Category: weeknotes

two weeks in berlin! two very busy, very full weeks, with so much catching up with food and friends… two weeks is really not enough time to revisit a place you’ve lived in for a few years. we’ve been experimenting with work schedules and were still mostly trying to work full-time while we were there, so these were some very packed days.

– the first week was all work work work, writing up speeches and preparing for the german stamp event. the event itself had 2 parts and both went off without a hitch, thanks to the months of planning by our postcrossing friends. first there was a formal event with a state secretary and all the people involved in making the stamp, and a more informal event afterwards, with postcrossers. it was a brilliant day, with lots and lots of postcards and so many interesting conversations taking place! really happy to see this stamp come to life.

– after the event was done, it was time to eat our way around the city and catch up with our friends! the kids have grown quite a bit by now, and like to play tabletop games with us and tell us about their collections and adventures! it’s such a beautiful phase, this span of time between 5 and 8 years old — they’re alert and competitive and they want to know things!

– in a neighborhood that seems to have taken a bit of a turn for the worse, our favorite café is still going strong, and it makes me exceedingly happy. other things we ate included hot pot, cheesecake, bibimbap, burritos, spätzle and currywurst, pad thai and khao soi, fatteh and halloumi plates, veggie burgers, donuts (they’re everywhere these days!) and also few german christmas sweets, despite it still being october.

– stationery haul! we visited luiban, where i stocked up on some sticky notes, sarasa pens and midori’s double schedule, which i’d had my eye on for some time. every time we visit, i want to stay in the cozy embrace of this little shop for a long time.

– at the end of the week, we took a train to italy, where we’re staying to visit our friends. i’ve really missed the opportunity for long train rides that central europe offers. we live in such a far corner of the continent, but here everything seems relatively close and reachable by train. how lucky!

it feels like so long since i last posted! let’s see… what have we been up to?

– went to chefs on fire with friends and it was really nice! good food, good company, nice concerts and just the overall happiness of feeling like life is slowly resuming once more.

– after that, i took the train south to welcome the painters. part 2 of construction plans is to repair some cracks on the walls and give the outside of the house a paint job. i hope it’s going ok, and that we’ll be back to a fresh house that looks like new.

– another train ride north, and oh boy, was i sick on the train… i didn’t use to get sick like this, but i suspect wearing the FP2 masks for 7 hours straight really doesn’t help. still, better get sick on the train than catch covid and miss out on the holidays!

– the boy’s mom did a small surgery and one day later was home and off the painkillers. modern surgery is such an amazing thing, i will never not be amazed by and grateful for it.

– last week was pre-“world postcard day” week, and it was go! go! go! the whole week. there’s always so much to do on the last week of september, so much to prepare and write and people to poke… the day was a huge success though, and it feels like it’s getting bigger and bigger every year, with more people participating and talking about it. it’s really nice to see your work rally people with so much enthusiasm for postcards.

– and then, on the last day of week 39, we flew to berlin! hurray for being back in the city in the middle of autumn, probably my favourite season to be here. the air is fresh but not cold yet, and everywhere we look, the trees and vines are doing their colorful dance, yellows and reds everywhere. this coming week will be a lot of work… but i’m happy to be doing it here, in a place where i can see old friends, eat food from different places and just explore. :)

– after 40 years of washing my face with soap, i talked to a dermatologist about my intermittent acne and now i have a skincare routine of sorts. i don’t have high hopes, but it feels fun to be trying something new!

– we had a fun game night late last week, and our friends brought over an unexpected gift of locally grown mangoes. they were amazingly delicious, and i hope our tiny mango tree will one day grow into something that produces mangoes as delicious as these. :D

– this week was the mediterranean diet fair, the biggest event in the town’s calendar. it’s really nice to see people out and about again, watching some outdoor concerts (mariza, moçoilas and a bit of jorge palma), stocking on gifts for friends, and to enjoy this end of summer buzz, the mixed joy and sorrow of the last days wearing shorts and sandals.

– we’re packing for 7 weeks away, give or take — weeks that will include both formal events in berlin, and hiking in the alps. we might have been a bit optimistic when we thought we could pack it all in a 20kg suitcase…

– the parents came over for a week, in their usual whirlwind of activity. :) there was much love, DIY and gardening, long walks, fruit from their farm and home cooked meals.

– the first bit of construction finished at long last, just in time to have the hot water switched on again on the day the parents arrived. pfeww! it sure feels nice to have warm showers again, after one month of cold ones!

– two new postcrossing stamps were announced, and they’re lovely!

– we booked a trip to germany to attend the german stamp launch, which will be in berlin. really excited to see this much awaited stamp come to life, and to see friends again as well! a bit less excited to fly and be among a large group of people… we’ll see how it goes.

– afterwards, we’ll take the train to italy, to catch up with our friends in what will be the first proper vacation in ages. i can’t wait to see them again, and also to catch a glimpse of autumn in central europe, always so nice!

– everybody seems to be watching the sandman on netflix these days, but awhile ago i started listening to the audio recreation of it, and it is outstanding. neil gaiman’s narration is impeccable as always, but the whole cast and the sound effects are unlike any other audiobook i’ve heard before (closer perhaps to an audio drama). i mostly hear audiobooks when i’m cleaning or moderating addresses, which is not a lot of time every week, and this book makes me wish for more boring tasks.

– we watched la odisea de los giles (heroic losers, in english) and we liked it a lot! also watched the classic uproar in heaven, one of journey to the west stories, which i found interesting. you can see so much of the peking opera music, moves and visuals in it! it’s almost hard to believe that the animation industry in china was practically destroyed a few years after this movie came out (thanks to the cultural revolution), and it would take decades for it to recover.

– the construction is not yet over, but almost — at least this first part. the tiles are where they are supposed to go, and now only a few finishing touches are left. we’ll be happy to be rid of this huge thing to-do on our list. next project: painting the house.

– the local handicrafts fair was on last week, and we visited it on a couple of days to eat some sausage and pizza bread, and stock on handmade gifts for friends. one of the days we even walked the 6kms to town at the end of the day and came back by train.

– we went to seville to meet some (new) friends. talking to them about their projects was great and eating some pastries is always nice, but the city was sweltering hot, like walking into an oven. i want to go back for a longer period of time, outside the summer heat.

– we saw a bit of salvador sobral and also rita redshoes’ concerts. it’s very much peak summer now, the town is filled with people and you can almost feel everyone’s relief at being past the worst of the pandemic.

– this year’s world postcard day postcard is out, and the design is super cute. :)

– sometimes we go through the recipe books we have to find new recipes to try, and on one of these passes we decided to make some dalgona coffee, which apparently was all the rage online some years ago. the texture is interesting, and it’s amazing how you can get it just by beating instant coffee with sugar and water… like magic!

– finished the last bookshop in london, it was a quick and light read, despite the heavy theme of the blitz in london. my (metaphorical, because half of them are in the kindle) book pile is growing quite tall this year, but i’m happy about reading a bit more than in previous years. i recently realized i’ve had my kindle for over 10 years now, and it’s still doing a great job!