyLvEVPqMktPb8LFesXfZr0pjDo0GE2hEE_SiBLjGysfzRoGONa8Kbrz23SpOlZOug7C8CjK-DvGOayxA4CwLe1VXnaxKAdC0Mu_/s640/P5270029.JPG" width="432" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">shit, he's seen us - run!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I truly love that the guy above probably dresses up to blow bubbles every year. </span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Y597YjjKEYm29dfovWHbStu5Y0PH3bnPL2qMw47t7m0W2ArVex6V6FVb9fUkrylVeXIXR0wL1QTMrQMlvnZ7b1xJdrwhkqC3by4c-wAbhIYN-fGg3k-clcxxXzrflk-bmIzP2zDy02w_/s1600/P5270033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Y597YjjKEYm29dfovWHbStu5Y0PH3bnPL2qMw47t7m0W2ArVex6V6FVb9fUkrylVeXIXR0wL1QTMrQMlvnZ7b1xJdrwhkqC3by4c-wAbhIYN-fGg3k-clcxxXzrflk-bmIzP2zDy02w_/s640/P5270033.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can't quite remember what this culture was but she was dancing with garbage at one point.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhudXdOTXGsOz-thyphenhyphenlRCHQVX9zBBkYbqkhl0QEWN_vQqx1xIXzFstFyhRuXgOJx3718q2NQHie79hsgtyYX0XBSoXvpvp-CzY1WICZPI5KX_6Y7n2jtoe8TPF4B4qanYzYNIrgRVv4jcbuL/s1600/P5270035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhudXdOTXGsOz-thyphenhyphenlRCHQVX9zBBkYbqkhl0QEWN_vQqx1xIXzFstFyhRuXgOJx3718q2NQHie79hsgtyYX0XBSoXvpvp-CzY1WICZPI5KX_6Y7n2jtoe8TPF4B4qanYzYNIrgRVv4jcbuL/s640/P5270035.JPG" width="432" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">donkey culture</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOTgChyphenhyphengKMx6J5Wp7zV_fPBHZCV2WRvPsY9Wm1L7yXpFXZWUxAAisma9HjK94F3CaREyD3vXxPtWN6vJC9ss0IrziJyNd6fHO67x_KKqhRnyjQKbSM70aKbCWrCgornyd7VARwWL-5O4G/s1600/P5270038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOTgChyphenhyphengKMx6J5Wp7zV_fPBHZCV2WRvPsY9Wm1L7yXpFXZWUxAAisma9HjK94F3CaREyD3vXxPtWN6vJC9ss0IrziJyNd6fHO67x_KKqhRnyjQKbSM70aKbCWrCgornyd7VARwWL-5O4G/s640/P5270038.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chinese dragon</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Yh5uY2PqVwW5DE6jETb88ptlLeY8Z2JrBgcK2-7P8JInMjWKIk7hu5aaCvcMxB-QTMidm08O6CQYzJFC5L0KuyeNgcuqDO4PC0Ywosa_kuKZZ4eA_J0xofZLXHMpr-lKt9M6WQtbRal9/s1600/P5270039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Yh5uY2PqVwW5DE6jETb88ptlLeY8Z2JrBgcK2-7P8JInMjWKIk7hu5aaCvcMxB-QTMidm08O6CQYzJFC5L0KuyeNgcuqDO4PC0Ywosa_kuKZZ4eA_J0xofZLXHMpr-lKt9M6WQtbRal9/s640/P5270039.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4JDmimurBlYD18r2jEBGVDIWv4osHP3v71gL8LUMR0DAuWgKGBUjslIHVqumfUhNLwmKvwbxF4KzHndRv0IugGiTR8_K5SDJVd9m_FaBmJHMjzboudX3kaxDZyeEwSjaCqwMTPfiDrePb/s1600/P5270041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4JDmimurBlYD18r2jEBGVDIWv4osHP3v71gL8LUMR0DAuWgKGBUjslIHVqumfUhNLwmKvwbxF4KzHndRv0IugGiTR8_K5SDJVd9m_FaBmJHMjzboudX3kaxDZyeEwSjaCqwMTPfiDrePb/s640/P5270041.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shockingly-quiet hari krishna</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaArE61ectugb2FExhp2iS37dnw60jc9RnrNGJsASzYhs4rjBg_yPRU47596GUEAij9g6yM0CqosNdr58eJSs3SVnaFN-v4_IEOTmK2tBzS2jij7ScYW_kiZeZZT9msQo787PiRp8LsFNX/s1600/P5270042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaArE61ectugb2FExhp2iS37dnw60jc9RnrNGJsASzYhs4rjBg_yPRU47596GUEAij9g6yM0CqosNdr58eJSs3SVnaFN-v4_IEOTmK2tBzS2jij7ScYW_kiZeZZT9msQo787PiRp8LsFNX/s640/P5270042.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Owl made out of garbage</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5Rhg2Zf0NQBMn5IJkUvrVdsrUEYc8G-2j5qg7wyBHD6bC994juOlmUMCSWSkCmGyn4OYhyAFRjdSxyYjDMneRx-W2iPEGUEPxGZKq_B3I4N6RfURnPHH-EJ8L3jfbRq_8ZidKLu1c-RW/s1600/P5270045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV5Rhg2Zf0NQBMn5IJkUvrVdsrUEYc8G-2j5qg7wyBHD6bC994juOlmUMCSWSkCmGyn4OYhyAFRjdSxyYjDMneRx-W2iPEGUEPxGZKq_B3I4N6RfURnPHH-EJ8L3jfbRq_8ZidKLu1c-RW/s640/P5270045.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">green culture</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9uoA3mhij5l6EBTHnw-_WsIqneOTWrVLmV6wfQtmRXX5_Pc4LMQCMdvSuGRbNSo3bFEdNvzPIAQvdwBin0zA9D2NIUQeLAKBjKQhzg_ycJ_mTWfCp0lGRVZR5ERwSdgGPrxHBzy4xpzH/s1600/P5270047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9uoA3mhij5l6EBTHnw-_WsIqneOTWrVLmV6wfQtmRXX5_Pc4LMQCMdvSuGRbNSo3bFEdNvzPIAQvdwBin0zA9D2NIUQeLAKBjKQhzg_ycJ_mTWfCp0lGRVZR5ERwSdgGPrxHBzy4xpzH/s640/P5270047.JPG" width="432" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">no pants but a lot of money culture</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdf32PD1M3u8PbCe4jB2RG2e1bfDOipDmbKIMlERPollmsIUQZX_4kOJ1hHD8_9ievnRTX4kwlYC7fdQi0a52as6-WukEK8hekZGhiXQymRNs6p_HhLmbWbMtO-l8fB5s49UJDhZ6uwUY3/s1600/P5270049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdf32PD1M3u8PbCe4jB2RG2e1bfDOipDmbKIMlERPollmsIUQZX_4kOJ1hHD8_9ievnRTX4kwlYC7fdQi0a52as6-WukEK8hekZGhiXQymRNs6p_HhLmbWbMtO-l8fB5s49UJDhZ6uwUY3/s640/P5270049.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fancy a Hojito?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImTpw6oGv8gLrQuo5A_f-JF2ntmx3YbEf70wIqwawakhSYikv8V6yMC6_LejPIqD8KM1Q2ykqVa_F5440-s-Mnr0UD5aMZkRs_tadS2h_KgU7bFNMXCF8cUQkEmsh09A9TpNeZdJ8Llxs/s1600/P5270051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImTpw6oGv8gLrQuo5A_f-JF2ntmx3YbEf70wIqwawakhSYikv8V6yMC6_LejPIqD8KM1Q2ykqVa_F5440-s-Mnr0UD5aMZkRs_tadS2h_KgU7bFNMXCF8cUQkEmsh09A9TpNeZdJ8Llxs/s640/P5270051.JPG" width="576" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, please. Cheers!</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-83891173266820673872012-06-03T11:33:00.000+02:002012-06-03T11:33:13.899+02:00How does he smell?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PS - We didn't emerge completely unscathed from our party weekend in Hamburg, mysterious sushi shenanigans notwithstanding. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ralf, our hardcore companion suffered from some particularly bad blow and lost his nose.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenwuSBepd7_kW5jHNw24VlZLCD7ZqbvTxRoD6njXSugmCcn-cfPlmmKxhYliI_kYdC6_lKTm-VOOj3F7kvCQqt5fzCYLe9C1Cm9SQZaunu92tG_RRNbSi6zN9GpMfJfVLFdycxUfEU9Zm/s1600/P5280063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenwuSBepd7_kW5jHNw24VlZLCD7ZqbvTxRoD6njXSugmCcn-cfPlmmKxhYliI_kYdC6_lKTm-VOOj3F7kvCQqt5fzCYLe9C1Cm9SQZaunu92tG_RRNbSi6zN9GpMfJfVLFdycxUfEU9Zm/s640/P5280063.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">oh nose!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily, we were able to get it on ice rightaway and, as the German medical system is so good, we expect they'll be able to attach it better than new! </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...Once we get around to it.</span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-62107534518720788572012-05-31T21:53:00.000+02:002012-05-31T21:55:32.524+02:00Glutenfrei, Vego Hamburger?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of weeks ago, Vicky and I went to Hamburg for a long weekend. It was a lot of fun. Hamburg is, after all, a party city. Check it out.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obvs, we went to the Reeperbahn. You know all about that, I'm sure. A nod's a good as a wink to a blind bat, eh?</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYtOwxPjFfN3kehVBniYc6gMOoDARdJvFikFOTQ5Ue57pc6fl4s10gLRSMlqhN8-WA1GUwPOK-v8WaXz8m15waxzjb7dXgu1aWY4lopsDYmhoVL_Hilg5k8O7uAUA85Xu9ieiqTpO9_of/s1600/P5170024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYtOwxPjFfN3kehVBniYc6gMOoDARdJvFikFOTQ5Ue57pc6fl4s10gLRSMlqhN8-WA1GUwPOK-v8WaXz8m15waxzjb7dXgu1aWY4lopsDYmhoVL_Hilg5k8O7uAUA85Xu9ieiqTpO9_of/s640/P5170024.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ominous clouds in the background, too</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a name='more'></a>Hamburg is so sexually-charged that the handwash cream in our hotel room's bathroom was called "Tricky Ricky".</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIM0e9cXgBwxBBviAXqAuHiAJ8TOBIluyHz3vWGCtwQu7JI6oQZwtYsBY2Z56KHeETvwEI6_-vRUoefNrPa_B9S_tY106v_W-eeZFRXVc2i6lLxpPPWWZFhqc1OyK9cOi0SPAmtxsHeB8_/s1600/P5170005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIM0e9cXgBwxBBviAXqAuHiAJ8TOBIluyHz3vWGCtwQu7JI6oQZwtYsBY2Z56KHeETvwEI6_-vRUoefNrPa_B9S_tY106v_W-eeZFRXVc2i6lLxpPPWWZFhqc1OyK9cOi0SPAmtxsHeB8_/s640/P5170005.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tricky Ricky Handwaschcreme</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the tissue box cover's called "Hanky Panky".</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNDtwV-_t-7V2KTb3mFFLQnZPQkpEJupH45ODeehFw6RpH4liy9u4RSL5dbIv0elfD54F3D2AlkMmbG75iCwwmbN9XNZlDowDWcn_JZ1PrLAimOdrxSfFzWYhZ19eK9tPnZ_UETsbSj9G/s640/P5170009.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="576" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ille Hanky Panky</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNDtwV-_t-7V2KTb3mFFLQnZPQkpEJupH45ODeehFw6RpH4liy9u4RSL5dbIv0elfD54F3D2AlkMmbG75iCwwmbN9XNZlDowDWcn_JZ1PrLAimOdrxSfFzWYhZ19eK9tPnZ_UETsbSj9G/s1600/P5170009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No surprises, of course, that we went to the Reeperabahn to visit Beatlesplatz and the Beatlemania museum, near where they used to play. It was pretty fun and funny and I learned a lot. Did you know that John has often demented?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHELAm6rC8S745pvSpIJxjTyHJNvUzKYI1B6PVLFH1HH2m0JcNSkjAa3syy2c6OlDbw1iAtReppjxecoslJYb2ge7VxQxLItWR_uFhbzJ_-NdXO1UnZuSvu19ijAYKuy1jQ_VCE3g3kYG/s640/P5170022.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="576" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sgt Pepper's: fully explained</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidHELAm6rC8S745pvSpIJxjTyHJNvUzKYI1B6PVLFH1HH2m0JcNSkjAa3syy2c6OlDbw1iAtReppjxecoslJYb2ge7VxQxLItWR_uFhbzJ_-NdXO1UnZuSvu19ijAYKuy1jQ_VCE3g3kYG/s1600/P5170022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also had a very nice beer on the pavement with a meal called "Pinkus Special". I bought it for the name but would buy it again for the taste.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrayjUfnoS_XLy3tRlO5cKGFVNEopiD92Tx16vcyO19AePRRRYU5RwYZCcRyLj0AKq1L6pC503VbnfljVm027K4ccETXL_7Wg897vDr0PPDez7J3d4vwwBiby-F-mxpsFU9swRM_UZsC_s/s1600/P5190043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrayjUfnoS_XLy3tRlO5cKGFVNEopiD92Tx16vcyO19AePRRRYU5RwYZCcRyLj0AKq1L6pC503VbnfljVm027K4ccETXL_7Wg897vDr0PPDez7J3d4vwwBiby-F-mxpsFU9swRM_UZsC_s/s640/P5190043.JPG" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pinkus Special</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-vwKwtU_E5YIxAO1oo9eyo6DZgG0MXJ6DyMiMp5met5rOT8mOsKKwztG2dxMFG3AB4H2m4TARWd5QQM_-E1nyoadBqCppNvD1aTzXeQC_CUXVl_bV3WHJc3ZyXnYi4r7tc5DZqAGDakf/s640/P5190042.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="576" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pinkus logo</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I even had a beer at 9am on Sunday at the Fischmarkt. Everybody else was doing it -- especially the overweight grannies dancing to "The Oldies", a brilliant almost-bilingual coverband -- and I just wanted to fit in.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-vwKwtU_E5YIxAO1oo9eyo6DZgG0MXJ6DyMiMp5met5rOT8mOsKKwztG2dxMFG3AB4H2m4TARWd5QQM_-E1nyoadBqCppNvD1aTzXeQC_CUXVl_bV3WHJc3ZyXnYi4r7tc5DZqAGDakf/s1600/P5190042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYtOwxPjFfN3kehVBniYc6gMOoDARdJvFikFOTQ5Ue57pc6fl4s10gLRSMlqhN8-WA1GUwPOK-v8WaXz8m15waxzjb7dXgu1aWY4lopsDYmhoVL_Hilg5k8O7uAUA85Xu9ieiqTpO9_of/s1600/P5170024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0Ab-qkaCaDHjT10sIpvbkmaG9lZAwbXjTHTQr4uUiIYFTQUrtnQTxaJY55VBVB2n6lZ8XOPVEjRgF29bKycI-lasFVbRaLeebEIQv2eFpTxAT4FOlTPnxF-Miv-Doqw4xYbai3i4JPEu/s640/P5200052.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="576" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right at this point, I'm pretty sure that The Oldies were fantastically botching CCR</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0Ab-qkaCaDHjT10sIpvbkmaG9lZAwbXjTHTQr4uUiIYFTQUrtnQTxaJY55VBVB2n6lZ8XOPVEjRgF29bKycI-lasFVbRaLeebEIQv2eFpTxAT4FOlTPnxF-Miv-Doqw4xYbai3i4JPEu/s1600/P5200052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, despite Hamburg's great party reputation, I am glad that we chose to live in Berlin. Don't get me wrong, Hamburg was great, but it's hard adjusting to a new way of live. Did you know that in Hamburg, you are not permitted to drink on the trains? I was truly baffled.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NygEqu9SeXV7L7EbPvWjjRWREWv1rHJLCDuC68wOpUDy4lwzvIFH5V1i63FAjJyB0TdSxJdK4b_qI8gl-GU6i_8hxK4oLal5XqHj9KEcu19Ecf8hR6QDibAIv-rm5vTSOd1xB_nIPIsG/s640/P5180027.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="576" /></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fun police.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NygEqu9SeXV7L7EbPvWjjRWREWv1rHJLCDuC68wOpUDy4lwzvIFH5V1i63FAjJyB0TdSxJdK4b_qI8gl-GU6i_8hxK4oLal5XqHj9KEcu19Ecf8hR6QDibAIv-rm5vTSOd1xB_nIPIsG/s1600/P5180027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></i></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fuck knows how I'll cope back in Perth where you can't hardly drink anywhere without the right permit and even then you have to be at least 3 metres away from a pregnant lady or something.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's also really hard to get vegetarian and gluten free meals anywhere in Hamburg -- much moreso than in Berlin. We were there for 4 days. We had sushi for 3 meals. And even that was a bit of a spectacle. On our first attempt, after ordering our own selection of vegetarian delights, the waitress gave us twice as much as we ordered: one plate with our selection and one with what we assumed were "we're feeling generous and like you English types" complementary surprises.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a while the waitress came back, said something hurried, and removed the platter, not yet finished, of our ordered sushi. After about two minutes, she brought it back and took away the other platter. After another couple of minutes, she brought back a different platter, obviously picked-at, with <i>different sushi</i> <i>to our first bonus.</i> We didn't eat any of that one and found different places for the following days. Sushi was our safest bet a lot of the time.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We ate no hamburgers. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, it was not a total loss. A colleague of Vicky's recommended the patisserie Herr Max as a fantastic cake shop. When we went to check it out, Vicky was lucky enough to snare the last slice of a glutenfrei carrot cake.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAV44fe-ykzv01Lf7Wb681c5W20OaymFjJeossQVMi5A8M2TDuYKf5mX_bj0Tu9Z4WhfS0sCMScNJgu31bteQMX2gexnORVryEmu8eEjF7iVR1YStrIi8Dhl8DqT-m_gjlVf6Q6EwraGIf/s640/P5180028.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="576" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And they wrap it so delightfully.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1YqvJR1E4KSOj5-agER6EOWVXZXCZQtNbVjeiLq85KZD9PlDxTqp3v_HPBCp7fYkhGzsqZGeSg7EzyLodD-rRNSRBK0LnaBuykdmaZ-4Py-DuDb6ZohtY_8aVDHg9ju3Ph9AWvvu3NPu/s640/P5180032.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="576" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Death Carrot - best bit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vicky liked the cake so much that we went back the next day, early, to dine in and have some more.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVxG4amRbihJVcRVM-yhP1YHQ8X_XecDPG5nu-3MM4JobX11I5QCJWtyGcZr262CQR-EQ5LN8o5GuFRz_72Pq80EW3HmeKoyPoQxoHJH4sYgMLrnpXfv9Xm3qjMJXL0UhAqu62vpNeEyS/s640/P5200059.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="576" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">world's greatest gluten free cake?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went back the day after that, too.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, if you are vegetarian and gluten free in Hamburg, you might struggle a bit to find food other that sushi to eat. However, you'll have access to an amazing cake.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is that worth not being able to drink on the trains, though?</span></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0Hamburg, Germany53.5510846 9.993681853.2492126 9.3619677999999986 53.852956600000006 10.6253958tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-69899102281359099782012-05-31T20:49:00.000+02:002012-05-31T20:49:23.424+02:00And the winner is...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was going to write something snarky about all the entrants to the last <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/05/another-riddle.html#comment-form" target="_blank">mind-bending riddle</a> being inventive-but-forgetful geniuses, as everybody entered anonymously. This would have made it terribly difficult to correctly award the well-deserved Euro. One anon is like any other, after all.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fortunately, Chris wrote his name within his anonymous entry, so he wins by default. Clearly the cleverest.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chris, next time I see you, I have a well-polished Euro with your name on it!*</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This, of course, assumes you are a Chris I already know.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*"your name on it" is a metaphor; "well-polished" isn't. </span></span></span></span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-82864514773528962062012-05-15T21:31:00.000+02:002012-05-15T21:31:12.724+02:00Another Riddle<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The picture below was taken in Rome, not Berlin, but </span><a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/05/senza-glutine-in-rome.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vicky was eating a gluten-free meal and I was eating a delicious no-cheese, all-mushroom pizza</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, so it's still blog-relevant. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While noshing, I was utterly bamboozled as to what the sign could possibly mean. So, I have on offer a carefully hand-selected collectible €1 coin to whomever can best explain it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's hope we get more than one entrant this time...</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEianfDEe_uUzJwrHDjRUjnF258rkllwWO2j1_q-hSli59L395dotkxYPmktV4OruUU0xl5Z8mPlpeshzZwJWDwjZ7TBCSN2AAPdx4cGhLdt8XGbJfF6KwN6aQgyn72NIqHsU5DDSgSNnyDT/s640/P4060065.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="480" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">no prize if you guess 'stop the Euro going right'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEianfDEe_uUzJwrHDjRUjnF258rkllwWO2j1_q-hSli59L395dotkxYPmktV4OruUU0xl5Z8mPlpeshzZwJWDwjZ7TBCSN2AAPdx4cGhLdt8XGbJfF6KwN6aQgyn72NIqHsU5DDSgSNnyDT/s1600/P4060065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-89374400018451168782012-05-14T20:23:00.000+02:002012-05-14T20:23:06.170+02:00I Like Ice-Cream.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, and I forgot to mention. The dukkah ice-cream is flipping brilliant. You ain't had anything like it: well worth the <a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/03/bad-start-to-ice-cream-season.html" target="_blank">ongoing embarrassment every time we visit the store</a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkVAZCNgkvgZ4IOYorWsi4tywdUZH2CYBClXGq4MuXkJm2ss0NN1UQEyGTUqhguTU9zWRrYNXbjythSm0dptM_RvKJiKlj9rS7w7zg77q5UdInIaYE3Sv1MX6noqlK3SGMmxdPBO40kA3Z/s1600/P4280220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkVAZCNgkvgZ4IOYorWsi4tywdUZH2CYBClXGq4MuXkJm2ss0NN1UQEyGTUqhguTU9zWRrYNXbjythSm0dptM_RvKJiKlj9rS7w7zg77q5UdInIaYE3Sv1MX6noqlK3SGMmxdPBO40kA3Z/s640/P4280220.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">These ice-creams are actually from the store on the other side of the park with a smaller line, and they are not dukkah flavour but they are also pretty good</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0Raumerstraße, 10437 Berlin, Germany52.5421237 13.420811452.5397092 13.4158759 52.5445382 13.4257469tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-76140038215131656842012-05-13T17:35:00.000+02:002012-05-13T17:35:33.791+02:00Glutenfrei Cupcakes II: This Time It's Personal<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know, </span><a href="http://wearedonuts.blogspot.de/2012/02/glutenfrei-cupcakes.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we have already posted about the gluten free cupcakes</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from </span><a href="http://www.cupcakeberlin.de/index1.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cupcake</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The thing is, we ordered those cupcakes as a share of a larger conglomerate, so I couldn't really comment on the whole experience. For Vicky's birthday, however, I placed a special order all by myself and everything was so lovely and delightful that I simply must write again to show you how truly amazing they really are. Also, we gots great pics of this lot.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To refresh your memory, Cupcake sells cupcakes. They also offer special services where you can order vegan cupcakes or glutenfrei cupcakes or cupcakes that are both glutenfrei and vegan. It is a hipster's wonderland. Thankfully the shop is 100% free from ridiculous spectacles and skintight pants.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last time, we received shares in an email order of gluten free Hot Chocolate flavour. In honour of Vicky's birthday, I made a special trip into the shop to order gluten free Birthday Cake flavour and impress upon them how important it was. They were most obliging. Check it out:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had completed most of my order in German until the woman behind the counter couldn't think of the German word for flavour: "welches, ..erm, flavour?". I aksed, in German, if we could speak in English, and she was exceptionally thankful and praised my German, saying you'd never know I wasn't bilingual. As I had only come in with a few key words practised, they are obviously experts at customer-service. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think most of the staff are bilingual-ish expats, so if you're reading this blog and you're in Berlin, odds are that you'll be pleased at the possibility of problem-free ordering. I sure was, because once we switched to English I was able to specify so many preferences and options, and they accommodated them all.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I told them it was for my wife's birthday, they promised to use a variety of decorations and, if possible, different icing flavours. As you can see from the photos below, they delivered.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I ordered, and paid for, 10 glutenfrei cupcakes. When I picked them up, they KNOWINGLY GAVE ME TWELVE. That's an extra 20% free, which is truly excellent (see next point).</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cupcakes are flipping brilliant and not at all the crumbly dry rubble one normally gets with special glutenfrei options. I know that they are good because when we have eaten them all, even if it takes a couple of days and the last ones are turning a wee bit stale, I'm rather sad inside that the experience is over. </span></li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUt0WU9rlt6hl4D_8YU5EV6Ik_Yo74kjr1IH72n1inZZ4BMHXHESz8e8GL_vubqlyCXqS8vuHXROo-92op4aIgLdAPXxTRbl_a5Jt4LM2PCc7F8xuraaqIE-rwaMBXf5AmvQQrb7kT2Jh/s1600/P4170370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUt0WU9rlt6hl4D_8YU5EV6Ik_Yo74kjr1IH72n1inZZ4BMHXHESz8e8GL_vubqlyCXqS8vuHXROo-92op4aIgLdAPXxTRbl_a5Jt4LM2PCc7F8xuraaqIE-rwaMBXf5AmvQQrb7kT2Jh/s640/P4170370.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">delicious delicacies delightfully decorated</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJIUV3twQo8n6dhc8g6h0IhZTkFjxjJA4hv1csk1IMn24Awe7MVEDsHrCOrO_g3PW-udlRKcxj5q2anSeFSm5oC7K145gAtdqXdi_gopzLi4JwbKy8SSyE5iWyywM74g49PwoWDzWvSvl/s1600/P4170371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJIUV3twQo8n6dhc8g6h0IhZTkFjxjJA4hv1csk1IMn24Awe7MVEDsHrCOrO_g3PW-udlRKcxj5q2anSeFSm5oC7K145gAtdqXdi_gopzLi4JwbKy8SSyE5iWyywM74g49PwoWDzWvSvl/s640/P4170371.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">butterfly flavour</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only downside? They asked if I was also from New Zealand. Hmpf.</span></div>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com1Krossener Straße 12, 10245 Berlin, Germany52.5107677 13.457742952.508351700000006 13.4528074 52.5131837 13.4626784tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-434033750803380142012-05-13T17:02:00.000+02:002012-05-13T17:02:48.937+02:00Wo ist Wally?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right here, at the convention, planning where to hide next.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWpTEvKSp_nz9zuA4zby-ktBChQq2fOE_YcsOMP2GCopyvhUbs92fWC_NltMpt_B6hTZNY8H9_pYk80UtoCHqnaP88Rra0NmYIghstQ-gcunAoe4yjkJPeo7WrsoKhyphenhyphena8udw4Y6mlueDD/s1600/P5120001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWpTEvKSp_nz9zuA4zby-ktBChQq2fOE_YcsOMP2GCopyvhUbs92fWC_NltMpt_B6hTZNY8H9_pYk80UtoCHqnaP88Rra0NmYIghstQ-gcunAoe4yjkJPeo7WrsoKhyphenhyphena8udw4Y6mlueDD/s640/P5120001.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're at a restaurant called "Cheese King"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 8-12, 10178 Berlin, Germany52.521234766555494 13.40816974639892652.5188192665555 13.403234246398926 52.523650266555492 13.413105246398926tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-12297953758178795662012-05-13T16:01:00.000+02:002012-05-13T17:41:05.148+02:00Start Me Up<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">again my apologies for the length of time in-between posts. I have been working a new job and although it is awesome and precisely what I have always wanted to do, ever since I was a little boy in short pants with a cape, I have also been working preposterously long hours and not been able to make the blogging curfew (aka, my bed-time).</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, it's not all bad news. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allow me to explain. Because it is a bit of a strange thing working for these fledgling Berlin start-up companies and loads and loads of people seem to be flocking here to join in the fun, I thought I would write a list about the best and worst of it for anybody else mulling over the decision.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a>If you were not yet aware, Berlin is the Start-Up Capital of Europe. With cheap rent and youthful optimism in abundance, exciting new companies seem to be founded here on an hourly basis. It's all tremendously rousing and, if you work for one, it's a great opportunity to work with some very passionate people who really care about what they are doing. In addition, because the companies are so new, you'll also have the ability to influence and improve their future direction. This is wonderfully rewarding.</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div>
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However, there are some pretty awful downsides, too. One of those is working until 1am and/or working on the International Worker's Day Off to ensure 'the launch' goes as planned. This irony is not delicious. Below is a list of some of the other things you can look forward to if you move to Berlin and join the Gründerszene.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am a qualified expert, of course. I have worked at 3 different start-up companies over the last 4 months and although there are crucial differences (the latest one is flipping brill, despite the currently ridiculous hours), you will almost certainly experience some of the following: </span></div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because the company is so new, they often won't have their corporate structure well defined. You'll usually be allowed to give yourself your own title. Because English is not their first language, you can sometimes get away with being hilarious - and even if they make you change it, it's sure fun trying to get away with Supreme Lead Researcher of Maximum Effectiveness. Unfortunately, it can also be stupid and not funny: in my current team of 16, there are 8 self-titled managers.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may be required to assemble your own desk and/or chair and/or air-conditioning. This can prove challenging if the company's sole screwdriver has been pocketed by some cheapskate.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a young company founded by young youngsters who enjoy being young, there are often a lot of excellent perks. To pay you back for working late, they will often send out for pizzas or burgers, and take you out to lunch the next day, and fill the freezer full of ice-creams, and order in six crates of beer to help with evening creativity. After a while, though, you might just start to wish they paid you overtime instead. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The headquarters are usually located in a run-down converted apartment block in East Berlin. This is excellent, as you'll have loads of cheap and delicious foods to eat at lunchtime. Less excellent, there'll often only be about one toilet for every 30 people in the office. It also may have had some interesting modifications to cope with the extra load. Fuck knows what happens if it ever breaks. Also, don't ever touch the hand-towel that's hanging alongside. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Impressive mysteries abound. Whole couches may go missing from the conference room (so you might have a meeting on the floor), and nobody will have any clue where it is, only to return a week later with a brand new coffee table at its side. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You will learn a lot of helpful shortcuts. For instance, OHS requirements for huge swarms of computer cables strewn about the <s>lounge room</s> office can be met by simply chucking a couple of door mats and carpet samples over the trip hazards in thoroughfares.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You might be required to write your own orientation papers. This is a great way to learn on the job, because you get to decide what it is you need to know, but you might feel pretty guilty for the poor saps starting the week after you who take it seriously. </span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If your start-up can't yet afford its own office space and instead rents a couple of desks in a co-working office, you might share the open-plan with some real weirdoes. One of them might laugh each afternoon, almost on cue, in a near-endless serial killer snigger that echoes around the concrete walls. It's even creepier that he looks just like Moby. </span></li>
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All of the above are true stories that I have lived through. I am sure that people who have lived here longer than me will have even worse and better to tell. Isn't it splendid? I cannot wait to see what will happen next. When are you coming to Berlin?</div>
</div>
</span></span></span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-66491640858831652822012-05-06T16:54:00.000+02:002012-05-06T16:54:59.060+02:00ROBBER FOX!Meet Ralf. He was my birthday present from Matt. Apparently, Ralf enjoys off road mountain biking and extreme sports. He is also quite partial to drinking beer at <a href="http://www.pratergarten.de/e/index.php4">Prater Biergarten.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmvvhKw2biTNZQEmqT0c0YuEvcdZGDejKk3Yjb7QhgGPqYr5igzmtdwiSAntoMpOdaFY2XxIS_-9psAVwyiPfiDHTLadEVYJnen42cRVDSzNiUelqK5fg5ubcUf6wdQZQMw4B2YHYtp94/s1600/P4210378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmvvhKw2biTNZQEmqT0c0YuEvcdZGDejKk3Yjb7QhgGPqYr5igzmtdwiSAntoMpOdaFY2XxIS_-9psAVwyiPfiDHTLadEVYJnen42cRVDSzNiUelqK5fg5ubcUf6wdQZQMw4B2YHYtp94/s640/P4210378.JPG" width="576" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ralf is not impressed by the head on this beer. </td></tr>
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<br />Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12539673349863757437noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-91272162277387021872012-05-06T16:51:00.000+02:002012-05-06T16:51:28.357+02:00Bier bei Berlin<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 3 litres of beer below costs me only €2.19 and it was not bad at all.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVCla5xcz1wucFL0cYtbBNLQ31iBKyF2LP7ZuoYdNy63v-PWJDhJnHSXDkg9mdpjC7dTrMp5A-zcL5RYEgWJaqiqGdIw9Hb2hGwVN_N4dpPUaYZrwbZkR6i-XdKqDpBVzsnP0vNi89Trm/s640/P5010232.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="432" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goldener Price Prize-winning dirt cheap beer!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blimey I love it here.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My liver, not so much.</span>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-72279738584991413862012-05-05T23:03:00.000+02:002012-05-06T17:04:18.472+02:00small differences<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it has the same number of syllables but I still can't help wondering how they sing the song:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7ji2YxT-cJl0lPZ-UIybqh9_aG_b8rdLE7o40CmUYiW0HjPZWCQSosr6MXH-bqzM0DitgQ5dZgEtHUqIwzb7YRMx82hzFLevf3t7ZWcD1et7gb5g9cHjkUAPNBMn0Oaz5R9KtoBFHaYn/s1600/DSC00266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7ji2YxT-cJl0lPZ-UIybqh9_aG_b8rdLE7o40CmUYiW0HjPZWCQSosr6MXH-bqzM0DitgQ5dZgEtHUqIwzb7YRMx82hzFLevf3t7ZWcD1et7gb5g9cHjkUAPNBMn0Oaz5R9KtoBFHaYn/s400/DSC00266.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Können Sie mir sagen, wie man zu Sesamstrasse geht?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-11831054022231284802012-05-03T22:57:00.000+02:002012-05-03T22:58:04.501+02:00There'll Be a Hot Time in the Town of Berlin<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you know, I'm pretty sure weather.com is having me on, here</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFQ9vmbiT_EaikmlBuZ7nhfTUMgNBg2dAE8cRjuLqdkuB8X4-46U4zFf3gCPSyLAxj2xLn-WqGnTB27uIE5zlZqRXXjQ40KLvMtpPtL4SncGSp3ZReuxZaqDK1bsO4acSK6gDsQ74Vpk5/s1600/wtf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFQ9vmbiT_EaikmlBuZ7nhfTUMgNBg2dAE8cRjuLqdkuB8X4-46U4zFf3gCPSyLAxj2xLn-WqGnTB27uIE5zlZqRXXjQ40KLvMtpPtL4SncGSp3ZReuxZaqDK1bsO4acSK6gDsQ74Vpk5/s1600/wtf.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09952015022270453847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1944225550323977557.post-37806929922725341622012-05-01T15:53:00.000+02:002012-05-01T15:55:37.873+02:00Senza glutine in RomeMatt and I went to Rome for Easter. I loved it, but beforehand I was a little depressed at the prospect of surviving on mushroom risotto (I swear that mushroom risotto and spinach and ricotta canelloni are the only vegetarian dishes Italian restaurants ever serve) and these crackers:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-lSRzdMRv8b_Hn3a2XGJFSVwNl6h2qFXTDWSnG5UF_S1eZ85jqANCLukHoUbS_6G71TsGC7oTHHL_SfrEitNvuQlsxEaruJJRZhf4UYCeiyeaakkbn4DmK3X8COFupE41Yo5CredwZKA/s1600/P4100215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-lSRzdMRv8b_Hn3a2XGJFSVwNl6h2qFXTDWSnG5UF_S1eZ85jqANCLukHoUbS_6G71TsGC7oTHHL_SfrEitNvuQlsxEaruJJRZhf4UYCeiyeaakkbn4DmK3X8COFupE41Yo5CredwZKA/s400/P4100215.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't think you should actually keep these in your pocket.</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
I actually ended up eating quite a lot of these crackers for breakfast every day. I didn't mind though, because it was actually pretty easy to avoid both gluten AND meat in Rome. A restaurant close to the Spanish Steps had menus that clearly stated gluten free pasta was an option (at no extra charge people!), so we had our lunch there on day one of our holiday. The pasta was a little gluggy, but at least that meant I could be confident it was definitely gluten free.<br />
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That evening we also managed to find a place that served some delicious polenta.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUVwJXEWQPT_r68Dbe3GWJCYNvGDF2k971KZ6rwHJOlGtapNEGWFwIJoeLDzSDnrBu_sFQ6JVBjQ4yzMJBilTKDazpBywUVrKd4KYZxZ-FTtcOXTYHQMwUFUwHHEz63OmjZYICSxzZcM/s1600/P4060060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNUVwJXEWQPT_r68Dbe3GWJCYNvGDF2k971KZ6rwHJOlGtapNEGWFwIJoeLDzSDnrBu_sFQ6JVBjQ4yzMJBilTKDazpBywUVrKd4KYZxZ-FTtcOXTYHQMwUFUwHHEz63OmjZYICSxzZcM/s400/P4060060.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MUSHROOMS AND POLENTA!</td></tr>
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Matt was also very pleased that he could order a pizza without cheese. It's not gluten free, but I thought you might want to see it anyway.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9m_E8MBzQ8A-TiYkJ8XnkCiw6ZU1X0kUtBWsz_sEvWsz_xrdfK1I-Q4mTakdBCVcEu8sghox9JZIo84aZ4Xz0u_1QsD-BrMBinH2ynMG4xxG2vI2o4G59WvjKWXbxA1zc8qBXB2HTsR4/s1600/P4060061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9m_E8MBzQ8A-TiYkJ8XnkCiw6ZU1X0kUtBWsz_sEvWsz_xrdfK1I-Q4mTakdBCVcEu8sghox9JZIo84aZ4Xz0u_1QsD-BrMBinH2ynMG4xxG2vI2o4G59WvjKWXbxA1zc8qBXB2HTsR4/s400/P4060061.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently it was delicious.</td></tr>
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I have no idea what this place was called (I'm sorry. We had a lot of wine). I think it was somewhere near <a href="http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=506&wrapid=tlif133571282556710&q=via+serpenti+rome&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x132f61b18ceb4e6d:0x9605f6cb7dcb8971,Via+dei+Serpenti,+I-00184+Roma,+Italy&gl=au&ei=1V6dT4X8Jc_itQanlex-&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCEQ8gEwAA">Via Urbana.</a> <br />
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The following night we decided to try a restaurant that I read about on <a href="http://www.glutenfreemrsd.com/2011/05/rome-have-yourself-gluten-free-pizza-action.html">this blog</a>. <a href="http://www.ristoranterenovatio.it/eng/renovatio.html#/HOME">Ristorante Renovatio</a> was amazing. It was so good, we went there two nights in a row. They have a gluten free section of their menu and there was no mention of mushroom risotto. Yay!<br />
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Night 1:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBgwE4BmV5dQh_6694EKdVW26ytJAmguI-gEs9bqVIUjF4n_zo-c4oVDle1Tor-eXrxF_LpXCJBjehTADrcXRRwxhhv6_G0YPE8gVpBTtx75_wnkpt0U7vYJpOdc0ZQkKNNb4IehrvQ8/s1600/P4070097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBgwE4BmV5dQh_6694EKdVW26ytJAmguI-gEs9bqVIUjF4n_zo-c4oVDle1Tor-eXrxF_LpXCJBjehTADrcXRRwxhhv6_G0YPE8gVpBTtx75_wnkpt0U7vYJpOdc0ZQkKNNb4IehrvQ8/s320/P4070097.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My gluten free beer (the waiter poured the beer, hence the massive head).</td></tr>
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Please note that this beer was not $10 a bottle (Perth, you suck).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyyLH6S22G9mi7DTAHBDWAQg-imH7S0mR5wzT0RwRQ00xjOaKshY9CswjcsXi-nHFwgUFq-cNroc32guRCAuAdvlyJ8Thr1KDzhLcxykPEXkxNOFFNDyeG6ZNnXyNAGzIlcNnMOdpZb0/s1600/P4070098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJyyLH6S22G9mi7DTAHBDWAQg-imH7S0mR5wzT0RwRQ00xjOaKshY9CswjcsXi-nHFwgUFq-cNroc32guRCAuAdvlyJ8Thr1KDzhLcxykPEXkxNOFFNDyeG6ZNnXyNAGzIlcNnMOdpZb0/s320/P4070098.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My vegetarian AND gluten free pizza (it was great).</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8NB1at7ZkijABBK18AniTD_uBAV69eFqtwFXRuAdB1zVsAMhMH_WozJsMVhq3SXnfYmDBC2g6qROuj-MH37bhmvrJDQebyIpQT8CdETzSRdq7q0qmtBGYlVeswu9ip9HA8-HSS36itk/s1600/P4070102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic8NB1at7ZkijABBK18AniTD_uBAV69eFqtwFXRuAdB1zVsAMhMH_WozJsMVhq3SXnfYmDBC2g6qROuj-MH37bhmvrJDQebyIpQT8CdETzSRdq7q0qmtBGYlVeswu9ip9HA8-HSS36itk/s320/P4070102.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My gluten free dessert.</td></tr>
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Night 2 (Matt's birthday!):<br />
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Even though it was his birthday, Matt very kindly ordered gluten free ravioli just so I could try some. It was lovely.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJkqjSX0s_NxgBymC_azmUit1DrqT_P1nwWOwA0hyVXJGu36MwsyTYy5dNYQ7IFyXSUeHZf_PIjOKQxC81GaHeK6ERM2VlDD_qKS_YMc6qmq89pr2Upcpa53lnwBZ2mdWVeRhhzvNm4c/s1600/P4080205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJkqjSX0s_NxgBymC_azmUit1DrqT_P1nwWOwA0hyVXJGu36MwsyTYy5dNYQ7IFyXSUeHZf_PIjOKQxC81GaHeK6ERM2VlDD_qKS_YMc6qmq89pr2Upcpa53lnwBZ2mdWVeRhhzvNm4c/s320/P4080205.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The flag means it's gluten free.</td></tr>
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This was the first calzone I had had in about 7 years.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDukqaMJ943Yq0AjnysJ6SeVP74aTRWihh11_GZoVjphrnYZDI8CdG5TWUsgOOzcYXXIJ8vdrp4GSP8XZXfvJKl4tQLH_-WO2cKxibKM3rilVSivX_hkSuZ1nRtTEvZjm6vMylAdK6uPg/s1600/P4080206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDukqaMJ943Yq0AjnysJ6SeVP74aTRWihh11_GZoVjphrnYZDI8CdG5TWUsgOOzcYXXIJ8vdrp4GSP8XZXfvJKl4tQLH_-WO2cKxibKM3rilVSivX_hkSuZ1nRtTEvZjm6vMylAdK6uPg/s320/P4080206.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vegetarian, gluten free and delicious.</td></tr>
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Everything I ate at this restaurant was fantastic, but I think the best part was my dessert on our second visit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSTt-HFC6RxGhGE-CXjj0rD81AD7oQ59HqWE_zJ7sMLzp5JD8HdP27NAjosxZ531eUb-C4Ew4z7XLwnZle5wcTnjEvlq01D_8ZYgOMLp8Md8KIibWk_jw5G7cCBdTi5E61gqNtPlE8ks/s1600/P4080207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSTt-HFC6RxGhGE-CXjj0rD81AD7oQ59HqWE_zJ7sMLzp5JD8HdP27NAjosxZ531eUb-C4Ew4z7XLwnZle5wcTnjEvlq01D_8ZYgOMLp8Md8KIibWk_jw5G7cCBdTi5E61gqNtPlE8ks/s320/P4080207.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gluten free profiteroles. OMFG!<br />
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Obviously I didn't need to panic about surviving in Rome for four days.Vickyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12539673349863757437noreply@blogger.com2