Johanna Writes Madrid

Au Revoir Switzerland

And yes yes we are moving to Madrid! I'm incredibly excited even though I've never been there. This is the fourth time in my life that I'm moving somewhere that I've never seen before and even though it's always a risk, it's also a thrilling sort of feeling.

We have one more week of Switzerland which means that I'm up to my eyebrows in stuff to do. In the meantime, it's suddenly occurred to us that we haven't actually seen much of Switzerland. We'd always assumed that we would stay longer so never felt much pressure to run around being tourists. To remedy this, we've embarked on a whirlwind tour starting with a visit to Gruyeres last weekend. Gruyeres is the home of Gruyeres cheese and also somewhat incongruously, the HR Giger museum which from what I could tell from the outside, is full of aliens having sex.  This means that along with all the red faced Brit tourists who are there to visit the castle and eat Swiss cheese, the streets of Gruyeres are also teeming with long-haired guys who looked like they just walked off the set of Spinal Tap. I had a coffee while Mr. D (who would visit the Museum of Bookshelves if it existed) checked out the museum. He later confirmed that it was indeed full of sexy aliens.

The village has a fairytale castle which is one of the most beautiful in Switzerland. For Nico this was a dream come true and he was especially taken with the display of knight's armor. So taken that for the rest of our castle tour, he wouldn't stop screaming "Mommy! I want to go back and see the special hats where they don't get hurt!" "Mommy! Where are the special hats where they don't get hurt??" "Special haaaaats, blubber blubber" and so on. 

Not to be outdone by Swiss supermarkets which unfairly line the entrances to check-out stands with matchbox cars, candy and other assorted child tempters, castles load up their entrances with a range of plastic dragons and princess figurines. I was fortunate to come away with only a few whines and one small plastic dragon. Despite the drama, I realized how amazing it is to live in a country where you can just hop on a train and arrive at a genuine castle less than an hour later.

Last night we ate fondue for the last time and tomorrow we head to Zurich and then on to Interlaken for a couple of days of skiing in the Swiss Alps. Afterward, it's back to Lausanne for the final move! I'll be spending March in Salt Lake City, most of April in NYC and then finally we'll head to Madrid near the beginning of May.

Back from Berlin

Berlin was truly fantastic and I enjoyed myself immensely. Weirdly enough, it's the first place I've ever gone where I felt like I completely belonged which doesn't make much sense since I don't speak more then 3 or 4 words of German. I never before thought I'd be willing to live anywhere where I had to learn German but I would definitely do it if I could live in Berlin! I spent my time mainly wandering the streets of Prenzlaurberg, drinking coffee in little cafes and browsing through secondhand stores full of East German kitsch, judging from which, it would appear that the entirety of the former East Germany was constructed of orange plastic.

I also went to flea markets, a former East German secret political prison, a cupcake shop, a Mexican restaurant, a middle eastern restaurant and as many little crafty shops as I could find. I ate no sausages however.

One of my favorite experiences was eating in a little restaurant where you decide at the end how much you think you should pay for your meal and just pop it in a jar. Apparently these sorts of restaurants are quite common in Berlin. The premise seems great but when I saw the waitress (a six foot tall drag queen with an afro) chase two different couples down the street to tell them that they hadn't contributed "enough," I realized that human nature is human nature and that if restaurants like this could work without the drag queens chasing you down the street, then perhaps communism wouldn't have failed.

Now I'm back in Lausanne and nothing much is new except for Nico who says and does things that both amuse and amaze on a daily basis.  This morning he drew a scribbled scrawl of a picture and announced that it was "a fishy going to see the doctor." Just a few minutes ago he was singing a song but then stopped and told me that he "couldn't hug the music." I agreed with him that this wasn't possible and then he told me that the reason he couldn't hug it was because it was "in his mouth." I love two year olds!

Some of my best finds in Berlin

-Frau Tulpe- a great little shop chock full of cute fabrics and sewing supplies. Lots of Japanese fabrics too I noticed!

-At Zionskirchstrasse 36, you can find "The Cupcake Bakery." As something as a cupcake expert, I can definitely recommend the ones they have here although th decor might be a bit too over the top cutesy and kitsch for my taste. Imagine what the poor people's houses in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette might have looked like and that'll give you a pretty good idea of what I mean.

-Practically next door to the Cupcake Bakery is one of the little wine bar/restaurants where you pay what you wish- I can't remember the name but make sure you leave enough or you WILL be chased!

-At 63, Zionkirchstrasse, there's a great little children's cafe and used clothing shop (kid's clothes that is) called Onkel Albert. There's a sandbox for kids to play in while you have a coffee, toys, etc.

-Froschhimmel sells cute handmade bags and accessories

-A little shop at 4, Gaudystrasse that sells these awesome bags by Stulle. My favorites are the kid's messenger bags!  They ship internationally!

Obsessively Reading:
-A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
-12 Years by Joel Agee
-Stasiland by Anna Funder
-On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks

Obsessively Listening:
-Mercedes Sosa
-Britta Persson

Obsessively Eating:
-Lindt white chocolate bars with almonds