Der Himmel über Berlin

So, at the moment, things are like this.

-I have just moved house, but I can barely afford to furnish it
-I have gone through a horrible breakup that still dominates most of my waking moments
-I don't have nearly as much work as I would like
-My best friend is leaving Berlin for good in a couple of weeks
-My bike just got a puncture
-I've got a cold
-I haven't bought a new football jersey for a month
-My favourite football team is playing dreadfully at the moment
-The weather is getting miserably cold and wintry
-I stepped on a snail the other day

Despite everything, I feel really optimistic at the moment. I feel, without any reason for it, that something really good for me is around the corner. It feels nice.

The snail probably doesn't agree though.

Oh, and I might, maybe, possibly make it to the Liverpool Blog Meet.

I may have a large blister on the palm of my right hand, threatening to burst its load of nasty gloopy stuff all over my keyboard, however I feel that the cause of the blister makes it all worthwhile.

For now my kitchen has a brand new table and two new stools, my bathroom has a new shower curtain and my bedroom has a huge new wardrobe and a new chest of drawers. All, of course, bought in Ikea. And all, of course, joyously put together by yours truly with only minimal swearing, one swollen thumb due to a mistimed hammer incident, the aforementioned blister due to copious amounts of manual screwing, and one near-electrocution*.

But all worth it.

*The near-electrocution incident was caused by the very German tendancy to remove everything, everything, from an apartment when you move out. This, incredibly, includes light fittings. So my lack of electrical know-how was made sorely evident by the fact that I nearly attempted to install the fittings without remembering to first turn off the power. Were it not for the timely intervention of a friend, well, let's not even think about that.

Just happened to see a trailer for the repulsive looking Elizabeth: The Golden Age the other day. Wouldn't have paid any attention to it, but for the fact that the ludicrously handsome Clive Owen is playing none other than Sir Walter Raleigh. Yup, the same Walter Raleigh that I complained about being likened to in a previous post.

Don't know why I'm bothering to post this. Probably just cos I haven't posted in ages and I feel like I should. But now that I'm officially as handsome as Clive Owen, I can do what I like.

Oh, but speaking of Clive Owen, everyone should go see Shoot 'Em Up. As an enormous fan of stupid action movies, it had everything I could have ever hoped for. A sex scene shoot-out? Check. A wildly over-the-top bad guy? Check. Beautiful female lead? Check. Tons and tons of ridiculous action? Check, check and check.

Go see it now!

Well, I did it, and it really was a heck of a lot easier than I expected. The weather was unbelievably unseasonal - clear skies are far as the eye could see. Really felt more like the Mediterranean than Scotland. Couldn't have been better.

All of the research I had done beforehand had led me to believe that it was a moderately difficult ascent. Which it absolutely wasn't. There was a clearly defined path from bottom to top, and although it got a bit steep in places, there wasn't even any scrambling involved. I demand PAIN! Typically, I found out afterwards that there are a couple of trickier paths, but there wasn't much online about them, and the stoned imbecile in the hostel assured us that the easy one was the only way up.

Anyway, enough whinging. It was amazing, beautiful, stunning. Scotland it so beautiful that it hurts. The autumn colours, combined with the majestic peaks rising all around me invoked a deep contentment, almost as though my Celtic spirit was purring within me. It didn't require much imagination to imagine William Wallace sitting up there, planning his next move. Well, apart from all the litter all over the place, that wouldn't have been there back then. Certainly not the beer cans and plastic bottles anyway. But that's another story.

So, all in all, well worth the trip. A few snaps:
Some views along the way

Near the bottom, around 0830.

Bit further up. I think that's Fort William in the distance

The summit. Took just under three hours to get to the top.

So, Britain has been conquered, what's next? A friend is trying to convince me to hit Iceland's highest - at a snowy 2110m, that would be a challenge. Bring it on!