Bumbag Motel

Flew to Nice to meet with Cam’s parents Jenni and Pete to commence our French vacances together. Had a sweet rooftop pool at the hotel “Splendid” that we stayed it (actual name of hotel). Cheese, baguette and red wine being the staple from henceforth – oh and some gelato when strolling about old Nice – essential.

Had some farewell beers with Jotham before his Berlin departure. We have enjoyed having him in the lands since December 2010, from informative chats and discussions to hearing him slumber in the hallway and recounting his escapades about the town.

The best part about Berlin in summer is that, not only is it hot, but there are a number of great lake options on offer just 30 mins by s or u bahn! Here we have my friend Penny and I doing some lovely on shore posing. Was such a glorious day to get amongst the trees, into the lake and be amongst a wide range of people from the very young to the rather old – with or without the bathing suit.

Ahhh…taking a photo of someone taking a photo. I took Jenni & Pete into Tempelhof to have a quick explore before going out for dinner on their final night here. Love it that this de-commissioned airport which is now a park is directly over the road from our house!

Here we have cam with his delightful parents jenni and pete. We had a feast at home at the end of a day of further Prenzlauerberg shopping and trotting through the rain soaked streets – bit of a bummer the weather wasn’t so great while they were here.

Here we have Steph and Horner on the train bridge at Warschauerstrasse with an impressive sky beyond. We had a good day of emma being unable to withhold from the vegan/vegeterian buffet brunch and then flea market shopping in Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain. Were able to meet up with the working Cam at our favourite pizza place in Kreuzberg for some delectable dinns.

After a busy day: touring the city for cam’s parents, biking and exploring opp shops for steph and horner, and working and lounging for cam and emma – we went out for a nice dinns in Friedrichshain. Strolling home past some good street art spots, we then walked past a fine pile of coats! Above we can see Cam and I in our collections and below Steph and Horner in theirs.

And here we have the man Mark. E. Smith himself, in brillaint beligerent form. Before they came on, a video was played that was made up of cut up pop videos including Madonna, Lady Gaga and Sinead O’Connor with some high intensity audio included. It went on for about 15 mins, prompting people in the crowd to shout things like “enough!”. Different concert commencement experience.

Here we have Horner and Cam at the venue “Maria am Ostbahnhof”, on one of its last evenings open. We walked past a poster advertising “The Fall” playing there, booked tickets and so went that night! Pretty awesome, enjoyed some beers here, then went and bought some from the petrol station over the road (that’s right – you can buy beer at the petrol station) which we then drunk by the Spree (the main river that runs through Berlin) before heading in…