Tag Archives: berlin

After our washout in the French capital (we didn’t really notice the weather in Brussels), we were hoping for better weather in the German one, but it wasn’t to be – the wet, windy and dreary weather seemed to be following us around on our quick business tour of Europe. Grrr. But what was more infuriating was that, as soon as we left each city (I checked online!) – out came the sun! Grrrrrr.

And so the trend continued here ->

Not that Berlin is a capital fully replete with tourist attractions in the first place, but all its museums were closed anyway since we were there on a Monday. That left only one thing for us to do in the short time we were here – go on a leisurely walkabout around some of the usual-suspects famous spots in the city. And first up just had to be something connected with the Cold War, surely. Berlin Wall? Nein (too obvious). Checkpoint Charlie? Ja! ->

Read on…

Goodness me. The only thing being talked about, written about – worried about – of late is… I don’t even have to name it it’s so obvious to everyone except cave-dwellers…

Sure, seasonal viruses are commonplace, but this one sure looks anything but commonplace-or-garden. This ain’t just a kind of flu. But this also ain’t something so pandemically awful as the Spanish flu or the 1968 flu outbreak. I wonder – would today’s medicine have been able to nip those two in the bud early? Well here’s hoping today’s medicine will do so for today’s coronavirus. Btw, curiously, outbreaks like these occur almost exactly every 50 years. Spanish flu – 1918; then there was the 1968 outbreak; now – just over 100 and 50 years later, respectively – corona. Spooky coincidences.

As the world enters panic mode, with quarantines, economic downturns disasters, cruise ship passengers locked-down, frenzied bulk-buying, face-masks, gloves and hazmats… what’s to be done? Get to work, I say. But extremely responsibly: social distancing, working remotely if possible, checking your health regularly, and reporting to the doctors if you suspect anything wrong. Exactly what I’m doing at the moment. But before things got really bad I had a very long business trip. Thus, as per, it was: suitcase > airport > takeoff > …Berlin!

Read on…

The other week I pulled a three-day Russia-Germany triangle: Moscow – Munich – Berlin – Moscow. Though it wasn’t such a long-sided triangle, it all the same was a toughie, as so much was packed into my itinerary. However, I didn’t even manage to get myself to Munich itself, only having got as far as its airport. But then, Munich Airport has its own… brewery, so I wasn’t complaining ).

The brewery is right in the middle of one of the airport’s restaurants too – so that’s two unusuals already; I wondered if the beer was going to be unusual too…

Read on…

I’ve just got myself a +1 to my collection of German industrial exhibitions/conferences, which now runs to a grand total of three. It was Bosch Connected World – both a conference and exhibition that ‘celebrate the Internet of Things’. Hardware & software, robotics, stationary + mobile, automotive, cloud-based, AI… basically all the buzz words – and all here. But everything here is somehow Bosch-connected, either belonging thereto of partnering with it; therefore, it was rather smaller than the other two in my collection: Embedded World and Hannover Messe. The former is about all things cyber-digital-industrial-automotive, the latter – all things industrial in general, not just security.

If you’re already in the computer automation/robotics/smart-whatever field, or are planning on entering it soon, you need to get yourself here. We were here as we’ve decided to attend more vendor-themed events: they’re smaller scale, but more focused. So here we are: welcome to Bosch Connected World!…

Read on: Nice place, proper technology, business opportunities…

Guten tag folks!

After a practically horizontal weekend (intense recuperation after the previous weeks’ long slog) and a day-and-a-half in the office in Moscow, before you could say das ist fantastisch, I was heading back to Deutschland. On the agenda: two days, two cities (Frankfurt and Berlin), four speeches, dozens of interviews, an event for partners. Then home again for another horizontal weekend to sufficiently recharge the batteries for yet another busy schedule the following week.

So. Frankfurt. What can I say? Well first here’s what I can show:

Read on: Pull up to the Bunker baby…

Reichstag, Berlin, Germany.

The Reichstag isn’t just the building that houses the German parliament – Bundestag – and nor is it just a historical symbol. It’s also one of the most interesting tourist spots in Berlin (and there a plenty of them:). I’d heard so much about the Reichstag – but never seemed to find the time for an excursion thereof. But finally – I pulled it off, just the other day. And not just the common-or-garden tourist excursion, but one which covered normally off-limits areas too – including, literally, the corridors of (bundes) power!…

I’ll start from the outside and move my way towards the center, actually – towards the top of the building!. But first – what were we doing here? We were here on business – and that was our ‘in’ to the ‘corridors of power’ :)…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQn88NlD7Qm/

Read on: a symbiosis of power and modesty…

Pheeeewwwwwww. That was a tough week. I’ve another toughie planned for the coming week too. So a good dose of tools-down and time-out was in order for a few days between the two.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBGQ6GvuicV/

Handily, I found myself in Berlin for those few days. Nice. With no work plans whatsoever. Even nicer. Been here many times, but was always too busy to get a good portion of sightseeing in.

So here, some plenty of pics of the German capital, with my usual banter commentary kept to a minimum. A bit like on Euronews: No Comment.

Read on: Say No to grim and sober monuments…

Guten tag folks!

I’m currently on a trans-Europe express road trip. And along the way I keep coming across such unusual sights that I feel I’m simply duty-bound to share them with the world’s more progressive readers of blogs. Ok?

Oddity No. 1

What cars do you generally see on the German autobahn between Frankfurt and Hannover? A lot of fast modern ones, that’s for sure. And what cars do you tend not to see? Easy: older models. So you can perhaps understand my shock surprise at seeing vintage (and all tuned-up) Zaporozhetses – with Moscow plates! What the flip? I was expecting pigs to fly past next… There they were – several of them – going hell for leather at full throttle, chugging and rattling and attracting the attention of the modern-car drivers – so much so that the traffic was slowed down to a very un-autobahn-like speed. Good gracious me. The Ukrainian retro invasion!

CCCP’s answer to the VW Beetle

More: Berlin & Berliner Kunst…