Today I’m moving to the Western side of Berlin, to the Dahlem area, in order to be ready for the conference that starts tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the ‘work’ part of this trip now, and the change of scenery. Dahlem is one of the greenest parts of Berlin, quite far from the wall. I’m not sure if this means that it was less affected by the cold war.

I spent yesterday up in Mitte again, inside of Berliner Tor. Amazing cathedral. I’ll put up some photos I managed to get in there at some point. I was shocked to find out that the Cathedral needs to raise 10,000€ a day to keep the place maintained. They get very little help from the government. That’s an incredible amount of money.

Also hung out with Alec a bit, one of the co-PKP folks who is attending the conference. He and I attended an impromptu flashmob where folks were attempting to set a world record for a running limbo. I am serious. I have no idea if the attempt was successful. There was beer and balloons after.

Here’s a self photo of me standing in front of the Berliner Dom.

No music for this post — it’s early and I need to check out of this hotel and move onto the other one. I want to visit the Botanical Garden this afternoon (one of the best in the world, apparently) and will post more later.

Berlin keeps rolling along. I’ve had a busy couple of days, and have been making the rounds. Yesterday I did an early morning photo run down to the Reichstag and Brandenburger Tor, mainly to get photos with less people to deal with. I have a technique for getting clean shots with no people, but it requires a bit of time and patience and it helps if there are fewer people to start with. I was also in the Gendarmenmarkt, which has some incredibly cool court yards and old cathedrals with large domes. It’s important to go early — the courtyards are virtually empty really early, but by 9 am they are jammed with people and getting photos is much harder.

I hadn’t counted on the Pope visiting Berlin yesterday, though, which meant that there was tons of security, and many areas were fenced off. This was both good and bad, since I could get photos of areas with no crowds, but it meant that getting close to a few spots was impossible. That is okay, and I will try again. Tomorrow is the Berlin Marathon, which may make for some interesting shots there as well. The finish is at the Tor, I believe. I should probably make sure.

Today I went up to the North East of the city, near Alexanderplatz in order to get some photos of Berliner Dom, the main cathedral, which sits on the bank of the Spree river. The light was pretty good, and I am happy with the shots so far. I also took a quick peek at Humboldt-Universität, and walked down all of Dirksenstraße, a pretty funky part near the TV Tower. It’s near my last hotel on this trip, after the conference so it was nice to scout out the area. I also went down to Schøneburg and visited the Deutsches Technikmuseum, which was pretty cool.

I’ve noticed something about Berlin. It is true what they say, about how bike-friendly the city is. There are thousands of cyclists on the streets all the time, and most streets have dedicated bike lanes. I’ve also noticed that lots of people smoke. Like, tons. What I haven’t determined if their are lots of cyclists who smoke. Maybe they are exclusive groups. I doubt it, though.

Also, the city has two “smells”. In the morning, it’s all about coffee and fresh bread. Holy, does this place ever smell awesome at 8 am. By noon, it’s all about currywürst and ketchup and cigarettes though. It’s like East Germany takes over again, the city transitions with the noon-time sun.

Lots of free wi-fi here. Based on past travel experiences, I had thought it might be hard to find good spots, but that is not the case. Berlin is much more like Eastern Europe than Western Europe in that regard. Finding a hotspot in London or Helsinki or Stockholm is freaking hard. Here? Everything is open. Most coffee shops, like this one, offer it. Technically, you need a login, but the info is written on the chalkboard behind the cash.

Track for the post is the classic Judas Priest combo of The Hellion and Electric Eye, made especially relevant because I was down at Halfords the other night, to catch a Sabaton show. Blew my mind. Enjoy.

Well, I get to head to Germany a week earlier than I thought I would. Since there is a strong chance that Air Canada will be going on strike, I’ve preemptively moved my flight and I fly tomorrow instead of later in the week.

This isn’t a bad thing! You know, 90% of travel is making last minute changes and rolling with it. I am relishing the opportunity to have more time in Germany, a chance to see more of the city, and perhaps take some side trips into the country to see more of everything. Awesome.

Anyway, since I need to race home and pack, this will be a short post! The track for this mad scramble is one of my favourite tunes by Agalloch, an atmospheric metal band from Oregon. Please enjoy Falling Snow.

Over and out.

Well, I did. I spent the last week in San Francisco and the surrounding area, mostly in Yosemite National Park, with a co-worker. Before I left, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I wondered about the weather, the conditions in the park, what the city would be like, whether plans would unfold the way they should.

Things worked out. I connected with my buddy and we spent a day in SF gathering supplies and touring the city on foot before heading out to Yosemite for a few days of serious hiking, serious photography, and awe-inspiring vistas.

The park was amazing. If you visit, you’ll know why John Muir spent so much time there, advocating for the creation of a National Park and dragging Abe Lincoln there with him. If you’ve never read his work, I suggest you do so. He has written many essays on the subject of his life, and his love affair with nature, and reading them will leave little doubt in your mind as to why he lived the way he did. My copy of “Journeys in the Wilderness” is sitting on my couch right now, already read through several times by its previous owner. It now craves my own attention.

Here is a photo of the main valley in the park. It is too cloudy to see Half Dome, the iconic broken apple monument that adorns all things Yosemite, but El Capitain, one of the climbing Meccas of the world, is on the left, and Bridalveil falls is on the right. You can click for a larger version.

That’s just one of the great views in the park. There are too many, way too many, to post here. The park is the size of Rhode Island, and experiencing all of it would take several life times.

Just ask John Weir.

As for the city itself. For an urban centre with a population of 850 thousand, it is remarkably clean, compact, and friendly. No wonder it styles itself as a centre for all things carefree. It is a place to experiment, to test the waters, to be something that you might not be able to be anywhere else in North America. Maybe in Europe, perhaps. I was able to eat tons of great vegan food offerings, my co-worker gorged himself on great Japanese food, and I drank enough great coffee to still be completely wired up now, even having been back for a few days. Hybrid taxi cabs, buses fuelled by hydrogen cells, biodiesel ferries, recycling and composting facilities everywhere, and everyone doing there part. It’s nice to see what is possible when you care. Like the breezes that blow constantly in the city, the winds of change are evident in San Francisco. It is at the forefront of what could be, if the rest of North America stops to take a look.

This is Coit Tower, which is on top of Telegraph Hill in the middle of town, at Sunset. Yeah, we climbed it. There are only two street directions in San Francisco. Up, or down. Lombard street is a blast.

There is really only one track for this post. Mr. Tony Bennett.

So, my wish for nice weather was granted — Estonia is turning out to be beautifully cooperative with sun, and nice temperatures. My folly was to not really schedule enough time to do Tallinn justice. The ferry across from Helsinki (which also had great weather on my last day there) takes two hours, so I had an early morning to make my 7:30 am ferry, and then a day in Tallinn’s old town. Estonia still has not switched to the Euro, which is coming in January, so I had to switch yet more currency to the EEK. I either burn through that here, or switch it back to Euro for Germany on my way home. Fun!

The ferry service has been amazing. Finland is one of the world’s largest ship builders, and the Tallink line’s ferries that I have now been on (The Serenade, the M/S Superstar, and the M/S Star) are state of the art. Just a few years old each. And the food. Oh my sweet Jebus. Not so much a fan of the night time buffet spreads since I’m vegan, but I’ve probably eaten my body weight in fresh fruit and delicious Scandinavian rye bread while on board. And the coffee! So tasty.

On the subject of food. Yes, to those who have asked, I did indeed score a Vegemesta shirt.

Oh. A mini rant. Right now, the Buddy Bear exhibit is travelling around the world. It is a collection of 146 bears (for the United Nations countries), each about 6 feet tall. It is in Helsinki right now, in the Square. I have photos. My complaint is to the Canadian artist who created our bear. What the hell does that colour scheme and design have to do with Canada? Blue and brown checker pattern? No maple leaf? No red? At least the US bear was styled to look like the Statue of Liberty, complete with crown and torch. The name plate indicates that Bombardier sponsored the bear. I wonder if there is something to this.

Okay. Off to pack again.