Kusi, Eric and Finn in Berlin

Japan revisited

2010-05-10T18:47:00.006+01:00

It was a year ago now that myself and Eric had our big trip to Japan. Maybe it was the arrival (and departure) of the cherry-blossoms here, but I have been thinking about it a lot lately. I just had a look at our photos from our trip and remembered what a great time we had. Anyway, I decided to compile a small photo slideshow of some of the best moments of the trip, which included meeting my family, visiting Kyoto and Tokyo, staying at a Buddhist monastery and seeing our friends Kanako and Hitoshi. We did so much in the three weeks that we were there, but even then we still felt like we could have done another couple of weeks. I suppose that's the best way to leave a country, wanting more. Eric pronounced his visit to Japan his 'best holiday ever!' We will definitely be back.

Beetroot Brownies

2010-05-04T11:06:00.007+01:00

Yes, you read right. These beauties were a baking experiment. Not my own recipe but one I borrowed from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, the chef of River Cottage fame. Anyway, he is known for his super strange but delicious recipes and this one caught my eye. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but these came out really moist and decadent. In fact, I think that is the main thing the beetroot lent to the brownies - moisture and also a faint pink hue. They were particularly good chilled for a while in the fridge. A number of people tasted it and they all gave it the thumbs up. And no, no-one could taste the beetroot. It tells you something about the trust that my friends in Berlin have in me, when they happily munch away on my baked goods even though I tell them said baked goods have very strange "secret ingredient" with mischievous glint in my eyes. Thank you kind guinea pigs! My adventures in baking continue with your help.

Chocolate and Beetroot Brownies

Ingredients

• 250g/10oz good, dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
• 250g/ 10oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing
• 250g/10oz caster sugar
• 3 free-range eggs
• 150g self-raising flour (can use wholemeal self-raising, I used 550 flour)
• 250g of beetroot, boiled until tender, peeled and grated

Method: How to make chocolate and beetroot brownies

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease a baking tin of approximately 20x30x3cm and line the bottom with baking parchment.
2. Break up the chocolate into pieces, cut the butter into cubes then mix them up a bit in a heatproof bowl. As the oven begins to warm up, put the bowl onto one of the shelves for a few minutes until the chocolate and butter starts to melt. Stir, and put back into the oven for a few more minutes to melt completely.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until combined, then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. Gently fold in the flour then the beetroot – be careful not to overmix or it will make the brownies tough.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth over the top with a spatula. Bake for about 20 minutes. A knife or skewer pushed into the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Don't be tempted to overcook them! Remove the tin from the oven and leave on wire rack to cool before cutting into squares.

Eric's new video

2010-05-02T10:03:00.003+01:00

This is Eric's new video for his song 'Lost'. It was shot in and around Berlin on the S-Bahn. They had a great time making the video and I think it turned out great. It's already got a review from a music-blog in Ireland and has been viewed in a number of countries including Canada, Australia, Norway and Japan.

Just so you know, that is not me, as the love interest, in the video (some people think it looks like me). But, I do have a small cameo appearance at around 22 seconds standing to the left of the screen. I think my official title is Girl in Green Coat.

Hope you enjoy!

Mary and Brian's visit

2010-04-20T10:41:00.006+01:00

So we just had a lovely visit with Mary and Brian. It was great to see some of our American family as it's been too long since we have been there last. We still managed to pack quite a few things into the three days they were here, though with all we wanted to show them, and with all they wanted to see they could have been here for a week at least. Though it was still quite cold here we got a lot of sightseeing done and I'm posting some of the photos that we took. Above are Eric, Brian and Mary at the base of the Fernsehturm at Alexanderplatz.

This is Eric and Mary at the fountain in front of the Rathaus (Town Hall).

Both Brian and Eric were in full posing form. Above is Brian showing the goat the horns of rock.

This is Eric with the famous Marx and Engels statues. He seems to like Engels better - Henry would be pleased.

This is Brian cowering in the "crotch of Communism" - Eric's words, not mine.

This is Mary and Eric walking in a tunnel underneath the Spree.

This is Brian in the DDR Museum, driving a Trabi, the East German car.

This is Eric reenacting the scorpion scene from Flash Gordon. Luckily it's only a bag of coffee beans.
Those two wee people to the right are myself and Mary walking in front of the Reichstag.

This is Eric and Brian in the dome at the top of the Reichstag.

To the right, beside the woman in pink, is Mary, in the dome of the Reichstag.

After all our sightseeing, Mary and Brian stopped off for some delicious crepes and ice-cream (we helped). This is Brian in post-Eis bliss, getting his back massaged by the funky plastic seat tubing.

So just some photos to give you a flavour of the visit. What we didn't get photos of were the fantastic cakes that we ate, the fabulous hats that were bought (by Mary) and the many beers that were drank. I do hope that it captured some of the fun that we had though. Truth be told it was like a mini-holiday for myself and Eric.

Thanks for the visit Mary and Brian!

Pomelo! Pomelo! Pomelo!

2010-03-25T18:56:00.006Z

Meet my new fruit of the day, Monsieur Pomelo. I had never seen one before and they suddenly appeared in the supermarket a couple of months ago. (I got Eric to take a photo of it beside my head so you could get a sense of the size of it. It ain't small, that's for sure! Note the hungry glint in the eyes!) Anyway, since then it seems I have eyes for no other fruit. I am a woman obsessed (so much so I decided to blog on its tastiness)! So what does it taste like, I hear you ask. Well, it is somewhere between an orange and a grapefruit, basically like a sweet grapefruit.

It has this thick pith...

...but inside it is supremely juicy and tasty. And that's it. Not much more to say other than ooh Mr Pomelo, I love you, I do!

Happy Paddy's Day!

2010-03-20T19:59:00.003Z

This brief blog is a belated Happy Paddy's Day to you all. This is the longest I've been away from Ireland - I haven't been back since October 2008! - and every now and then I still do miss things about home. Mainly the people and their wit, but also things like the beautiful Irish countryside and the way everyone speaks English (though I do find myself speaking Irish every now and then, usually when I'm trying to speak German)! Anyway, the film above kind of tickled me so I thought I would share. Big love to everyone, but especially those of you in Ireland!

Eric's Album Launch

2010-03-19T17:20:00.012Z

So it was finally the night of the launch Eric's album, here in Berlin. After weeks of preparation, rehearsing and baking (see cookies and brownies above) - we were ready. We had the launch at a cool cafe near us called Cafe Hilde, which is owned and run by an Irish guy. They have music every Friday night there. It also is very relaxed and chilled out and so seemed the perfect venue for the launch.

It was a sit-down acoustic performance and I have to say that Eric was in top form. He was also lucky to be joined by several talented musicians we know here in Berlin...

...which included Shaun Mulrooney, brother of our friend Dee from Ireland, Tom Fanore, Cameron Wilson and co-producer and friend Fab Leseure.

Our friend Nina Hynes also sang with Eric on the song 'Running'. This beautiful song is a favourite of many of our friends from the album.

We were expecting about twenty to thirty people to come on the night and we ended up with about sixty or seventy. It made it a bit difficult for those in the back to hear as the place was packed out. But those who could hear seemed to really enjoy it.

This is a photo of Yael, the youngest member of the Eric Eckhart fan club.

This is a photo of me minding the video camera, with our friend Roula.

This is Yael again hanging out with her Papa, Nijen. Slightly blurred to the left is our friend Jonathan who also wrote a lovely blog on the launch.

All in all it was a fabulous night. We both said that it couldn't have turned out any better. We wish of course we could have had some of our American friends and family there too, but we felt you there in spirit. Thanks everyone for making it such a great night and a wonderful celebration of Eric's new album.

Eric's video

2010-02-09T21:30:00.002Z

After much hard work Eric has finally released the first single from his new album 'This is where it starts'. For those of you who haven't seen the new video for 'Happy' here it is! Every time I see this video I makes me smile. We had such a great time making it. Also, there are funny little things like Eric's dancing and of course the swallowing of the feather. I also think it's funny that Eric looks a bit Asian around the eyes. They say that some couples end up looking like each other and maybe it's true (though Eric says it is just the bright lights)! Either way, I think it's a great video. We hope you do too!

Joe's Visit

2010-01-15T08:11:00.002Z

I know it's about three months late but I finally got around to doing something with the nice photos we had of Joe's visit (most were Joe's, who had many, MANY!, fantastic shots of his journey around Germany, and some were mine). Anyway, it's do with my small, okay, not-so-small, addiction to a thing called imovie. It's a software that comes with my mac that lets me make movies. Yes, this is true! And it's one of these super easy-to-use softwares that makes you feel like a genius because really you never thought you could make something like a movie before. At least, that's how it makes me feel!

Anyways, below is the finished product. I had great fun making it. And best of all, it brought back lots of lovely memories of Joe's visit. I hope it also gives those of you who are thinking of visiting a taste of Berlin. Also, it's so weird looking out at the snow here and seeing the sunshine in the photos. I'm at that stage of winter where it's hard to imagine warmth and sun. It's good to remember that it does happen here in Berlin! Hope you like it. (If you are having problems viewing it, Eric recommends going to Youtube to see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQdoV20UEqM)

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T18:26:00.004Z

Ah the first blog of 2010! A new year is finally here, along with a good few inches of snow and many resolutions (one of which of course is to write more blogs!). First off, a very happy new year to you all! Myself and Eric have been thinking about all our friends and family this Christmas and wishing we could have been with you all to celebrate it.

We still managed to have a grand ol' time and to expand our waistlines. We also had a nice New Year's Eve, which was spent having dinner with Eric's American friend Thomas who is over visiting. We also had some sups of bubbly and played a few rounds of Rummy. Then our German friend Sandra called in and convinced us to venture out to see the fireworks.

Now for those of you who don't know Berlin, this city on New Year's Eve is completely firework crazy and if you are in the wrong area it can be like a war zone. After last year, trying to dodge missile bangers and wading our way through clouds of smoke, I had planned spend the countdown cowering behind our sofa.

However after some persuading at the last minute I decided to try my luck and ventured out. This was all made possible by my earplugs, which actually succeeded in blocking out much of the noise. (When it comes to loud noises I'm pretty much like a cat and tend to jump out my skin). Anyway we walked down the road to Hackescher Markt by the river and I was able to withstand the celebrations without having a heart-attack.

We didn't stay out long, just half an hour or so but I got some good video footage with my camera. I have to say I do like the colourful bright sparkly kind of fireworks and we were lucky to see much of it. I made a small movie below for you all, and I hope you get a taste of what New Year's Eve is like in Berlin. Lots of love!

New Album Teaser Video

2009-11-03T10:08:00.003Z

First off, I have re-vamped my music website. Please have a look when you have some time - www.ericeckhart.com.

While my producer Fabien Leseure meticulously worked on mixing the song called "Big Lie" on Sunday, I walked around the studio and its grounds with my MacBook filming the surroundings with the built-in iSight camera.

The studio is part of the Funkhaus which used to be the main radio station for communist East Germany. It is located in old East Berlin along the river Spree. Built in the 1950's, it has amazing sounding rooms, untouched from that era, but the outside is quite run down and edgy.

Using the video I shot and photos from Dave Hingerty and Kusi, I put together this video to give you a sense of the flavor of the place where my new album, This is where it starts, was made.

I fully enjoyed my time recording and mixing here. The place is choke full of history and has a strong personality that comes through its peeling paint and beautifully crafted wood panels.

Lastly, I wanted to preview some of the songs on the new album. First up in the video is "Happy", then "I Saw A Light", followed by "Lost", "Open Up", "I'm Gone" and finally "From Whence I Came".

Here it is:

Lüneburg

2009-10-01T14:00:00.025+01:00

As far as we know, in 1847 Henry Eckhard, his wife Anna Elizabeth and their five children left their town of Lüneburg, then part of the Kingdom of Hannover and got on a ship in the city of Bremen headed for a new life in America landing in Baltimore. Last Saturday, Joe and I took a three hour train journey to Lüneburg, the first time since 1847 an ancestor of Henry had returned to the city.

The city has a population of about 70,000 but it felt like a small town as the Alt Stadt or Old Town is the focal point of the city and was all we had time to visit. Luckily, it remained mostly unscathed by the bombings in WWII so much of its 13th-15th century buildings remain.

As we entered the town, I was struck firstly by the beauty of the Ilmenau river that flows through it, shaded by weeping willows and other trees.

Our first stop was in St Johannis church which was built in the 1300's and was stunningly beautiful. It is possible that our ancestors worshiped, married and were baptized in this, the largest church in the city.

It was a good deal of emotion and a sense of pride that we entered and walked around the Alt Stadt taking in one of the most beautiful and well preserved old town centers I have seen in Germany.

We went to the gorgeous Rathaus, the current city hall which is where the friendly tourist information office is located. From there we strolled the old town center and made our way to the main beer brew pub in the town.

The brew pub is only 10 years old, but the building was centuries old and again I couldn't help thinking that our ancestors might have drank in this very building. So, with that in mind, Joe and I hoisted our steins of locally brewed bier and toasted the Eckhards!

A leisurely walk towards the end of the Alt Stadt was capped again by the sheer beauty of the buildings we gawked at and a double scoop of some of the best gelato ice cream I have had in Germany. Then it was back on the train for the trip back to Berlin.

It was a great experience and one that I was very happy to have shared with Joe as we both had visited the village in Sicily where Mom's father and his family came from as well.

There are many unanswered question about our German ancestors so Kusi and I plan to visit Lüneburg to do research at their extensive records archive to try to find more definitive information on the Eckhards of Lüneburg. Until then...

34

2009-09-23T20:39:00.013+01:00

Yay! I, somehow, managed to sort out a video uploading problem so am now able to present my birthday blog. Yes, ladies and gentles, I am now officially 34. I knew that this day would come and it turned out to be a very pleasant experience. On Sunday morning myself and Eric indulged in one of our favourite activities, Sunday brunch, in a middle-Eastern restaurant we like just up the road from us. For those of you who are interested we had a choice, from, an all-you-can eat buffet (we were thinking of you Steve!), of different roasted and marinated vegetables, different dips, meats, cheese, bread, eggs (scrambled, boiled), as well as fruit and cake. It was, according to Eric's official food grading, very delicious.

Eric with Niko

Then we rested up before our main event of the day - a football match (that's soccer to my American relatives), Hertha BSC Berlin versus Freiburg, at Olympiastadion. We met up with our friend Tom and his son Niko (4). Tom is from the south of Germany and his team is Freiburg so we were there to cheer the minority. Both Hertha and Freiburg are bottom of the Bundesliga (the German first divison) but being a home game for Hertha, Tom didn't have much expectation.

The Olympiastadion is pretty impressive. It is the original building from the 1936 "Nazi" Olympics where Jesse Owens angered Hitler by winning 4 gold medals. The building's architecture has a real Nazi feel to it with some strange statues of presumably Ayrian athletes around the place.

Anyway, to the match. There was a good sized crowd there considering it wasn't a major game. Tom got us great seats, right in the middle and down near the pitch. We were right beside the area where the hard-core fans were (see video at bottom) so we could enjoy the atmosphere but not have to be near any of the ruckus. The fans have a good enough reputation, though Tom was pointing out some flags of local fanclubs as being facist, basically skinheads in Hertha gear.

Tom and Niko and lego set

However as you can see our section was nice and safe. I think the game was a bit much for Niko, but he played happily with his lego and was particularly excited about getting an ice-cream at half-time. We had a great time as the match ended up being pretty thrilling. Freiburg scored easily in the first 5 minutes and went on to thrash Hertha 4-0. It was the worst beating that Hertha had for a long time. For some reason though the hard-core fans were not deterred and continued singing for the whole match.

Which leads me nicely to the video. I really wanted to capture the atmosphere of the place - the sound from the fans was pretty amazing. Two things to look out for - first the kid bopping away and second the scoreboard. These fans are cheering away while their team is down 2 goals!!! Anyway, enjoy this taste of football in Berlin. We certainly did. It was a great way to celebrate turning 34.

PS Sorry, put up the wrong video the first time.

Lost in Translation

2009-09-05T08:31:00.005+01:00

Staying on the theme of language, one of the most frustrating, and also most funny things, about being an English speaker in a non-English speaking country are the regular misunderstandings and miscommunication in our daily conversations. With our muddled German and with German people's muddled English, often with some kind of muddled sign language mixed in, we find ourselves regularly having strange and wonderful conversations that leave us scratching our heads.

The instances have been so many that it's hard to think about it now. The first that comes to mind is the time we went to a friend's gig and got talking to a woman who I thought was the hairdresser of small dogs. She was in fact in a hairdresser, but she had been trying to excuse herself from the conversation by telling us that she didn't like 'small talk'.

Often there is just misunderstanding through mispronounciation. When the weather was hot here during August I learnt a new German word 'schwül', which means 'humid'. Which can be very easily confused, if your lips aren't puckered enough when pronouncing it, with the word 'schwul' which means 'gay'.

One of the hardest things for a German speaker is the pronounciation of the letter 'w'. I was once talking to a German friend who has had bad luck in love and was feeling cynical about men and meeting Mr Right. I was saying how hard it is to make oneself vulnerable and open to another person when one is feeling wary. She said 'wunerable, wunerable. Agh! I can't even pronounce this word.'

Or sometimes the translation just comes out sounding funny. I was commenting on the full moon to my new friend Sibylle and she said 'oh yes, I feel so furry'!

Anyway, this is all par for the course with living in Berlin. And very entertaining it is too. I will leave you with a popular ad here in Germany for Berlitz, which shows the perils of mistranslation.

New old video

2009-09-04T10:17:00.007+01:00

Hi all. Sorry for the slowness in blogging lately. I was digging through some of my stuff here in Berlin and came across a video that our friend Emma had done for me a few years back. It was used for some of my gigs. I would have it projected behind me as a played a couple of songs for added effect.

I decided to edited it down as it was 10 minutes long and use it as a video for "This Long Goodbye" from my last CD. I posted it on Wednesday on YouTube and Facebook and good a lot of lovely comments. It is meant to tie people over until the new album is ready, hopefully at the end of this month.

Emma shot this video on 8mm film in four locations in Dublin including Heuston Station which is the main train station in Dublin if you are traveling to the West and South of Ireland.

So, here it is - drum roll................

Back by popular demand

2009-09-04T09:43:00.017+01:00

Word has reached me through the grapevine that a new blog is long overdue, and well, yes, how true this is! After 90 or so blogs I was needing a bit of a break. But I'm back now, not with a blog on our summer in Berlin (which was busy and fun), but with a blog on something that has been on my mind for the last while - linguistic lubricants.

Let me elaborate. Basically in the last year or so, on our travels and in my attempts to learn a new language, I've discovered that every language seems to have a phrase or word that the locals use more or less all the time. It's usually sprinkled in among the conversation, not quite as a filler as much as to help the conversation along.

In my cultural investigations I have come up with three examples of this, from Germany, Japan and Ireland (but of course!).

EXAMPLE No. 1 - The German 'Genau' (pronounced 'ge-now')
This is something every foreigner who comes to Germany seems to notice, the German use of the word 'genau'. If you eavesdrop on any conversation here in Berlin (which I kind of like doing) you are bound to hear this word at least once, if not ten times. They absolutely love it. The literal translation is 'exactly'. Germans when speaking English will often say 'yes, of course', which is the same thing. It can come across as sounding condescending in this translation, but it's not meant that way at all. It is really an affirmation, a way of saying 'hey, we are on the same wavelength', kind of like 'you, got it!' or 'right!'

EXAMPLE No.2 - The Japanese 'Ne'
Japanese people really use this word alot. When we were in Japan in April I pointed it out to Eric, he really was amazed by how it was used. The meaning changes depending on how you say it. If said with an upturn in tone at the end it means 'isn't it? or 'right?' If said just normally it means 'right'. So, for example, you might mention how hot it is by saying 'atsui, ne?' and to agree with you the person will nod and say 'ne!' And this can go on and on so that in the end you get a lot of 'ne'ing, which is kind of funny. But hey, it works!

EXAMPLE No.3 - The Irish 'Janey Mackers'
Actually this isn't really a conversation lubricant as much as a really Irish phrase. In fact, I think it might be a country-Irish phrase, and I, for one, love it! It also comes in the shorter, plainer Janey Mack form, though I have been known to lengthen it to 'Janey Mack Attack'(!) I actually didn't realise that I used it that much until my German friend Sandra asked me one day 'what is this Janey Mackers you speak of?' For those of you who don't know, it means 'wow!' or 'gosh!'

So next time you want to sound like a local (from Germany, Japan or Ireland) or you just want to bring a little multicultural flair to the conversation why not try one of the above? If someone surprises you, give a good old 'Janey Mackers!' or if want to agree with someone just nod and say 'genau' or 'ne'.

So those are my thoughts for today! Hope all of you are well!

Also, if any of you have any other examples, thoughts etc, please post in the comments section.

Finished recording my new album

2009-08-09T21:13:00.007+01:00

Me in the recording studio. These photos were taken by my drummer for the album, Dave Hingerty.

After 14 days in the studio and a few extra at my producer's (Fabien Leseure) apartment, the new album is finally finished recording. We will begin the final mixing in about a week. But, we had done rough mixes of each song as we finished them over the last few weeks. I had passed on taking the rough mixes home to listen to, waiting instead until they were all finished to then take them home and listen as a whole album in the track order I had in mind.

I play a lot of electric guitar on the new album. Notice the Russian sign above my head.

So a couple of weeks ago, I sat with my MacBook and headphones and had a good listen. Keep in mind, some of these songs I haven't heard in nearly three weeks and had forgotten exactly how they sounded.

Me and Fabien in the studio. He is setting up my vocal microphone.

My first reaction was lots of smiles and a sense that we had achieved something very special for this album. It was more than I could have hoped for and a joy to listen to. These songs are my babies, so it was with a lot of pride, a good dose of humility and a huge nod to my producer that I was so thrilled listening to them take off and fly and come into their own. Can't wait to share them with you!

There was a lovely upright piano in the studio, that belongs to Fabien's partner Nina Hynes, that I played on one song and Fabien played on a number of songs.

Sounds of the city

2009-06-29T19:15:00.023+01:00

Well, I am now back from my retreat in the German countryside where I spent ten days cycling, walking, sitting looking out the window, writing and sleeping. That sounds like I was quite active but to tell the truth a lot of that time was spent indoors. It was a bit intense at times being on my own for that long and having all that time to think. It really was quite the psychological detox. How and ever, I came back to Berlin feeling really good and with a renewed appreciation for life in the city, though a big part of my heart still loves the countryside.

While I was in Stolzenhagen I got a real kick out of taking in all the sounds around me, just things that I would never hear in the city. Most of it was animal sounds, otherwise the place was pretty quiet. There was some funny ones like the donkeys who belonged to the woman downstairs, who sounded uncannily like a group of heavy smokers having a good laugh. We also passed a sheep that Eric said sounded like Kathleen burping. Must have been something in the grass.

Anyway, having returned to Berlin I have taken my ultra sensitive hearing with me. There is, of course, the ever-present noise of traffic. It's like a distant hum that quietens down at night. But there are lots of other sounds which I am finding quite endearing such as the opera singer across the road who sings in the late afternoon and the little girl in the next apartment block who practices her violin. There is also a constant stream of people going to and from the park beside of us, parents and kids mostly, sometimes happy, sometimes not. And there are also a lot of birds around here, probably because of all the trees, some who mimic car-alarms and some who just plain tweet. I think I am enjoying all these sounds because it is just a reminder of all the bustling life around me, which is really summertime in Berlin.

Taking a Break

2009-06-15T15:20:00.012+01:00

Tomorrow we are off to the apartment of a friend of mine, Liz, out in east Brandenburg, out by the German-Polish border and I have to say that I can't wait. After nearly a year and a half in the city, and after months and months of saying 'let's go to the countryside' we are finally getting to ditch the bright lights of Berlin for greener and more importantly, quieter surroundings.

Liz's apartment is in the sleepy 'dorf' or village of Stolzenhagen. There are about 200 people as far as I know and a large part of that is a co-operative made up mainly of artists. My friend Liz is American and also happens to be a wonderful artist and performer. In fact she originally visited Stolzenhagen when she took part in a dance festival there a few years ago.

Now herself and her husband have an apartment in the village in the old schoolhouse (pic above), which they kindly offered to us while she is in Berlin having her baby (she is at this moment one week overdue).

Anyway, we are so looking forward to taking our break from city life, I think me in particular. Having grown up in the countryside I go through stages when, if I am away from it for too long, I get cravings for forest and fields and peace and quiet. Eric is actually coming back to Berlin for a week to record his album while I stay on in Stolzenhagen. I plan not to do too much, maybe just some reading, writing and mainly staring out the window at the wonderful green view and breathing in the fresh countryside air.

A Little Bit of the Middle-East in Berlin

2009-06-08T08:45:00.022+01:00

Aha, another food post at last! As you all know, it's never far from our minds. Anyway, one of the foods that we have taken a fancy to here in Berlin is Middle-Eastern food. Germany has a big Turkish population and luckily for us they have brought their cuisine with them. The most popular dish in Berlin by far is the doner kebab. Now available around the world, this dish varies from country to country. In Germany, this is a minced meat compressed and cooked on an enormous skewer-like thing-a-majig, then sliced and put in a thick flatbread with salad and covered with a yogurt and also a spicy sauce. The Germans love it so much apparently they eat 2-3 metric tonnes of it a day which adds up to about €1.5 billion a year. That's a lot of doner. Eric loves it and often gets doner-cravings.

Me, I have to say I prefer the other vegetarian Middle-Eastern "sandwiches", those stuffed with grilled halloumi (a type of cheese, which Eric doesn't like 'cause he says it's too squeaky!) or falafel. It was while eating Falafel in pita-bread that I though to myself 'I could make this!' So we tried it out at home. First I scoured the internet and found recipes for both the falafel and the pita bread. The falafel were made by grinding together chickpeas, onions, garlic, and a load of herbs and spices. I made them into small bite-size patties (see top pic), and then fried them.

I then made up the pita-bread dough, which Eric kneaded and divided up. They were then rolled out and let rise and then popped in the oven.

They puffed up so nicely in the oven. It was so exciting to see!

Then when it was done and out of the oven we stuffed the pitas with the falafels, lettuce, tomato and hummus. Oh boy oh boy, the joy of eating something that you make yourself. Eric thinks he looks mental in this photo but I think he just looks like he is really enjoying our homemade falafel in pita-bread. (Okay, maybe just the teeny-tiniest bit mental - it's all in the eyes!)

PS I'm not posting the recipes as they are both really long (but not complicated) but if you want them just let me now and I'll email them to you.

Checking out Kobe

2009-06-05T07:38:00.022+01:00

Oh my God! Are we going to be reading about Kusi and Eric's trip to Japan forever I hear you asking yourselves. And the answer is yes, yes, you probably are! This is going to be like one of those very long holiday slideshows, which people inflict on their friends and family, except mine is blog-stylee. This is because I keep looking at our Japan photos and thinking 'I must do a blog on that, and that, and that'. The options for blogs on Japan are many. In fact so much so that it's hard to decide which part of the trip to pick, so I end up doing nothing. Boo.

Anyway, here is an installment about our stay in Kobe. On one of the days we just decided to get in as many sights as possible. We started with the earthquake museum (pic above). Japan lies just where a number of continental plates meet and therefore is an earthquake territory. It has a couple of minor quakes every day. Most don't register that high on the Richter scale but in 1995 Kobe suffered a massive one in which 5,000 people died.

The museum was fascinating with an introductory virtual earthquake which is very convincing and pretty scary. It wasn't the may west (for my American relatives that is Irish rhyming slang for best) for a migraine sufferer so I cheated and kept my eyes closed for most of it, and was still impressed! They also had a number of English-speaking volunteers that talked to us about earthquake prevention. All in all, definitely worth the visit.

Right beside this was a sake brewery with a museum showing the intricate sake-making process. Seriously, when it comes to sake brewing the Japanese don't mess around. The sake is distilled from rice and can be drank either hot or cold and is pretty potent. It became Eric's official drink of our trip. The brewery gave us free samples (one of Eric's favourite things) and I have to say it was quite delicious.

They also dressed Eric up and let me take a photo of him in full sake-drinking get-up. Doesn't Eric look super happy with that big bottle. Pity it was just for the photo - they took it back after.

After the sake brewery we felt like a trip up into the hills behind Kobe via cable-car to check out the views over the city.

On our way back we walked around the area in Kobe where a number of foreign residents settled at the end of the 19th century. I can't remember what the area was called but knowing Japan it was probably called 'Foreign Town', or something like that. The houses of the residents have been renovated and are open to the public. We particularly liked this one (this is for you Ben!). The travel site describes this as "former house of Ben, an English hunter, and where fierce and rare animals he hunted (e.g. a huge polar bear and a moose) are displayed". It made me wonder what would be written about our place if was on a tourist trail. I don't think we are going to be a major attraction any time soon!

Anyway, speaking of hunting, we ended our day eating at a 'kaiten' sushi place, which is a restaurant in which the sushi sits on a revolving belt and you just pick which plate looks the tastiest. This kind of dining brings out the hunter in me because you spot something and you have to grab it before it goes past you and some other customer gets it instead. It's very easy to overeat at a place like this, though we managed to be relatively restrained. Surprising eh?

We both enjoyed our stay in Kobe and found it particularly good as a base to visit my family. It also had the best food that we saw on our trip. However, next time (!) we reckon we would spend just a day or two instead of six or seven. The reason was that as with most Japanese cities Kobe is super westernised so by the end of our time there we were ready to see a more traditional Japan, which luckily we did.

Before I sign off, the never-ending blogs on Japan was a joke by the way. Breathe sigh of relief! However there will probably be a couple more, interpersed with some foodie blogs and tales from Berlin.

The Japanese hi-tech experience

2009-05-21T12:51:00.006+01:00

This is a blog about the everyday technology that we experienced in Japan. You may be asking yourselves why I've posted a photo of toilet then. Well, that is because this is a picture of no ordinary toilet but a hi-tech Japanese toilet. Yes, this baby is a called a "Western" toilet in Japan but unlike the ones over here, it comes with many trimmings. These include a pre-warmed seat, a bidet, a dryer and a noise-canceller (this makes noises like birds singing to drown out the noise of your "business"). These toilets are pretty much everywhere - you can see them in bars, restaurants, department stores and also in people's homes. The toilet experience was a firm favourite of Eric's, who could spend hours happily pressing buttons.

Transport in Japan is very hi-tech. The trains like the Shinkansen or "Bullet" trains not only look super-cool but are some of the fastest in the world, going up to speeds of nearly 190 miles per hour. Even the ordinary metro trains in the city are incredibly efficient. They precision park at the platform so that people can queue beforehand in orderly lines (which they do in Japan). They are known for their punctuality. I've heard that if you want to prove you were late for work because of the train, that you have to get a note from the train station saying the train was late, or else your workplace won't believe you. Eric liked how the Tokyo metro had a screen in each carriage that showed you position of the stairs, escalators and exits of the platform of station you are arriving at. I suppose this kind of efficiency is pretty necessary when you are dealing with the massive numbers of people as you are in Japan. Shinjuku station in Tokyo has 3.6 million people going in and out of it every day!!!

We were impressed with the hi-techness (is this a real word?) of everyday people's homes, like in our friends' Hitoshi and Kanako's home in Osaka. As well as the hi-tech toilets, they had a computerised bath which they could set in the kitchen. Basically they pushed a button when they wanted a bath. The bath would then fill itself to whatever temperature you set it to. To give you a bit of time to get ready, the computer would announce in the kitchen "Your bath will be ready in 5 minutes". Then five minutes later - "Your bath is now ready"!!! No toggling with the hot and cold taps. Just one press of a button and hey presto, you have a perfect bath.

Lastly, I was particularly impressed by their kitchen shelves which were designed for a vertically-challenged person like myself. Our friends thought this was pretty funny that we liked their shelves so much, but see for yourselves in above video and watch in awe!

Our week in Kobe: meeting the family

2009-05-05T06:17:00.026+01:00

One the main reasons for choosing to go to Japan this year was to see my family. It had been nearly 9 years since I had seen my family in Japan! Also my grannie (Obaachan) is 88 now and the last couple of years has been in a home. She's very healthy mentally but can't walk because of one her legs and has needed extra care. Anyway, myself and Eric talked about it and it just felt like there was no time like the present, especially if Eric wanted to meet my Obaachan.

So on the Saturday we met my Ojichan (my uncle) and my Obachan (my auntie) and my cousin Nobuo in Kobe. They all live in different areas, some in outer Kobe, one near Osaka and Kyoto, but Kobe is a good middle point between everyone. Then we went to visit Obaachan. Boy, was she excited about our visit! She had a photo of myself and Eric by her bed so she knew what Eric looked like already. She was very keen to show him off to the other people in the home. Not only for his dashing good looks, of course, but also they don't get many Western visitors at the home so she felt extra special! Eric ended up wheeling her around for a while in her wheelchair as she non-chalently exclaimed to whoever passed by - 'these are my visitors from Ireland'! She was totally in her element.

It was lovely to see her and to see her in such good form. The woman has got a lot of oomph! Japan has so many elderly people - as a people they really live a long time. My grannie is the youngest in the room she shares. The oldest person is over 100. Obaachan says it makes for very loud and long conversations as most of them are hard of hearing and they are always having to yell at each other across the room.

Later that evening we met up with my other cousin Muneo, his lovely wife Hisako and their kids Yuusuke (4) and Manami (6). As you can see from the pic above they are super cute.

We had a really nice (and big!) Chinese meal with them all. We opted for Chinese as we had Japanese food for every meal for nearly all 21 days. Not that we were complaining. Anyway, the food was delicious and to Eric's delight, plentiful. It was also nice to see the kids and to play with them a little bit.

The next day my cousin Nobuo brought us up into the hills behind Kobe. It's not unusual to see mountains in Japan. In fact quite the opposite as most of the country is mountainous. Kobe city is particularly nice though, because it has the mountains on one side and the sea on the other. We took a cable car which was great fun. I don't know why there aren't more cable cars in the world. It is such a wonderful way to travel! I reckon I will spearhead a movement to bring more cable cars into being. Where there are hills, there should be cable-cars. It gives you great views, it's scary-fun, what more could a body ask for?

This is a pic of Eric with my cousin, who was an excellent tour guide for the day. Later that evening we met up with his wife Mariko, who had just come back from a business trip to Sweden, and my Ojichan and Obachan for a proper Kobe beef dinner. We have no photos of this for some bizarre reason, probably because we were too hungry and forgot. So was it as good as everyone says it is? Did it live up to the beef hype? Well, Eric reckons it was the best beef he has ever eaten (and this is a guy who has eaten a lot of beef). It was so tender he could cut it with a chopstick. Now that's tender! Anyway, it was a lovely meal. Not only was it great for me to see my family again but it was really wonderful for my family and Eric to finally meet. I think after that Kobe beef dinner it won't be the last they see of him either.

Arriving in Japan: the first few days

2009-04-29T17:35:00.032+01:00

So Japan at last. After months of planning, weeks of excitement and a 10 and a half hour flight, we were finally in Japan. We were spending the first two days of our trip in Osaka, where my mother's family are originally from. It's in the Kansai area of Japan, known for it's cheery people and it's good food. It even has it's own dialect called Kansai-ben. As is in many countries, there is a great rivalry between this area (Southern Honshu) and the Kanto region of Japan, where Tokyo is (Northern Honshu). You will often hear people from Kansai comment on how things are better in Kansai. In fact I remember my Mum teaching me the phrase "Kansai is best" (to be accompanied with vigorous fist-waving)!

Our first few days were a bit of blur, mainly because we were crazily jet-lagged which is why we didn't take many pics then. Luckily our Japanese friend Kanako, who lives in Osaka, met up with us on our first day and gave us the run down of the city. We didn't manage to do too much with her as we were like the walking dead but she did get to show us a typical Japanese department store, or 'depato' as they call it. Mainly because of Eric's love of free food. Usually the basement of every Japanese department store is devoted to food. This is where they show off the best produce from around, everything from hot food like tempura (below) to all types of Japanese food to cakes and pastries. And there are a lot of free samples too. Let's just say our Eric was in his element.

The next day we just walked around taking everything in. Osaka is one of the biggest cities in Japan and coming from quiet Berlin, it was noisy, bustling and busy. Above is a photo of Eric on Dotonbori, one of the main streets in city centre Osaka. This is a crazy busy street, full of neon and loud music and hawkers yelling and people, people, people.

We didn't do any shopping, though there was amazing shopping to be done if you were into it. This is a photo of me in front of an Okamura furniture store. No relation I'm afraid, though Eric thought I might get a free chair if I showed my passport. Which I didn't, though the chairs did look very nice.

This is Eric in a guitar shop that had beautiful guitars, just the kind that Eric likes.

This is a photo of me in a noodle restaurant beside our hotel, one of the first of many fine noodle restaurants we went to. This was a typical Japanese restaurant where we sat on the floor on tatami mats. After the meal we just walked around and took in the area. Kanako explained that our hotel was in the traditional entertainment area of Osaka. Basically it was full of hostess bars where businessmen pay to be entertained by women. Apparently, it is strictly drink and conversation (no hanky panky), with the girls pouring you a drink and laughing at your jokes. Kanako explained that it is popular among older business men like her dad who goes quite often. We saw groups of business people, interestingly both men and women, leaving the bars as the hostesses, the older women in kimonos and the younger women in more "sexy" western clothes bowing and waving them off. It was a really interesting look at this side of Japanese nightlife. In my jetlagged state it was also quite surreal! After that we headed to bed as we were heading off to Kobe to see my family the next morning . We spent our last few days in Japan in Osaka as well, so more on it later.

Back from Japan

2009-04-26T17:54:00.005+01:00

So we are back from our three-week trip to Japan and just to let you know we had a great time. We have a ton of photos (close to 800!) which we are going to sift through over the next week or two. I'll definitely be posting a number of blogs when we get the photos sorted. In fact, I think that myself and Eric will probably do a few each.

We visited so many interesting places, ate many a delicious meal and did so many cool things that it's hard to know where to start. But if I had to narrow it down, I'd say top of my favourite list would be spending time with my family, staying at the temple at Koya-san, sight-seeing in Kyoto and Tokyo and our time with our friends Kanako and Hitoshi.

It's funny we did so much while we were there but in the end we both agreed we could have stayed even longer. It felt like after three weeks we just got into the swing of our wonderful Japanese adventure. Anyway looking forward to sharing it with you all on the blog. Keep an eye out for posts on Japan, and more!

Happy Birthday Eric

2009-03-19T20:53:00.013Z

So my first blog from our new apartment. Actually it's my first blog in a long while. I'm afraid our energy in the last month got transferred to all things apartment related. Between the moving out of our old apartment and moving into our new apartment we have been pretty busy. It never ceases to amaze me how much STUFF one accumulates just from living. We definitely have twice as much things than a year ago - including, no surprise, a rake of kitchen equipment (juicer, food processor, the Backmeister). Luckily we had the help of our friends Sylvia and Michael on moving day so it turned out to be relatively pain free.

Anyways, we are now more or less settled in. We still have a few bits and pieces to sort out but it already feels like home. So much so that we decided to have a get together for Eric's 41st birthday. In true Berlin style we had a Sunday brunch. For the uninitiated that means getting together late Sunday morning with a mountain of food and beverages to graze on, as one chats and eats throughout the afternoon. See above pic of the spread we put on. Doesn't Eric look so pleased!

This is a pic of our new sitting room. It's lovely and bright, with two comfy couches. The bedroom is just off this. We chilled out here for the afternoon, with people coming and going, eating and drinking, speaking English and German too!

We also had an official blowing out of the candles, though there were only 5 (4 +1) on the cake this year. I decided to brave making the cake, which I'm glad to say turned out great. After much research and humming and hawing, I decided to go for a Delia Smith recipe, her Ultimate Carrot Cake. And what a cake! It was a big hit, which I was relieved about because I was worried it would be a flop after I forgot to add the baking powder! ( This is true!) Somehow though it turned out wonderful, dark, moist and fruity, and tasted fantastic. It was so good in fact I am pasting the recipe below.

So that was how we celebrated Eric entering his 41st year on this planet, in our new apartment with brunch, cake and friends. I feel so grateful that we have such a nice place to live for the next year and am already looking forward to another year in Berlin. It has been so good to us so far.

Eric's Ultimate 41st Birthday Cake - Guten Appetit!

7 oz (200 g) wholemeal self-raising flour (there is no self-raising flour in Germany but I forgot to add baking powder and it still rose fine - go figure!)
3 level teaspoons mixed spice
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
6 oz (175 g) dark brown soft sugar, sifted
2 large eggs
5 fl oz (150 ml) sunflower oil
grated zest 1 orange
7 oz (200 g) carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
4 oz (110 g) sultanas
2 oz (50 g) desiccated coconut
2 oz (50 g) pecan nuts

For the syrup glaze:

juice 1 small orange
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 oz (75 g) dark brown soft sugar

For the topping:

1 x 250 g tub mascarpone
1 x 200g tub fromage frais, 8% fat
1 rounded tablespoon golden caster sugar
1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon

To serve:

2 oz (50 g) pecan nuts

You will also need 2 x 8 in (20 cm) sandwich tins, 11⁄2 in ( 4 cm) deep, bases lined with baking parchment. I used just one 10 inch cake tin so the cake had no layers and it turned out fine.

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C), then turn it down to gas mark 3, 325°F (170°C) when you have toasted the pecan nuts.

First, place all the pecan nuts on a baking sheet and, using a timer, toast them in the oven for 8 minutes. Now chop one half roughly for the cake and the other more finely, for the topping later. Then don’t forget to turn the oven down to gas mark 3, 325°F (170°C) for the cake.

To make the cake, whisk the sugar, eggs and oil together in a bowl with an electric hand whisk for 2-3 minutes, then check that there is no sugar left undissolved. Now sift the flour, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda into the bowl, tipping in the bits of bran left in the sieve. Then stir all this in gently, followed by the remaining cake ingredients. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tins and bake the cakes on the centre shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes. They should be nicely risen, feel firm and springy to the touch when lightly pressed in the centre, and show signs of shrinking away from the sides of the tin. If not, give them another 2-3 minutes and test again.

Meanwhile, make the topping by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Then cover with clingfilm and chill for 1-2 hours, until you are ready to ice the cakes. To make the syrup glaze, whisk together the fruit juices and sugar in another bowl and then, when the cakes come out of the oven, stab them all over with a skewer and quickly spoon the syrup evenly over the hot cakes.

Now leave them to one side to cool in their tins, during which time the syrup will be absorbed. Then, when the cakes are completely cold, remove them from the tins. Spread one-third of the filling over one of the cakes, place the other on top, then cover the top and sides with the remaining icing. Scatter the remaining toasted pecan nuts over the top.

Venice Part II

2009-02-10T11:20:00.014Z

Eric here. I wanted to post some additional photos from our trip to Venice. I think it is one of the must-see cities due to its abundance of opulent renaissance (and older) art and architecture crammed onto to small islands that are slowly sinking into the Adriatic Sea.

The audacity to build these amazing buildings on what was only a muddy lagoon is impressive to say the least.

You have to remember that Venice has no cars or bicycles, no roads or proper streets. It is all narrow stone pedestrian lanes or water canals. So, you either walk or take the water taxis or water buses or if you have loads of money, a gondola.

Kusi and I really enjoyed a classical music performance we went to in what was an old church. The group consisted of 4 violins, viola, cello, bass and harpsichord. They played mostly the works of native son Antonio Vivaldi including his famous 'Four Seasons'. The group had a flamboyant celloist that made the show. Here is a link to their website where you can have a listen to them - Interpreti Veneziani.

One of the main highlights of Venice is San Marco Piazza. Kusi described the church and piazza in her Blog but it is so impressive, I wanted to show you two more views. One of me standing outside.

And the next one taken from above the piazza in the Bell Tower where I was freezing my butt off.

I have included a photo of one of my favourite pastimes - eating Italian Ice Cream also known as Gelato. Doesn't get much better than this. That's Pistachio in case you are wondering.

We visited a small collection of machines that Leonardo Da Vinci designed. The exhibt wasn't that good as it was billed as "interactive" but wasn't in the least bit. But, they did have some fascinating things including his obsession with trying to figure out how to make man fly.

On our snowy Sunday we took a tour of the famed La Fenice Opera House. Transalated as "The Phoenix", this gorgeous and appropriately named opera house has burnt down and been rebuilt a number of time. We were only allowed to take pictures in the foyer.

It was lovely weekend, a wonderful experience and great to be back in Italy. Next up, Japan!

Anniversary in Venice

2009-02-05T12:36:00.026Z

This February myself and Eric had our third wedding anniversary and to celebrate we decided to avail of Easyjet's super-cheap flights and go to Venice. Neither myself or Eric had been there before and were very excited. We arrived on a Friday and the weather was fantastic - vivid blue skies and balmy sea air.

We took the vaporetto (water-taxi) to get to our hotel. I must say that it was great to be near the sea again. We were spoiled when we lived in Monkstown and I really miss it in Berlin.

Anyway, back to Venice. What a beautiful and, as one friend called it, 'improbable' city! It is basically a mass of winding narrow alleyways and criss-crossing canals. And the water is really a deep sea-green.

Some of the alleyways are very narrow indeed. It is so easy to get lost in Venice, but then again so easy to get back on track again. We really loved how easy the city was to walk around. However, the bridges are deceptively easy-going. Our second day there my hips and Eric's left calf (!?) felt like we had done a couple of hours on a stair climber. Hardgoing, unless you are Ceci of course! Well actually it just meant that we had to schedule more cappucino stops the rest of our time there. Not so hardgoing I suppose!

On the Saturday we took in all the major sights including the impressive early morning fish market where all the mamas and papas buy their fresh fish. Myself and Eric 'ooohed' and 'aaaahed' our way through the market.

Then it was straight to the Basilica di San Marco. Unfortunately they didn't allow any photos to be taken, though many of the tourists just completely ignored the many signs. I didn't take any as it felt it would be disrespectful to do so (I'm a believer that no means no). Anyway, I don't think the photos would have, or could have done the place justice. The entire ceiling inside was one huge gold mosaic, depicting many scenes from the bible. It was what I imagine the great pyramids to be like, or one of the seven wonders of the world.

This is a picture of the roof of the basilica taken from the top of the nearby belltower. The weather really turned on the Saturday. It as absolutely freezing in the belltower.

Little did we know that this drop in temperature meant snow! Yes, it snowed while we were there (see our pic for proof). Apparently they hardly ever get snow in Venice. The other strange thing was that it was also snowing in Berlin, Dublin and Huntington, all at the same time!

No the snow didn't drive us to McDonalds. We just thought the entrance looked so dinky. I think this photo is hilarious. Don't ask me why I'm making such a weird face here or why the girl behind me inside the place looks so shocked. It's like we are watching Eric do something really strange and disturbing! Don't our faces say "what is that man doing???" That aside, we did actually have some very nice meals in Venice, including the best pizza either us had ever eaten. Anyone who know us knows this is high praise - I mean, we have eaten a lot of pizza in our time! Inspired by a travel dvd of chef Anthony Bourdain that Ben sent us, Eric also tried the Venetian specialty of calves liver and onions, which was surprisingly tasty.

All in all it was a wonderful trip and a lovely way to celebrate our three years being married. We would highly recommend it - both visiting Venice and getting married if you were thinking of it.

Ceci's visit: Christmas in Berlin

2009-01-28T13:22:00.000Z

I know it's weird to be blogging about Christmas now that January is almost over, but here I go. This was our first Christmas in Berlin, and our first Christmas not in America or Dublin. Though we were happy enough to be here it was also nice to have Eric's sister, Ceci with us then. Unfortunately Ceci's visit started off a bit rocky. Firstly her luggage didn't arrive with her and actually didn't arrive until a good few days after. Then at the airport, after queuing and filling out forms with Air France, she went to get out some money and the machine ate her card! Double whammy! Poor Ceci! One good thing did come out of it though: she ended up getting some nice clothes courtesy of Air France, including a superwarm winter coat which she made use of.

After that luckily there were no more disasters. The few days leading up to Christmas were very quiet as Germany more or less closes down a few days before and after Christmas. Luckily we got tickets to a choral event at the beautiful Berliner Dom for the night of the 23rd. Unfortunately we couldn't see that much unless we stood up but the music was wonderful (Eric says it was the best choir he had ever heard) and the setting even better. Very Christmasy!

On Christmas Day we kept it very traditional and basically ate our way through the day, bagels and smoked salmon for breakfast and roast chicken, roast vegetables and apple pie for our Christmas lunch. Our friend Joy joined us for the dinner (he's the one taking the photo) to complete the winning Christmas combo of food, friends and family.

Ceci had rented a bike for the week she was with us and once Christmas was over and the city woke up again that was basically what we spent our time doing - cycling and seeing the sights. And I think Ceci is now in agreement with us, despite the freezing temperatures we sometimes had to endure, that the best way to see Berlin is by bike. Ceci certainly enjoyed it and could be heard singing Queen's bicycle song happily to herself as she cycled through Berlin. Berlin + bicycle = spontaneous happy singing!

We went from the west side of the city...

...to the east. Above is a photo from the Fernsehturm, which Ceci brought us up as part of our Christmas present. It has an amazing 365 degree panoramic view of the city, which is pretty spectacular.

And we, of course, made sure to stock up on energy along the way. She seemed to take to the typical German breakfast (pic above), which we ate at one of our favourite cafes. Truly, the best way to start any day.

By the end of her trip after cycling the length and breadth of the city I have to say that Ceci looked pretty at home here. She even made some friends down by Brandenburg Gate!

Thanks for visiting Ceci! Berlin's cyclepaths aren't the same without you!

When computers go bad...

2009-01-22T15:51:00.008Z

Forgive me blog-readers, for it has been a long, LONG, time since my last blog, or at least it feels like it. I would like to have had a great story as an excuse about a wild adventure that myself and Eric were on and how I was that busy I just couldn't muster a blog, but unfortunately I have no such story. The main reason is that a couple of weeks ago my computer crashed. Actually not only did it crash, but it basically died. Kaputt, kicked the bucket, bought the farm etc, etc. We brought it to an Apple outlet in the city and there was nothing that could be done. They just wrapped up the old harddrive in plastic and apologetically handed it back to us. I have to say that I nearly had a complete freakout to realise that everything I had on the computer was lost. Then my lovely husband reminded me that in September I had the foresight to back up my harddrive on a handy external harddrive that we have here. So I still had everything up until then. However, it was a bummer to lose all my work and photos from September till now. It was a valuable lesson in "Backing It Up". Seriously, if you have anything important on your computer, make a copy somewhere else. Technology cannot be trusted!!! It will fool you with it's lovely shiny screen and it's perky buttons and it's super quick response time until one day it just leaves without even so much as a good-bye, taking all your valuables with it. (Yes, I'm still talking about computers.) Anyway, that's all I have to say on the matter and wow, I've just realised what a boring, moany blog this is! Apologies - I'm out of practice, a proper blog on the way, I promise! In the meantime, why not share your 'when computers/technology go/es bad' stories in the comments section?

Jami and Jason's Part II: Making Cheese

2008-12-24T07:58:00.022Z

So one of the things that we got to do while we stayed with Jami and Jason was to make some cheese. Jason had gotten a cheesemaking kit from Jami for his 40th birthday, and Jason kindly shared the experience with us. Everything that we needed to make the mozzarella that we decided to make (apart from the milk and the pots) was in this handy little kit. By the way, most of these photos were taken by Leah, who very diligently documented the process.

First there was the pouring of the milk.

Then after adding the cultures and the rennet we had to monitor the temperature of the milk carefully...

...until the curds separated from the whey. This is Eric modelling the curds. Cheese making is serious business.

Then it required some stretching of the molten curds, which Jason did with some rather fetching rubber gloves. He said that it was HOT!

Then it was just a matter of Jason putting his own artistic touch to the cheese.

And hey presto, the finished product - some very tasty, as you can tell from Eric's expression below, mozzarella cheese. We ate this happily with some of Jason's homemade ciabatta bread.

Joe's Stupendous Stuffing Bread

2008-12-22T08:53:00.009Z

One of the main highlights of Thanksgiving, after the company of course, is the food. And this year was no exception. Ben and Sally kindly opened their doors to all the Eckhart clan, immediate and extended, and there was more than enough food to feed us all. There was a very fine turkey, sweet potato, mashed potato, beans, coleslaw, as well as the many delicious pies that we ate for dessert. One of the other things that goes with the meal, which myself and Eric love is Joe's stuffing bread. It's called Stuffing Bread because it has sage, onion and celery seed and therefore tastes exactly like stuffing. The best thing about it is that it is a perfect sandwich match for all that leftover turkey. Anyway, Joe generously offered to share this recipe through the blog. He is following the fine tradition of passing it on, as he got this recipe from his friend Margaret. So thanks Margaret and thanks Joe - Eric is going to try his hand at it on Thursday so we will be enjoying it with our Christmas dinner and for several sandwiches after.

Joe's Stupendous Stuffing Bread

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup minced onions
1/4 oz active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
11 oz can chicken broth
2 eggs, room temperature
4 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 - 6 cups bread flour
1 egg white blended with 1 tablespoon water for glaze

1. Sauté onion in butter until soft. Set aside to let cool.
2. Warm chicken broth to 110 F. In large mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in chicken broth and 1 teaspoon sugar. Let stand in warm place for 15 minutes until frothy.
3. To yeast mixture add: 2 tablespoons sugar, eggs, poultry seasoning, celery seed, pepper, salt, cooled butter onion mixture and 2 cups of flour. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes.
4. Sitr in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Turn out dough and remaining flour on a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
5. Place dough in large bowl greased with butter, turning it to coat all sides. Cover with a slightly damp towel and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until doubled in bulk.
6. Punch down dough and knead 1 minute. Divide dough in half and form into loaves. Places loaves in two (9" x 5") loaf pans. Cover with dry towel and let rise in warm place 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
7. Brush loaves with egg white glaze if desired and bake in 375 F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and serve hote with butter or serve cold for turkey sandwiches.

Hanging out with Jami, Jason and Little Chicken

2008-12-20T07:34:00.024Z

So while we were in America this time we made sure to visit our friends Jami and Jason at their home in Mount Vernon, Ohio, since it had been nearly two years since we had last seen them. A lot can happen in two years. In that time, Jami has changed jobs, I've left my job, myself and Eric have moved country and Jami and Jason have also expanded their family, with their newest member, Jason's niece, Leah, who we were very keen to meet. The picture above is of Leah showing us around their vegetable garden (those are broccoli plants beside her, impressive!).

Jami had already told us a bit about Leah before we arrived. She is 10 years old. Her favourite colour is blue. She likes animals and is curious about more or less everything. She enjoys knitting, is very creative and loves music (more on this topic later). As we are animal-lovers, an avid knitter (that's me when the mood takes me), music-loving creative types that also happen to like the colour blue, we knew we were going to like her. Also, see the picture above? That is a picture by Leah of John McCain and Barack Obama. McCain is green with a funky hair-do because he is an ogre. Obama is on a taller podium with gold stars, because well, he's Obama. Also, for some reason, McCain has a handbag while Obama has a briefcase. How can you not like a kid that came up with this?

As well as catching up, we spent our days with them eating, cooking, and exploring the Mount Vernon-Kenyon area. The weather turned out to be pretty fabulous on our second day there, so Jason brought us up to see his beehives. Jason is seasoned beekeeper, whose bees make excellent honey. We didn't get to see any bees as they were busy keeping warm in their hives.

We also took a walk in a nearby forest where Jason had planted some paw-paw trees. Apparently paw-paws are a fruit native to Ohio that taste like a mango but have the texture of custard. Strange but true.

Later that day Eric and Leah got out their guitars and Eric showed Leah some new chords. She picked it very quickly and since then she's even written some of her own songs. Anyway, they jammed together for a while. One of my favourites was a song that I had made up, which Eric turned into a kind of rootsy children's song called 'Little Chicken'. It doesn't sound much written down but it was very catchy (honest!) and quite hilarious. It ended up being the song for the weekend and since then has become our nickname for our new friend Leah.

Check out next blog on our cheese making adventures in Ohio.

Some Airline Survival Strategies

2008-12-12T16:14:00.006Z

I don't know if this a normal progression, but the more I fly, the more I hate flying. I don't have any fear of flying, but I have to say that I really, really don't enjoy it. Short trips are fine but anything over three or four hours and it becomes an endurance test for me. Now we are on our way to Japan in April, which is a whopping 16 hour flight (!!!) and I plan to put in place everything I've learnt about airline travel and how to survive it. Here are just some strategies which I thought I would share with you.

1. Firstly, comfort is king. Bring slippers, or even better slipper socks. In fact bring lots of socks, thick ones at that because planes, for some reason, can be freezing sometimes. Basically make yourself at home. Make your seat and the back of the one in front of you, your own private place.
2. Distract yourself from the journey ahead. Invest in a good book. And definitely invest in that special attachment so you can use your ordinary earphones on the plane. Trust me - it makes all the difference.
3. Another good distraction technique is to get to know your neighbour. Eric hates doing this and swears he brings offensive books to put off any chance of conversation (I think he might be exaggerating). But I love it! If you are in anyway a nosey parker with no sense of boundaries this is a perfect way to pass the time. The hours will literally fly past as you find out all about your neighbour, including what their relationship with their mother is and why is it they think they have abandonment issues. Fascinating stuff!
4. This one's a lifesaver - bring anything peppermint ie. mints, chewing gum, or my favourite peppermint tea. This is wonderful antidote to the air pressure playing havoc with your insides.
5. Channel any discomfort experienced during turbulence into your grip on your partner/neighbour's hand. I find this helps ALOT. However, do take care, especially when your partner/neighbour says 'Stop! Ow, owwwww! You're crushing my hand!' As the old saying goes, a handshake on the ground is worth three in the air. Or something like that.
6. Lastly let it go! This is the key to modern airline travel I think. You are there on that plane for however long it takes to get to your destination and there ain't nothing you can do about it, apart from sitting back and "enjoying" the ride.

Japan here we come!

Mary and Mr. Forde visit Berlin

2008-12-12T15:52:00.010Z

One of the nice things that happened before our trip to America for Thanksgiving was a visit by Mary and Brian to Berlin. We were very lucky that they took three days out of their annual trip to Scandinavia to hang out with us. I have to say that it was lovely to have proper one-on-one time with them both, as I've only met them twice at the big group gatherings at Christmas and so hadn't had the chance really to have a proper conversation before. It just meant that we got to have some really nice chats, over the requisite kaffee und kuchen of course, and the odd beer or two.
The weather wasn't great while they were here but as they would tell you themselves they quite like it that way! We thought that they both fit in nicely here in Berlin as they both look quite European and are very relaxed individuals.

We showed them around to the usual sights, the Fernsehturm, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the odd DDR site etc.

I think I knew this already about Brian but we found that he rivals Eric in the funny poses department.

There was no strange statue left unposed beside!

My favourite time with them was the time spent in our area, Prenzlauer Berg. Mary was in the mood for decadence so we brought them to the best cake house (we think) in Berlin, where we all sampled treats like Pistachio Torte and Praline Chocolate Cake. Delicious! We wandered around a couple of second-hand stores and then went shopping for some quality German beer. We ended the day at our apartment where Eric made some of his famous pizza. I know that this sounds like another day in the life of Kusi and Eric spent centred around food. And yes, I suppose it was, but it was all the made so much better because of the company.

Thanks Mary and Brian! See you next year.

A Beautiful Night

2008-11-06T08:50:00.016Z

Here's a brief chronicle of the beautiful night, as experienced by myself and Eric, in pictures. We had intended going to the Democratics Abroad Election Results party in Mitte but all the tickets were sold out. However, we ended up having the perfect election night by ourselves. With the way we were feeling, nothing could dampen our spirits.

We were hopeful and optimistic and, as previously mentioned, suitably clad.

We were also suitably fed, thanks to Eric's famous all-American burgers. I know that burger looks like it's nearly the size of my head but it's just the angle the photo was taken...I swear!!!

Luckily we get CNN here in Berlin so we were able to watch the excitement unfold both on the telly and the internet. Most of our photos of the night are actually of the telly, or of us watching the telly so this is an improvised action shot, which was probably shortly before I went to bed. Yes, I admit it, I ended going to bed at around 2am (I'm sure my friend Angus is cashing in on some kind of bet there). However, I did get up every hour on the hour to see what was happening. It was about 5am that Eric came in to tell me the wonderful, stupendous news that...

...Barack Obama had been elected the next president of the United States of America!!! If you are going to be woken up in the middle of the night that's the way to do it.

This a picture Eric took of himself at the time of hearing the news. The happiness, the joy!

It was amazing to see Barack Obama and his family come out on stage for his acceptance speech. It really struck me what a journey they had all been on during this election campaign. It really was some campaign, not only against McCain and Palin but through the democratic nominee elections too.

I have to admit that I ended up crying at one stage through the speech. The significance of the moment was something else, that the nightmare of Bush was finally over, that not only America just elected it's first African-American president but also someone I feel will steer the country with a good heart and in the right direction. It felt like a great day not only for Eric, as an American citizen, but for me too as a citizen of the world. It was a beautiful, beautiful night/morning for us all.

Love to hear how you all spent election night. Please share in the comments section.

The Search

2008-10-31T18:27:00.014Z

The Search began early last week. I realised very quickly that I should have started looking sooner. All the usual suspects were out. By Friday, things were not looking good. I put all my detective skills to use and found a man who knew a man who knew another man who could help us. Emails were exchanged. I told him I wanted two. We were lucky, he said, he was down his last few. He'd might even do a special deal for us. Did I know the Burger King by Landsberger Allee S-Bahn station? He'd be at 7pm wearing a red baseball cap. Bring your phone, he said, just in case. I had Eric come with me 'cause a fine strapping sidekick never goes amiss. So there we were on a cold foggy night, outside Burger King, rustling through plastic bags, and exchanging cash for contraband. Or that's how it felt. But as in all good stories (or at least the ones I like) it all worked out in the end. The guy got his money, and nice fella he was too, and two Obama fans were happy in the knowledge that they would be appropriately clad for Election Day.

So whatcha think? Nice eh? It says exactly what we wanted it to say and it also was the same t-shirt that Democratics Abroad made up for Obama's visit to Berlin this year. As Eric Eckhart likes to say 'how apropos'!

Current Obsessions

2008-10-09T18:21:00.018+01:00

I just had a note from our friend Bridget about her addiction to Facebook and it got me thinking about my current obsessions, of which there are many. So here are just some of them, in no particular order:

1. Thirtysomething
Since I discovered that I could watch all the old episodes of Thirtysomething on Youtube I have been hooked. I was about eight when it first came out so all the issues in it about relationships and work and being a thirtysomething went completely over my head. However now that I am a thirty-(three) something, the lives and problems of these characters totally speak to me. When Eric can hear me laughing, crying, or giving out (to one of the characters) in the other room, he knows I'm having a Thirtysomething moment.

2. Baking
I am completely and utterly obsessed by baking at the moment. Cakes, breads, cookies, biscuits, you name it, I want to bake it. It's like this urge that totally overcomes me and won't go until there's something in the oven and the kitchen is covered in flour. The funny, or maybe not so funny, thing is that the more obsessed I get with the baking, the worse the cakes, breads or cookies get! Baking disasters in the last couple of weeks include a flaxseed bread that I could have used as a doorstop it was so hard, sourdough bowls that looked like saucers and zucchini (yes, zucchini) brownies that Eric described as 'rubbery, but in a nice way'! It seems my obsession is inversely proportional to the success of the end product, and I now officially have the baking blues. I've decided that it might be like a relationship. It's like I'm coming on too strong and the baking is being scared off by my desperation. So I am now acting breezy and hard to get. Hopefully this will work. For all our sakes.

3. Cycling
When I was a kid I used to love cycling and in fact used to cycle for miles and miles when we lived in the countryside. Then I got older and kind of grew out of it. However since we got our bikes here in Berlin I've totally reconnected to this way of travelling. I absolutely love it. There are the usual reasons to like it - it saves us money, it's good for the environment and it's healthy. But what I love is that it has totally opened up the city to us. We are lucky that Berlin is very cyclist-friendly with bicycle lanes mostly everywhere so there isn't any part of the city we can't cycle to. And I suppose when I'm freewheeling down a hill with the wind in my hair I probably do feel like I'm a kid again. It's just fun, plain and simple. If you haven't been on a bike for a while, try it!

So that's it with my current obsessions. Feel free to share yours in the comments section!

Joe's visit: Dresden

2008-10-01T22:19:00.032+01:00

While Joe was here we decided, on the spur of the moment, to go with him for a few days to visit Dresden. And I am so glad we did. I don't know what I was expecting but I was pleasantly surprised by the city. There is a Altstadt (old town) with many beautiful buildings (photo above of Joe and Eric at the Frauenkirche), most of which are reconstructions of the originals that were bombed during the war. In its day it was the "Florence of the Elbe" and despite its sad history, it now has, I think, the feel of a thriving, up-and-coming city.

On the day we arrived we were lucky enough to get tickets for the opera that night, Rigoletto, which Joe kindly gave to me as my birthday present. Dresden's Semper Oper has to be on of the most magnificent buildings I've ever been in. We were up in the nosebleeds but were able to sit on the steps which was fine. The opera itself was fantastic - the stage design and the costumes were just wonderful. It was also a very creative production - there was one woman topless at one stage (we were up so high that I wasn't too sure if I was seeing right but Eric and Joe were happy to confirm, during the break, that it wasn't just a mammary illusion) and they all danced wildly with much headbanging to a crescendo in a particular aria, but somehow they pulled it off.

Dresden also has some cool bars and restaurants. Above is a photo of Joe enjoying a schwarzbier in this quirky vegetarian restaurant that, from the inside, reminded me of a hobbit house. It also served lots of meat dishes for some strange reason. Maybe vegetarian means something else in German, I don't know. It could also be an Eric or Ben version of vegetarian.

We also found a great bar in the Neustadt area of Dresden which was where we were staying. To Joe's delight they brewed their own beer as well as serving up good German food. It had a nice mixture of tourists, trendies and oul' wans as they say in Ireland. They also had a pool table which kept me occupied for most of the night. How I love pool!

As we were only there for two days we couldn't get to see everything, but a must-see, just for the building alone was the Gemäldegalerie beside the Semper Oper.

This photo was taken in the grounds of the gallery. I think you can tell from the look on Joe's face how lovely the buildings are. I also just think it's a nice photo of Joe. So, it may have taken Joe's visit here to give us the push that we needed to go venture outside of Berlin but we are definitely going to make sure that our trip to Dresden wasn't our last. Who knew that Germany had so much to offer! (Probably lots of people of course, but it is certainly a pleasant surprise for us). Next Eckharts up - Mary and Brian!

Joe's visit: Berlin

2008-10-01T11:00:00.031+01:00

One of the perks of having visitors is that it gives us license to be tourists again. And that's what we've been doing for the last few weeks, while Eric's brother Joe was over. And no, it wasn't all about beer, though Joe did get to sample some of Germany's finest. We actually did see a lot and even have the photos to prove it. In fact it was a great excuse for us to visit all the places we have been putting off seeing. I guess once you live somewhere long enough you just start taking it for granted.
One of the things that I was glad to finally visit was the impressive Jewish museum. They had a number of interactive rooms which gave a sense of horror of the Hollocaust. Above is what they named the 'Hollocaust Tower', which was probably the scariest place I've ever been in, a cold dark room lit by only one window with the sounds of the street outside echoing inside. Very creepy.

This was another exhibit that consisted of thousands of metal faces that when you walked on made an awful scraping, clattering noise. I actually couldn't bring myself to walk over the eerie screaming heads. The boys though were made of stronger stuff.

We went to one of the three main opera houses in Berlin - Deutsche Oper - to see Puccini's Turandot, which we all enjoyed. I particularly liked Nessun Dorma (the only song I knew from it) though you can see why Pavorotti was paid the big bucks, particularly like he sang it at the World Cup 1990. Don't you think that Joe looks like he could be the conductor for a promo picture in this shot?

Of course we brought him around to see the usual tourist spots like Checkpoint Charlie...

and the Sony Centre building in Potzdamer Platz...

...as well as the DDR monuments in our area.

He saw a rake of museums including the usual suspects on Museum Island. I think he was averaging three museums a day at one point!

When the sun came out though we made sure to make the most of the rays by heading to Tiergarten.

Where Joe got to see the spot where Obama stole the hearts of the Berliners. Go Barack!

And when the going got tough, which it sometimes did (being a tourist is hard work!) we rested up and Joe, ever diligent, made sure to sample the house brew. All in the name of science and furthering his knowledge of beer of course. A dedicated brewmeister if I ever saw one.

When he left though there was still of huge list of things that Joe just didn't get to do. We hope though it will act as an incentive for him to visit again if we stay on. Always good to have a carrot on a stick.

Next post, pics of our trip to Dresden.

Cold Dog

2008-09-12T18:34:00.007+01:00

Here's a conundrum for all you out there: when is a cold dog not a cold dog? When it's a delicious blend of biscuit and smooth creamy chocolate, that's when! This cake is known as 'Kalter Hund', which directly translates as 'Cold Dog'. Apparently it is the typical birthday cake for children in Germany. Luckily one shop in Prenzlauer Berg has decided that adults should be allowed eat them too. And thank goodness for it's now my new favourite thing. There's nothing nicer when you need a pick me up than a hot drink and a cold dog.

Our new apartment

2008-08-21T19:48:00.018+01:00

So we are finally settling into our new apartment. I have to say that it has taken a couple of weeks, just to get used to the new area and the quirks of a new place but we are enjoying it now and think it will be a great little nest for the next six months. It's about 20 minutes walk from our old apartment. It’s still in Prenzlauer Berg but in the quieter part with a more of working-class East Berliner feel. You know us, keeping it real as always!

Our apartment block (pic above) has an interesting history. My tandem partner's partner (!) is an architect and told us it was designed by the German architect Bruno Taut, who was involved in building social housing in the 1920s and 30s that provided more space and light than built previously. And he succeeded! It is a certainly a lovely bright warm apartment which will do us nicely at least to the end of February 2009.

So now for the grand tour - this is our bedroom/my workroom. You can access the balcony from here, which has a little bench that Eric likes to sunbathe on.

This is the sitting room. You can't see it from this angle but on the other side of the room is another desk where Eric works from. There is, of course, a bathroom, which is nice but not nice enough to warrant a photo.

And lastly, but most importantly for us, is the kitchen. This was the clincher for us as it was a sit-in kitchen which we really wanted. It also has access to the balcony. Our lovely landlady is a medical student called Melanie who is on work placement in Sweden for six months and so we have the run of her place with all her furniture, including all kitchen stuff, towels etc. The best thing of all is the much lower rent, which is going to allow us to stay on here in Berlin a bit longer. So all in all, I think we got a great deal (she even threw in the cute blonde guy in the shorts for free) and look forward to being here through the Berlin winter.

Hefferooney visit

2008-08-12T18:29:00.017+01:00

At last some pics from the recent Heffernan-Mulrooney family visit with us. Richie, Dee, Séimí and baby Peter were here with us for with us for six days and we had a lovely time with them, doing the usual walking around, eating (above is the family at our favourite pizza restaurant), talking, and seeing the sights. They were particularly struck by our area, Prenzlauer Berg, which Eric calls 'Kinderland'. This small area has the highest birth rate in the whole of Europe! Basically everyone here is either pregnant or had a baby, and the whole area is totally set up for parents and children alike - lots of parks and baby-friendly restaurants. Perfect for the Hefferooneys.

They seemed to have also brought the good weather with them because the sun shone for the whole time they were here. If truth be told it was a little too hot sometimes. I took the photo above on the hottest day. This is in the kitchen and notice how the candles are all melted. The temperature gauge behind says 32 degrees, in the shade!

Still it didn't stop us from getting out and about, though we tended to stay close to the apartment during the hottest part of the day. Luckily we have a great park just around the corner from us, which has a pirate ship that Séimí loved.

In the evenings we went further afield. On the Thursday we made a trip to Museumsinsel, or Museum Island, where as the name suggests some of the main museums are located as after six every Thursday all the museums on the island are free. We got to bring them to the Bodemuseum and we looked after Séimí while they went to the Neuesmuseum. In front of the Neusmuseum is an open area where there is a fountain and what was lovely that evening was that it was full of kids taking a dip. So by the time that Richie and Dee got back Séimí had gone native and jumped in too. He had a complete ball!

We also had a great time with Baby Peter who is now seven months old. His personality is really starting to come out now. He loves a good laugh (see for yourselves from the clip below) and can't seem to stop smiling. He won a number of Berliners over by just beaming at them (it's honestly melt-your-heart quality). It seems though that not only did Berlin love the Hefferooneys but the Hefferooneys loved Berlin, as when they were leaving they were are already planning their return trip next summer. Who knows, we might even still be here!

The Obama Blog

2008-08-06T15:40:00.010+01:00

So the long-awaited Obama Blog (meaning me a-waiting a long time to write it)! I'm sure all the excitement of the day is probably now a long distant memory to you all, as the summer has ambled on. In some ways that was what it was like for me when I came to writing this blog. We have just had our friends Dee and Richie and their kids visit us so my mind is full of their visit (we had a grand ol' time). How and ever, it just took a look at our photos to bring me back to that day.

First to set the scene. Ever since I gave Obama's autobiography to Eric, he has been like a man possessed. Throughout the Democratic Nominee elections he would wake up about half an hour earlier than usual to read all the newspapers and then, over breakfast, I would get a low-down on all the poll-data. Seriously. And when he heard that Obama was coming to Berlin, well! Needless to say that he was very excited. I have to admit that I haven't been as emotionally invested in Obama as Eric has been. I'm sure that has a lot to do with the fact that I am not American, and as a European I have my own perspective. However, Eric's enthusiasm was completely contagious so that on the day I was very excited.

So myself and Eric went down to the Brandenburg Gate at about 5pm. We thought we were being smart arriving nearly two hours early but it seems that there were tens of thousands of people that had the same thought. We had been warned that there would be tight security and a heavy police presence, and not to bring any bags because they would be taken away from us. But when we got down there there were just a few vans of Polizei sunning themselves in the Platz. But that was it - no bag-checks, no men with guns, just a gaggle of Berliners coming out to see Obama speak. The atmosphere was more like a carnival than anything else. There were tourists getting their photos taken beside mock DDR soldiers (above pic).

There was a woman dressed up as Marilyn Monroe singing outside of the American embassy.

There was also an Afghani family protesting about Obama's pledge to increase war efforts in Afghanistan, which I thought 'Good for them' as I'm sure it can't have been easy to do with so many Obama supporters around.

A huge range of different people were there to hear Obama speak. From families with young babies (pic of baby above that spent nearly the entire time on his dad's shoulders waving at the tens of thousands of people behind).

There was also a lot of elderly people, many of whom, like the lady above, brought stools and books to keep themselves occupied in the two-three hour wait for Obama to appear. For a crowd of an estimated two hundred thousand people I have to say that I was impressed by how laid-back and easy-going the crowd were. There were vendors selling beer and hot-dogs but no-one was drunk or disorderly. People were just there to enjoy themselves.

We went as far as we could go and positioned ourselves in front of one of the many big screens. Here I am patiently waiting (I know it looks like I'm praying but I'm not). By the time that Obama finally did come out, with the setting sun behind him, the crowd went wild. To give you a feel of what it was like I filmed a short clip on my camera.

I was impressed by so many things on the day. I was incredibly impressed by the crowd, that 200,000 people in Berlin came out to hear what a visiting politician had to say (I mean he's just a senator from Illinois right?). I was delighted by how welcoming and how open they were to him. There was also a wonderful sense of history in the making that Eric talked about in his blog. It felt that we were witness to something special.

I was also impressed by the man himself (and not just because he is good lookin', which he is). He had a number of good things to say in his speech. I liked that he spoke about a greater humanity, about being citizens of the world, about tearing down walls and barriers. I liked that he talked about nuclear disarmament and about reducing carbon admissions. I also liked that he, as an American politican on foreign soil, talked about mistakes made by the American government in the recent past. I thought that kind of owning of responsibility that needed to be said.

However, I have to admit that I felt a bit disappointed too. He seemed a bit nervous and fluffed a number of his lines. Also much of his speech felt like it wasn't meant for the crowd that had waited there for several hours. It felt like it was meant for the electorate back in America, that it was meant for the many journalists there, that it was for the interested governments around the globe. It felt like a politician's speech and for some reason that irked me. Where was the infamous Obama wow factor I wondered? Where was the man of the people?

Talking to Eric afterwards I realised that for all my detachment up until now, that I had, and do have, a lot of expectations of Barack Obama. I realised that I, like the many people there that day, have projected a lot of my own hopes for the future. I realised that though I'm not an American, I am sick and tired of Bush and his cynical, stupid, greedy form of politics, and that I am as ready for a change for the better as everybody else.

I realised that in piling all these hopes onto Obama that I subconsciously had turned him into some kind of superman (he'll solve everything!). When in fact he is just one man, a good man certainly, a man that I think wants to change America for the better, but just a man all the same. I know that a lot of people are almost fearful of the hope that he represents, that he might not be able to deliver on his promises. But I reckon that hope is always a good thing. I think optimism and the belief that things can get better is always good for the world.

The fact is that people, not just in America but all around the world, want change now, and this would be the case whether Barack Obama existed or not. He just happens to be, I believe, the right person, in the right place, hopefully in the right job, at the right time, which I'm sure can be both a blessing and an enormous burden for one man to bear. Personally, I think we will all do much better if we give ol' Obama a bit of lee-way to be human. I don't think it is possible for him to fulfil all our expectations because there are just so many. And the truth is that if he does become President, he is going to make mistakes. And no matter what, he won't be able to please everyone. And I know I won't agree with everything he does (even Eric doesn't agree with him 100% of the time!).

If Obama does become President of the United States, he will inherit a terrible legacy left by Bush. He will need to change the health system, turn around the recession and boost the American economy. He will need to change American policy to climate change and reduce dependence on foreigh oil. He will need to improve foreign relations around the world. Now I'm not too sure if any one person can do all this. But even if Obama trys. As long as he can hold on to integrity, which I think he has. If he makes mistakes but owns up to them, which I know he has done. If Obama can do this, with his characteristic (good-lookin') optimism, then I think it will be good for the world as a whole. Which is why I for one am going to keep on hoping.

200,000 bei Obama

2008-08-05T16:43:00.007+01:00

By Eric: Being in the Tiergarten with over 200,000 people - all ages, races, walks of life - I was struck by the great buzz of anticipation awaiting a speech from a U.S. Senator from Illinois. I asked a German friend could she imagine a crowd like this for any German politician or European politician and the answer was an emphatic - Nein, nie!

So it was with a sense of pride to see that America can still evoke a promise of such great hope in the world. I also felt the pride of living in a city where the summer's evening crowd, gathered en masse, imbued such excitement and a sense of a world community and did so in typical Berlin style - in an über relaxed and easy going way.

Kusi can attest to the fact that I have read and watched an awful lot about Obama. I mean a lot! So for me, I knew that the speech was not going to be a campaign style speech. Overall I thought the speech itself was good but with moments of greatness. It walked a thin line of outlining a new direction for America and its relationship with Europe while also being careful not to criticize Bush or American foreign policy as is the custom when travelling abroad. I thought a lot of the speech was for diplomat's and journalist's ears. Even so, as many times as I have watch videos of Barack speaking, their were still moments of the speech that gave me, an unabashed Obama fan, major chills and inspiration. I was reminded later that this was the largest crowd, three times over, than Obama had ever spoken in front of.

I feel fortunate and happy to have been there. Walking through the Brandenburg Gate, past the Reichstag, into the Tiergarten, past the Soviet War Memorial and watching Barack Obama stroll along the Victory Column - it felt like an historic evening. A moment in time where the chance for things in the world to get even a little bit better seemed somehow within reach. The most profound thing I can think to say is - How cool is that!!

(Soviet War Memorial)

Here are my favourite parts of the speech, the chills up the spine moments for me.

"That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another. The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

"Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don’t look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

"People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.

"We are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again."

World Breakfast Tour

2008-07-24T09:20:00.022+01:00

I am finally getting to post these photos from my recent outing with my tandem partner Sandra at the All Nations Festival. This cool festival is hosted by the foreign embassies of Berlin. Basically one day every year a number of the embassies volunteer to open their doors to the public. This year's theme was 'Fruehstuck' or 'Breakfast', which meant that each of the participating embassies were to showcase, among other things, their traditional breakfast.

The host embassies open this year included Nepal, Malta, Jamaica, Myanmar (which we presumed would be empty because of protesters like us) Afghanistan and Lesotho. It was all very well organised. We just presented ourselves at the embassy of our choice and were given a cute mock passport which we got stamped at each embassy we visited. Myself and Sandra started off at the Indian embassy, where we, as women, were given a bindi as we walked in. Eric and our friend Joydeep also went along but at a different time (so unfortunately there are no photos of their visit) and they were given a tilaka.

We were also given a chance to try on a sari. I have to say that I loved my sari and didn't want to give it up at the end. They also had this questionnaire to fill out, which if you got all the questions right you won a prize. Unfortunately myself and Sandra were too embarrassed to hand in ours as we could hardly answer any of them. (Here were some of the questions: What is the other official name (as per the Constitution) of India? a) Hindoostan b) Hindia c) Bharat and d) Industan. Which of the following is India's national animal? a) Lion b) Tiger c) Elephant d) Snowleopard. Answers below.)

And if you are wondering what they eat in India for breakfast, see above photo. Yes, that's right - as Eric exclaimed, "they eat Indian food for breakfast!" There was all different types of curry which smelt delicious but was a bit too early in the morning for me.

Next we went to the South African embassy, mainly because it was just next door. However, they didn't allow any photographs. (Boo!) So the only one I could take was of the (free) breakfast they provided. We got a free sample of boerewors, which is a type of sausage (VERY strong taste) eaten with a tomato puree and sticky mushy rice. It didn't do much for me but Eric said he liked his.

Then it was on to the Malaysian embassy. This place was packed with people. They had a table showcasing traditional Malay cuisine, which looks like a blend of Indian, Chinese food and South East Asian food, reflecting the cultural mix in the country. Myself and Sandra only got to taste some deep-fried banana balls, which were super sweet and oily, and a deep-fried pastry, very like a samosa. I would have really like to have tasted some of the bigger dishes but the queues were too long.

This was a man at the Malaysian embassy in traditional tribal dress.

Lastly we ended up at the embassy which houses the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. At first we weren't too sure where in the building to go, but then we heard this stream of music, the sound of foot-stomping and hand-clapping, which we duly followed and the above photo is what we found. A veritable fiesta of singing and dancing and general carrying on. Great fun. And that was our final stop on our World Breakfast Tour, from India to South Africa, Malaysia, Central America and then back to Berlin again.

Answers to quiz questions: c) Bharat and d) Tiger.

Friends, glorious friends

2008-07-13T21:49:00.002+01:00

So I'm finally getting to post up photos from the last couple of weeks, when we were lucky to have visits from friends from Ireland. It's been two weeks of hanging out, sight-seeing, walking, talking, catching up, eating good food and drinking good beer and wine. At first I thought it would be weird to see people from Dublin here in Berlin, as the old song from Crowded House goes, 'two worlds colliding'. But actually we got used to having our friends here very quickly, so much so that it's actually a bit weird now that they are gone.

First came Emma and Una (pic above), who were actually our first visitors here in Berlin. (We were very excited, maybe even a little over-excited.) These guys are old pros when it comes to Berlin having been here a few times already. Actually with its laid-back and arty atmosphere Berlin suits them down to the ground.

We had a really relaxing time with them which included taking a big long meandering walk through Berlin's famous Tiergarten (pic above). We also managed to bump into the Berlin Gay Pride parade, which was a stroke of luck since we weren't too sure when it was on but had been trying to find it. I have to say that we were just settling into their visit when it was over so we've made them promise to visit again hopefully very soon.

Next came the lovely Mark Joyce, who was on a "working holiday" here in Berlin. This meant that in between working with Eric on web stuff we got to hang out and see some of the sights of Berlin. We got to show him things like this quirky shop near us that sells all things DDR, including gasmasks, old army jackets, posters and medals.

We also got to visit a cool DDR bar in the Hackescher Markt area of Berlin, complete with memorabilia and packed with a gang of young backpackers.

One of the other things we did with Mark was go on a boat tour along the Spree river in Berlin. It was a really nice way to see the city, taking in the old quarter of Berlin, the Museum Island and the Reichstag (pic below).

Though Mark was here for nearly a week there were still lots of things that we still didn't get to show him including the Fernsehturm, the Stasi Museum and the Bauhaus Museum - just to name a few. We are hoping that these will serve as a carrot to get him back to Berlin on another visit.

Next up, Mulrooney-Heffernans in two weeks time!

I Heart Skype

2008-07-11T16:11:00.009+01:00

I just wanted to proclaim my love for my recent discovery - Skype. For those of you who don't know of this wonderful invention, it's a programme which you can download onto your computer for free, which allows you to call other Skype users for free. If you have a webcam, it also lets you, with amazing 21st century technology, to see the person you are speaking to. Yes, that's right - see the person you are talking to! Now I know that this isn't cutting-edge technology as it's been out for a while, but for me it seems completely space-age. We have been able to have virtual face-to-face conversations with our friends from home (above our friend Richie a la Skype).

The great thing has been that we have also been able to see our friends' kids (above is Dee and Richie's Seimi saying "hello"), whom we miss dearly. Knowing how kids grow up so quickly it's great to be able to see them every now and again and to remind them of what we look like. So anyway, this is a plea to all of you with computers to get in contact via Skype (kusiokamura and ericeckhart32). We can give you a virtual tour of our apartment! Our real, authentic DDR wallpaper! Our antiquated, crappy gas oven! We'll even let you see what we are eating for dinner! (You can see mini-pic in the corner of the pic above - just a taster!) See for yourselves if Eric has grown a huge bushy handle-bar moustache. Or not. Whether I have really grown two inches in an amazing growth spurt. Or not. We are but a Skype away!

Linguine with Red Lentil Sauce

2008-07-08T11:56:00.001+01:00

I am posting this veggie recipe at the suggestion of Eric (!). I have been experimenting with some vegetarian dishes recently and this one came out quite nicely. Though it has lentils (not one of Eric's favourite foodstuffs), it still got the carnivore's thumbs-up. It is just a ragu sauce but with red lentils instead of minced meat. Apparently this kind of dish was very popular in the poorer areas in Italy where meat was not always readily available.

I got the basic recipe from a lovely cookbook that Joe gave me called Pasta for all Seasons, adding only a few things of my own like fresh rosemary (just because our plant needed trimming) and some red wine (just because there was a half empty bottle lying around). I also added an onion as I would for a ragu. I'm sure you could also any kind of veggie you wanted, like courgette or mushrooms for example.

Linguine with Red Lentil Sauce

1 glug of olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup of red wine
1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
vegetable stock (I use a good bouillon)
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried oregano or basil)
dried linguine

1. Heat up olive oil in a big saucepan.
2. Add the onion and garlic and fry for 2 mins.
3. Add the carrots and celery and fry for 5 mins.
4. Stir in the tomato paste and then add the red wine.
5. Add the red lentils and the herbs and then cover with vegetable stock.
6. Bring to boil and then simmer until the lentils are cooked, about 15-20 minutes.
7. While the lentil sauce is cooking cook the linguine in a large pot of salted water. Add a little of the cooking water to the sauce if it is too thick.
8. When pasta is al dente drain and put in pasta bowl. Top with sauce and serve immediately.

We had this with salad and some fried bread that Eric made. He rolled out some leftover pizza dough and cut into two pieces. Then he heated up a little olive oil in a pan and fried the dough until puffy and golden on both sides. A successful Team Eckamura effort!

Gig night at the Volksbühne

2008-07-01T21:10:00.000+01:00

Been meaning to write this one for a while as this gig was a few weeks ago now. Oh how time flies by! It was our first gig outing in Berlin. We had passed by the Volksbühne a couple of times (it's just down the road from us) and had thought it looked like a cool building. We then heard it was a theatre and had just been waiting for the right opportunity to go and see something there.

This name "Volksbühne" means the "People's Theatre" and was originally built to bring theatre, namely socialist-realist plays, to the masses. It's now known for showcasing (very) experimental theatre. Eric's tandem partner told him about one of the plays she had seen where five people were playing five separate pianos at the same time while taking their clothes off. Now that's not something you see everyday!

Anyway, I saw a poster that said that Joan as Policewoman was playing there and that was that. For those of you who don't know her music I suppose you could describe it as 'modern soul', though it doesn't really quite capture what its about. I've linked her page so if you get a chance have a listen to some of her songs.

It was open seating on the night so we were right up front for the first act, a band called Dominique (pic above). Unfortunately poor ol' Dominique weren't anything to write home about. The lead singer talked rather than sang in the songs (Leonard Cohen-ish but not pulling it off) and the backing singer I think had a bit of the jitters and didn't really hit her notes. It was quite cringy. I have to say that if it had of just been them on the night I would have been sorely disappointed.

Luckily the main act, Joan as Policewoman, were fantastic. Though we moved a few rows back as the music was a bit loud up front, we still had a great view. Joan Wasser is the brains of the outfit and she is just brilliant. As well as being gorgeous (the only woman I can think of that could get away with wearing gold pantaloons!), she is also a great performer - interacts with the crowd, is warm and funny. She played mostly the piano and a bit of guitar, as well as most of the singing. Her and her band, just a guy on drums and a bass player, were so professional and so tight. Both myself and Eric were really impressed.

They played well over two hours and also played a number of songs as encores (a sign of a good-hearted performer). It was a really balmy summer's night so we sauntered home after the gig with Joan's songs still in our heads in post-gig bliss. No jackets, just music - the perfect gig night!

It's Cicada Time!

2008-06-17T09:01:00.006+01:00

This blog (my first nature post) was inspired by an email I got from Eric's mom the other day to tell me about the recent arrival of the cicadas in Huntington. Though I had heard of cicadas before, I didn't really know that much about them. Anyway, Nita's description of these creatures fascinated me. She described them as something out of a horror movie - 3 inch long insects with red eyes that bury underground and only emerge every 17 years! So me being the inquisitive person that I am immediately googled them, and she was absolutely right! Above is a photo of said cicada. Red beady eyes, as described by Nita. Notice also the strange horror film-like deadpan expression.

I'm not an insectophobe. Well, not really. But there is something about seeing swarms of insects that gets my skin crawling (have a look at the above photo and see if it doesn't do the same to you). Apparently these cicadas don't bite or sting. They do however make quite a racket, a kind of relentless high-pitched noise, and they tend to wreck trees and shrubs where they bury their eggs. They will hatch and then fall to the ground before burying underground. And then they'll stay there for another 17 years. Fascinating eh? I think worst of all is that there are so many of them - millions apparently so that they get into everything. One tried to ambush Nita the other day by hiding in her washing. The coward! Anyway, this is an invite to my American family to post your favourite cicada stories in the comments section. The more horror film-like the better! Speaking of which check out the molting cicada below!

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The Backmeister

2008-05-28T11:54:00.006+01:00

This little beautie is our latest kitchen gadget purchase and goes by the grand name of "The Backmeister" (makers name, not ours). Eric wanted to hone his breadmaking skills here in Berlin but unfortunately our oven is an ancient gas oven with no fan. It's fine for stovetop cooking but it's pretty crap for baking. So, after a couple of bread disasters we decided to invest in a bread machine.

Now I know that bread purists may turn up their noses at a bread machine, that it's not the same as bread from an oven, that it's not the same when not kneaded by hand. Which, I'm sure, is all true. And to be honest, Eric loves the kneading part of making bread. He claims it's a good way to vent frustration.

How and ever, I have to say that we are pretty happy with our Backmeister. We have tried a couple of different breads and they have all come out quite nice. It's also saving us a bit of money as we realise, since we are at home most of the time, that we eat about two loaves each week. And it is SO easy. You just literally bung in the ingredients, set the programme and hey presto, you got a loaf of bread! I have to say that I have never made bread before and it is actually quite thrilling!

Above is a pic of one of Eric's breads. This was a recipe from the manufacturer's book and is a more of a traditional German bread, which means it has a dense texture and moist crumb. It is a very good lunch bread with cheese and salami. Below I am posting a recipe for a bread that I tried - an olive oil and rosemary bread. I got it from Allrecipes and made a couple of adjustments to it. It turned out more like the bread that we are used to, a little lighter in texture. It's delicious as a sandwich bread or toasted for breakfast with eggs.

ROSEMARY AND OLIVE OIL BREAD

1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh/dried rosemary
2 1/2 cups bread flour (I have used both white and brown and both turned out great)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Here are the directions for the bread machine

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select white bread cycle; press Start.

Someone on the site also made this recipe by hand - her instructions below:

1. yeast + 1/4 c. warm water, wait 10 min.
2. Add flour, salt, sugar, oil knead like heck.
3. Add the herbs & pepper.
4. Let rise an hour or so in an oiled, covered bowl in a warm place.
5. Punch down, let rise another hour.
6. Bake at 375 until browned.
7. Remove from oven, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Enjoy!

Sprechen Sie Englisch???

2008-05-25T16:48:00.014+01:00

When we first arrived to Berlin, our favourite, and most used phrase, was 'Sprechen Sie Englisch???', which was always uttered with more than a hint of desperation. The problem was that we came to Berlin with the expectation that all German people spoke perfect English. In fairness several different people had told us this, and I had also remembered from my few weeks in Northern Germany as a teenager seeing my German counterparts reading Pride and Prejudice in their English class and having late night chats (in English) about everything under the sun.

We should have known better. My memory can, at times, be best described as fiction. (As the t-shirt logo goes 'I make stuff up' [sometimes]). The truth is all German people don't speak English. Actually in our experience only about 10% of them do. Which is fine since they are GERMAN after all (!!!) and so it was pretty ridiculous that we would expect them to speak anything other than German.

However, because of this myself and Eric found it very hard to get around Berlin at the beginning. Any interaction was daunting and we had numerous frustrating, and also hilarious encounters. (We met one woman at Dee's brother Shaun's gig whom we thought was a hairdresser to small dogs but it turned out she was a hairdresser who hated 'small talk'. We took the hint and finished the conversation pretty quickly after that!).

Anyway, common sense prevailed and we enrolled ourselves into the nearest language school (it is literally down the road from us) into a school called Tandem. I have to say that it was pretty hard-going at the beginning. My brain wasn't used to concentrating like that for prolonged periods of time and Eric said the same, having not been in school in over 20 years. In the first couple of weeks we both had backaches, headaches, basically every kind of stress ache you can imagine.

However a month of intensive classes on (3-hours a day, 5 days a week), I can happily report we are delighted with it. We were really lucky with our class, and our teachers, everyone has been really nice. (Above is a photo of most of the class, the woman in the middle in the blue shirt is Barbara, one of our teachers. She is our favourite as she is patient, funny and a very good teacher). We are a motley crew - 1 Irish (me), 1 American (Eric), 1 Scottish (Julie), 2 Spanish (David and Kiko), 1 Argentinian (Gabrielle), 1 French (Elize), 2 Japanese (Kanako and Yukiko) and 1 Chinese (Youyou).

I think myself and Eric have really come on with our Deutsch since the course has started. The little bit of German I learnt as a teenager has finally started to come back to me and Eric, from having no German, can now buy groceries and talk a bit about himself. It's been a really good experience for me and has given me a boost of confidence as I had always pegged myself as 'not good at languages'. It's great to know that learning a new language though definitely difficult, isn't impossible. Proper conversations auf Deutsch with German people here we come!

A Dublin Weekend

2008-05-21T09:53:00.021+01:00

So, we are just back from our whirlwind weekend in Dublin. I have to say that it was quite weird to be back, especially since we were really only there for a day and a half. It was like my brain was in Berlin but my body was in Dublin - very unsettling. We arrived on Saturday evening and basically went more or less straight from the airport to our friend Daithi's 40th birthday party (the main reason for our visit).

It was held upstairs at the Teacher's Club on Parnell Square in a lovely restored Georgian room with high ceilings and chandeliers. The room was packed with all Daithi's friends and family, lots of tasty sandwiches and even a couple of musicians in the corner that played all night. It was great to see everyone there.

Another part of the entertainment was this very funny questionnaire that Daithi's wife Bridget made up. The theme of it was 'So you think you know Daithi Doolan?' and consisted of questions all about his life, from where he went to secondary school to when he left Ireland for London, to what his favourite joke is, which by the way he made up himself (How do you spot a kinky chicken? He's into studs and feathers (?!)). Needless to say that his mother and his auntie won the competition, though I think that Eric might have helped them with that joke.

And let us not forget the cake! Daithi's wife Bridget got a delicious Black Forest gateaux big enough for 60 people and 40 candles. Daithi, of course, with the pair of lungs that he has had no problems blowing them out!

It was also great to see our friends' kids, whom we miss seeing over here. Above is a photo of Baby Peter, Dee and Richie's little one (with Richie and Michael) who has grown alot in the six weeks we have been gone. He is just plain gorgeous, with a smile for every person he sees.

And there is probably no introduction needed for this pair - Siofra and Paddy. We went to see them on Sunday morning and boy, were they excited! (So were we of course). I wish we could have brought them back to Berlin with us, though I think Bridget might have had something to say about that.

Then we went on to my Mum's house where we had lunch. It was really nice to see her and to spend so time with her. Her garden looks amazing at the moment, though you can't really see it from this photo. Talk about green fingers! (It may have been sunny but it was bitter, which is why I am all bundled up).

And lastly, this is a photo of her dog Kanu (named after a former Arsenal striker) which I just had to post. Check it out! He's not the smartest dog on the block but when I said 'Cheese!' for the photo, he actually gave me a grin! Freaky.

Do we do anything other than eat?

2008-05-16T19:22:00.008+01:00

Re: the title of the blog - I was just voicing what I know you all must be thinking. And the answer is 'yes, of course!!!' but not that you can tell from reading this blog. And just to add to the food fanatic image, here is another foodie post. Monday just gone was another bank holiday here in Germany and we kindly let our friend Joydeep come over and cook for us!

Above is pic of Joydeep doing just that. Joydeep was originally our neighbour (he has moved out since) and we befriended him over chats about German cake and the Democratic nomination race in the US. He is currently finishing off a PhD in Philosophy and is a Professor in Indian philosophy in waiting. And he is also a foodie, just like us.

We were very excited (as above photo of Eric shows) as Joydeep spent the afternoon cooking us a delicious vegetarian Indian meal, using lentils, tomatoes and the spices in the first photo. It was accompanied by a delicious fried cabbage dish with roasted peanuts and served with rice and cucumber raita. Mmmmm!

Below are the boys getting stuck in - very serious work!

And lastly we had a warm Indian dessert made with milk, vermicelli, raisins, and cardamom pods. Oh, and two slices of cake from the bakery down the road, but to be honest they could have just as well have been decoration as they hardly got a forkful taken from them - the Indian dessert was that good! It was like a really fragrant version of a rice pudding, but with vermicelli. So that was that - not bad going for a bank holiday eh? Non-foodie post on the way - I promise!

Karneval!

2008-05-11T10:02:00.012+01:00

This weekend in Berlin was Karneval der Kulturen weekend! This is an annual event in Kreuzberg area of the city, which usually coincides with one of the bank holiday weekends. We had been hearing about this weekend since we got to the city six weeks ago. Nearly everyone we have met has said to us 'you can't miss the Karneval', so we were really looking forward to it.

It's basically a 3-day knees-up to herald in the summer, with a parade and music and food. Whole streets are shut off and everyone comes out to celebrate the arrival of the blessed sunshine. It's all very tribal and lots of fun. We decided to head down on Saturday with our new friend Kanako. Kanako is in our language class and is from Osaka, Japan. She has very good English so we communicate in a strange mixture of English and German, or Germlish as you might call it.

We arrived at about noon to Blucherplatz where all the stalls were and it was already very packed. There were people as far as the eye could see. I think we spent a good two hours wandering around and we didn't even see the half of it. The festival is about celebrating all the different cultures in Berlin so in the square there were vendors selling food from as farflung places as the Sudan to Sweden. There were lots of street performers - breakdancers, bellydancers etc. - and vendors selling all kinds of clothes and knick-knacks. Unfortunately the battery to our camera died so all these pics are courtesy of Kanako's camera.

Here is a pic of Kanako and Eric with their new sunglasses that they bought from the grumpiest man in the world (honestly, it was like he wanted to keep all his sunglasses for himself). Anyway, the glasses were super cheap 5 euros, you can't go wrong! Eric says this is his home-boy pose.

Part of the concourse was an organic market where all the stalls gave free samples of organic goods. We basically had our lunch here - we got lentil stew with rice, chocolates, coffee, cake. All for free! This is a very happy Eric testing an organic beer. I have figured out that Eric's favourite four-letter word in the whole wide world is 'F-R-E-E' - check out that grin!

And lastly this is a very nice picture of the two of us that Kanako kindly took. We were there for nearly four hours and left nicely tired and full. Viva la Karneval!

Market Mania

2008-04-29T19:02:00.010+01:00

One of the things we like best about Berlin so far are the open air markets. It's here the small producers come out to show off their wares, and where you can enjoy a grocery shopping experience outside of the usual supermarket confines. To me it feels very continental and there's something about the buzz of seeing all the lovely fruit and veg set out and the vendors passionately extolling the virtues of their homemade bread, cake, cheese, or what have you, that is just plain fun.

Our favourites so far have been the market in Winterfeldplatz. This is located in the Schoneburg/Tiergarten area of the city in a small square, and surrounded by lots of little cafes to rest up after buying the weekly shop.

Another favourite is our local market in Kollwitzplatz, literally five minutes from our apartment. This little market is completely organic, with all the products from clothes to bread being 100% organic. One of the vendors has THE best waffles ever - made with buckwheat flour and served hot with cinnamon sugar, or Nutella if you are feeling decadent.

Last in this selection, but definitely not least, is the Turkish market in Kreuzberg. This buzzy area is known for its Turkish population, first- and second-generation and the market has that Middle-Eastern feel. You can get dried pulses, couscous, rice to Turkish sweets to freshly made flatbreads, olives galore and big bundles of fresh mint or coriander.

We actually bought most from this fella here. The market covers a range of Middle-Eastern food. This man's stall was called simply 'Die Greche', or 'The Greek'. He had an amazing range of olives and seafood to hummus, baba-ganoush and sundried tomatoes. He was quite the character and ended up giving us as many free samples as stuff we ended up buying. Delicious!

And of course, after all that walking around, looking at things and sampling, we needed a little something to keep us going. In my case, a type of fried Spanakopita (pastry filled with spinach and feta), which was very good though quite filling. Check out that grease on the paper!

Tourists in Berlin (Part 1)

2008-04-23T19:15:00.002+01:00

I have been meaning to put this post up for about a week now so sorry for the delay. One of the days last week myself and Eric decided to do a bit of sight-seeing around Berlin and to see some other areas around the city. So we hopped on the very efficient U-bahn down to the Schoeneberg/Tiergarten area of town, which is in the former West Berlin.
Our first stop was the Winterfeldt Markt in Winterfeldplatz, a huge outdoor food market that runs twice a week (more on markets here in Berlin later). Then we went walked down Ku'damm, basically the main high street in Berlin, and popped into KaDeWe, known for being Europe's biggest department store. And yes, it was bloody enormous and I would have to say very impressive. They are famed for their sixth floor which is basically a huge delicatessan, where, you can imagine, we spent our time saying 'wow, look at those fish', 'wow, look at those cakes!' You would swear we had never seen food before!

And just so you don't think all we do is look at food in Berlin, here are some photos of other places we went on to see afterwards. Above is the Kaiser Wilheim memorial church which is a major landmark in Berlin. It was built by Kaiser Wilheim II in 1891 but was bombed in WWII. It is now a museum with some impressive photos of Berlin in the late 19th century.
A new church was built right beside it, which we popped into for a couple of minutes. This too was also impressive. It is made using mainly stained glass bricks and is really beautiful inside (see photo).

After that we decided to make a trip to the aquarium, which was nearby. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be. I thought that some of the tanks were too small, particularly for the sharks and the electric eel. They really didn't have that much room at all to swim. I actually found it a bit distressing to look at them. I hope that they will expand it some day as I think it is just too cruel for the poor creatures.

The smaller animals looked fine and happy however, such as the reptiles (see above) and the jellyfish (below). (Doesn't the lizard above look like a mini dinosaur?)

Movie Night

2008-04-23T08:57:00.003+01:00

Eric and I went to our local cinema the other night - Das Film Cafe. It is a small, funky cafe just around the corner from us that has muted lighting and comfy vintage furniture. It sells organic coffee, tea, cake and breakfasts (all with film-related titles like 'The Director's Cut' breakfast and 'Leading lady' breakfast). They have a range of film magazines to look at and dvds to borrow. AND, they also show films every night of the week in their basement cinema. Luckily for us, on Monday and Wednesday nights, they also show the film of the week in English or the original version. So this week we decided to toddle along to see what it was like.

I have to say the whole experience encapsulated Berlin for me. We arrived at about 8 o'clock (film to start at 8.20pm). It was 4 euros in, or 6 euros with a drink (Eric got a Beck's and I got an organic lemonade). At about 8.15pm the guy behind the counter said 'Okay, let's go down!' and the seven of us that had gathered by then followed him downstairs in an orderly line (hiliarious!).

We had never seen the cinema before so we had no idea what it was going to be like. To be honest, I thought it was going to be a scabby little room with a blank wall and some plastic chairs. Luckily I was wrong. It turns out that it's a plush little proper cinema, with comfy tiered cinema seats (seating about 20). Yay for us! So we happily settled in to watch the film -
In the Valley of Elah.

I just wanted to write a brief note on this film because I really thought it was excellent. It is from the guy who wrote and directed Crash and Letters from Iwo Jima. It won't be spoiling it to say that is about young soldiers coming back from Iraq. I thought it was a brilliant study of the impact of war on people and it's knock-on effect in society. It was both tender and stark, and just very human. Tommy Lee Jones was also excellent. Go see this film if you can!

So that was it! Our first experience at Das Film Cafe. No adverts, not a peep from any of the other people (no talking on mobiles or eating offensive-smelling liquid cheese), digital film, and great sound quality. In two words - film bliss!

Detox

2008-04-22T21:19:00.000+01:00

One of my goals in coming to Berlin was to start being healthy. I have to say that I generally am quite healthy but the few weeks before we left Ireland I ended up mainlining coffee, eating junk and drinking more than my usual (measly) two bottles of beer a week. And I could really feel it. On my last two days I was basically fending off the mother-of-all migraines with copious amount of drugs and having a dermatitis breakout.

To be honest it was probably more the stress of it all than anything else. The weird thing is (and I don't know if any of you are like this) the more stressed I am and the more crap I feel, the more I feel like eating chocolate and drinking wine. Worst of all I end up feeling like I NEED the double espresso just to get going in the morning.

Anyway, I think it all added up and by the time I got here I was ready to start being nicer to myself. That was after two weeks of guzzling the best German beer and attacking every slice of wonderful German cake and morsel of mare's milk chocolate I could get my hands on of course. So last week myself and Eric decided to cut the crap out - meaning lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of water, no alcohol, no caffeine, no sugar and for some reason no carbs (we are not anti-carb people - it just seemed like the right thing to do).

Now I think that I am quite a strong person, with a lot of stamina, but boy was this hard! (Eric was much hardier than me.) I had terrible headaches for the first couple of days and felt really sick and lethargic. Then the crazed hunger set in where all I could think about was food. Regardless of where I was or what I was doing my thought process would go like this: 'Toast. Banana on toast. Banana on toast with peanut butter. Banana on toast with peanut butter and honey.' Like some crazy mantra! Eric got used to the blank, ain't-nobody-home look that would cloud over my eyes.

Anyway, suffice to say that it lasted four days! In fairness to us, it coincided with our first social outings here in Berlin - dinner with our neighbour upstairs and dinner out with Shaun, Dee's brother. If we had stayed friendless, I think we might have lasted longer! I have to say though that we are both feeling much better after our little detox. And we haven't gone wild since then, only re-introducing carbs (hail the almighty carb!), and some cake and beer, but still eating lots of fruits and veg. A balance which is suiting me much better!

Is this the best chocolate eva?

2008-04-18T18:30:00.000+01:00

I thought a foodie blog was due so here it goes. When we moved in, our landlady, Nina, kindly left us a list of the 'best of' in Berlin. One of the places she recommended was a place around the corner from us called In't Veld, which I have to say, is one of the best chocolate shops I have ever been in. Not only do they do their own brand of chocolate, but they also carry chocolate from around the world. And it's not super sweet, creamy chocolate either, but very intense, high in cocoa, full of flavour chocolate. The kind of chocolate I reckon the Aztecs ate. The real deal.

The one bar I bought, and yes, I can proudly say I only bought the one, was the above, Zotter's Mare's Milk with Oat, except it had a German wrapper so I didn't have a clue what it was. It was amazing - sweet with chewy oats and a deep intense cocoa flavour. It was only when I read the small English translation on the back that I realised it had mare's milk in it. Yes, mare's milk! When I talked to Eric about it, a conversation straight out of Meet the Parents ensued. Me - 'it can't really be horses milk can it? Eric - 'well, horses have nipples too'

Anyway, to make a long story short it was mare's milk, we checked with the store. Apparently mare's milk is sweeter. It's also a delicacy in Mongolia (!). Either way I have to say that it was delicious. I'm not too sure whether it is the best chocolate eva, but that's only because I haven't tried any other of the chocolate in the In't Velt shop. Yet.

The Eckhart Effect

2008-04-18T16:55:00.010+01:00

Apologies everyone for not posting sooner. It's been quite the mixed bag over the last couple of weeks settling into our new life here in Berlin. On one hand it's been days filled taking in the city of Berlin - sitting in cafes eating kuchen (delicious, amazing, mouth-watering cake to you and me, I will be blogging on this I promise), checking out the different neighbourhoods and taking in all the usual tourist sights. And on the other hand we've also been trying to make ourselves more at home here, which entailed sorting out things like our broadband issues at home and our resident's permits, all with my very limited German (being both an aid and a hindrance).

Firstly, let me dispel the myth that all German's speak great English. This is what we thought coming over - a mix of English-speaker's arrogance and over-confidence in the German education system I think. What we have found is that maybe one in ten people we have met speak English, and most were under 40. And not having the language has made things a lot harder such as dealing with the Immigration office or the telephone company helpline. We are so looking forward to our German language class, which starts next week. I think it will really make a difference to our stay here. It will be great to be able to say more than usual please, thank you, can I have another piece of cake?

That's not to say that we haven't found the people here very friendly and helpful, which we have. But I must say we did a little victory dance when Eric finally got his resident's visa last week. Because I am an Irish citizen mine was no hassle, but Eric's took two day's of queuing, filling out forms and trying to talk in pigeon German with very stern Immigration officers. My sympathy goes out to all who through it every day around the world. There was one woman who just plain scared the living daylights out of me.

However, at the end of it all, when they found out he was married to an Irish citizen we got herded into this lovely bright room where a very nice woman promptly gave Eric a resident's visa more or less on the spot. And for five years, which apparently unheard of. We think the Eckhart name may have helped things along. Later we realised that Eric is now the first Eckhart from the family to have moved back to Germany since his family left in 1840s. The thought just kind of made us pause a moment.

Checkpoint Charlie

2008-04-18T12:48:00.006+01:00

Before we moved here, when I thought of Berlin, it was how the city has become the arts and culture capitol of Europe, full of life and a cheap place to live. Wednesday's trip into the city centre reminded me of the other side of the city - its fascinating and harrowing history.

Kusi and I took our first journey on the city's public train, the U Bahn, to the city centre. It was there we saw what is left of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, which is now a tourist stop with an person dressed up as an East German soldier who will put an East German stamp in your passport for fun.
Standing where so many events happen which made up so much of the psyche of the Cold War experience was truly profound.

Even more so was walking down one block to the ruins of the Gestapo "Interrogation" (torture) headquarters. The exhibition there and the stories where too much to take in. I wasn't expecting the eerie and disturbing depth of feelings that the place held.

I plan to return to these spots and others such as the Reichstag, better prepared to experience them and ready to feel their stark memories. But also, as a plaque read at one of sites we visited, "these places are a challenge to us to constantly resist the solution of political problems by means of war".

Alles Güt!

2008-04-02T16:39:00.008+01:00

Well everyone - we have arrived, safe and sound. I have to say that I am SO happy that the moving part of our trip is over. It was a lot harder and more traumatic than I thought it would be. And we would never have managed it were it not for the help of Eric's friend, Mark Joyce (a thousand thank yous to MJ - you will be treated like a king when you visit us).

And so now we are here in Berlin. We spent last night in a hotel but got the keys etc from the family we are renting from, Nina and Dirk. We were so wrecked from the move the day before (I had been holding off a migraine for two days) that we didn't get to spend that much time with them, which was a pity because they seemed very nice.

How strange it is to meet someone for the first time and then move into the their place the next day (which is what we did today)! They were hardly out of the place a couple of hours when we were straight in with all our gear!

Anyway, about our place. Senefelderstrasse is a lovely street, just off the main drag in Prenzlauer Berg. To me it has a very continental feel, tall buildings with courtyards. See the facade to our building above. Our apartment is on the first floor, just above a cafe and, get this, an olive oil shop (Eric is in his element).

Now our guidebook warned us about the graffiti in Berlin, but it is really everywhere. Above is the hallway to our place, which, to be honest, when I first walked in I was wondering if we were in the right place (Dee - Oliver Bond eat your heart out!).

The graffiti continues all the way up the stairwell. Strangely the "artists" use English a lot. One thing I would say is that their work lacks consistency - one says 'I love you' and another says 'I eat babies' (I mean, really).

However, the graffiti aside, I have to say that we are delighted with the apartment. The photos that Nina had sent us did not do the place justice. It is much bigger and nicer than we thought. A definite step up from De Vesci Court in Monkstown. Above is a photo of the room that Eric will be using to compose, chill out and generally be creative. It's huge, or as Seimi would say 'you-ige'!!!

This area has a million and one different restaurants (Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, Japanese), all that look lovely and inviting, and all are incredibly reasonable (it is possible to for two people to eat a gourmet meal for under 10 euros here!). However, we decided to spend our first night in. As well as saving a couple of bob, there's nothing like cooking (see photo of Eric in the midst above), and eating your first meal to make a place feel like home. And though it is just our first night, both myself and Eric agree that this place already feels like us.

Birthday Boy

2008-03-25T06:41:00.015Z

As you all know, it was Eric's 40th birthday recently, and his present was a book of photos and written pieces by his family and friends. I had originally envisioned it as a scrapbook-type project. However, when the reality of keeping it a secret from Eric sunk in, I had to change my plans to a more digital effort (I was able to work on my computer without Eric getting too suspicious).

Anyway, I ended up using Photobox, the same company who develop our digital photos, to put together the book. They have this really great software which allowed me drop in photos and pieces of text. And for those of you who haven't seen the book, just to let you know that it came out brilliant. I was very happy with it, and more importantly, Eric loved it.

So I just wanted to send out a big thank you to you all for your help and contributions. I really wouldn't have been able to do it without you. Though we couldn't put in all the written pieces, please know that they were printed off and Eric got to read them all. And the same with the photos - we easily got over 100 photos (all great!), which Eric was delighted to get and are going into a special Eric album. Posted are some of the pics.

Eric hanging with Ceci and Muttsie

Eric with his band (Brian on drums!)

Eric and Joe - tough revolutionaries

A full blog on the party and all birthday proceedings is to follow from the birthday boy himself.

On the Move

2008-03-24T21:28:00.002Z

Eric posing patiently with two heavy boxes while his wife grapples with the camera

We are finally on the move! We spent today, with the help of Eric's friend, the lovely Mark Joyce, moving most of our belongings into storage (Mark Joyce's bedroom till he gets his attic sorted). Though it's another week before we go to Berlin, I really felt like today was the first step on our year long adventure.

I don't know what it is about moving one's belongings from one place to another, but it always feels significant to me. There's something about packing away everything you own into boxes, throwing away the junk that has accumulated and trying to distill your life into two suitcases that is both liberating and stressful. I think it is a mixture of letting go of the old and embracing the new, which, as my old buddies in San Francisco used to say, is 'all good' really.

I'm not that sad to be leaving our apartment though. For one thing this place is cooooooold (not enough o's in cold to borrow a phrase from Ben9). Our last two electricity bills were astronomical as we had the heating on a bit more than usual and the worst thing was that it didn't even get that warm!

But there are things that were great about the place too. Firstly, we had the world's best landlord - Cyril. He was just a very nice man with a wicked sense of humour, who always tried to make our place as comfortable for us as possible. Secondly, we really liked our neighbours and loved stopping to chat with them when we met them in the hall. And lastly, our apartment was in a great location. I will definitely miss the walks by the sea.

However, as we get closer to going away (next Tuesday!) I am realising how ready I am for this adventure. Maybe it is the Spring weather getting into my veins but I am really looking forward to a bit of a change. So though the moving bit is stressful, I know the arriving bit will make it all worthwhile. Berlin - here we come!

Our Place in Berlin

2008-03-02T20:25:00.000Z

I thought you all might like to see some photos of our place in Berlin, where we will be spending five months from April. It is in the Prenzlauer Berg area of the city, which is in East Berlin. The apartment is in an altbau, which is an older style building. Our landlords are Nina and Dirk, who are heading off on an adventure themselves, which is why their place is free. They have shipped their campervan to Panama and are travelling from there up to Canada with their 5 yr old son Rocco and their 2 yr daughter Nona. We feel lucky to have found the place as we were really looking for a home away from home and feel like we have found it. I'll let you decide for yourselves.

Sitting room

Kitchen and bathroom

Bedroom No. 1

Bedroom No. 2

The apartment also has a small garden, where Nina tells me is nice to sit with a glass of wine when the sun is going down. Bliss!

Oscars Wild!

2008-02-25T20:08:00.000Z

The whole country has gone oscars wild today after Irish film 'Once' winning Best Original Song. It was written by the two main actors in the film, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irlglová. Myself and Eric were really delighted for them because they are both hard-working artists. Markéta Irlgová also gave a great speech about how independent musicians and artists should always dream and never give up hope (music to our ears as we head off to Berlin for our creative break, and also on my recent blog theme of hope).

For those of you who haven't seen the film - go see it! It's a real gem of a film about the relationship between an Irish busker and a Czech immigrant in Dublin city (the photo above was shot on Killiney Hill, just up the road from where we live). It was done on a shoe string using real musicians, and on top of that it is a great story. I cried sporadically throughout the film (tears of joy!) and would definitely said it was one of my top films of 2007.

Below is a clip of their performance of 'Falling Slowly' at the Oscars, which I have been humming all day. A great day for indie musicians everywhere.

Peter's Welcome Party

2008-02-25T19:34:00.000Z

Yesterday was baby Peter Seán Heffernan's welcome party. It was a lovely ceremony, which our good friends Dee and Richie spent ages preparing for. It was in the community centre by their house, which was a perfect venue for the 40 odd people that were there.

Eric opened up the proceedings with the song 'Beautiful Boy' by John Lennon. Then there was a Powerpoint presentation of photos of Peter from womb (lots of pics of Dee with bump) to present-time. Daithí and Bridget, who are Peter's god-parents read pieces that they wrote especially for Peter. Below is a pic of Daithí with his god-son.

Members of both Richie and Dee's family then read out blessings for Peter. Followed by myself and Dee's older brother Jimmy who read out two poems and then whole thing ended with Dee's younger brother, Shaun singing 'Imagine' with the rest of us chiming in. Really lovely. I am posting my chosen poem, by poet Sheenagh Pugh, below.

I chose it with Peter in mind, but also thinking of Dee and Richie. For those of you who don't know them, Dee and Richie are some of the most thoughtful, optimistic and hopeful people I know. Precious traits that I know will be passed down to Peter too. A wise man (Billy Bragg I think) once said that the enemy of humanity is cynicism and I think he is dead right.

So this is for Dee and Richie who, just in their hopefulness, fight the good fight. I also thought you lot out there might like it too.

Sometimes

Sometimes things don’t go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don’t fail.
Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war,
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough, that they can’t leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best intentions do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen; may it happen for you.

Happy Birthday Paddy!

2008-02-17T20:34:00.001Z

I am on a bit of a blog-roll at the moment so I'm just going with it. Today we were at our good friends Bridget and Daithí's apartment, celebrating their son, Paddy's birthday. He is now two and is just the cutest little fella. His full name is Pádraic but his shortened name Paddy just suits him to a tee. Actually the birthday cake that Bridget made (see above) in his image pretty much sums him up - blonde curls and a huge smile.

It was a lovely afternoon, with a gathering of Daithi and Bridget's family and friends and lots of food. Paddy seemed to enjoy the lighting, and blowing out, of the birthday cake.

And, he also seemed to enjoy the most important part of his birthday cake...the eating of it.

Myself and Eric have really enjoyed getting to know him over these last couple of years and hope to celebrate many more birthdays with him. This one is for you Paddy - Happy Birthday!

The Many Faces of Eric

2008-02-15T20:40:00.003Z

Ah, the fun you can have with a camera, a razor, some card, a marker and a husband who's up for anything (having no television also helps)! Eric finally shaved the beard that he had been cultivating over the last month :) It's actually amazing how different he looks depending on what part of the beard is there, so we decided to chronicle this metamorphasis for your viewing pleasure.

Below is his militia-style handlebar moustache

And my favourite - Tom Selleck eat your heart out!

And last, is the clean-cut Eric that you all know and love. We call this the Baby-face, as it is the expression on practically every baby photo of Eric.

The Future of Eckamura?

2008-02-15T14:24:00.000Z

Eric reckons this is a look into the future at what one of our kids might be like, what with my dominant genes and Eric's passion for the Beatles.

I'm really not into making kids perform (this is from first-hand experience of being forced into poetry and piano recitals - to this day The Owl and the Pussy-cat gives me the shivers). However, I have to say that I do think this is very cute. I particularly like the yell at the end.

And if this doesn't play for you here's the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqXYwNDrU8k

My Dental Nightmare

2008-02-14T18:56:00.000Z

Warning: this blog is not for the faint-hearted.

As some of know already, this month has been a particularly painful month, with three visits to the dentist and another one to go. For some unknown it seems that some of my teeth have decided to pack it in and have generally been giving me a hard time.

For my American relatives, I know the concept of experiencing pain at the dentist is a completely alien notion. However, if you are Irish it is a pretty common experience. I am not sure whether it's because the drugs are stronger in America or whether our dentists are just sadists but I swear I could fill a book with all the dentist horror stories I have heard since my experience.

Anway, I have decided not to go into too much detail about the whole thing, other than to say, that on the pain scale my last filling was at the Interrogate-the-Terrorist end. Tortuous pretty much covers it, as the dentist ended up hitting the nerve while he was drilling down.

I think the reason Mother Nature or God or whoever decided to cover the tooth nerve with hard enamel was because it is not meant to be touched!!! It was as if someone hooked me up to an electric generator and threw the switch. Basically I jumped out the seat and the nurse screamed. It was all very dramatic and I was sick for about two weeks after. It has now way surpassed The Owl and the Pussycat as the Number One thing to make me shiver when I think about it.

So I have decided to be constructive and have used my experience to compile my top five dentist tips below. Please feel free to add any comments people.

1. Discuss with the dentist what they are going to do before they numb your whole mouth with novacaine.
2. Get them to walk through the procedure as they are doing it.
3. Never trust an Irish dentist when they say it isn't going to hurt.
4. Never trust an Irish dentist when they say it is only going to hurt a little bit.
5. When the dental nurse starts to scream, run.

2nd Anniversary!

2008-02-08T22:24:00.001Z

Oh how time has flown by! I can't believe that myself and Eric have been two years married already. It seems just like yesterday when I fell head over heels and ruthlessly pursued the man of my dreams until he finally relented. It really was quite the whirlwind romance.

Now two years along I'm probably more excited than ever about the life myself and Eric are creating for ourselves. I have to say that marriage wasn't something that I ever had in mind for myself, so our relationship is something I am really proud of. And definitely something to be celebrated.

Which is why this year we decided to treat ourselves to a nice few days away in Wicklow. We stayed two nights at the lovely Druid's Glen hotel. Our stay consisted of eating, drinking, sleeping, roasting ourselves in the steam room, cooling off in the pool and generally having a grand old time.

The hotel decor was very modern Celtic. It is quite the popular golf resort and is aimed at the American market. We were happy to see that the groundskeeper kept with the Celtic theme on the outside (we thought that Steve would particularly like this photo).

Eric, inspired by Bridget, completely embraced the whole rest and relaxation atmosphere of the hotel...

All in all it was a tremendous success. And in between the lots of doing nothing and waiting for our skin to de-wrinkle from the pool, we also got to give a little cheers to our two years together.

Introducing...Peter

2008-02-08T22:11:00.000Z

This photo is long overdue, apologies people.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure, I would like to introduce you to the newest member of the Mulrooney-Heffernan family, Peter.

Just to let you know that those cheeks are doubly kissable in real life.

Happy New Year

2008-01-08T16:35:00.000Z

Apologies one and all for not posting sooner. Keeping better care of our blog is one of my New Year's resolutions, promise! Anyway, I just realised that the first month of the year is nearly over already so I just wanted to post a little New Year's greeting before it's too late. By the way, the photo above is courtesy of the Moeller brothers from their trip to Scotland. I could just look at it forever.

Anyway, below is a lovely poem from a Irish writer called John O'Donoghue. It's called 'Beannacht', which means 'Blessing'. This is for all our family and friends but particularly those who are going through a bit of a rough time at the moment.

Our love to you all.

BEANNACHT

On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.

And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life

Turkey-free Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T18:55:00.001Z

PS: I forgot to mention that we are celebrating Thanksgiving by having our friends Daithi and Bridget over for dinner tomorrow. It will be Eric's first veggie Thanksgiving!!! Initially, he was resistant to the idea but he finally came around - I don't think the poor fella had ever thought he would be uttering those two words together in the same sentence, never mind having them on the same plate for his dinner. From his reaction you would swear it was an apocalyptic omen, like dogs and cats laying together or something. Which brings me nicely to the photo above (okay, it was a bit of stretch). I know it's cruel, and strange, to dress up animals in clothes for our enjoyment but they sure look cute, don't they?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T19:07:00.000Z

This is a quick blog for my American relatives just to say 'Happy Thanksgiving!' Last year was my first introduction to this holiday and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. I mean what's not to like? Family, food and LOTS of pie (as Eric helpfully illustrates below). Hope you are all having a great day. Wish we were there.

Only in Ireland

2007-10-23T20:57:00.001+01:00

Usually at coffee break in work, around 11am, we all sit around and have a chat. Today Jeanne, a colleague, told us a story which I decided was too good to kept inside the office. And when I heard it, I just thought there was something so Irish about it.

So the story goes like this. Jeanne from my office decides to send her friend in England a somewhat novel birthday present - a pink feather duster (in fairness, I missed this part of the conversation so I don't quite know why she picked that).

Anyway, she brings the duster, all wrapped up, to the GPO (General Post Office) to send off to her friend. The fella at the counter insists that she fill out a declaration form for said odd-shaped object so she carefully states on the sticker - '1 x pink feather duster'. When she hands it back in, the fella takes one look at it and says 'oooh, the dirty bitch!' Jeanne just laughs and thinks nothing of it.

A couple of days later she gets a phonecall from her friend in England to say thanks for the present and for the handwritten note on the envelope. Jeanne says 'but I didn't write anything on the envelope!' It seems the fella at the post office decided to add his own little something to the present by writing a ditty on the envelope:

One feather is erotic
A whole chicken is perverse

As I said, only in Ireland!

Heroes

2007-10-22T16:34:00.000+01:00

Well, as some miserable ol' sod said, "all good things come to an end". Yes, that's right, we have finally finished all seven seasons of The West Wing. It took us less than the expected year to finish them all and I must say it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

But rather than shedding any tears over Josh, CJ, Donna and the gang, we have decided to jump straight back into dvd boxset world and are now watching Season One of Heroes. For those of you not in the know, this is a kitschy, comic-book style series about a group of people who find themselves with superpowers. It has a totally implausible plot, several different characters, some very dodgy acting, and we love it! It is the ultimate in guilty-pleasure television.

On a completely different note, but on the same subject of heroes I have been listening to a series on RTE Radio One about whistleblowers. It was produced by a guy I went to school with. It just finished up over the weekend but I thought it was an excellent series.

The last programme was about Frank Serpico, the police officer that exposed corrupion in the New York police department. He made for a great interview and told his story well. He's in his 70s now, a real straight-talking New York Italian-American. He was a total character - I thought he was quite funny (though I'm not too sure if he was meaning to be).

He told of one incident, when his colleague were finding out that he was going to go public, where a shady character pulled him aside. The guy said 'Do you know, one of these days your people are going to turn on you?' Apparently Serpico replied 'Who? The Italians?' !

I was amazed by how he managed to keep going in the face of such pressure and was impressed by his sense of integrity. It was a real David and Goliath story, about how one small man fought a huge organisation. And won. About how one person can make a difference. Very inspiring.

For those of you interested, you can still hear the programmes online at www.rte.ie/radio1/whistleblowers. I would also recommend the film, Serpico, with Al Pacino (pic above).

Lost: One Al Dente

2007-10-18T14:18:00.000+01:00

Well it has been a couple of crazy weeks for myself and Eric, which has meant that I have been totally neglecting this blog. Eric has been gigging like mad, we had the lovely Moeller brothers come and stay, and in the midst of it all we both got colds (all better now though).

Also, I have to say that the blog-part of my brain has been strangely vacant since we came back from Cork. Usually something happens during the week and I think 'ooo, must do a blog on that!' but in the last couple of weeks it just hasn't been happening.

Funnily enough this vacancy has coincided with a strange phenomenon which I would like to share with you all. You see, I'm usually pretty good at cooking pasta just right (yes, back to food again) and I can usually judge the precise point when it is cooked but still has a bite. But lately, I haven't been able to do this at all. I have lost my al dente!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not overally worried. Other than eating a lot of overcooked pasta it has not had an adverse effect on our lives. But it is very strange. Maybe, the act of writing this blog will lure it back. In the meantime, any tips to help Kusi get her al dente back will be gratefully accepted.

Moeller Brothers visit

2007-10-17T12:20:00.000+01:00

Recently, we had the lovely Moeller brothers come visit us, all the way from the US of A. Chris is an old friend of Eric's - they went to school together. And being the generous brother that he is, he brought his brother Frank, who had never been out of the States, on a trip to Scotland and Ireland as a 40th birthday present.

I have to say it was a pleasure to have them. They were both very easy going and really seemed content just to sample the Guinness in Dublin's many pubs, with a happy Eric in tow.

We did of course show them around to some of the sights, both in the city and out our area. Above is a picture from their last day with us. It was a glorious day, in fact one of the best this year. We brought them up Killiney Hill to see the views across Dublin. There happened to be a group of people para-sailing off the top of the hill and we stayed and watched them for a while. It was really quite relaxing. There are a couple of other photos, which I have posted on Flickr.

There was one last thing I wanted to mention. I'm really not to sure whether this is an American thing, or even a nature-nurture thing (Eric and Chris grew up very near each other), but I was struck by how similar Chris and Eric are. Not so much in looks but in how they act. It is really quite remarkable. Below is a picture of them both when we were in London last year - isn't it uncanny? I mean come on, matching outfits!

In Praise of the Irish beach

2007-09-10T20:24:00.000+01:00

Apparently, there is a perception out there that Ireland doesn't have any nice beaches, or so Eric tells me. And in fairness with our weather I can understand that point of view.

View of Barleycove Beach

But after our visit to West Cork I thought it only fair that I post a few pics of some of the beaches that we had the pleasure of paddling in (no swimming for us - beautiful as it was, the water this time of year is somewhere between cool and brainfreeze).

Eric at Inchydoney Beach

Also, because we arrived at the end of season we had the beaches mostly to ourselves, save for a few odd people here and there. I have to say when the weather is nice, there is no place I'd rather be than Ireland.

Brave Eric going over the ankle at Barleycove

Wonderful West Cork

2007-09-10T11:56:00.000+01:00

We are just back from a short break in wonderful West Cork, where we had four days of fresh air, amazing scenery, good food and most importantly, pure unadulterated sunshine. It seems, for all the crap weather we have been having, that summer has arrived at last.

The reason we went down to Cork in the first place was because Eric was playing a gig at a well-known music venue in Clonakilty called De Barra's. It was a small place but the stage was done up really nice, like someone's sitting room and the gig went very well. The place was packed out and the crowd were very attentive and appreciative of Eric's music. The organiser was a guy called Gavin Moore, who turned out to be a supernice fella as well as a great singer.

We then went on to stay in Toormore, near Schull on the Mizen peninsula. Neither of us had been down to this part of the country and we both fell in love with it. The scenery is stunning - sandy beaches, craggy cliffs and lush greenery. It literally was one amazing vista after another.

On one of the days we made a trip out to the visitor centre on Mizen head. Above is a pic of Eric with a dummy from a display in the visitor centre having a grand ol' time. The dummys were actually not that lifelike but were very well done, if not a little creepy.

On our last day there we went over the next peninsula up called 'Sheep's Head'. This peninsula had its own charm, not as dramatic a landscape as Mizen, but still beautiful. The photo above is from a memorial garden in the village of Ahakista, which is dedicated to the victims of an Air India plane that was bombed nearby in the 80s. It was right here that our car decided to break down after bravely trudging on for most of the holiday. More on that in another blog.

I have to say that it was one of the best holidays in Ireland I've had. I know the sun helped immensely but I reckon West Cork is a beauty spot, no matter what the weather's like. I have a more photos up on Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/kusieric/sets/72157601936310524/detail/ if you want to check them out. I don't think it's possible to do the place justice but I think they give a feel of the place.

Pasta with fresh tomatoes with basil

2007-09-03T20:41:00.000+01:00

I know I'm just after posting up a food blog but I thought I put one up for all you vegetarians out there. I have to confess that though I am a meat-eater I have vegetarian leanings and have, a couple of times in my life, even been one. As Joe Eckhart says 'I'm a sympathiser'.

So I'll usually try to mix in some veggie meals during the week, though I know Eric would be happy to eat meat every single day, no problem (he is a carnivore, through and through). We will usually make something Italian or Indian because with their vegetarian dishes you don't really miss the meat.

We also try to get free-range and organic when we can. It's not always possible with the meat, and sometimes the prices can be prohibitive, but it's nice to know that the animals were treated a bit better. When I get into my philosophical mode I often wonder whether evolution promoted the right species. I mean I know that we are at the top of the food chain and all that and have opposable thumbs yada, yada, yada but I'm not quite sure if that means that we're really the brightest (see Gary Larson cartoon above).

Anyway, below is a lovely vegetarian pasta recipe that comes courtesy of Eric's Mum Nita. It's a great one for when you come in from work, or if you want something a little lighter. I have also left in her notes 'cause when it comes to cooking Nita is usually spot on.

Pasta with fresh tomatoes with basil

3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped ( I use 2 more tomatoes at least and only worry about seeds if they are very seedfilled. Like the ox heart has few seeds. I blanche and remove skin.)
2 garlic cloves ( I use 4) minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
8 ounces angel hair pasta
shredded parmesan cheese

1. Saute first 8 ingredients in hot olive oil in large skillet over low heat, stirring constantly for one minute or until thoroughly heated.
2. Spoon over hot cooked pasta; sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

You can cut up tomatoes, chop parsley and basil ahead of time, and squeeze lemon, making this a really fast meal to put on table.

Clam risotto

2007-09-03T20:10:00.000+01:00

We just had the nicest meal tonight. So nice that I've decided to share it with you all. It was really more of a weekend dish but I got it into my head I was going to make 'Clam risotto', and so I did.

You see, we had brought back a suitcase full of clams from our trip in America (honestly, we had brought an extra suitcase specially!) I know it must seem weird but honestly American clams are the nicest we've tasted - big and sweet. Anyway, ever since Eric introduced me to 'Linguine and clam sauce' we have been hauling back cans of clams from America to feed our habit.

Our clams of choice at the moment are Snow's chopped clams. Unlike some of the others we have tried they are relatively shell free and the juice is delicious We get them in Walmart (no, we are not proud) for a really good price.

Anyway, the clams worked their magic tonight and gave the risotto a touch of something special. We also had a glass each of an Italian rose wine we had been saving with a side salad made from our homegrown lettuce. Not bad for a Monday night!

Recipe below adapted from Giorgio Locatelli's book Made in Italy, which has to be one of my favourite recipe books, full of lovely stories of growing up in Italy:

Risotto alle vongole
Clam risotto

2 cans of clams, drain the clams and reserve the juice
2 tablespoons butter
1 good swig of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
1 large tomato, chopped fine
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 cup of arborio rice
rind of parmesan, a good use of the stubby end of the cheese
1 handful of fresh basil and parsley, chopped
Some freshly grated parmesan

1. Heat the butter and the olive oil. Then gently fry and the onion and garlic. Be sure not to brown.
2. Then add the chopped tomato and chilli flakes and fry for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the rice now until it is fully coated. Giorgio calls this 'toasting' the rice. Throw in the rind of the parmesan.
4. Slowly add the clam juice and stir constantly until the risotto reaches the al dente stage. Add water if necessary.
5. Add the clams and heat through.
6. Throw in the chopped fresh herbs.
7. Serve with freshly grated parmesan.

Separated at Birth

2007-08-29T20:18:00.000+01:00

I have long held the belief that a particular Hollywood superstar, Aaron Eckhart and my soon-to-be rockstar husband, Eric Eckhart are uncannily alike. I have mentioned this a number of times to people only to get raised eyebrows (apparently when Eric told his Mom this she said 'she wishes'!). And no, it is not just because they share the same surname either. They really do look alike - blonde hair, bushy eyebrows, blue eyes, wide mouth. Anyway, I finally have overwhelming photographic evidence which I present below.

The lovely Aaron Eckhart...

and the even lovelier Eric Eckhart

The defence rests.

Festival: Part 2

2007-08-26T19:38:00.000+01:00

On Sunday our friends Dee, Richie and their son Séimí came out the festival with us. There were loads of food stalls with food from all around the world. Pic above of Eric, Dee, Séimí and Richie munching away (not the most flattering of photos as people have their mouths full but check out the face on Séimí with chocolate grin! Hilarious!)

This is a pic of the main stage which had free music all weekend. We saw some cool acts there including Kila, a mariachi group and an odd Polish hip-hop group that didn't quite hit the mark ('her name was Natasha, she was from Russia. Natasha, from Russia, Natasha, from Russia.' etc., etc.).

After wandering around a while we ended up in the fairground again where Séimí had the best time ever. It was a really lovely fairground, especially for smaller kids, and none of them seeemed too happy to leave it.

I have to say that it was one of the best festivals that I've been to in a long while - family friendly, a really nice vibe, lots of free events and great food. All the ingredients for a great weekend.

Festival: Part 1

2007-08-25T20:13:00.000+01:00

This weekend Dun Laoghaire, the nearest town to where we live (just ten minutes walk away) had its annual Festival of World Cultures. It is a pretty big festival, with musical acts and vendors from all around the world and it goes on from Thursday to Sunday. Over 200,000 people were expected to come to visit the festival this year and I'd say that got every bit of that if not more. Dun Laoghaire is great location for this kind of festival as well, just by the sea (above pic of Eric by the pier).

Here are a few pics from the festival on the Saturday - exotic dancers on the promenade above...

and a pic of the Falun Dafa group from China (check out the girl sitting facing away from the group on the right-hand side. Eric thinks she was sent to the bold corner after she was caught bopping to the music instead of meditating calmly like her comrades).

They also had a lovely little funfair (more pics in Part 2) with this huge ferris wheel. We'd have liked to have gone on it but Eric overdid on the icecream and spinning around at a great height just didn't seem like the wisest thing to do.

A Sandwich Adventure

2007-08-16T15:17:00.000+01:00

This blog has taken an age to write, probably because I have been trying to figure out why I wanted to write about sandwiches. I think it was inspired by a conversation I had with my sister-in-law Ceci. We got talking about banana sandwiches, as you do, when she suggested the daring combination of banana and Marmite. Now if you, like Eric, are turning your nose up, let me tell you that I tried it recently and actually it's very nice. A bit of sweet and a bit of savoury, a sandwich I can imagine getting cravings for. Anyway, hence this blog.

I have to say I like strange sandwich combinations, particularly if they work. For me there's nothing better than bringing together ingredients, which would appear to be an unnatural pairing, only to find out that they are a perfect match (okay, so there are alot of things that are better, but humour me here).

As most of you know myself and Eric are foodies and when it comes to food, quite adventurous, though funnily enough, the one food Eric says he will never, never, try is banana sandwiches. I am all for adventure as most of my favourite foods (eg blue cheese, coconuts, kimchi - not all together) probably wouldn't be around today if it weren't for some inquisitive fellow who thought 'well, maybe just a little nibble!'

Anyways, for all you fellow nibblers out there I have put more sandwich thoughts below. Please feel free to add your own in the comments section:

Perfect pairings
- Banana and Marmite - many thanks Ceci!
- Banana and Bacon - Nigel Slater, English food writer raves about this combo
- Bacon and marmalade or jelly, depending which side of the Atlantic you are on
- Crisp sandwich - 80s Irish cuisine, our friend Bridget, originally from Michigan, now self-proclaimed Paddy likes these. Translated: 2 slices of white bread (the kind with no nutritional value), lot of butter and a load of cheese and onion crisps (chips).
- Chip butty - this is the ultimate carb sandwich. Repeat procedure above but add french fries instead of crisps, and don't forget the ketchup.

Sandwich Dos
- Do cut in half, or even in quarters, diagonally - it tastes better, I swear!

- Do pair with a side of crisps or a pickle - it's all in the crunch

- Do try and get someone else to make it for you - another guaranteed flavour enhancer

Sandwich Don'ts
- Don't leave at a bottom of a bag so that it gets soggy - an ex-boyfriend used to love soggy sandwiches so much that he tried to recreate the circumstances of sogginess by carefully placing sandwiches at the bottom of a bag in a warm place. He called it "school-bag aged". I should have read the signs then.

Thought for the day

2007-08-10T16:07:00.001+01:00

Below is a poem that I discovered recently by Mary Oliver, which I thought I would share. It really struck me as a wonderful piece of wisdom. I have it by my desk in work and it never ceases to give me a little lift when I read it. I hope you enjoy it.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

The Giada

2007-08-10T15:27:00.001+01:00

I am posting below a recipe of a meal that Eric's mum, Nita made for us when we were in America (which now seems aeons ago!). We liked it so much that we bought the book, Everyday Pasta, and have had the dish a couple of times now since we came back.

Quick background on the chef. Her name is Giada de Laurentiis. Neither myself or Eric had never heard her before but she is apparently the granddaugher of a film producer, Dino De Laurentiis, who produced a load of films including Serpico (one of my top ten films) and Hannibal. I have to admit that I thought she might be all pose and no punch (see ridiculous aubergine photo above, which had to be, had to be!!!, taken by a man) but actually her recipes are very good. She basically specialises in simple, straightforward Italian cooking, which is right up my alleyway.

Anyway the dish is called 'Farfelle with Broccoli'. It is just bow-tie pasta with broccoli in a butter and anchovy sauce, but as Eric pointed out, it is something that he, or I, would never have thought up. It's really handy for after work as it is quick and easy. The dish has now been dubbed 'The Giada', plain and simple.

Farfalle with Broccoli

This is the basic recipe but we added extra broccoli and anchovies and garlic because basically we are guts.

Ingredients - 4-6 servings

1 pound farfelle
2 heads of broccoli, split into florets
1/4 cup extra-virgin oil
4 tablespoons butter
3 garlic cloves
5 anchovy fillets
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup of parmesan

1. Boil pasta in big pot of salted water. After 5 minutes add broccoli florets and cook for 4 more minutes. Drain pasta and broccoli but reserve a cup of the pasta water.

2. In a large frying pan, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add garlic, anchovies and pepper flakes and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add broccoli and pasta and pepper flakes. You can add pasta water if it needs loosening up. Then serve with parmesan.

The Joy of Gardening

2007-07-31T18:41:00.000+01:00

I am a relatively newcomer to gardening. Though I grew up in the countryside (Avoca, Co. Wicklow) where we had a lovely big garden with a fruit and vegetable patch with strawberries, gooseberries, carrots and lettuce and the like, when we moved to Dublin I kind of lost touch with all that.

Recently though I have had real yearning for the country life again. I keep having fantasies about moving to the countryside, where I can see fields, mountains, forests. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older but my inner country girl is finding her way out again. And its not just the landscape I yearn for, but it's also the smell of soil, and the worms, and just growing things. Hence, the gardening.

Above is a picture of our lovely balcony garden. We live on the top floor of a block of apartments in Monkstown, so we get sunlight nearly all day. Our balcony is not big, just 12ft by 4ft, but it is enough to have a bit of a garden.

At the moment it has a mix of flowers, herbs and vegetables. I have jasmine and pansies, and a lovely fuschia plant. Below are my lettuce plants (a mix of lollo rosso, butter lettuce and kos), which I am proud to say I grew from seed (watching something grow from seed is amazing!). There are radishes and spring onions also sown in there. Underneath them is thyme, parsley and lavender.

Indoors on the window ledge are our herbs - basil, coriander (which is getting very big) and mint. I am growing some cuttings from the mint as I would like to make some real mint tea. I have had it before and it knocks the socks of the packaged stuff. I have harvested the parsley and thymea few times already, and ovendried them, which was surprisingly easy.

There's also spider plants, a fern, a peace lily, and a bonsai tree. It sounds alot, and it probably is for the small apartment that we have, but I really feel like there's no such thing as too many plants.

Mental health studies have shown that watching things grow is really beneficial to one's state of mind and general happiness. Apparently they have done tests and the brain waves, when a person is gardening, do a wonderful calm dance. I don't know about the science of it but all I can say is that is has really brightened up my "summer".

An Irish "Summer"

2007-07-30T19:53:00.000+01:00

When I originally started this post it was to give out about the Irish so-called "summer". I was going to moan about the fact that it had rained every day since the beginning of June - over 50 days at last count. I had uploaded the picture above (from a weathercam on O'Connell bridge), of miserable wet Irish people, walking around, as many of them do, with no umbrellas, and of the dark and dreary streets of Dublin. It was going to be quite a depressing blog.

Thankfully though, the weather has finally broken and in the last couple of days we have gotten to see some sun (photo above from traffic-cam on O'Connell St today). So instead this is a blog about the funny things I have heard people say about the weather over the last couple of months. I like to think they have an almost Zen koan quality ("what is the sound of one hand clapping?") to them. Though I have to say I'm not too sure whether, with the Irish sayings, enlightenment is the aim. Still, I think they score highly for their entertainment factor.

Irish sayings about the weather:

- "That's very wet rain"
- "We're going to get some weather tomorrow"
- "It's a soft day"
- "It's a dirty day"
- "Real men don't use umbrellas"
(This is not so much a saying as an attitude, though Eric did hear a workmate say something to that effect. Eric's response was 'so what, real men just get wet'?)