Aeth Wolf

It's been a rather busy end to the week, although the last seven days have certainly dragged. I certainly feel the monotony of work is getting to me and while I have secured a third new client this week - and one I am very much looking forward to working with - I also feel my lack of a decent holiday since May is starting to get to me. Fortunately, I am back in the UK next week visiting family then going to Pawsome and while I am concerned about the rise of the far-right and the flag shaggers, I am hoping things won't be too bad. Either way, I do have quite a few days off scheduled and I am looking forward to taking them. In the meantime, I'm hoping to complete all the small jobs that still need doing that seem to have been thrown at me ever since the start of June.

On Thursday, I met up with Synthwave and Hope. They had just been to EF, with Hope having to be in Berlin on business for this past week. These were two people I'd wanted to meet at Eurofurence and so was delighted to be able to get to meet them regardless of not being able to make it. After consulting Seabass's excellent spreadsheet, I gave them five choices of places to go and they settled on Hodori, a Korean BBQ place, near Yorckstrasse. The plan was to meet there at 7pm, but I ended up getting there early as I wanted to avoid a heavy thunderstorm that was due. I also wanted to walk Wolfie down to the Warhammer shop in Spandau and as he had been quite ill the day before, this was the perfect opportunity as he had booked the day off work. Anyway, I got to Hodori at around 6:45pm, having to wait at Yorckstrasse station for about 10 minutes for the rain to let up. Alas, Synthwave couldn't find a car park space as the one they had researched was due to close at 9pm. Consequently, they took a while to find one and it wasn't until about 7:45pm by the time we met. I had done quite a few laps around the block by this point.

Hodori is one of those typical Berlin places that looks like a dump on the outside, with its 1970s design and graffiti-covered walls, while the interior hadn't fared much better. However, it was busy, with many Asian people in there which is always a good sign when it comes to Asian cuisine. We settled for a small table in the side room. The service was quite slow, particularly when paying for our meal when they largely left us alone and we had to go up to the counter, but this made for a relaxed experience. The food was also tremendously good. They gave us a few pickled salads and honeyed potatoes to pick at initially, while our mains were all fantastic. I had the bibimbap, which I hadn't had since I tried it back in London about a decade ago, and this was everywhere near as good as I thought it would be, particularly when mixed with hot sauce.

After our meals, we walked back to their car and debated where we should go. Synthwave and Hope like cocktails, which is not really something I know much about. We thought about maybe the whisky bar, then Charlotte in Spandau, before I realised The Alchemist is in Potsdamer Platz and I knew what to expect having been to the Leeds version a few times. So we drove there, as it was pretty near, parked up and then struggled to find the damn place in the labyrinthine glass hell that is that area. Upon approaching, my heart sank as a party about about 30 business suits walked in, but it turned out they were just having pre poured glasses of fizzy. We accidentally sat with them before being told to move, relocating to a comfortable area towards the back of the bar. I was struck by just how much the place looked like a Hilton hotel circa 1978 with its brown and beige decor, but the drinks were at least good. I got one called The Legal One, which was served in a bong and with dry ice. It was certainly an experience, but €14 for a thimble-full of overly lime-flavoured liquid wasn't the best value. I switched to BRLO beer after that. I was told not to only drink it through the spout though, not the top, but the problem was that this meant much of the final third of the drink couldn't come out. I kept tipping it back further and further until it splashed on my head. Hope kindly drove me back to Spandau well after 1am and we would have stayed out later as we were having such a good time. I hope to see them again should they visit for the Christmas Markets later in the year.

Friday, Wolfie and I tossed up the idea of going to Fuerst Wiacek or the BDSM English language munch, but in the end did neither. We really drank a lot last week and Wolfie's foot needed time to recover. Furthermore, we had a few plans on Saturday. Fortunately, I was not working, giving me something of a lie-in. After a breakfast of cheese on toast and a little pottering, we headed down to Messe Sud as we had booked tickets to tour around the ICC. The International Congress Centre was a white-elephant congress hall that was inaugurated in 1979. Built very much in the style of the time, it is split into two sections which are demarcated by red and blue neon lighting. The red lighting is more striking of course, as you would expect, while in the centre of the space there is a chrome structure that intermixes these two neon colours. The highlight was the humongous Saal 2, which is dampened from the rest of the building for better sound quality. We saw three puppies here, dressed in their pup gear, which I found oddly grating. Heading underneath the raised stage highlights just how big this space is, with the seating sweeping up above you. In the main hall itself, chains hang down from the roof suspending the structure, while we marvelled at the Seventies lights and ashtrays built into the table. This was also the case in the circular Saal 6 in the heart of the complex, which reminded me of a mini European Parliament. The red and blue theme was on display here too. Many of the other conference rooms were smaller, more ramshackle affairs, while we tried to get into Saal 1 but apparently that was a ticketed cinema event. We also managed to get out onto the Roof Garden, which afforded incredibly views right across the city. There was a good vibe up here and it was an enjoyable experience walking around this place with a BRLO beer in hand. We also shared a cranberry cookie. The carpet and signage were definitely from that era too, particularly the airport-style flip signs, and although the place is still occasionally being used for conferences, I think it's very much a dead duck. Outside, the steel structure looks very futuristic though and we got to marvel this as we turned up about 45 minutes late. Indeed, we were allowed in 30 minutes early, meaning we had 120 minutes instead of our alloted 90 minutes to see everything. To kill the time earlier, we did go and grab a White Lion bar from the Spati, where we were met with the most scowling shop assistant ever. After the customers in front of us fannied about with dropping their beer caps into the bin under the counter, the woman had a go at me instead for some reason, slamming my change back at me. Dreadful.

Before we went to the ICC, we also called off at the old Avus Racetrack, which is practically next door. Starting off as a test track, this became the world's first Autobahn. It also held the Formula One German Grand Prix in 1926 and 1959, and served as an experimental track for rocket cars. It was also a Grand Prix circuit from 1951 to 1967. One of the long straights of this race track still exists today and cuts right through Grunewald, while the old tribune has now been converted into offices. There's not much to see as the seats face the motorway, but we had a look around its back side. There is also the Avus Gasthalte here, which used to be the control tower. The banked curve of the track, the Nord Kehre, was here and was tilted at an angle of 43 degrees. 

After the ICC, we enjoyed the pumping music in the foyer, as well as the line for the Curry Wolf concession. We then headed over to Kaiserdamm, underneath the grim orange underpass which was clearly another addition of the 1970s. At the other side, we emerged at Berlin's main bus station, the ZOB. This is little more than a parking place for buses with a small terminal with a few restaurants inside. It was quite reminiscent of Eastern European bus stations if anything. We had a walk around and noticed the many destinations you could get to from here, including places as far away as Paris, Milan, Tallinn and Zagreb. I wouldn't travel to any of these places by bus, but I guess some people do. Anyway, we were off to Kaiserdamm as we were heading up to Mierendorffplatz to try another one of Seebass's restaurant recommendations, Phan Gia. This Vietnamese place is over the road from the Ethiopian restaurant we tried last week, but when we went inside, I was worried we were only the second group of people there. I'm not convinced the other couple were even eating there, they seemed to know the owner, but Seebass recommends it and concerns aside, I thought we'd try it. The lady serving us didn't really understand German, and was certainly confuzzled by my accent, so it was a struggle. Still, we got a couple of Tsing Taos and some crispy spring rolls which were delicious but had the heat of a shuttle re-entry tile. They worked well with the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce though, while the Pho I ordered was delicious. I thought the texture of the meatballs was perhaps a little tough - it needed more spring - but the flavours were wonderful, with the salty broth being an incredible elixir. The coriander and lemon grass made this dish, while the addition of chili paste and a bit of soy really worked too. Upon leaving, the lady seemed to struggle to count. Again, we had to go up to the counter as we were largely left to our own devices, but after giving her €52 for a €45.70 bill, she thought we had underpaid. It took a while to explain.

We headed back to Spandau after this as Wolfie's feet were starting to really bother him. We think it was all the stairs at the ICC as none of the escalators were working. At Jungfernheide, I realised I could maybe sneak out to the Zeiss Planetarium for Long Night of the Astronomers, the latest in the 'Long Night' series that has brought us Sciences and Museums (and indeed Religion this weekend too). After hmming and harring, I left Wolfie on the train at Paulsternstrasse and double backed to Jungfernheide, getting to the Planetarium at Prenzlauer Berg at around 9:40pm. I walked around a little, noting the eight inflatable planets littered around the courtyard, while inside the main foyer they had a few interactive exhibits too. The problem with the event was it was quite small, yet very popular, so there were long queues for most things. There were two films you could see, but you had to pay for these and I felt they were very much tailored towards children. They may have improved my German, but it was already getting late. At 11pm, there was an interesting talk about gravitational wave theory in astronomy. This would have been in English, but a 90-minute lecture that late in the day was a bit much for me. In the end, I just wandered a little more and checked out the stands from researchers at the back. I also looked at the long queues next to the telescopes of all of the amateur astronomers stood in some grassland, lamenting the fact that it was a somewhat cloudy night. Then I went home. I kinda regret not staying later and maybe taking in the two films, but the timings weren't quite right and it had been quite a busy day already.

I had arranged to meet up with Al Song on Sunday, who is moving to Berlin to teach English for nine months. We had been chatting for most of the last month, and I had already helped him set up things like the Deutschland Ticket and DB app. I think he was feeling quite nervous about the move, with his last trip to Berlin being in 2011. Scribbles Chee put us in touch and it turns out he was the writing guest of honor at Furvana. Like me, Al also had a story in the Furvana Conbook (which I read today), so when we met and were heading back towards the city on the bus, we signed each other's conbooks. This was the first time I'd ever been asked to sign a piece of furry fiction and I fear my signature was far too long, but it was a real honour and thrill nonetheless. Al had also kindly brought me a copy of the conbook too. Some bloke on the bus stared at the cover for too long when getting off for some reason.

We met at Kurt Schumacher Platz, near where he is living for the next couple of months, and he wanted me to track his way to work. Fortunately, this was quite straightforward, which means he's quite reassured for when he starts later on Monday. Another fortunate thing was his work is about five minutes' walk from where we used to live, meaning I could show him around the area and highlight some good places to eat, drink and go. Along the way, I told him all about life in Germany and some of the rules he needed to know. Firstly, I got him to his work, then we had a walk around the grounds and gardens of Schloss Charlottenburg. After this, we had a trip down the Spree, cutting past where we used to live and then heading to Deutsche Oper. Beyond this, we headed to Shiso Burger for food. I had been here before - and it's again on Seebass's list - but I thought it would be a decent option for vegetarians and if not, Kantstrasse has loads of good places. I had the lemon and chili burger with fries, which was delicious, while Al definitely enjoyed his tofu burger. I paid for his meal as a welcome to Berlin thing, but he wanted to get dessert, so he ended up paying for that. After walking down Kantstrasse for about ten minutes trying to find somewhere, we ended up doubling back and going to Waffle Brothers. I'd been meaning to try this place for years, so it was good to get an opportunity, even if I do feel bloated now having had a burger, fries, and a waffle. Mine was white chocolate and strawberry, while they tried to write my name in chocolate on the plate too. They got the L and the u right, but the rest is just a smudgy mass. Still, the food was tasty at least. After this, I took Al back home again, as jet lag is still hitting him and he has work tomorrow. It was great showing him around on this warm autumnal day, and I found him very easy to talk to. Having a shared interest in writing certainly helps. I am hoping to introduce him to a few of the Fureigners soon and hopefully we can meet up again as well.

This weekend was Eurofurence and I had agonised for months over whether we should go. In the end, the cost was the main reason why we didn't, although a busy weekend of events in Berlin also aided the decision. We made that choice back in July and I immediately contacted Procyon, who seemed to be in a similar quandary to us over EF. Knowing he would like both Berlin Beer Week and the Berlin Chili Festival, we mentioned it to him, and due to the super cheap flights out of Liverpool these days, he bought a flight almost immediately.

Usually, we meet up with him in Spandau on the Friday evening, but with this being Berlin Beer Week, we wanted to go to a few of the events. Wolfie decided to work from home that day, meaning we crafted an itinerary that saw us go to Fuerst Wiacek Brewery in Siemensdamm before meeting up with Procyon at Ostkreuz, where we were to hit the 'It's Czech, Mate' Czech beer tap takeover at Home Bar and the Two Chefs tap takeover at Space Medusa, a space-themed bar at Schliesses Tor that we hitherto hadn't known about. We grabbed some frikadelle to give us the soakage we needed and then headed to Fuerst Wiacek for around 8pm. This was when things started to get strange as the barman gave us the first beer on the house on account of the fact that we had been working (we had missed the start of their taproom opening by four hours). Then, upon finding out that he was from the exact same town as me in the UK, he gave us discounts on all subsequent beers we bought. This meant we bought more than I had initially anticipated, but sitting in the parking lot watching the sun go down over the charred metal remains of an abandoned railway station was quite hypnotic in a Berlin kind of way. We left after about 75 minutes, needing to meet Procyon, with promises we would return.

I nearly messed up the train route between Siemensdamm and Ostkreuz, picking up the S-Bahn from Jungfernheide rather than an RE service, but we did make the FEX at Gesundbrunnen and with Procyon taking the FEX the other way, we met on the platform with just seven minutes wait between us. After struggling to get out and me fearing I was already too drunk, we managed to get over to Home Bar, where the owner clocked us once again. We picked up some decent Czech lager, but we only stayed for one beer as there was no seating, meaning we were stood idly in the doorway. Still, the vibe was good and Space Medusa was my main interest. This was a pink-themed planet-based bar that had a rocking vibe which I would say was typical Berlin. Two Chefs Brewing had a portable stall tucked in one corner and we got samples of all three of their beers. The brewers came over and chatted with us too, as we were at the table directly in front of them, and there was a real sense of camaraderie associated with the craft beer drinkers there. I was also interested in the space-themed cocktails on the bar wall, but we didn't know what they were - they just had planet names and the number 14 or 15 next to them. Procyon could not be persuaded to get one. We left at around 1:30am and headed back home, picking up some ketchup-flavoured Pringles from the Spati.

We awoke a little worse for wear on the Saturday, but with a busy day ahead. We had booked one of the six Brews Cruises as part of the Berlin Beer Week, but with this scheduled for 5:30pm (with a 6pm launch), we had a little time to kill beforehand. We thought eating something would be the order of the day, so we went down to Nola, a New Orleans-inspired fried chicken place that we particularly enjoyed when trying it back in March. One advantage of here, apart from it being en route to the boat, was that it's near Sandy and she came out to meet us too. I'll be honest, the burger and fries weren't as nice as the fried chicken, mash and gravy combination we had six months ago. Indeed, the oil on the fries got somewhat cloying after a while and coated the mouth, with even the ranch sauce being unable to neutralise it. We had a distinctly average pink iced tea which was far more bitter than I would have liked. The company was good though and the chicken burger itself - I opted for the one with cheese - a real plus. However, it sadly didn't hit the high standards we had enjoyed in the Spring.

After saying goodbye to Sandy about an hour and a half later, we made our way down to Markisches Ufer for the boat. We had been told to get there early and even though we arrived about 5:20pm, we were stunned to see the length of the queue. We got to the back of it though and as I was flicking through the tap list that had been emailed to me earlier in the day, I started noting the beers we had not yet tried. Upon mentioning one from the Bådin Brewery, the bloke next to us piped up and said that this was his brewery. Cue a long conversation about a variety of things, including the town of Bodø and its famous Bodø/Glimt football club, before he got to jump the queue on account of him needing to check his lines. We were let onto the boat soon afterwards and instead of swarming to get drinks from the 27 options on the lower deck, we grabbed a seat on the upper deck as we knew these would be in demand. We sat on a table of six in the middle of the boat, with the life jackets underneath, and soon two Canadians joined us. They had been attending a burns conference at the Estrel and we were unsure whether they were colleagues, friends, lovers or a combination of all of them. Our Norwegian friend joined us shortly after as there was a free space and we spent the next three hours hurtling down the Spree to Köpenick and back. I was surprised how fast we travelled, and that we headed east out of the city rather than west (one of the reasons I wanted to do the cruise was I thought we'd be passing Berlin's main sights), but this was beautiful in its own right. Going out, the sun shone in my eyes somewhat, but on the way back, we were afforded a stunning sunset with some of Berlin's top tourist attractions silhouetted against the colourful sky. The bridge near Warschauer Strasse was one of them and on the way back in particular, everyone got very excited going under all the bridges, making cheering noises as we did. I may have started a couple of these. Particularly romantic was the cement factory we passed, which was hauntingly romantic against the summer sky. I also liked seeing the trains at Jannowitzbrucke, where, once the event was done, we got to meet one of Wolfie's colleagues ordering a kebab. Unfortunately, he wouldn't let me teach him my special song about their manager.

This was a really good event and we got to try 14 different beers, albeit shared 200ml measures. There were bottles of limited edition stuff we could try too, so it felt very much like a British beer festival, with much of the quality to match. The friendliness of everyone was great too - we also bumped into a guy who was wearing green and black striped tights who clocked we were furries quickly - while it looks like we may be meeting up with the Norwegian brewer to go to a beer festival in Bodø next June. He joined us after the boat trip at the after party up at the Vagabund Brewery. I was sure we had a free drink there, but I wasn't sure how to redeem it, while it was odd that the party was a good 40 minutes from where we docked. With this being Germany, their little outside beer festival shut at 10pm which considering the boat docked at 9pm, wasn't great for us. Still, we did manage to get some interesting beers inside including a very refreshing lime pilsner. The same fellas from Two Chefs Brewery were there too and we introduced them to our Norwegian friend, so there's a chance that a deal may come of it. It was a lively night at Vagabund and we stayed a couple of hours, before heading back to Spandau. We hadn't had anything to eat since the Nola chicken place aside from some crisps, so when back home, we called at the new pizza place that was still open as we past by. The pizza wasn't great - everything you'd expect from food that had been clearly left in a window for a few hours - but the orange spicy smoky sauce was nice and it did the job we required of it. I certainly didn't want any kebab, so full I was of beer. What struck me over the weekend was how easy I find it to meet new people, except when there is anything with sex involved, where I just clam up. This experience compared to my experience at Folsom last week was very much like night and day.

Sunday was a more casual day, with Wolfie staying behind to rest his foot. He had done incredibly well to be out on both Friday and Saturday, so I didn't begrudge him staying back. Indeed, I don't think he could have done this even a fortnight ago, which is certainly encouraging (he knew this weekend would be an aberration too - he's been largely off alcohol for a month, but made an exception for this weekend). Procyon had flirted the idea of going to Frankfurt an der Oder so we could walk across the Polish border, but with little to see on that side, we didn't really see the point. Instead, we decided to constrain ourselves to Berlin, and with the weather being nice, this meant a few outdoor things. Our first stop was Natur Park Südgelände, the nature park that has sprung up from the old railway works near Südkreuz. We entered it from there, walking by the railway tracks and getting our €1 entry tickets after walking over a metal bridge. There was a spare ticket here, to which I alerted a family, and soon we were casually strolling through the woodland punctuated by turntables, railway tracks and other industrial paraphernalia. At one point, there was a kid lying in the middle of the track and as we got closer to the Priesterweg section, we realised there was some sort of event on. The Sommertag Traum event was basically a fairy tale thing for little girls, where you could create a flower crown, learning about recycling old plastic bottles, and do a few other things too. The cafe was doing quite well and the place was certainly busier than I had seen it before, but then I had only ever come down early evening on a Tuesday. There were a few tents there and about too and the atmosphere was rather good.

Our next stop was the Berlin Chili Festival over at Berliner Berg Brewery. To get there, we had to get off at Sonnenallee, which was right next to the Estrel, so we decided to grab a beer in their beer garden for old time's sake. I always feel a little sad going back there as I remember it being so vibrant, whereas yesterday, only two other tables were occupied. Still, we grabbed a bottle of Berliner Berg Pale Ale for €5 (plus a €1 Pfand for the glass) and sat in the sunshine by the canal. After this, we regaled the olden days by walking right past the whole complex, along the canal and towards the brewery. Outside, we were collared by a man who had two spare tickets to the Chili Festival and he asked whether we wanted them. We assented and he only charged us €10 for the pair, when the full price should have been €6 each. Once inside, we made a beeline for some food, with Procyon having some spicy tofu Maultaschen and I had three lurid yellow crispy empanadas from a Colombian concession. One was chicken, one was beef and one was cheese. All were good, but the sauce they came with wasn't too spicy. After this, we grabbed ourselves a beer and went exploring, trying a myriad of different sauces as we went. I always avoided the super-hot ones but at most of the tables, I started mild and got to the second hottest. We also got chatting to loads of vendors, mostly in English. Indeed, it was very much an English language event, with most of the customers being non-Germans. Germans don't really do spice so that wasn't really surprising, while the vendors came from all over the world. The event did seem to be slightly smaller than last year's, but there was still plenty to try, while we snagged another beer too as the queue was long and my mouth on fire. In the end, I picked up two bottles of hot sauce for Wolfie as I had neglected to buy him a birthday present and we were soon on our way.

We could have waited until early evening to see The Fuckheads take to the stage, but I had booked a table at an Ethiopian restaurant called Addis Ababa at Mierendorffplatz at 8pm. We got the M13 bus over there, stopping off at Rathaus Schöneburg en route. We could have gotten off at Muted Horn instead - and indeed we were tempted - but a bit of culture is always good. I had been here at the start of August as this was the place where JFK did his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. It was good showing Procyon the building though and indeed seeing it on the other side of the main road, where you can appreciate its grandeur. I also showed him the golden stag water fountain in the park and some of the other greenery on offer, before we decided to have a quick drink in the beer garden. This was a pleasant way to spend a late summer's evening, even if we did move on to topics of a more political nature, while their toilet being locked meant I had to deal with the porta-potties over the road. These weren't quite as bad as the hideous one in Kopenick back in June, but still far from great. It was then a walk to Bayerischer Platz then a 15-minute ride on the U7, where were to meet Wolfie.

Procyon has had experience of Ethiopian cuisine and jumped at the opportunity to have it again. It was on my mind as it was where we were going to go the previous Tuesday, before my friend cancelled at the last minute. We decided to get one of the combination platters to be shared among three people, as this gave us the greatest insight into the widest range of foods they served. We opted for some meat and some vegetarian dishes: Ye-doro qey wot ke-ayib gar (cooked chicken in Ethiopian spicy homemade cheese paprika sauce and cheese), Ye-doro alicha wet (cooked chicken in Ethiopian mild curry sauce and cheese), ye-beri qey wot (cooked beef in Ethiopian spicy paprika sauce and homemade cheese), ye-bere alicha wet (cooked lamb meat in Ethiopian mild curry sauce) and Ye-Tsom Beyaynetu (lentils in spicy sauce, white cabbage, chickpeas and kale). This was served with egg and their traditional injera flatbread, which was rather spongy in texture. It was perfect to pick up the food though, with the flavours being both subtle and delicious. We also had some Ethiopian beer, but Procyon had an accident while swatting a fly, causing his glass to shatter. The staff were very attentive though and really looked after us, although I was a little concerned I was a little too drunk having had four beers already by this point. I liked the straw hat cooking top that kept the big plate of food warm, with its revelation being particularly exciting. We left quite a big tip and they were clearly delighted. This is definitely a place we'll go back to.

After this, we had the option of going to Spandau Brauhaus or BRLO in Charlottenburg and opted for the latter. It was quite quiet when we got here, despite it being earlier than 10pm, and one of the staff accosted us on the way in. In the far corner, a handful of people were watching the US Open Tennis final between Alcaraz and Sinner, while we tucked ourselves away on one of the tables, oddly not our main one by the door. We only had one beer here on account of my struggling stomach and headed back home. Here, we made sure to give Procyon his Simon fix - having not seen any adverts featuring the diminutive raccoon, I showed him all of them on YouTube. I also showed him a few videos from Rose Tinted Spectrum satorising Rainbow and Rosie and Jim, ending with the first episode of Through the Dragon's Eye, which was a staple of my childhood. With Procyon having an annoyingly early flight - the only frustrating thing about these weekends - we headed to bed at about 1am, getting up at 7am to let him out. I then went back to bed ahead of the working week, while he travelled to the airport. As ever, it was a great weekend. We always love Procyon coming over and the people we met along the way over the last three days have made it magical. Hopefully, we can repeat it all again soon.