i got a present on my birthday which made me go awwww… it was so simple, yet so sweet. it’s called vale+ amor, and it’s a book of vouchers, for me to use whenever i want…
… an unforgettable dinner…
… a weekend without schedules…
… or whatever love wants today :)
there are 10 different coupons, all brilliantly illustrated, ready to turn any day into a great one. isn’t it the sweetest thing?
yesterday, we had a quintessential german experience and rode a paternoster elevator. well, paulo rode it, because i was too chicken to give it a try… just looking at it go was making me all sweaty and anxious. if you don’t know what it is, watch the whole video below and behold the magic! :)
isn’t it awesome?! :D it was really exciting to finally see one actually working!
the paternoster is basically a cyclic elevator, consisting of a chain of compartments that move slowly in a loop without stopping.
they used to be somewhat common in europe, but have slowly been retired for security concerns. some people even say the elevator’s name, paternoster, comes from people praying for a safe ride :)
this one is located at the rathaus schöneberg (on the steps of which JFK proclaimed he was a berliner). the lady at the entrance was very helpful, and took my eager german attempts as an invitation to talk at length about the proper way to ride the elevator… i didn’t get most of it, but it was something like: go when it’s level. don’t hesitate. stand back. got it! in reality though, a never-stopping elevator is a bit more daunting than i had thought. granted, it’s slow, but still… while we were there, several people working at the town hall hopped in and out of it easily and smiled at our hesitation. i think i’ll go back someday and do it, but meanwhile, i’m happy to have seen it in person. who knows for how long they’ll still be around?
if you’re brave and in berlin, i’d highly recommend it! :)
i was given the lomokino last christmas and i immediately started shooting small clips with it. the shooting kept going sporadically for months… and strangely, the handle would just keep turning, seemingly ad infinitum… until i started to wonder if i had loaded it correctly… so last week i took it off and turned it in for developing.
and lo and behold, there was magic happening in tiny photography frames!
most of the roll was shot in winter and was underexposed, but i really like the bits i could salvage. i like how they’re somehow more than a photo, but not quite as complex as a video, and always with this old fashioned feeling… i can’t wait to see what else i can do with it! loading up the next roll right away :)
when i entered the goal “taste 30 new fruits” on my list, I didn’t know it would be so hard for new fruits to come by… in retrospect, i think it was probably naïve of me to think that i’d have a huge variety available within reach – i mean europe isn’t exactly known for having a lot of native fruits…
so i’ve decided to change the goal to “taste 30 different fruits or vegetables”, which should be somewhat more feasible. i’ve been getting a lot of unknown vegetables on our ökokiste, and it’s been a pleasure to discover and try them out. now, they count too!
meanwhile, he’s a couple of fruits i’ve found, that i hadn’t tried before:
golden kiwis. they taste a lot like the normal kiwis, but i seem smoother than their green counterparts.
and yellow watermelons… well, if we were to do a blind taste test, i don’t think i would have been able to tell a yellow watermelon from a red one – they taste exactly the same to me!
when i was in portugal earlier this month, my brother gave me a tour of the family’s new beehive (the previous one was hit by the varroa mite and couldn’t be salvaged). the tour was a little scary, but very informative! i’m afraid we spoke portuguese throughout the whole thing, but if you’ve ever wondered what the inside of a beehive looks like, here’s your chance to find out!
yes, i know, i make a lot of questions… and hyperventilate a little every now and then… we weren’t exactly planning on publishing the video with sound, but i think it’s a lot more interesting when you know what you’re looking at. :)
i’ve since learnt that ours is a lusitana hive, (a type of langstroth hive), with a brood box (brown bottom part, where the queen nests and bees are born) and honey super (top blue part, where the honey is stored). did you notice how hard it is for the frames to come out sometimes? that’s because of propolis, a resinous mixture that is collected by the bees and used for sealing gaps.
you can see how quiet and calm the bees are in the beginning – but that quickly changes when we get to the brood box, where the queen is.
i’m only now just learning about bees, but i find it fascinating (and a little scary, as you can probably see in the video). if all goes well, this christmas we should have a nice amount of honey to give away to the whole family :)