It has literally been raining on my post-trip parade.  All day in fact. In a desperate bid to stave off cabin fever, we’ve just returned from a scheduled walk in gumboots up to the shops and back.  There were quite a few decent puddles to stomp through as well which was a bonus.  Many rounds…

Today I am loving the number zero.  It’s symmetry, it’s finality and the fact that it is the current value of my demerit points as of this week. It was the October long weekend this time three years ago and I had just moved to SSG Manor 2.0.  I was rushing off to work and…

There’s no place like home. As fun and as (intermittently)  luxe as things may be abroad, my heart always skips a beat a sense of well-being washes over me the moment I see that bridge in the distance and the bumper to bumper traffic on the motorways. I finally watched Ocean’s 8 on the plane. …

Berlin is a city that’s made for walking.  The sidewalks are wide with designated lanes for cyclists and sets of pedestrian specific traffic lights at major intersections. I’ve never been able to take photos of the pedestrian lights because I’m always just lucky enough to make it across the intersections without coming to any harm…

It’s September!  Spring has sprung!  It’s also been an action-packed month for us with the school holidays and my trip to Berlin added to the mix. Here’s the low down on the month that was.  Apologies for being so late in publishing September.  I’ve gotten myself so confused with the change in time zones. What…

I’m bringing you the irregularly numbered Diary #5.5 from Hamad International Airport, Doha where everything as been as extra as departing Berlin’s Tegel Airport was … very average. The reason for all this irregularly numbered excitement is that I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun with an 8 hour transit between long haul…

It’s been a bit grey and miserable in Berlin.  We were so spoiled with that weekend of autumn sun.  It was a bit of a welcome gift, really. The Kaiser Wilhem Memorial Church aka The Broken Tooth Church usually glows softly at me from the distance as I walk towards the train station but this…

Say what you will about my sense of direction but it always serves me well when high end department stores and their famed food halls are involved. Unfortunately, I first found Berlin’s KaDeWe (Europe’s second largest department store after Harrod’s in London) on a Sunday when it was closed. But I was determined and returned…

The world really is a small place and Australia really isn’t as far from the rest of the world as the flight times may suggest.  I randomly bumped into a fellow Sydneysider yesterday as we both struggled to find the registration centre for the conference.  We got there in the end, with the help of…

And just like that, day one in Berlin is done and dusted. My initial fear of the S and U Bahns has been well and truly overcome. So successfully it seems that German out of towners have taken to asking me for directions.  In German.  I would have thought that my holding a laminated colour…