April 2008

Successfully traversed the Oceans once again and landed on the hard ground of New York where I’ll be hanging out for the next several days. I’m staying in Brooklyn which is a first as I usually stay with friends in Manhatten. Of course the friends I usually stay with happen to be getting marriend this week so I decided I’d not push to sleep on their couch as they might have other things going on. Turns out the greatest vegan restaurant in the world just opened a second branch right around the corner from Bre’s place in Brooklyn so after visiting NYC Resister and Etsy we went there directly. And feasted.

This morning I’m going to brave the trains in search of more vegany goodness and delicious coffees in Manhatten. Pics forthcoming of course. My usual NY checklist is as follows:

Red Bamboo (now both locations!)
Atlas Cafe
Thailand Cafe
Babycakes

Tie, Me and Astera at the newish vegan place in Vienna. Photo by Armin. Follow up to this.

Since Vienna is so close to Berlin (relatively speaking for a guy who lives in Los Angeles of course) I decided it was worth it to swing by here for a day or two before transcontinentaling it back to the US just to feast on some vegan schnitzel and see friends I made while living here last year. I have to say I had a great time in Berlin at re:publica08. While a lot of the conference was in German and thus out of my realm of understanding, I got to see a lot of friends and made many new ones.

One thing I really love about Berlin is the cheep as hell falafel you can find on every corner, all of which is simply amazing, cheep as hell, and open super late. It wasn’t unusual to walk a block or two from the Hostel where we were staying at 3am and for the cost of 2 or 3 Euros get some of the most delicious falafel I’d ever had in a matter of moments. Definitely an area lacking in LA.

Arriving back in Vienna today was interesting, when I was living here the town had a very central base kind of feel to it. All of my stuff was here, I was settled in, and had plenty of time to take care of anything. This time I’m only here for a few days and so it feels a little different. It’s also not covered in snow and icy slush, but there’s also not punche and roasted chestnut vendors on every corner like there were most of November and December. It’s the little things you know. Getting back on the tram on our way to dinner felt so normal though, like a trip through an old neighborhood which I guess isn’t too far off. Just weird for me to think of Vienna that way. Weird in a good way.

I’ll be in NYC by mid week for a friends wedding and looking forward to seeing more friends, talking more business, eating more vegan cupcakes, and all the things I usually do there. I’ve got an iPod full of new stuff from Torche and Black Keys, as well as Bourdain and Palahinuk audio books so the flight should be more than managable. The time travel effect of leaving London at noon, flying for close to 10 hours, and arriving in NYC at 2pm will take a little more management.

After all my worries about traveling through London Heathrow it ended up being no problem. In fact I didn’t even have to combine carry on baggage for the european leg of the trip like everyone told me I would so all that insane packing job was for nothing. I mean it was entertaining of course but not so much needed. re:publica08 starts today though today’s sessions are all in German so I’m taking the opportunity to hang out at a coffee shop around the corner and polish up my presentation which is first thing in the morning tomorrow. And by working I mean hanging out with the guys from Miro and The Pirate Bay (who I’m also rooming with) talking about stupid porn laws.