more of mies

mr. less-is-more, the man with the cigar, he built some very nice houses indeed. i thought i'd show you a few more shots taken on that crisp and sunny winter's day. i'm glad i had both a colour and a black-and-white roll with me, they came out so very differently.

p.s.: i'm still pinning.

something blue

i used to be a kodak girl
then my local shop stopped stocking kodak
now a legend is saying good-bye
i'm starting to love the soft hues of fuji 400
scanning mistakes can be intriguing
it's freezing cold (minus ten last night)
i'm random, due to loads of work
i'm happy to say
pascale is the lucky winner of my give-away
happy tuesday.

mies et marion

marion suggested paying mies a visit, and we did. and look, how well they got on!

the house, originally landhaus lemke (1932), is tiny. like so many places in berlin, it has a complex history. after the war, the russian allies used it as a garage, in the 1960s, it was used by the stasi (east german secret service) as laundry storage. today, you can visit the house - it is almost empty, there is no signage, there are no wall texts, no plaques, no explanations. which is astonishing. at the same time, it gives you the chance to just see and feel the place, the light, the textures.

a few days later i found myself pondering how mr and mrs lemke, the original owners, might have used the space. i can work out kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom (fairly obvious), but how did they use the two main rooms? did they choose to have the view onto the garden and the little lake beyond from the living room? and how did they furnish the rooms? a look at the house's website gives you an idea, and i must say, well, in this instance, i agree to disagree with mies. i bet the carpets were chosen by the lemke's though. oh, the absence of taste.

p.s.: don't forget you can still enter for my little giveaway. i will draw a winner this coming sunday.

saturday morning

the first one is for you alexandria! when marion was here - an amazing couple of days, of which there will be more to see soon -, we went for a little walk across mauerpark, and as we passed these trees against the glorious sky, and i looked up, i had to think of alexandria's images. her blog is such a wonderful place, of stillness captured in visuals and poetry.

marion and i went on to have coffee at bonanza coffee heroes, the place gets smaller and busier every time i go. in winter you can't really use the outside benches and stools, so i sometimes leave without even venturing inside, as it's so crowded, as you would essentially have to drink your coffee standing up between loads of people, bar-stylee. we were lucky, and after a little while got a seat between the piled up coffee sacks. two girls and four cameras, we went a bit crazy, what fun!

as you can see, i'm now the proud owner of a polaroid camera, which is so fabulous. unfortunately, at the moment there seems to be a technical problem with it (the button can't be fully pressed, it feels blocked), so i will have to take it to the polaroid shop to see what can be done. any ideas what it might be?

finally, i have a little belated goodie on behalf of this blog's third birthday earlier this month. would you leave me a comment, saying how long you've been reading, and which country you're from? i shall be drawing a winner next sunday, 29th january, and send you a little pack of bonanza espresso (yes, those are the white bags with the pink labels above). if you don't drink coffee, please just let me know, and i'll find something else for you if you win.

st. john hotel

before i went to the airport, i treated myself. it was a little late in the morning, so all the regular guests of the st. john hotel had already taken breakfast, and it was very quiet. i ordered the chestnut pancakes with poached quince, pears, and plums. and how absolutely wonderful they were. i've tried to recreate the pancakes, to no avail (i shall keep trying), but the quince i poached yesterday are quite magical.

p.s.: i just realise this must sound as if i stayed at the st. john - that's wishful thinking for you! i would have to find some money under my floorboards to do that, though. in fact, i always visit london to visit a dear friend, so it was breakfast at st. john, and a little bit of dreaming.

house on the hill

how beautiful it is to stand on a hill, looking over the big city.

i just realised that i haven't said thank you for all your suggestions regarding winter food, i loved reading your ideas!

london (part one)

earlier this month, there was a very short visit to london - i wish i had had more time, to meet more friends, to see more, to visit places. things being as they are, i enjoyed seeing a few very close friends, and caught the richter show at the tate just before it closed. no picture-taking in the exhibition itself, but a few behind-the-scene-shots nevertheless. it was a precious day.