Berlin Reified | Food, design and life in Berlin

The scenery was mostly unremarkable but I did find this tree and horse

Returned (Edinburgh)

The best visits reverberate even after you're back. I spent a few days in Edinburgh with Clare and brought home the sound of gulls, the taste of Valvona & Crolla's San Francisco sourdough bread and Troy's quinoa salad, some linen skirts and a little leather satchel from the flea market that S now carries about with great glee.

It had been so long since I walked for hours in a city in that unencumbered way that's only possible when you haven't got a stroller to push. We went to the Cameo and the Fruitmarket Gallery Cafe, and cleaned up at the Stockbridge charity shops. Now home and unpacking, and wondering at that string of golden days that's stretching out before us. This April is divine.

Out and about in Hopeman & Burghead

This time last Tuesday

A friendly crowd followed the flaming tar barrel down Burghead's narrow streets. Once at the Point, the Clavie Crew placed it on the stone altar.

The Clavie King doused the barrel with a little creosote, then a little more.

When we had had our fill -- the New Year greeted! -- we went to the pub and ate those famous stovies. As we left, the crooner launched into "Bonnie Dundee".

And with that, she was gone

You see that innocent grassy knoll above? That's where the Clavie is burned every year. Afterwards, stovies are served in the village hall. This pagan fire festival takes place in the village where my parents-in-law live, and it's one of the many things I'm looking forward to on our week-long sojourn in Burghead. It will be my first winter visit to Scotland: watch for frosty seagrass and snowy pine forests just as soon as I get online again. Off to the airport now!

Elsewhere: The Train Ride Home (New York to Washington)

 

Elsewhere: Three Pavements & A Mirror (Brooklyn/New York)

There was a gauzy radiance everywhere I looked; I looked mostly down. I loved the play of gold on gray.

PS: Isn't it strange when a friend tells you she reads your blog, and you hadn't known she did? Hello, Lisa!

Elsewhere: 24 Hours in Brooklyn

We met at Franklin Avenue, where James surprised me by having a car. We drove to Vinegar Hill but it hadn't opened yet so we went to look at the water.

Here is the picture everyone has taken. Then we drove to Red Hook, which I didn't know and liked for its local air. After middling beers we had dinner at the Good Fork. Dear New Yorkers who have moved to Berlin, I think I might understand what you miss. I suppose the fried oyster po'boy was my favorite -- I closed my eyes in delight at the first bite -- though I ate more than my share of James' aioli toast and can't stop thinking about the chewy density of the shrimp scallion pancakes. 

In the morning the guest room had a painterly softness.

James took me out for bagels, then walked me to Greenlight Books.

In the hours before I got on my train, I savored the light. I will share more photos of the ground tomorrow.

Elsewhere: The Buick

But now, I need to tell you about New York.

Elsewhere: Looking down

Berlin's silvery-lilac cobblestones have become second nature, so shadows across dun are surprising. Washington is so sunny and warm!