Eurotrip 2.0.!

I love to travel and conquer the world. There is nothing more exciting to me than seeing new places, getting to know people and learn about different cultures and languages.
No wonder that I said "of course" when a friend asked me to join him for a roadtrip through France. Oh dear...little did I know what I got myself into....

Three weeks ago it all started.
The car was filled with our luggage, a tent, 2 Michael Jackson CD´s, and plenty of food...
It took us 8 hours to drive from Berlin to Paris. It was a geographical pop quiz for me...we passed so many places I heard of but had no idea where they were...east Germany or west Germany? Who cares anyway...all that matters is Berlin....

...back to topic...

We finally arrived in Paris! We were guests in a Parisian flatshare. I instantly realized that we have alot in common...the love for good food, good wine and good time! I felt a bit like a supporting actor in a "L´auberge espagnol" sequel, but cooler - of course. Merci - and you are welcome in Berlin anytime!

The days were filled with sightseeing and alot of walking....the evenings with caves pop (caves populaire) - my favourite place in Paris. Thanks to two German friends of mine, Mlle T. and Princess S.,I was shown a nice place for lunch and a great place for dinner as well...especially if you like your steak to be close to sushi rare....hm, yummy.

Next stop: Versailles.
By the way, its my new summer house in case you are wondering. I think of changing the furniture and add a spa and gym area. Maybe change the park a bit...a pool would be nice. How about a gamble room? Or a Disco with a Pole?
Anyhow, I need people who will take care of my new house...in exchange I will not pay you and treat you badly. Please apply via mail.

Fontainebleau, Saint Santur, Nevers, Magny Cours, Moulins, Saint German Lespinasse...all places we have been to within a week. I must say France is a very beautiful and welcoming country. The people are all very nice and the food taste amazing...I was swimming in the Loire and strolled around little villages and...but enough of this poetic blah blah...the highlite was Magny Cours. Perfect timing...just as we arrived there were test drives going on. We were standing next to the cars and drivers and could watch, listen and learn. Unforunately I was not aloud to drive...maybe better, for them and my insurance...

Long story short...my trip through France ended just upon arrival in Lyon...
The so called friend, all of sudden realized that he needs to do some soul searching..."who am I? what should I do? What do I want?" Yadi-yadi-yada....
Me being around would harm and interrupt his "journey to his true self"...basically he kicked me out, but of course " it has nothing to do with you...it is me that needs space for myself"....
I felt like being part of something between a bad brazilian telenovela and american sitcom...with a pinch of Brüno.

Needless to say I was pretty pissed and we are not friends anymore.

Now, Ivo alone in Lyon, was running from ticket counter to ticket counter at the Lyon airport
trying to get a ticket to somewhere...and ended up later that day in Madrid. For the first time I wanted to be economical and save some Euros...and took the Metro. It was the most expensive Metro ride I ever had...some bandidos stole my iPhone. Stupid me!
So I was in Madrid, for the first time in my life, supposed to meet my fellow flatmate from Rome - Lady A., who is living here now and offered me to stay over. She introduced me to some great friends of hers and of course her Dalmatian "Dotsy" (I hope I remembered correctly...). Gracias!

A day later, and three hours train ride, I arrived in Malaga. A friend of mine was already expecting me and off we were towards Marbella. ....finally holiday started...
Within the next 12 days all we did was lay in the sun...play backgammon, drink Rosé, Mojitos, Daiquiris...eat...and played "bartender" each friday. Thanks again Sparky Marky for being a great host and an even better friend!

One day we spent in Gibraltar...which was really strange...little Britain with sunshine and monkeys?

Anyhow...I am back in Berlin now and must say:
I have a learned alot about friendship and Rosé, seen so many new places and met amazing people who I hope to stay in contact with for more than just a summer memory.

I am already curious to see where I will be going next and who knows...maybe it is you I will call when stranded somewhere...mwaahhhh....

tbc.

Coming soon: more overrated crap in a town near you!

Everything nowadays is always hyped up to some high degree and people get psyched. And finally the day has arrived and we can purchase "it", see "it", taste "it" or touch "it", it is often a complete waste of time and money...

A classic are movie sequels....Terminator, Batman, Matrix, American Pie, I know what you did last summer...just to mention a few that could not stop but had to reproduce like rabbits on a cocktail of viagra and speed. Well, it is not that the first one was so great that we "needed" more, often the first one sucked ass already and nobody could understand where the sense was behind producing a second, or even third, fourth or fifth part!?


Next to movies there are plenty of bands which are clearly overrated!!!
Who needs all these boybands, girlbands, popstars, pop-idols, superstars, casting whores anyhow?
98% of them can not sing anyway - all they do is sing the same sounding songs over and over again, the guys dance like they have some mycosis, the girls dance like they are some cheap hookers, their managers tell them what to say and do, and in most cases, the guys are all gay and the girls get knocked up before turning 20.
And what about all these "The" bands...all they do is sing in high tunes, wear skinny jeans and obviously dont shower for weeks...

....which brings me to toiletries. Dont get me wrong, I am a big fan of showers and showering, especially since I got my new "Tropical Shower" installed in my bathroom...(Yeah baby, yeah!),but there are people that need ages in the bathroom. I am not sure what exactly they are doing...but what I have seen is that they have tons and tons of body care products. What does "Combination Skin" means and who cares? How can you have dry and oily skin at the same time? Why do you need 4 types of cremes and 15 perfumes? What are you, some sort of Zombie trying to cover up your true identity?



Next one up in my list of overrated things is: Status updates!
Ok ok, I do it myself, however I will go in rehab and hopefully will be cured of the instant urge telling everyone what I am actually doing right now. Why? Because who the fuck cares!! If I want to know where you are right now or what you are doing right now, what you had for dinner or how it felt digesting it, I will ask you directly! I do not need to know that you are sitting on your sofa, or just had to laugh out loud ("LOL" is another thing i hate!)...and I am pretty sure that nobody else cares about it either.

Oh man,....there are so many more things that are overrated...lets just sum them up:
StudiVZ, ChaiTea, American Apparel, Financial Crisis, Fashionshows, Apple, Ikea, Celebrities, Philosophy, Wii, Reality TV, MTV, Curling, Susan Boyle ...etc.

Feel free to let us know what you think is overrated...

...what has happened?

It has been now almost a week and I still have not realized what has actually happened.

Will we ever?

As in time-lapse the days, hours, minutes...have passed, and nothing happend. But what is supposed to happen? What is it that we are waiting for? For the news to tell us that they found the reason why?
To hear that everything is fine and that it was all just a bad dream? To realize that it was not a dream and to face the facts?

I do not know what to believe. All I know is that I wish for them to be on some stranded island...maybe even drinking out of coconuts and eating the fish they caught earlier the day...they ll be sitting in their little cabana and enjoying the sunset...smiling and laughing and be happy to be together. I wish and hope very much that this is the reality and not what my rational part of the brain is trying to tell me since days...

It is easy to say that "life moves on"...but actually doing so is much harder. Everything seems so meaningless and unimportant. It is easy to fall into a deep hole of sorrow right now...but that is dangerous.

I am very happy to be part of a group of great people that knows each other since years or even decades. Even though we lived all over the world and hardly ever knew where each of us actually is right now, we never lost contact and could always depend on each other. Last thursday we all got together in order to celebrate Alex´s 27th birthday. "Celebrate?" you might ask yourself. What is there to celebrate? There is! He is a great person and wonderful friend. He lived his life and enjoyed every second of it. He would have thrown a great party....

Together we are trying to understand what has happened, remember the good times we had with Alex and Julia, cry together and are silent together. I am very thankful to be a part of it.

Thank you all! It means alot to me!

Here a quote that helps me to "move one"...I hope it does the same to you!

Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.

(Henry Miller)

We miss you and you will always stay in our hearts!

There are moments in life that hit you and all of sudden the world stands still.

Monday morning we lost two very special people on their flight back from Brazil to Berlin. Together we wanted to celebrate Alex´s birthday tomorrow....

There are no words that can describe the pain we feel. You have been there when we needed you, you made us laugh and made us think. You were a great friend and we could always trust and depend on you.

You will always keep a special place in our hearts and we will never forget the great times we had.

We miss you very much and one day we shall see each other again and all be reunited!



Alex and Julia! We miss you so much, words cannot describe...

The goal of being individual.

We all like to believe that we are unique.
That there is noone else in the world like us.
We have our own character, style and mind...that is what we think. We are all something special, a gift,...that is what we believe.

But still, when walking down the streets of the "it" places in town, or going out to the "hot spots" at night...dont the people somehow all look the same? Everybody is trying so hard to look individual, that in fact they all look alike.

Others are trying so hard to express their "lonely rider" character, that they actually do look not just individual - but also completely ridiculous.


My mom tells me I am something special...


Now, if you are asking yourself, who am I to judge the others...I am still Ivo, this is my blog and thats all that matters.

Back to the story...

I am a T-shirt fan. I like to wear them. They are comfortable and easy to handle. T-Shirts are also the most used piece of cloth in order to express the personality. Some have slogans on them, others a brand name, some are plein and others have all kinds of colours on them.

It is a classical way to tell all the others what kind of person you are, without saying a word or doing a thing. A T-Shirt can say it all.

So next time you are in town, take a look around you. You will see alot of "unique-looking-individuals-that-all-look-alike", you will see even more hip people wearing the same clothes from the famous swedish brand with two letters, and occasionally you will see something completely different, that is so unique that it is going to be marked as uncool and freaky, until it has so many followers that it becomes cool and "individual".

Enough for now, I am gonna put my "I -heart- Berlin" T-shirt on and am done for today.
Remember, individuality does not come from the clothes you wear, but the character you have.



As the famous philosopher..ahem, starlet Hilary Duff already said:

"Mom always tell me to celebrate everyone´s uniqueness. I like the way that sounds."

Next stop - fantasy station...

Every morning I leave the house...walk a couple meters, cross the river, and there it is...the Station. I must say I am lucky to have at least a nice station..even though there a pigeons everywhere, and one has to be careful not to be the victim of some flying rat with digestive trouble...

As I am not into commitment in any way...I do not have a monthly travel card, but buy myself each day a new ticket. I know what you are thinking...an NO, leave me alone...I dont care!

Now - what the funny thing about travelling every day with the same train at the same time is, is not the ride itself...but the people you travel with.

There are certain people that you see each day. You enter the train and know already that there ll be there. Some you have seen that often that you already know their wardrobe...

Sometimes, when you catch their eye, or vice versa, you feel like smiling or saying "hello, how are you today" or simply nod. There is a certain familiarity that is difficult to explain. Often I wonder where they are traveling to or what they actually do.

But the fantasy behind it, the unknown, is often far more interesting and sexy than the truth. So best is to leave it this way and when entering the train simply look at someone and imagine what story hides behind that face...

Tolerance day 2009.

Political correctnes is completely overrated and so 90s. C´mon people, dont fool yourself, I know that you often think different than what you actually say....

"Oh, this poor homeless person, certainly it is the economy and those greedy bankers that took his home....wife...rolex...dignity....I wish I could help him, but unfortunately just right now I do not have one cent on me..."

let me translate:

"What the fuck smells like shit here...?! Damn, can someone get this fucking importunate beggar out of my postal code!? I bet all he does during the day is drink, piss, vomit and then sleep in it...maybe he even bat his wife! What the hell...stop starring at my rolex! I have 100€ in my wallet and another 10k on my account and still wont give you a cent!"

Would not life be much easier if we would be all simply honest to oneself and each other? Maybe even actually say what we really think? I dont know if it will make our life less complicated, but for sure more interesting!

Another example:

"Oh sweetie, what a lovely new african-american boyfriend you have! He looks so clever and behaves so nice. He has lovely table manners and treats you well. I am happy for you and welcome him in our family."

translation:

"You stupid piece of shit bringing us some nigga´boy in the house. He looks like he is about to rob our house! He is most likely already checking out whats of value! At least during dinner he did shut up so I did not have to listen to his ghetto slang....I bet he is gonna beat you...or even force you to prostitute yourself!! Either you leave him or your are not our daughter any longer!"

Now, having studied politics myself, I know that these two examples might sound a bit harsh, but c´mon, you probably know already at least one person who fits this criteria.

All Polish people steal...all Indian smell, all American are fat and dumb, all English are fat and dumb and have a stick up their arse, ...Brasilians are all sexy models, Arabs are all terrorists, Jews are all rich and have big noses and Japanese hard working perverts.

So, how about we have a global "tolerance day". One day, of course we dont have to go to work that day..., where we tell everyone what we actually think of her/him. Since it is "tolerance day" the other person has to tolerate your opinion and can tell you afterwards what she/he thinks of you as well.

Would not that be nice?

...oh well, and so what the day after you have around 200 people less in your facebook account, a broken nose and low self-esteem... - you had a day off of work!

To finish it up...here a nice quote by Heinrich Heine:

"Be entirely tolerant or not at all"

An ode to Silvio...

Buongiorno Italia gli spaghetti al dente un partigiano come presidente, con l'autoradio sempre nella mano destra un canarino sopra la finestra.

ah...la dolce vita in bella Italia. With its vino, pasta and amore it is fascinating us all. Who has not dreamed at some point in his/her life to move there and enjoy a nice cappuccino on the spanish steps while whistling at the belle donne passing by.

I have been there and done all that...and maybe even more.
But still I have the feeling that I was missing out...as if I have not lived to the fullest.

And damn was I right!!

If you are in Rome do as the Romans, they say...WRONG!
If you are in Rome...do as Silvio Berlusconi!

He is a hero! Not only is he the Italian Prime Minister, for the second time, but furthermore he is the founder of Fininvest, main shareholder of Mediaset and owner of the AC Milan!

What more can a boy wish for...power,porn and football!
And if that was not enough, now he has an 18 year old Neapolitan cupcake.

Dear God, Buddha, Allah, Varuna or even Captain Crunch...when I die, I want to reincarnate as Silvio. Or even better make me Silvio now...just younger, smarter and more handsome..so I can enjoy longer!

To sum it up...here my favourite Silvio quote:

Only Napoleon did more than I have done. But I am definitely taller.

Viva Italia!

Silver is the new Gold!

Ah yes....we men are just like wine...the older the better. At least thats what I keep on telling myself. Who cares about the little wrinkles around your eyes...or forehead...or wherever. A little stomach is considered as a sign of healthy and good living instead of too much beer and burgers.

This, however, was working for 2.000 years...and then came the 90s. All of sudden we had "male sex symbols" to fight against. Big posters looking down on us from Time Square telling us "we are fat and lazy". All of sudden men were buying anti-aging cremes, running to plastic surgeons and started extreme sports with the age of 50 in order to impress the young ladies. It was not enough anymore to have a swiss bank account or at least humour, now we also needed a six-pack (no - not the beer) and love kids (not the Michael Jackson kind of love).

BUT - just as the 90s passed and everybody was trying to look like a never-aging twenty something, our beloved friends from the "Planet Marketing" came up with a new idea!

...the Silver Surfer....or even better: Best Ager!


I wonder how many friends he has on Facebook?

So after almost twenty years of telling us that we need to stay young in order to belong to the "best", the game twisted. Now if you turn 50 you belong to the new "in-crowd" of Best Agers...
Grandmas´ are the new it-girls, grandpas´the new/old sugga daddys. Being "experienced" and wise is sexy, grey hair is the new preoxide blonde and you get a reserved seat in any public transport.

Around 40% of Germans are 50 or older...and the number is rising. Despite of being confused if I now look more forward to get older or not...at least I know that the older I get the more "attractive" I am for the economy.

But who cares? Give this thing a couple more years and then we ll have something new coming along...like "Chimponomy", where smart chimps rule the market (or Bush already did) or how about "The Hilton - less is more?".

So whats all the fuzz about...as Groucho Marx already said:

Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough.

So as I said at the beginning...men are like wine the older they get...ah who cares, lets open a bottle and get drunk!

To Lunch or not to Lunch - Where is the question?

"My favourite animal is steak!" (Fran Lebowitz)


Food is great, especially if its on my plate. Going out with friends for dinner is a ritual that is important to me. The more the better. But since it is easy to find great places for Dinner, why is it so hard to find something great for Lunch?

Every Monday till friday, sometime between noon and 1pm, I have the same problem: where to have lunch?

Now, it is not that my work is in some place far far away from civilisation, au contraire, it is right in the heart of Berlin Mitte. There are about 5 zillion places that offer food, or at least something that seems eatable. Nevertheless, the second I, or my stomach, decide to get up and go out to grab some lunch, I am confronted with a problem....

The issue with having too many choices...is really having too many choices! Do I feel like some Sushi or Dim Sum? How about a Turkish delicacy or some Pizza? Maybe Salad or a sandwich?

This week I ate everyday different salads offered by coffee shop around the corner. They taste good, my diet is happy, but I am already bored. I am not a vegetarian...so why eat like one?!

Q: How to solve this crisis?
A: I will eat every day at a different place.

My goal is to eat at each place within 500m at least once!
I will rate them and of course let you know if there are some dirty secrets hidden in the kitchen...

May the foodolympics begin!