The Earl of Malmesbury
Mar. 22nd, 2025 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeI am starting to wonder whether it is wise to keep writing this journal. What with AI scraping and government agencies intent on snooping, let alone any other nefarious actors, maybe discretion is wise going forward. I do tend to write a lot about who I am and what I do on here and the way the current political climate is going, maybe this isn't wise. It would be a shame to stop though, considering I have been writing this for over a decade, plus if you want to know where I have been or what I think, just scour through my phone and my socials. Privacy is a lie and even though I am going to start removing some of the worst offenders - Alexa I am looking at you - maybe I should just accept this is the way of the world now. It's one of the reasons why I haven't yet replaced my fitness tracker either - while I like the data, I just don't trust any company with it, not least because I'm getting older.
It has been another quiet week. We were thinking of going to the BDSM Munch on Wednesday and the Fureigners Meet on Thursday but the 48-hour BVG strike discouraged us. Had I made a strong effort, I probably could have done both, but it would have been quite a stretch due to changed service patterns. Furthermore, Wolfie had some bad professional news on Wednesday and he wasn't really feeling it anyway. With my need to save money, we decided it would be best to stay at home, which at least allowed me to do some writing.
We did go out today though, thinking it would be a wonderfully sunny day. It was certainly that, but the biting cold wind meant it felt far from Spring. This was a shame considering we were only out in our t-shirts. Still, we were indoors most of the afternoon at the Deutsches Technik Museum. On the way in, we saw a burnt out car with other cars parked nonchalantly next to it, which made me wonder about its back story. The museum itself is just around the corner from BRLO at Mockernbrucke in the old goods shed associated with Anhalter Bahnhof, which closed down after the Second World War. The railway museum is actually in the old sheds next to the turntables, while some of the area has been transformed into a pleasant park through which you can stroll. Here there is a forge and some windmills, amongst other things. In the railway bit, the history of the German railway from the 1840s to the present day is detailed, while there are loads of old locomotives and carriages to look at. To this end, it was a little like the National Railway Museum in York, only smaller. I did particularly enjoy the old S-Bahn stock, while the model railway exhibit of the old Anhalter Bahnhof complex did give you a wonderful perspective of what the station area used to look like. The wooden crate carriage which carried Jews to the concentration camps was particularly harrowing, as were the behemoth locos built during the Second World War.
There is a whole section dedicated to the history of aviation too, from the first balloons and gliders, to rockets and spacecraft. There is a huge transport plane parked on top of the museum entrance, providing a focal point as you walk up to the museum. You can walk up to this on the fourth floor, while it was interesting to look at all of the German war planes from both world wars. This is something we couldn't do easily back in the UK so it was fascinating to see their armories. Many of the war planes had been recovered from Russia in the 1990s, so the back stories were known. Finding out how the Treaty of Versailles damaged German aviation was also fascinating. Meanwhile, in the gliding section, we discovered a lot about the early aviation pioneers, including some truly mad people who threw themselves off buildings testing their contraptions. There were loads of other interesting things here too, including the world's first flight simulator and the world's first radio guided rocket.
There are loads of different exhibits here and in the four hours we gave ourselves - from 2pm to closing - we were never going to do all of them. We decided to skip the two floors on seafaring and went to the sugar exhibit instead. I was expecting a lot about the history of sugar and there was some of this certainly, but the focus was much more on sugar beet rather than cane. This was interesting as sugar beet cultivation started in Berlin in the 18th century, with scientists trying to synthesize sweeter beats. The history of sugar beet and how it was cultivated was extensively covered, but the more interesting part was the bits relating to chemistry and energy production. Sugars and how they interact with the body and DNA were detailed, as were the variety of fuel sources that utilised sugars, from the cellulose in wood through to oils and plastics. We also discovered a lot about chitin, the hard substance on the shells of most crustaceans. I hadn't thought of sugars in such a light so this in particular was enthralling. I didn't particularly want to leave but the staff were effectively shooing us out towards the end, even though we had at least 10 minutes to skedaddle. They were certainly loitering around me a fair bit, but I failed to notice them, much to Wolfie's amusement. One thing I did realise as how little information my ADHD brain takes in. Looking back, I remember seeing loads of stuff and reading nearly all of the associated information, but I knew my mind wandered mid-sentence and I can barely recall any of it now. I've been to so many museums over the years and it's largely the same - if I could actually retain information, even that of interest, I wonder how much smarter I would be.
After this, we walked over to the original entrance of Anhalter Bahnhof, through a park where you can still see the remains of the platforms poking through the foliage. They have put a big pointy concert hall in the middle of this area now, along with a small football pitch, but at the other end you can see the small remnants of the old facade. This must have looked wondrous in its day and I always enjoy seeing it, while this was the first time Wolfie had been here. He was doing well although his foot was starting to hurt - after five hours on the go though, this was an improvement. We hopped on the S2 and went up to Nordbahnhof, destination Nola on Torstrasse. This fried chicken place had been on our agenda for a while as Berlin isn't particularly great on this type of cuisine. Influenced by the flavours of Nashville and Louisiana, we decided to go with the two-piece chicken along with mash and gravy. We forgot to order the spicy version for Wolfie, but the original for me was spicy enough. We also got some Mexican brand cola called Jarritos, which was slightly sweeter and smoother than any American equivalent. I quite liked it. The food itself was exquisite. The mash was peppery, the gravy rich, and the chicken moist and succulent. The coating was crispy and full of flavour and at €26.50 including tip, this place is now high on our best restaurants in Berlin list (if we had one).
We left feeling very satisfied and after some back and forth, decided to go to Mikkeller for a beer. This was a strict one beer though, not the five we ended up having two weeks ago. We managed to find a seat but it was perched quite high, which wasn't helping Wolfie's foot. He had tried to get a regular table but a bloke was using his pushchair like a battering ram. Anyway, about one third of the way down our drinks, a good table opened up which allowed Wolfie to rest his foot better. The drinks themselves were great - a vanilla IPA and a standard tropical one - and while I would have loved to have stayed out later, saving money and wanting to be functional tomorrow took priority. I also needed to pop to Edeka before it closed. With Wolfie in agony, we decided to take our leave, heading back to Spandau just after 9pm, after a magical and fun day.
It has been another quiet week. We were thinking of going to the BDSM Munch on Wednesday and the Fureigners Meet on Thursday but the 48-hour BVG strike discouraged us. Had I made a strong effort, I probably could have done both, but it would have been quite a stretch due to changed service patterns. Furthermore, Wolfie had some bad professional news on Wednesday and he wasn't really feeling it anyway. With my need to save money, we decided it would be best to stay at home, which at least allowed me to do some writing.
We did go out today though, thinking it would be a wonderfully sunny day. It was certainly that, but the biting cold wind meant it felt far from Spring. This was a shame considering we were only out in our t-shirts. Still, we were indoors most of the afternoon at the Deutsches Technik Museum. On the way in, we saw a burnt out car with other cars parked nonchalantly next to it, which made me wonder about its back story. The museum itself is just around the corner from BRLO at Mockernbrucke in the old goods shed associated with Anhalter Bahnhof, which closed down after the Second World War. The railway museum is actually in the old sheds next to the turntables, while some of the area has been transformed into a pleasant park through which you can stroll. Here there is a forge and some windmills, amongst other things. In the railway bit, the history of the German railway from the 1840s to the present day is detailed, while there are loads of old locomotives and carriages to look at. To this end, it was a little like the National Railway Museum in York, only smaller. I did particularly enjoy the old S-Bahn stock, while the model railway exhibit of the old Anhalter Bahnhof complex did give you a wonderful perspective of what the station area used to look like. The wooden crate carriage which carried Jews to the concentration camps was particularly harrowing, as were the behemoth locos built during the Second World War.
There is a whole section dedicated to the history of aviation too, from the first balloons and gliders, to rockets and spacecraft. There is a huge transport plane parked on top of the museum entrance, providing a focal point as you walk up to the museum. You can walk up to this on the fourth floor, while it was interesting to look at all of the German war planes from both world wars. This is something we couldn't do easily back in the UK so it was fascinating to see their armories. Many of the war planes had been recovered from Russia in the 1990s, so the back stories were known. Finding out how the Treaty of Versailles damaged German aviation was also fascinating. Meanwhile, in the gliding section, we discovered a lot about the early aviation pioneers, including some truly mad people who threw themselves off buildings testing their contraptions. There were loads of other interesting things here too, including the world's first flight simulator and the world's first radio guided rocket.
There are loads of different exhibits here and in the four hours we gave ourselves - from 2pm to closing - we were never going to do all of them. We decided to skip the two floors on seafaring and went to the sugar exhibit instead. I was expecting a lot about the history of sugar and there was some of this certainly, but the focus was much more on sugar beet rather than cane. This was interesting as sugar beet cultivation started in Berlin in the 18th century, with scientists trying to synthesize sweeter beats. The history of sugar beet and how it was cultivated was extensively covered, but the more interesting part was the bits relating to chemistry and energy production. Sugars and how they interact with the body and DNA were detailed, as were the variety of fuel sources that utilised sugars, from the cellulose in wood through to oils and plastics. We also discovered a lot about chitin, the hard substance on the shells of most crustaceans. I hadn't thought of sugars in such a light so this in particular was enthralling. I didn't particularly want to leave but the staff were effectively shooing us out towards the end, even though we had at least 10 minutes to skedaddle. They were certainly loitering around me a fair bit, but I failed to notice them, much to Wolfie's amusement. One thing I did realise as how little information my ADHD brain takes in. Looking back, I remember seeing loads of stuff and reading nearly all of the associated information, but I knew my mind wandered mid-sentence and I can barely recall any of it now. I've been to so many museums over the years and it's largely the same - if I could actually retain information, even that of interest, I wonder how much smarter I would be.
After this, we walked over to the original entrance of Anhalter Bahnhof, through a park where you can still see the remains of the platforms poking through the foliage. They have put a big pointy concert hall in the middle of this area now, along with a small football pitch, but at the other end you can see the small remnants of the old facade. This must have looked wondrous in its day and I always enjoy seeing it, while this was the first time Wolfie had been here. He was doing well although his foot was starting to hurt - after five hours on the go though, this was an improvement. We hopped on the S2 and went up to Nordbahnhof, destination Nola on Torstrasse. This fried chicken place had been on our agenda for a while as Berlin isn't particularly great on this type of cuisine. Influenced by the flavours of Nashville and Louisiana, we decided to go with the two-piece chicken along with mash and gravy. We forgot to order the spicy version for Wolfie, but the original for me was spicy enough. We also got some Mexican brand cola called Jarritos, which was slightly sweeter and smoother than any American equivalent. I quite liked it. The food itself was exquisite. The mash was peppery, the gravy rich, and the chicken moist and succulent. The coating was crispy and full of flavour and at €26.50 including tip, this place is now high on our best restaurants in Berlin list (if we had one).
We left feeling very satisfied and after some back and forth, decided to go to Mikkeller for a beer. This was a strict one beer though, not the five we ended up having two weeks ago. We managed to find a seat but it was perched quite high, which wasn't helping Wolfie's foot. He had tried to get a regular table but a bloke was using his pushchair like a battering ram. Anyway, about one third of the way down our drinks, a good table opened up which allowed Wolfie to rest his foot better. The drinks themselves were great - a vanilla IPA and a standard tropical one - and while I would have loved to have stayed out later, saving money and wanting to be functional tomorrow took priority. I also needed to pop to Edeka before it closed. With Wolfie in agony, we decided to take our leave, heading back to Spandau just after 9pm, after a magical and fun day.
