Powen’s Preposterous Posterous - a blog about food, philadelphia, and whatever else strikes my fancy

Weekend Visitors in Hamburg

Matthew and his French coworker Alexandre came to visit me in Hamburg last weekend. I got to do some things and visit places that I usually don't, which was fun. We'd talked about staying up all night (or really late) to go to the Fischmarkt on Sunday morning, but we never made it. Next time!

                           

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Filed under  //   germany   hamburg   photos  
Posted March 10, 2010
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Are penguins the next big thing?

Seen at a bookstore in Hamburg's main train station.

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Filed under  //   cameraphone   germany   penguins   photos  
Posted March 4, 2010
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Netzwerk Philadelphia Weihnachtsparty 2009 Part 2

Continued from this post 

The photos are just a selection from the Facebook album, take a look there if you want to see more.

               

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Filed under  //   german   netzwerk philadelphia   philadelphia   photos  
Posted December 26, 2009
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Netzwerk Philadelphia Weihnachtsparty 2009

If you haven't been able to tell already, I've been catching up on photos from the last few months, processing and posting.

These are from the Netzwerk Philadelphia's annual Christmas party. This year it took place at the Ukrainian League of Philadelphia's hall, there were around 85 people, including a large contingent from Action Reconciliation Service for Peace whose volunteers were having a mid-year seminar in Philadelphia.

Blog Post Part 2 (since I posted by email and Gmail only allows 25mb in attachments at once)

The photos are just a selection from the Facebook album, take a look there if you want to see more.

                 

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Filed under  //   german   netzwerk philadelphia   philadelphia   photos  
Posted December 26, 2009
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The Christmas Turkey

The Christmas Turkey

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Filed under  //   foodporn   photos  
Posted December 25, 2009
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Of anchors, balance, and sunsets (re-examining my attachment to Philadelphia)

In a recent email exchange, I wrote

since college I've been working, discovering Philadelphia, traveling, putting down roots but being afraid to get too anchored, and getting addicted to coffee.

and naturally the person asked why I'm afraid to get anchored. I had originally written it somewhat flippantly (something I always say), but in responding I surprised myself with some, perhaps overdue, introspection:

I don't know why I'm afraid of an anchor, it's actually pretty contradictory. When I moved to Philly, I was looking for some stability, regularity, some sense of normalcy after what I felt like had been a chaotic whirlwind during college. But I never intended to stick around. Europe has its claws in me, as does the West Coast (I've always wanted to go back to Portland, or live in Seattle or Vancouver). Some subconscious or half-conscious part of me had imagined that I'd be transient in my 20s, hopping from city to city, living a cosmopolitan and unattached life.

But now looking at how the last few years have taken shape, it all has come to pass, in one way or another. I've found great people in Philadelphia, wrenched some semblance of balance into my life (though, like the entropic universe, I still tend towards chaos), but I've still managed to spend time in other places (if not those places I vaguely had in mind).

I am honest-to-goodness content about where I am. I want to do some more traveling, explore more cities, meet more friends in more places (oh Verizon). But until I fall in love with another place, I wouldn't just pick up and leave for the sake of doing so. I wouldn't trade it, for example, for New York. New York is a lot of things -- amazing, vibrant, multifaceted -- but I always breath a sigh of relief when I step off the bus, and I'm back in the city of brotherly love. Would I trade it for Seattle, Vancouver, or San Francisco? I don't know yet, but I look forward to finding out.

I don't imagine I'll be here for the rest of my life, but the sun isn't setting yet on Philadelphia and me.

 

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Filed under  //   musings   park   philadelphia   photos   schuylkill   sunset  
Posted December 21, 2009
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Philadelphia Sunset from Parkway House

taken November 29, 2009

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Posted December 20, 2009
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Dessert crepe!

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Filed under  //   beau monde   foodporn   photos  
Posted December 19, 2009
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Bloody Mary & Crepe at Beau Monde

   

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Filed under  //   beau monde   foodporn   photos  
Posted December 19, 2009
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Dancing to "An der Nordsee Kueste"

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Filed under  //   cameraphone   germany   netzwerk philadelphia   party   photos  
Posted December 5, 2009
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