If you were in Berlin today, chances are that you were out and about; today’s weather was just too damn good to be inside. To be blessed with beaming sunshine all day and temperatures that hovered around the mid-20s (in mid-October of all months!) was almost too good to be true and demanded to be treasured.
I savoured the most perfect day which began, as always, with fresh croissants, coffee at my favourite local cafe, Bonanza Coffee Roasters with a lovely friend, followed by an afternoon in the sunshine watching the karaoke at Mauerpark, the quintessential Berlin activity on a Sunday. The fact that I have just begun two weeks of holidays may have added to today’s positive vibes too.
This week’s favourite links are:
WATCH: We all have lots to be thankful for and to smile about, wouldn’t you agree? As Roy Gutman explains in his TED talk on ‘The hidden power of smiling’, our smiling patterns are powerful predictors of our life expectancy, health and overall well-being. Research has proven that smiling makes us happier by stimulating the brain, reducing stress-enhancing hormones and, instead, increasing mood-enhancing hormones. Now that’s something to smile about.
READ: If I were a kid and my parents built me this ultimate playhouse in Finland, I think I would just refuse to grow up. Ever.
EAT: If these baked pears with walnuts, cinnamon and honey aren’t autumn on a plate, I don’t know what is. Drool.
MAKE: In Australia, Halloween isn’t given much attention. In Europe it’s a little bigger, but still nothing compared to the American extravaganza. Nonetheless, spooky, crafty projects like these easy no-carve pumpkin ideas still look like loads of fun!
BUY: The gorgeous, warm weather that we were graced with today is not destined to stay, with temperatures of as low as 10 °C forecasted for next week. Yes, winter is coming. The need for a hat to protect against the chill is becoming more and more apparent as the days go by. This one is on my wishlist right now.
GO: ‘There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling with the stars’, said Jack Kerouac in the literary classic, ‘On the Road’, published in 1957. Berliner couple, Gunther Holtorf and wife, Christine took Kerouac’s advice. Departing in 1988, one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, a road-trip to Africa that was intended to last 18 months somehow morphed into 26 years of on the road, spanning 177 countries and six continents. Now that’s the ultimate adventure! Explore the Holtorfs’ incredible story here.
Wishing you a sunny week ahead!
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