getting ready to leave.

Saturday was spent recovering and doing some shopping down at the Christmas market. It wasn't nearly as busy as the last time I was there, which I would attribute to the cold temperature. I also attempted to switch my train ticket to one where I wouldn't need to use a bus on the final bit to the airport. But to do so would have added an hour to my trip and cost me over a hundred euros. So the bus for a few francs is not a bad deal.

Here are a few shots from the day... I'm spending today inside working on my book stuff and catch up on my missed NPR stories.

more snow!!

some links for your architectural viewing pleasure

here and here

its getting to look more and more like winter here, which is nice. The temperature is dropping and it snowed most of last night. It was a nice treat given that the office christmas party was also held. We went outside of the city to a little farm of sorts and had a wonderful evening. Much Gluwuein. (see link for "how to") was had and a good dinner. After which went out to a bar for a while with some coworkers and it was a nice evening.
I think we got around 2-3 inches of snow and it is around -13 (celcius) here so all the chimneys are puffing smoke. Its quite nice. I think I will be spending the weekend pulling together some gift ideas as well as beginning to think about packing and what I will bring home that I dont need.






also... this was seen on my way to work during the week.. I'm not sure what it was, or the last thing that went through its head (other than piston) but it didn't look pretty...

attempting...

its getting cold around here... and I love it. I haven't had much to post about recently, which could be seen as both a good, and a bad thing. On the good side of things.. I have settled into a routine that leaves my life somewhat predictable which is a welcome treat. However, I do enjoy having a bit of news to post or something to rant about. But alas.. nothing new.. other than the weather...

its snowed a couple times but nothing seems to stick, its too wet and the ground is just to warm, despite the fact its been in the mid 20's for the past few days.

the project is going well, we've switched gears a bit, for a couple reasons, one being we needed a change of focus to relax our brains, and secondly so that we could feel like we were accomplishing something. Running into the same problems over and over again is only interesting till around the fifth time.. then its just annoying. So a change of task will hopefully give us some fresh perspective when we return to the other boards we were working on.

Other than that, only four days of work left till I return to the states. I'm excited to be returning and to relax for a while (relax being a relative term)... I'll have a lot of book work to do... but at least I'll have the time and the ability to work....

well.. off to bed....

a few pictures can be found here

so after a bit of relaxation I found my way down to the winter market in the city center. I quickly discovered I made the wrong move. It was a zoo. Im glad I went down and saw it, but wow... it was just mobbed. And people didnt quite grasp the concept that if they stop in the middle of a crowded walkway... you will be run into. Then they proceed to look at you like you're the one with the problem. So after about 15 minutes of this I escaped. I snapped a couple pictures and got out of there. I was able to find the watch store that David told me about however they no longer sell the Max Bill watches and pointed me in the direction of another store in Stuttgart. So we shall see if I can find that store for some window shopping.

snow!

woke up this morning to a dusting of snow, I think its a good way to start the weekend. After discovering this fact I went back to bed for another 3 hours, and even better way to start the weekend!! Its still trying to snow but I think its far to wet for anything really to stick. Not sure where the rest of the weekend will take me... have some ideas though (and they mainly include the office)

thoughts from the sauna

So its been an interesting few days in the office with the news I'll be sticking around for a while longer and how the project is playing out. All good things but with the news that we have a lot more time on our hands its hard to keep plugging away at the pace we were last week. I feel like I'll work in chunks of time. Sometimes I just cant get enough done followed by spaces of time where thinkgs just arent clicking.... maybe thats just the nature of the beast.

Today Johannes, Tim and Jasmin and I went to the saunas. Jasmin is leaving for the weekend so we moved the sauna day up one. It was good to go and relax. I needed it and it felt good to just hang out and talk. Discussed was the skiing that could be had as well as finding me a woman now that I'll be here a bit longer, but seeing as that hasnt been on my radar the past weeks (months) Im not so sure it will suddenly happen.

Of architectural note though I have really begun to enjoy the saunas. Once you settle into your place and have become accustomed to the customs and what people do its really a great place to go. The places are so quite, the silence only broken by the whispering of others in the room. Sometimes its broken up and creates a kind of rhythm, others its a constant background tone. The other noise that I hear is the crackling of the heaters. Each room has a unique type given how hot that particular room happens to be. Its reminds me of after the furnace would turn off in our house in Enfield Center and you could here the air vents cracking and deforming as the temperature changed.

Few more days in the week, maybe a run with Tim over the weekend and working on my book.

wow... monday just happened...

very, very cool

really like this work.. the models at the end are great..


so a interesting week already. I found out the the two other people working with me on the project will be leaving. Doug, the intern who has both worked there longer than I and is reasonably more capable than I will be returning to the LA office at the end of the week. And Steffie, the architect who runs our group will be moving back to a project she was working on before this. Leaving me on it for a while. This is a very daunting idea, but I am encouraged by it. I'm sure some other people will be allocated to the project to fill it back out but it might be me on it for a while. So we will see how it goes.. Today was very busy and a lot was thrown out on the table as "to do" items and what we would like to do with our contribution.

I was also informed that they would like me to stay until the end of Feb. They said to see this project though but I'm not sure if that is the sole reason. As this project (to my knowledge) was slated to end around the time I was originally planning on returning home in January. I don't know if this has to do with the project time being extended or to work on other projects here... or abundance of workers in the Boston office currently. Who knows.... by the end of the week I'll have an idea of how my time here will develop.

Everyday I learn a bit more...

a routine if there ever was one...

Its been quite the week in the office. Our project transitions from 100 mph to 0 and back again regularly now. It certainly keeps me on my toes. We have begun to get a little further into the project which is nice, finally gotten the larger studies under control and have begun to look at how the fabric of the city is going to develop. But no sooner than getting a good head of steam on that we were told to "hold up" by the partners we are working with. Of course we will not, be "holding up" and continue to plug away but it was an interesting thought. To just stop, and wait around, see what they are planning. Though it wouldnt really work as its hard to maintain any sort of regular communication. So we plow forward on our path, hoping to take our work and really begin to guide rather than chase our tails.

Otherwise... nothing much new going on. I went out to a birthday party this week for a coworker which was fun and on Thursday went back to the baths. It was great to get back there and relax. I was able to swim in the carbonated water a bit longer this time, and once the initial "wow this is really weird" its quite nice.

This weekend will consist of cleaning up my place, laundry. I will also spend large portion of my time on my book while I listen to my newly acquired David Sedaris book.

oh, and it appears that even european cities aren't immune to traffic jams...