bike trip around a lake

a few weeks ago we finally got some nice weather for a change. it's been getting up to at least 15 degrees C pretty much everyday. these pictures are from about three weeks ago. most saturdays, if it's a decent temp and not raining, i go out riding for a few hours. it's really the best way to see the city. alot of the time i just pick a direction and stumble upon different things. this day though, i wanted to find this lake and as you can see, i did. there are concrete boardwalks around part of it and then it turns into dirt trails. i actually got to get a little muddy! the trails kept going, so i kept riding. i ended up going about half way around the lake. not a very big lake by tennessee standards, but i think it's the biggest one around berlin. i plan on going back and riding around the whole thing just for kicks. i had more good shots, but i think these are the best. the first one is really the last picture i took of the lake (forgot to mention the name, it's the tegeler see) the next one is from the beginning of when i found the lake. not the best picture because i blew it up. some sort of heron i think. then cool bridge architecture, sailors sailing off in the afternoon(also blown up), and then this cool little boat island. i bet that gets pretty rowdy on hot summer weekends. as long as everyone has enough bier and brats.

more berlin by bike

on saturdays, if the weather's nice enough, i usually ride my bike around for a few hours. sometimes it turns out to be all day. i think it's the best way to see the city. these are just a few shots from one of those days 2 or 3 weeks ago. the first one is inside the sony center as is the second, but the first one is from a movie premier they were setting up for this film called the red baron. there's a great cinema there that plays movies in the original language. i've been there many times. this film is actually a german one i think. anyways, the rest of the pictures are just things a wanted to take pictures of. time for cta lab. prost.

john and felipe go to egypt

berlin got a little boring a few weeks back so felipe and i decided to go to Egypt. it was really cold there too for some reason. no rain though. if you could take a look behind the left pyramid, you would be able to see me and my dog when i was five. on another note, you can see that brew school is putting a few pounds on felipe. he is now taking my advice and growing a beard. that's about all you can do. i don't think it's possible to lose weight at the VLB. unless your name is john bryce. i can't really tell that he's gained a pound. maybe he's a pullover diet specialist.

back log from Kulmbach

well...... the next few posts i put up are going to be old for me and our class, but still new for you who are not here. this one is from over a month ago. the whole class went on an excursion to a town south of Berlin called Kulmbach. there was a brewers conference where there were a bunch of speakers speaking in code, german that is, about new technology for brewing. they didn't tell us before hand we would have to where headphones all day to hear a sometimes terrible translation. that's all i'll say about that. we also got to stop in Bamberg to visit Kasper Schulz, the oldest brew kettle company in the world, but no pictures of that as they would not allow picture taking. It was a cool place though. they make brewing systems for smaller breweries. pretty, pretty, pretty, ...nice one at that. i think they're the most expensive. anyways, as you can see in the people pictures, we are dressed up. i didn't get a good shot of me with the jacket on and everything, but i think maybe john bryce has one on his site. we had to where the suits the whole damn time too. that part kind of stunk. Kulmbach is a nice little town, but we didn't get to see much of it. the first shot is john, john, and felipe having a bier the day we got there. then one from my hotel window. then a nice church or monastery on top of a hill. i didn't get to go up to it. a few of us did though. the next is outside the Kulmbacher brewery. we got to take a tour on the sencond day, but when i got inside, my camera ran out of juice. that's the biggest brewery i've ever been in. i especially liked the bottling line. 70,000 biers and hour! vinny, from brazil says that's nothing, but it's something to me. the last shot is from the welcoming party the first night. we had a whole table to ourselves. that's it for kulmbach.

half marathon in berlin

last sunday there was a half marathon in berlin. daniela, my roomate was running in it, so i decided to ride my bike to the race and see what a half marathon looks like. i got there just in time for the main race. there where also other races like people riding these wheelchair type contraptions that have pedals for your arms. they were actually the fastest of everyone. they had people roller blading too. by the way, do you know what the hardest thing about roller blading is? tell you later. the main race i found out had over 24000 people running. it was pretty amazing seeing them all whiz by. the first shot is the group of kenyans that won the race. they were way ahead of everybody. the people walking in black were the last in line. a waited for every one to go through the bradenburger gate then rode my bike towards where the race started. this was only 1 and a half km or so (a half marathon is 21km). i stopped to get a curry wurst and by the time i got to the finish line the kenyans had already finished. it took the first guy exactly one hour. the wheelchair racing winner finished in 36minutes and the rollerblader in 38. the last picture was the first guy i saw finish. i did get to see the first woman finish. guess where she was from. Kenya of course. lastly, the roller blading trivia. the hardest part about roller blading is when you finally admit to your dad your gay. how do you like them apples?

graves for lease

well...... last monday we had our water exam at 10 am, which was easy by the way. thank you professor Ahrens. anyhow, we got done early and had about 2 hours before the next lecture. what are you going to do for 2 hours between classes when your at brewschool? go get a bier of course. the regular group of idiots and i went to the snack bar and bought a bier a piece then i said we should walk over to this park across the street. turns out it's not really a park unless you're dead. now i'll try to get to the point of the pictures. we started walking through the cemetary anyways and kept seeing these stickers on the grave stones. luckily, we had our trusty hambergian german translator with us. he said the sticker basically says that your lease has run out and it's time to pay up or else. we kept walking and in the last shot you can see what the or else amounts to. don't know what they do with the bodies.

wall art

here are just a few of the pictures i have of berlin wall art. there is a pretty long section of wall down by the language boat on the spree. people call this the east side art gallery or something like that. some of them would be really cool, but they are too old and chipped. i had to put the second shot in even though it's rough. you can tell what it used to look like can't you? you should click on some of these to blow them up. i think the first one is the best.

the many faces of john lane

ok, i finally got a haircut and beard trim. first time for that. i brought my clippers over here but they don't like the power supply. sounds sort of like the worst sound in the world from dumb and dumber. here's some before and after photos for ya. first, my passport and student card photo. isn't that a great shot of me? i get all kinds of flack from this one. the jerks i hang with still don't believe it's me. then you have the demented lumberjack. don't know where i took that, but there's a weyerman bag in the background. next is my new turkish haircut and beard trim. stop salivating girls. after that is a pre-turkish john lane patiently allowing simon to get a sample of bacteria from his beard. about a week ago. we get to see what kind of critters roost in my nest in 2 weeks. lastly, another shot of my tasteful turkish haircut. fantastic.