Long time no see

Yes yes, I know, it's been a while. Despite my best intentions, it's been ages since I posted. In that time not much has happened except:

1. I finished building my new bike (it's loverly) but I've not taken any pictures yet as I've not even ridden her (she's called Vera) yet.

2. Me and Sophie went on holiday to Berlin. It was nice - great to get away and all that. Berlin is an interesting city but probably better to live in than to be a tourist in. I got some pictures that I'm pleased with but I've reached my monthly flickr upload limit and I'm too poor to pay $25 or whatever it is for a year.

Our room in Berlin was amazingly good - it had a free-standing bath in the room but the pillow-mints tasted like urinal cakes, or at least what I imagine urinal cakes to taste like (I haven't eaten one, honest). German MTV is comical, especially the advert for the new album by the 'Sugar Plum Fairies'. If you want to make the phrase 'Sugar Plum Fairy' sound less, well, 'sugary' and 'plummy' just say it in German. It is the antithesis of a Romantic Language.

A word of advice for our German cousins too - just because I slowly stumble through your language and manage to squeeze out a sentence that, when treated charitably, just about means "A table for two, please", please don't assume that I am a master of your language and can therefore engage in discourse on the finer points of Interior Design, table placement and the merits of Proportional Representation over First Past The Post democratic election systems. Just get me my God-damn table and, if you must, enquire slowly and with the minimum of words (using hand gestures where necessary) whether I would like it to be smoking or not smoking. I can not really speak your language, I just remember a handful of sentences from GCSE (short course) German. Entschuldigung, Ich habe meine Hand-Granate vergessen.

Other than that, they were surprisingly polite, courteous and pleasant to deal with. Except the girl in Balzac Coffee in Potsdamer Platz. If you go to Berlin, the nicest (oldest) part is Hackesche Hofe and well worth a look.

Here it is. More pictures here.