soledad penadés

I came back from Berlin today.

Sorry I didn't tell any of you, Berlin-based friends. This trip was for work and I ended up so tired every day, I barely had enough energy left to order dinner.

I love visiting Berlin--I like its edgy/artsy/DIY/independent vibe a lot. But I think this week was way too cold for my poor Mediterranean self. Thankfully, I did look at the forecast before leaving, so I was prepared.

But dry spaces like an office plus warm clothes tend to cause a lot of static electricity on me, and I ended up getting shocks with everything I touched, metal or not: tables, doors, my laptop, my phone, people (I'm so sorry I gave sparks to so many people this week when shaking hands), chairs, sofas, and would you believe it... AN APPLE! Have you ever had an apple shock you? Well, I had, and it was a most puzzling experience! I could even hear the spark! 😱

It reached a point in which I was afraid of touching things--I became a hesitant creature which delayed touching whatever it was I had to interact with, while I tried to decide what would be the best way to maximise surface contact so the shock was less focused and painful. For example, I tried to grab the door handle with the palm instead of the tips of the fingers. Or quickly tried to place both palms on my laptop after coming back to it, for the same reason. Or I devised futile solutions to reduce my electric potential such as walking barefoot, or touching the floor with my hand before touching the door. Eventually, nothing worked and I got the shocks anyway ⚡️. Ahhh!

I also somehow managed to just visit Vietnamese and Japanese restaurants while I was there. It wasn't intentional-it's just it's such a great place for Vietnamese food; I always find fantastic stuff while there, really fresh and fairly priced.

That said, I was happy to go back to London, if only to not to get more shocks!

Berlin had turned the "brutal cold that makes your nostrils want to retreat into your skull" into "acceptable winter chill with sunny intervals" yesterday, but it had migrated into "somewhat miserable damp day" today. This was topped by the ever-so-claustrophobic experience at Tegel--I've never seen an airport so cluttered!

What a nice surprise it was when we landed and the sun was shining. I didn't even care that much that they dropped us in Terminal 5C and I had to take the train to T5. There were still a couple hours of daylight when I arrived home!

DAYLIGHT...!

I have not seen much of it this week, and I felt as if it was suddenly March and the air is full of promises of Spring and flower scents, and songbirds.

In truth, what it was possibly full of is toxic gas fumes and other pollutants because people can't be arsed to take public transport or walk, and so keep using taxis and ubers, and ordering take aways and buying online stuff that needs to be delivered to your doorstep... but let's skip over that part and the noises, and just focus on the fact that I could aimlessly walk around my neighbourhood during daylight, looking at the roofs and the facades tinted in yellow, appreciating the distinct architectural styles... and all this without carrying a bag or backpack or my luggage, and also without being covered in layers of winter clothes. What a wonderful feeling!

I missed this.